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T H E S T ORY
-**
A GREAT NATION.

OUR COUNTRY'S ACHIEVEMENTS,
NMILITARY, NAVAL, FOLITICAL, AND CIVIL,
BY
By John GILMARY SHEA, LL.D.,
TO WPHICH IS ADDED A.
Diographical Tºortrait Gallery of 9(er Great Sleaders,
INCLUDING
STATESMEW, ORATORS, DIPLOMATS, 9 JR/STS, SOLDIERS, SAILORS, EXPLORERS
FINANCIERS, INVEWTORS, PHILANTHROPISTS, RAEFORMERS, ENGIWEERS
SCIEWTISTS, ARTZSZS, AUTHORS, ETC., ETC.
ALSO
OUR PRESIDENTS THEIR PORTRAITS AND AUTOGRAPHS,
WITH
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES AND A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, SHOWING THE GREAT EVENTS
IN UNIVERSAL HISTORY, CONTEMPORARY WITH EACH ADMINISTRATION, WITH A
DESCRIPTION OF OUR NATIONAL GUVERNMENT, AND HOW IT IS ADMIN-
ISTERED IN ITS VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS.
mustrated WITH SEVERAL, HTINDRED ENGRAVINGS, INCLUDING OVER 350 PORTRATTS,
NEW YORK :
GAY B R O T H E R S & C O M P ANY,
14 EARCLAY STREET.
co PYRIGHT, 1886, BY
G. A. Y. B R O T H E R S & C C .
&:/*
f, **.
-, *, * r % - #".
2 Pºla--, * {2, £t2 &
* , º, º,
* .. grº 3 *
‘….' f
P R E FA C E .
To present the great facts of our country's history in an attractive
and readable form has been the object of this work. That the His-
tory of the United States is not more generally read arises from the
fact that the works which ordinary readers find are overloaded with
details and interrupted by tedious disquisitions. Others seem writ-
ten from a sectional, political, or other stand-point, and the writer's
prejudices are thrust before the reader at every page.
The author has aimed to give the narrative clearness and simplic-
ity, to be impartial, giving each part of the country an equal import.
ance, and equal justice; and in the treatment of events, giving im-
portance only to such as deserve it, in view of their bearing on the
whole country.
A History of the United States for the general public should be
one to be read with equal interest in every State, by persons of every
age. It should be as clear as the crystal waters of our purest streams,
as solid and impartial as the great mountains that receive serenely
the sunshine and the storm, and look calmly down on the quiet
plain and the thunderous cataract.
This volume may not fulfil all that is aimed at or desired, but it
can claim to have made a step in the proper direction towards afford-
ing a History of our country, readable, impartial, and accurate.
J. G. S.
(iii)
NEw York, August 1, 1886.
C O N T E N T S.
INTRODUCTION.
The Spirit of Discovery awakened in Europe—The great advantage of the Crusades
to Trade—Missionaries and Merchants—What was known of the Atlantic Ocean
—The wonderful Island of St. Brendan–Iceland and Greenland–Discoveries on
the Coast of Africa—The Madeira Islands—Italy the School of Geography. . . . . . 101.
PART I.
CEHAPTER I.
The early Life of Christopher Columbus—His first Voyages—Terrible Naval Engage-
ment near Lisbon–His wonderful Escape—His scheme of crossing the Atlantic
—Genoa, Venice, and Portugal refuse to aid him—Home in Genoa-At Palos—
Father Marchema and the Convent of Santa Maria de la Rabida—He starts for
the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
CHAPTER II.
Position of the Spanish Kingdoms—Columbus at Court—His Plan rejected—Em-
ployed by Queen Isabella—Returns to Palos in order to go to France—Padre
Marchena again–Queen Isabella resolves to send him out—The little Fleet fitted
out at Palos—The Portuguese endeavor to defeat his Voyage—The open Sea—
Alarm of Sailors—Land!—He takes Possession in the Name of Isabella—Voyage
Home—The Portuguese again—Enters Lisbon—Received by the King—At Palos
-Pinzon and Columbus—The Discoverer proceeds to Court to announce his
SlloCeSS
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
Columbus is solemnly received by Ferdinand and Isabella at Barcelona—His second
Voyage—Other Nations enter the Field of Discovery—Voyages of Cabot and
Vesputius—The Name of the latter gives a Title to the New World—Columbus
sails on his third Voyage—His Enemies—Bobadilla—Columbus arrested and sent
to Spain in irons—His fourth Voyage—He beholds the Destruction of his Ene-
mies by the Hand of Providence—Reaches the Coast of North America—Returns
to Spain—Dies at Valladolid—Strange Migrations of his Body—His Tomb at
CHAPTER IV.
Attempts to conquer and colonize—The French—The Spaniards—Ponce de Leon
and the Fountain of Youth—Vasquez de Ayllon and King Datha—Verrazano
and the stories about him—Gomez—The Expedition of Pamphilo de Narvaez—
Wonderful escape of Cabeza de Vaca—De Soto and the disastrous end of his
splendid Expedition—The French, under Cartier and Roberval, attempt to settle
Canada—Story of Margaret Roberval. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER V.
125
FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ENGLAND ATTEMPT TO SETTLE OUR SHORES.
Coligny resolves to establish a Huguenot colony in Florida—Ribaut establishes
Charlesfort on Port Royal—Captain Albert de la Pierria—Mutiny—The Surviv-
ors saved by the English–Laudonniere builds Fort Caroline on the St. John's,
Florida—A Revolt—Some turn Pirates—Relieved in Distress by Hawkins—
Ribaut arrives—The Spaniards resolve to crush the Colony—Melendez sent out—
The Fleets meet at Caroline—Melendez retires and builds St. Augustine—Ribaut
pursuing him wrecked—Melendez takes Caroline—His Cruelty—Inhuman Treat-
ment of the Wrecked—The Massacre of the French avenged by Dominic de
Gourgues—Subsequent History of Florida—Raleigh and his Efforts—Tobacco
and Potatoes—A Settlement finally made at Jamestown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER VI.
Permanent Settlements of England and France—Virginia settled at Jamestown—
Early Visits of the Spaniards to the Chesapeake–Powhatan's Tribe—Captain
John Smith—Argall—Pocahontas, her Marriage and Death—First Legislature in
America—What Jamestown resembled—Opechancanough's War and Massacre—
The Company suppressed—Virginia a Royal Colony—The People—Spain settles
New Mexico—The French in Acadia—Jesuits in Maine—Romance of La Tour—
Madame La Tour—Wars with New England—Acadia conquered, becomes Nova
Scotia—Quebec founded by Champlain—His Adventurous Career—Character of
the Colony—Wars with the Iroquois—Pieskaret—Montreal—Lambert Closse,
the Indian Fighter—The French at Onondaga
º 9 º' t t t t t e º e o 'º e º e º g c s e º s a v e º 'º e º e
156
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
New Netherland—Hudson's Discovery—Christiaensen–Valentine and Orson—
Block builds the “Onrust,” the first New York vessel—New York and Albany
Settled—Treaty of Tawasentha-Dutch West India Company—Purchase of New
York Island—The New Netherland—Indian Troubles—Captain Underhill and
the Battle of Strickland's Plain—The Swedes on the Delaware—They are reduced
CHLAPTER VIII.
The Settlement of New England—The Pilgrim Fathers—Landing at Plymouth
Rock—Miles Standish—Massachusetts Bay—New Hampshire—Roger Williams
and Mrs. Hutchinson—Providence Plantations and Rhode Island Founded–
Settlement of Hartford and New Haven—The United Colonies—The Pequod
War—John Eliot, the Apostle of the Indians—Persecution of the Quakers—Set-
tlement of Maryland—Toleration—Indian Relations—Civil War. . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER IX.
The Indian Tribes—Their Divisions—Their Complexion—Habits—Dress—Houses
and Mode of Life—Their Wars—Religion—No Domestic Animals—Their Care of
the Dead—Hieroglyphics—The Mound Builders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PART II.
205
228
THE COLONIES FROM THE REIGN OF CHARLES II. TO THE REIGN OF
GEORGE III.
CHAPTER I.
The English Kings and Parliament begin to take part in American Affairs—General
View of the Country—Reign of Charles II.-Connecticut and Rhode Island re-
ceive Charters—Philip's Indian War—New York–Penn founds Pennsylvania—
Carolina founded—Virginia and Maryland... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER II.
Reign of James II.-James projects a Union of the Colonies—New York invaded
—Connecticut and the Charter Oak—Indian Troubles in Maine—Fall of James—
Reign of William III.—Andros seized—Old Governments resumed in New Eng-
land—William neglects America—Sad Condition of New York—Leisler—Indian
Wars—Waldron—Lachine-–Schenectady—Salmon Falls—Casco—Phips fails to
take Quebec—William sends a Governor to New York–Leisler refuses to submit
—Taken—Hanged—New Charter for Massachusetts—The Witch Trials—Captain
236
viii CONTENTS.
CELAPTER III.
Reign of Queen Anne–She involves the American Colonies in the War of the Span-
ish Succession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
CHAPTER IV.
Reign of George I.-His Neglect of America—The Yamassee War in South Caro-
lina—War with the Abenakis in Maine—Death of Father Rale—Lovewell's Fight. 309
CHAPTER W.
Reign of George II.-The English Government prevents American Manufactures
and Commerce—Good Effect produced—Oglethorpe and the Settlement of
Georgia—Tomochichi—The Cherokee's Answer—Position of the English Colon-
ies—The French—Law's Projects—The Natchez—Massacre of the French—
Escape of Doutreleau—The Choctaws attack the Natchez—Louboi's Operations—
The War with Spain—Oglethorpe's Campaign against St. Augustine–Monteano
invades Georgia—The War with France—The New England Troops take Louis-
burg—It is restored to France—The French on the Ohio–George Washington—
—He is sent to occupy the Ohio–Defeats Jumonville—Capitulates at Fort Neces-
sity—The War begins.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
CHAPTER VI.
Reign of George II. (Continued)—Commencement of the Reign of George III.-
War with France renewed—General Braddock sent over with English Regulars
—His Plans—He attempts to take Fort Du Quesne—Defeated and killed—The
unfortunate Acadians—Baron Dieskau sent out by France—Defeated and taken
on Lake George—Montcalm takes Oswego—Louisburg taken by Boscawen and
Amherst—Abercrombie defeated by Montcalm at Ticonderoga—Bradstreet takes
Fort Frontenac—William Pitt—Forbes advances on Fort Du Quesne—Sustains
a Defeat—French evacuate Pittsburg—Johnson defeats d’Aubry and takes Niagara
—Amherst drives the French from Lake Champlain–Wolfe at Quebec—Battle
of the Heights of Abraham—Wolfe and Montcalm—De Levi defeats Murray and
besieges Quebec—Canada surrenders—Close of the War... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
CHAPTER VII.
Reign of George III.--The Cherokee War—The Treaty of Peace with France—Flor-
ida taken in exchange for Havana—Pontiac's Conspiracy—England resolved
to tax America—Stamp Act Riots in America—Battle of Golden Hill–Boston
Massacre—The Tax on Tea—Resistance of America—The Boston Tea Party—
North Carolina Regulators–New Indian War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
CHAPTER VIII.
State of the Colonies after the Conquest of Canada—England's Exertions in America
—Jealousy of the Colonies—She resolves to tax them, and maintain a large Army
among them—The Stamp Act proposed—American Opposition—Its final Passage. 387
CONTENTS. IX.
PART III.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER I.
George III. loses America—The Continental Congress—The Boston Port Bill—The
Quebec Act—The Continental Congress meets—Provincial Congress—Battle of
Lexington and Concord—Siege of Boston—Capture of Ticonderoga and Crown
Point—Congress organizes an Army—George Washington Commander-in-Chief
—Battle of Bunker Hill—The Invasion of Canada—Failure to take Quebec—
Death of Montgomery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 408
CHAPTER II.
Campaign of 1777—The Operations in New Jersey—Cornwallis Confronts Wash-
ington at Trenton—Washington's masterly Movement on Princeton—The Battle
Of Princeton—Death of General Mercer—British Attacks on Peekskill and Dan-
bury—Death of General Wooster—Meigs at Sag Harbor—Washington in Winter-
quarters at Morristown—The glorious Stars and Stripes—Movements of the
Armies in New Jersey–The British evacuate the State–Lafayette comes to
America—Howe lands his Army at the Head of Chesapeake Bay–Washington
meets him at Brandywine–A hard-fought Battle—Congress leaves Philadelphia–
Howe takes Possession of the City–Washington attacks the British at German-
town—A Victory almost gained—Operations on the Delaware—The Battle of the
Kegs-Washington in Winter-quarters at Valley Forge—Burgoyne, from Cana-
da, invades New York—Ticonderoga lost —Schuyler and his Policy—Burgoyne
begins to suffer from Want of Provisions—Defeat of Baume and his Hessians at
Bennington—General Stark—St. Leger sent to attack Fort Schuyler—Battle of
Oriskany—Death of General Herkimer–Arnold relieves the Fort—Sad Fate of
Jane McCrea–Burgoyne defeated at Stillwater—Another Battle–Burgoyne at-
tempts to retreat—His Surrender—Clinton ascends the Hudson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5
4.
CHAPTER III.
Campaign of 1778–Alliance with France—North's Bills of Conciliation—Their Re-
jection–British Cruelty–Battle of Monmouth–Conduct of General Lee–Arrival
of Admiral d'Estaing's Fleet—Operations in Rhode Island–D'Estaing engages
the British and sails off—Retreat of Sullivan–Savage Cruelty of the English—
Massacre at Wyoming–Massacre at Paoli—At Little Egg Harbor—The English
capture Savannah—Clarke reduces Illinois. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487.
X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
Campaign of 1779—Operations in the South–Georgia—Invasion of South Carolina
—Battle of Stono Ferry—The British invade Connecticut—Storming of Stony
Point—Sullivan's Expedition against the Six Nations—Penobscot—Paulus Hook
—Commodore Paul Jones—The great Fight between the Bon Homme Richard
and the Serapis–Siege of Savannah by d'Estaing and Lincoln—Spain joins
France—Continental Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
CHAPTER V.
Campaign of 1780—Sir Henry Clinton sails south, besieges and takes Charleston—
Tarleton begins his career of cruelty—Lord Cornwallis in the South—Sumter and
Marion—Gates sent South by Congress—His rashness—Defeated at Camden—
DeKalb-General Greene –King's Mountain—Patriotic women—Lord Sterling
on Staten Island—Battle of Springfield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
PART IV.
THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER I.
Effective aid from France on Sea and Land—Zealous and successful Efforts of
Lafayette in Favor of America—A Fleet under Admiral de Termay brings over a
French army under the Count de Rochambeau—It lands at Newport–Hopes of
America—Washington calls earnestly for Troops to enable him to strike a Decis-
ive Blow—A Traitor—General Arnold in Treaty with the Enemy to deliver up
West Point—The Arrest of Major André reveals and Defeats the Treachery—
Arnold escapes to the English—André tried and executed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
CHAPTER II.
Campaign of 1781—Aspect of Affairs—Arnold leads an Expedition to Virginia, and
is joined by Phillips—Lafayette sent against him—The Campaign in Carolina—
General Morgan's brilliant Victory at Cowpens—Greene's famous Retreat—Bat-
tle of Guilford Court House—Cornwallis, pursued by Greene, enters Virginia—
Lord Rawdon in the Carolinas—Battle of Hobkirk's Hill–Siege of Ninety-Six—
Death of Hayne–Lafayette and Cornwallis in Virginia–Cornwallis at Yorktown
—Washington and Te Grasse concert a Movement against him—Successful Co-
operation—Cornwallis invested—Surrenders—Arnold ravages Connecticut. . . . . . 545
CONTENTS. XI.
PART V.
THE REPUBLIC UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND UNDER
THE CONSTITUTION.
CELAPTER I.
The Return to Peace—Articles of Confederation—Treaties with Foreign Countries
—Indian Nations—Northwest Territory organized—A desire for a better Union
—A Convention called—The new Constitution—It is accepted by eleven States
—Close of the Continental Congress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
Whapter II.
George Washington President 1789–1797–His Cabinet—Peacº made with the
Creeks and Cherokees–North Carolina and Rhode Island yield when treated as
Foreign Countries—The National Debt—War with the Miamies and Western
Tribes—Defeat of General Harmar—Bank of North America—Vermont and Ken-
tucky Admitted—St. Clair defeated by the Western Indians—Washington's Re-
election—The French and their Ambassador, Genet—The Algerine Corsairs—
Wayne overthrows the Indians and concludes a Peace—The Whisky Insurrec-
tion—Indian Boundaries—Treaty with Spain—Tennessee admitted.—Washing-
ton's Farewell Address—He returns to Mount Vernon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
scharter III.
JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDENT—1797–1801.
Affairs with France—Mississippi Territory organized—War with France on the
Ocean—The Alien and Sedition Acts—Death of General Washington—Seat of
Government removed to Washington—Indiana Territory organized–Close of
the War with France—Adams defeated in the next election. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
harm IV.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, THIRD PRESIDENT—1801–1809.
War against Tripoli—Purchase of Louisiana–Lewis and Clarke's Expedition to
Oregon–Troubles with Florida–Burr's Conspiracy—English Outrages—Attack
on the Chesapeake—New States and Territories.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
X11 º CONTENTS.
knºwn W.
JAMES MADISON, FOURTH PRESIDENT—1809–1817.
Trouble in Pennsylvania—The President and Little Belt—Indian Troubles in the
West—War with England—Hull's Surrender—Operations on the New York
Frontiers—Queenstown, La Colle—Victories at Sea—Proctor's Victories in the
West—Repulsed at Fort Meigs—Toronto—The Niagara—Perry's Victory—Bat-
tle of the Thames—Tecumseh slain—The Creek War—General Jackson—Battle
of the Chippewa—Invasion of Maryland—Capture of Washington—English re-
pulsed at Baltimore—Macomb and McDonough at Plattsburg—Jackson in Florida
-Battle of New Orleans—Peace proclaimed—Final battles at Sea... . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER WI.
JAMES MONROE, FIFTH PRESIDENT—1817–1825.
Indian Troubles—The Seminoles—Seizure of Spanish Forts—Florida Ceded to the
United States—The Treaty of Ghent—Alabama—Arkansas, Maine—The Mis-
Souri Compromise—Lafayette Revisits the United States—The Monroe Doctrine
—West India Pirates Broken up... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER VII.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, SIXTH PRESIDENT—1825–1829.
Internal Improvements—Death of Adams and Jefferson—Indian Troubles—Ma-
sonic Excitement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER VIII.
ANDREW JACKSON, SEVENTH PRESIDENT—1829–1837.
Striking Inauguration—A Bad Policy—Cherokee Difficulties—The United States
Bank—Black Hawk War—Nullification in South Carolina—Seminole War—
Texas becomes an Independent Republic—Arkansas and Michigan Admitted-
The Specie Circular. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER IX.
MARTIN VAN BUREN, EIGHTH PRESIDENT—1837–1841.
Bankruptcy caused by Speculation—The Independent Treasury—The Seminole
War—Death of Osceola—Troubles in Canada—Wilkes' Exploring Expedition—
The Maine Boundary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
618.
653
660,
662
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, NINTH PRESIDENT—1841.
JOHN TYLER, TENTH PRESIDENT—1841–1845.
Mr. Tyler vetoes the United States Bank—The Maine Boundary–Rhode Island
Troubles—Patroon Troubles—Native American Party—The Mormons—Annex-
ation of Texas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' ' ' ' '
CHAPTER XI.
JAMES K. POLK, ELEVENTH PRESIDENT—1845–1849.
The Mexican War—Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma—Battle of Monte-
rey—Conquest of California and New Mexico–Santa Anna-Scott at Vera
Cruz—Battle of Buena Vista—Capture of Vera Cruz—Battle of Cerro Gordo–
Puebla taken—Contreras and Churubusco—Battle of Chapultepec-Mexico taken
—Last Struggles of the Mexicans—Peace of Guadalupe Hidalgo–Close of Polk's
Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER XII.
ZACHARY TAYLOR, TWELFTH PRESIDENT—1849–1850.
MILLARD FILLMORE, THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT—1850–1853.
Brief Administration of General Taylor—Admission of California—Fillmore as
President—Lopez and the Cuban Affairs—Sioux Indians—Kossuth—Sir John
Franklin and the Grinnell Expedition—Fishery Question—Death of Clay and
Webster—The Telegraph. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER XIII.
FRANKLIN PIERCE, FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT—1853–1857.
The Mesilla Valley Difficulty—Growth of the Country—Walker and Nicaragua–
The Ostend Manifesto–Kansas and Nebraska—The Dangerous Excitement as to
the Growth of Slavery.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER XIV.
JAMES BUCHANAN, FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT—1857–1861.
Kansas—Its Civil War and final Admission as a Free State—Admission of other
New States—Territories Organized—Party Violence—John Brown and Harper's
Ferry—Four Presidential Tickets—Election of Abraham Lincoln—Secession of
South Carolina and six other States—They form the Confederate States of
America—Seizure of Forts—Anderson and Fort Sumter—The Ineffectual At-
tempt to Relieve it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
674.
68t.
705.
Xiy CONTENTS.
PART VI.
THE GREAT CIVIL WAR–ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIXTEENTH PRESI-
DENT—1861–5–1865.
CHAPTER I.
Affairs during the Spring and Summer of 1861—Lincoln's Cabinet—Reorganization
of the Government, Army and Navy—Attempt to relieve Sumter—Its Bombard-
ment—The first call for Troops—Replies of the States—Blockade of the Southern
ports—East Tennessee and West Virginia for the Union—Missouri saved by
Lyon's energy—First movement of United States Troops—Ellsworth—McClellan
in Western Virginia—Battles of Philippi, Rich Mountain, and Carrick's Ford—
Big Bethel—Bull Run–General Lyon and the Battles of Carthage, Dug Spring,
Wilson's Creek, and Lexington–First operations against the Coast of the Con-
federate States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726
CHAPTER II.
The War in the West—Minor Operations—Battle of Belmont—Grant's First Action
—Polk Crosses to Relieve his Men—Desperate Fighting—Grant Succeeds in
Reaching his Gunboats—The Port Royal Expedition—A Foothold in South
Carolina—Operations with no Great Result—The Slidell-Mason Affair—Com-
modore Wilkes–Attitude of the British Government—Slidell and Mason Given
up—Pope's Missouri Campaign—The Confederate Line in the West—Prepara-
tions to Break it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750
PART VI.
THE CIVIL WAR CONTINUED–ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIXTEENTH PRESI-
DENT—1861–5—1865.
CHAPTER III.
Buell's Campaign—Battle of Mill Spring—Zollicoffer Defeated by Thomas and
Rilled—The Confederate Line Broken—Grant and Porter Move—Fort Henry
Bombarded by the Fleet, and Reduced before Grant Arrives—The Army and
Fleet Move upon Fort Donelson—The Fleet Repulsed with Loss—Grant's At-
tack—Battle of Fort Donelson—Desperate Fighting—The Confederate Command-
ers—The Surrender of the Fort—The new Confederate Line—Island No. 10 Occu-
pied by Them—It is Reduced—The War in Arkansas—Battle of Pea Ridge—
Operations on the Coast—The Burnside Expedition—Capture of Fort Pulaski—
Butler's Expedition to Louisiana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760
! CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
The ravasion of New Mexico by Sibley—Canby's Defence—The Fleet on the Mis-
sissippi—The Ram Fleet under Colonel Ellet—Memphis Yields—Butler's Louisi-
ana Campaign—Farragut's Naval Battle—Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip—
New Orleans Taken—The Fleet Ascends the River—First Operations against
Vicksburg—The Chesapeake Naval Battle between the Merrimac and Monitor—
The Confederate Government—Stanton—Shields defeats Jackson—McClellan's
Peninsula Campaign—The Battle of Pittsburg Landing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER V.
McClellan's Campaign against Richmond—Operations in the Shenandoah Valley—
The Seven Days' Battles—Mechanicsville—Fair Oaks—Gaines' Mill—White-Oak
Swamp—Malvern Hill—McClellan Retires to Harrison's Landing—Halleck made
General-in-Chief—McClellan Embarks for the Potomac-Pope's Vainglorious
Promises—Banks Worsted at Cedar Mountain—Jackson in Pope's Rear—Second
Battle of Bull Run–Pope not Supported by McClellan—He Retreats to Wash-
ington and Resigns—Colonel Cantwell—Lee Enters Maryland—Outgenerals
McClellan and takes Harper's Ferry—Battles of South Mountain and Antietan
—Lee Retreats—McClellan Pursues—He is Relieved. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER VI.
The Operations in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi—Advance of General Bragg
—Battles of Richmond and Munfordsville—A Confederate Governor of Kentucky
Inaugurated—Buell in the Field–Bragg Beaten at Perryville—Retreats through
Cumberland Gap—Rosecrans Defeats Price at Iuka, and Van Dorn at Corinth
Rosecrans' Winter Campaign–Morgan's Raid–Bragg Defeated at Stone River
Minor Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . . . . . .
$
Operations against Vicksburg
CHAPTER VII.
Grant's First Attempt Defeated by Van Dorn's Cap-
ture of Holly Springs—General Sherman Aided by Porter's Gunboats—Attempts
to Storm it, but is Repulsed with Heavy Loss—Grant's Various Attempts—He
goes down the River—Battles of Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion
Hills, Big Black—Vicksburg Invested—Pemberton Surrenders—Grant drives
Johnston from Jackson—Fight at Milliken's Bend—Operations in Louisiana and
Texas under General Banks—His Repulse at Port Hudson—Second Attack—
Gardiner Surrenders—Minor Operations
* * * * * * * * * * > . . . . . .
769
7S6
S00
xvi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Army of the Potomac under General Burnside—He Crosses the Rappahannock
and Attacks Lee's Position at Marye's Heights—He is Repulsed with heavy Loss,
and Recrosses the River—Removed when about to Renew the Attack—General
Hooker takes Command—He Crosses the Rappahannock—Battle of Chancellors-
ville—His Right Wing turned by Jackson, who is Killed—Desperate Fighting—
Hooker Stunned by a Cannon-ball at Chancellorsville—Sedgwick, Operating be-
low, Attacked by Lee's whole Force and Driven across the River—Hooker Re-
crosses—Longstreet—Lee Flanks Hooker's Right—Milroy Surprised at Win-
chester—Lee Crosses the Potomac—Hooker, unable to Obtain the Garrison of
Warper's Ferry, Resigns—Meade placed in Command—Movements of the Armies
'They come in Collusion at Gettysburg—The Battle—General Reynolds Killed
and his Corps Driven through the Town—The Halt on Cemetery Hill–Sickles
takes a wrong Position—Hancock—Meade Arrives—Sickles Driven back—The
Terrible Charge of Lee's whole Line—Its Repulse—Lee Retreats—Manassas Gap
—Warren and Hill—The Armies Resume their old Positions—Mine Run—
Droop Mountain... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * g e e 818,
CHAPTER IX.
ſorgan's Raid through Indiana and Ohio–The War in Tennessee—Rosecrans
flanks Bragg and drives him to Lafayette—Bragg Faces—Battle of Chickamauga
–Rosecrans Defeated—Grant succeeds him—Bragg sends Longstreet against
Burnside—Campbell's Station—Longstreet Repulsed—Cavalry Raids—Grant's
Campaign–Hooker Crosses the Tennessee—Wauhatchie—Lookout Mountain—
Mission Ridge—Sherman–Cleburne checks Hooker at White-Oak Ridge—
'Knoxville Relieved—The War in Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian Territory—
Marmaduke at Springfield, Hartsville, Batesville, and Cape Girardeau—Coffey's
Operations—Quantrell's Cruelties—Indian Operations—The Sioux War... . . . . . . 834.
$ CHAPTER X.
Operations from North Carolina to Florida in 1862–3—Capture of Fort Pulaski—
Jacksonville taken and abandoned—Hunter repulsed at Secessionville—Thé
Nashville—Dupont Repulsed—Ironclad Raid from Charleston—Attack on Fort
Sumter—The Swamp Angel—Wagner taken–Hill at Newberne—Vallandig-
ham's case—The Draft-Riots in New York—Negro Soldiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854.
CHAPTER XI. *~.
* An Offer of Amnesty—Gilmore's Operations in Florida—Seymour defeated at Olus-
tee—A Convention at Jacksonville in favor of the United States—Unsuccessful
Operations in South Carolina—A Stirring Campaign in North Carolina on Land
and Water—Banks' Red River Expedition—He retires—The Fleet carried over
the Rapids by Engineering Skill—Operations in Texas and Arkansas –Rosecrans
in Missouri—Price's last Attempt to carry the State—Battles at Pilot Knob, Little
and Big Blue, Little Osage and Newtonia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86;"
CONTENTS. xvii
CHAPTER XII.
4General Grant in Virginia–He takes Command of the Armies—The Army of the
Potomac reorganized—Kilpatrick sent against Richmond—Death of Dahlgren—
Grant fights the Battle of the Wilderness—Spottsylvania—Hancock storms the
Lines—His Captures—Sheridan and J. E. B. Stuart—Butler operating south of
the James—Action at Port Walthall Junction—Beauregard attacks Butler—Gun-
boats blown up—Grant at the North Anne–A sharp Action—Burnside defeated
—Repulse at Cold Harbor—Butler's Operations against Petersburg–Meade at
the Weldon Railroad—Defeat of Hancock and Gregg–Close of the Campaign of
1864—Jones and Avery in the Shenandoah Valley—Early threatens Washing-
ton—Sheridan sent against him—Battles of Opequan and Fisher's Hill—Early
surprises Crook at Cedar Creek—Sheridan's Ride—A Defeat turned into a Vic-
tory by a single Man... . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is e - e. e. e. e. e. e. g. s is e º s e º e º sº s > e º s º 882
CHAPTER XIII.
Sufferings of Prisoners—Andersonville—Forrest's Raids—He takes Fort Pillow—
Fearful Atrocities—He routs Sturgis—Is beaten by A. J. Smith–Various Actions
—Morgan's last Raid—Pursued and killed—Sherman's Campaign against John-
ston—His three Armies—Hooker takes Resaca—Davis takes Rone—Fight at
Pumpkinvine Creek—New Hopes—Dallas–Allatoona—Sherman repulsed at
Kenesaw—Again flanks Johnston–Hood supersedes Johnston—He twice attacks
Sherman and is repulsed—Stoneman's Failure—Hardee defeated—Hood aban-
dons Atlanta—Sherman occupies it, and expels its Inhabitants—Hood endeavors
to draw. Sherman out of Georgia—French defeated by Corse at Allatoona—
Thomas sent to defend Tennessee—Sherman prepares to march to the Sea. . . . . . . 903
CHAPTER XIV.
The Confederates on the Sea—The Oreto, Alabama, Florida—Capture of the Reve-
nue Cutter Chesapeake—Aid given by England and her Provinces—Capture of
the Florida and Japan—Engagement between the Alabama and the Kearsarge–
The Alabama sunk—Farragut in Mobile Harbor destroys the Confederate Fleet. 917
CHAPTER XV.
The Presidential Election—Movements for Peace—The Negotiations at Hampton
Roads—Forrest's last Raid—Hood advances, and Thomas falls back to Nashville
—Bloody Battle at Franklin—The Battle at Nashville—Thomas attacks Hood on
the right and left, and carries his first Line—He storms Overton's Hill–Hood
routed and driven across the Tennessee—Breckinridge driven into North Caro-
lina–Saltville taken. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 922
xviii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVI.
Sherman's March to the Sea—Mode of Proceeding—Fights on the way—Before
Savannah—Hazen storms Fort McAllister—Sherman meets Foster and Dahlgren
—Savannah evacuated—Sherman's Christmas-present to President Lincoln—
Operations to co-operate with him—He crosses the Edisto—Actions at Branch-
ville, Orangeburg, and on the Congaree—Columbia surrendered—The Conflagra-
tion—Hardee evacuates Charleston—The Stars and Stripes raised at Sumter—
Sherman enters North Carolina—Fayetteville–Actions at Averysborough and
Bentonville—Goldsborough—The Expeditions against Fort Fisher—It is carried
at last—Fall of Wilmington—Hoke's Repulse—Wilson's brilliant Cavalry Cam-
paign in Alabama–Canby reduces Mobile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927
CHAPTER XVII.
The Close of the War—Grant begins operations—The Confederate Rams in the
James—Sheridan in the Valley again—He crushes Early—Wheels around Lee's
Lines and reports to Grant—Lee's bold Dash—He takes Fort Steedman—Grant's
Advance on the Confederate Lines—Sheridan at Five-Forks—General Assault-
by Grant—Forts Gregg and Alexander carried—Lee defeated, and A. P. Hil)
killed—He telegraphs to Davis that Richmond must be evacuated—The Confed-
erate Capital in Confusion and Flames—Weitzel enters it—Lee's Retreat—Sheri-
dan heads him off—Grant proposes a Surrender—Lee hesitates—Appomattox
Court House—Surrender of Lee's Army of Virginia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 936
CHAPTER XVIII.
Abraham Lincoln's Second Term—His Inauguration—He receives the News of the
Fall of Richmond—He visits that City—His last Proclamations—He is assassi-
nated in Ford's Theatre, Washington, by John Wilkes Booth—Simultaneous At-
tempts to assassinate Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State—Death of Mr. Lincoln–
Effect throughout the Country—Its terribly disastrous Consequences to the South. 942
CHAPTER XIX.
ANDREW JOHNSON, SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENT—1865–1869.
Sketch of President Johnson—His Inauguration—Investigation into Lincoln's AS-
sassination——Pursuit of Booth, his Capture and Death—The Attempt to Assassi-
mate Mr. Seward—A Conspiracy—Arrest of several—The bloody Court-martial—
Hanging—The Conclusion of the War—The Surrender of Johnston–Other Con-
federate Bodies—Jefferson Davis attempts to escape—Pursued and Captured—
Imprisoned, but never tried—The Confederate Flag on the Ocean—The last of
the British-built Ships—President Johnson and Congress—Their different Views
as to the Treatment of the South—A Series of Collisions—Bitter Feeling of the
Republican Party against the Man whom they had raised to Office—President
Johnson's Vetoes—Congress disregards them—Assumes to be the Government—
One House of Congress impeaches the President, whom they had treated with
every Dishonor—The other tries him—The great Impeachment Trial—Acquittal
of the President—The South ruined by oppressive Reconstruction Acts—Fenian
Affairs—Attempts to invade Canada—Prompt Action of Government—The At-
lantic Cable—Close of Johnson's Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 946
CONTENTS. xix.
CHAPTER XX.
ULYSSES S. GRANT, EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT—1869–1877.
President Grant—His Cabinet—Reconstruction of Virginia—Mississippi and Texas
—The Fifteenth Amendment—Proposed Annexation of St. Domingo—The great
Conflagration at Chicago—Settlement of the Alabama Claims—The Presidentia
Election—Death of Mr. Greeley–The Modoc War—Trouble with Spain in regard
to the Seizure of the Virginius and Murder of her Crew and Passengers at Santi-
ago de Cuba—The Louisiana Troubles—Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia
—Colorado admitted as a State—Trial of Belknap, Secretary of War—Nez Percés
and Sioux War—Presidential Election—Disputed States—Electoral Commission. 965.
CHAPTER XXI.
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, NINETEENTH PRESIDENT—1877–1881.
His Cabinet—Conciliatory Policy toward the South—Financial Troubles—Strikes
and Riots—The House of Representatives resists the use of Military Power at
Elections—The Ute War—The Yellow Fever—The Chinese Question—Decrease
of the Debt—Presidential Election. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97%
CELAPTER XXII.
JAMES A GARFIELD, TWENTIETH PRESIDENT—1881. CHESTER A.
ARTHUR, TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENT—1881–1885.
Garfield's Cabinet—Difficulty as to New York Appointments—He is Shot by Guiteau
—His Sufferings and Death—Foreign Sympathy—Arthur's Policy–Trial of
Guiteau—Apportionment of Representatives--The Suppression of Polygamy in
LItah—Arctic Explorations—The Brooklyn Bridge—Election of Cleveland. . . . . 983
CHAPTER XXIII.
GROVER CLEVELAND, TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT—1885.
His Cabinet—Gen. Grant put on the Retired List—His Death at Mt. McGregor—
Massacre of Chinese in Wyoming—Recognition of the International Associa-
tion of the Congo—The Rights of American Fishermen questioned by Canada
—American Fishing Vessels seized—Death of Vice-President Hendricks. . . . . . . . 988
BIOGRAPHICAL
EORTRAT * (SALLERY
*PRONAINENT CHARACTERS:
AMERICAN HISTORY,
INCLUDING
OU R PRESIDENTS :
Their Portraits and Autographs,
VVITH ERIEF EIOG R A PHICAL SP&LETCHES,
TOGETHIER WITH
CONCISE CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES OF THE PRINCIPAL Eve NTS IN UNIVERSAL
HISTORY, CONTEMPORARY WITH THE ADMINISTRATION OF EACH.
A LSO
Fac-Sirrhile of the Declaration of Indepern dernce,
IN THE HANDWRITING OF ITS AUTHOR, AND THE
AUTOGRAPHS OF THE SIGNERS,
WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF OUR NATIONAL Gover NMENT,
AND HOW IT IS ADMINISTERED IN Its VARIous DEPARTMENTs.
N EVV Y ORIX :
GAY E FOTHERS & CO.

(HRſNOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS
IN THE UNITED STATES AND IN THE PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF EUROPE
CONTEMPORARY WITH EACH PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION,
Washington’s Administration [1789–1797].
THE UNITED STATES.
1789. Washington inaugurated President of the United States. , 1790. District of Columbia
Jeded to the United States. 1791. Bank of the United States established; Wermont admitted into
the Union. , 1792, Kentucky admitted into the Union. 1793. Washington inaugurated a second
time. 1794, Whiskey insurrection in Pennsylvania. 1795. Jay's treaty with Great Britain ratified.
1796. Tennessee admitted into the Union; Washington issues his Farewell Address; John Adams
elected President of the United States.
GREAT BRITAIN
1789. George III. had reigned twenty-nine years; the British constitution extended to Canada.
1790. The peace of British India disturbed by hostile Tippoo Sultan. 1791. The people of the king-
dom divided in opinion concerning the French Revolution. 1792. Parliament takes measures for
the abolition of the slave-trade. 1793. War against France declared. 1794, Seditious persons and
Societies prosecuted. 1795. Coalition with other powers against France. 1796. Great bread-riot in
London.
FRANCE.
1789. Louis XVI. king; the French Revolution breaks out; the States-General assemble. 1790.
The king, unsuccessfully attempts to fly from France. 1792. The more conservative Girondists in
power..., 1793, Monarchy abolished and the king and queen beheaded; Europe arms against France.
1794. The Reign of Terror. 1795. Revolution of Ninth Thermidor. 1796. Rapid military advance-
ment of Napoleon Bonaparte; he marries Josephine.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. -
1789. Charles IV. king of Spain; Maria queen of Portugal. Spain—1792. Joins the coalition
against France ; Manuel Godoy becomes the real ruler of Spain. 1795. By the treaty of Ildefonso
Spain cedes Santo Domingo to France. 1796, Godoy concludes an offensive and defensive league
With France, and declares war against England. Portugal—1792. Queen Maria becomes insane, and
her son rules in her name. 1793. Portugal declares war against the French Republic.
IRUSSIA. W
1789. Catharine II. empress of Russia. 1792, Peace with the Turks concluded, 1793. The
Second dismemberment of Poland effected. 1794. A formidable rebellion in Poland against Russia,
łed º Kosciuszko. 1795. The final destruction of the kingdom of Poland, and Russia receives as
her share of the plunder about two-thirds of the domain. 1796. The Empress Catharine II. dies.
GERMANY, AUSTRIA, PRUs SIA, AND HUNGARY.
1790. The tottering fabric of the German empire of petty states falls. Austria—1790, Joseph
II. dies, and his brother Leopold becomes emperor. 1792, Austria joins the coalition against France;
Leopold's son Francis succeeds him ; Austria engages warmly in the wars against France. Prussia–
1789. Frederick William II, king. 1792. Prussia joins the coalition against France. 1795. In the
partition of Poland takes 40,000 sq. m. of her territory. Hungary–1791. Her constitutional rights
and the rights of Protestants sanctioned by Austria. 1795, Measures taken to suppress democracy
in Hungary
ITALY.
1789, Italy was divided between the Papal States, the principalities of Savoy, Parma, and Mo-
dena, the republics of Venice and Genoa, . kingdom of Naples. , 1792. French troops penetrate
Savoy. , 1793. The French National Convention declares war against Naples. 1795. The French
expelled from Italy. 1796, Bonaparte in chief command of French troops in Italy; annexes Italian
territory to France. -
THE NIETHERLANDS AND SWITZERLAND.
1790...Netherlands-William IV., Prince of Orange, ruler. 1792, A French army invades and
conquers Belgium: 1794, Holland invaded and conquered by the French, 1795. The Batavian re-
ublic proclaimed. Switzerland—1789. A republic of confederated cantons or states. 1792. In-
uced to engage in war with revolutionary France. 1793–94. The French deprive the Swiss of
their constitution, and in 1798 establish the Helvetian republic.
DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY.
1789. Denmark—Christian VII, king. 1792. Refuses to join the coalition against France, and
Femains neutral during the French Revolution, Sweden—1789, Gustavus III, king; the Senate abol-
jshed and the prerogatives of the crown extended. 1792. The king assassinated aſ a masked ball by
Count Ankerström; the assassin, was scourged three successive days with whips of iron, had his
right hand cut off, then his head, and his body impaled. Norway was scarcely more than a province
of Denmark until the beginning of the present century.
FIRST PRESIDENT.
Born in Westmoreland county, Va., Feb. 22, 1732. Began surveying the I irginia Valley,
1748. Appointed major in the army, 1751. Promoted to colonel, 1754. ..]/ irried J/rs.
Martha Custis, I759. Member House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1759. Delegate to the first
Continental Congress, 1774. Elected Commander-in-Chief, by the Congress, June 15, 1775.
Salazy ſºred at $6,000 per year, but he declined to receive any compensation. Iſar ended by
**rrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va., Oct. 19, 1781. Treaty of Peace signed in Paris,
%. 3, 1783. Resigned his commission, Dec. 23, 1783. Presided over the Convention which
Jºamed the Constitution, Ahiladelphia, I7S7. In tugurated first President of the United
States, New York, April, 30, 1789. A lected for a second term, 1793. Declined a third
*m. Issued his “Farewell Address,” Sept. 19, 1796. Believing a French invasion con-
*A*ated, he was again summoned to take the field, May, 1798. Died Dec. 14, 1799.
Pice-President, John Adams,

CO N T E M POR A N E O U S IX W E N T S.
John Adams's Administration [1797–18O1].
TELE UNITED STATES.
1797. John Adams inaugurated President of the United States. 1798. Preparations made for
an expected war with France; Washington appointed commander-in-chief of a provisional army;
Alien and Sedition Laws passed. 1799, Death of Washington; war with France on the ocean ceases.
1800. Seat of government removed to Washington City; the provisional army disbanded; Thomas
Jefferson elected President of the United States.
GREAT BRITAIN.
1797, England was the only power at war with France; the English gain a brilliant naval vic-
tory off Cape St. Vincent; mutinies in the British navy suppressed. , 1798. England prepares for an
invasion by the French ; rebellion in Ireland suppressed; Nelson gains a victory at the battle of the
Nile; war in India with Tippoo Sahib. 1799. The Duke of York attempts to drive the French from
Holland. 1800. The king shot at twice the same day. 1801. Legislative union between Great Bri-
tain and lyeland effected. -
IFRANCE,
1797. Bonaparte makes conquests in Italy and concludes the treaties of Leoben and Campo
Formio. 1798. Bonaparte sent to conquer Egypt. 1799. Bonaparte invades Syria and on his re-
turn usurps the civil power of France. 1800. Bonaparte made First Consul of France; invades
Italy; gains a great victory at Marengo; also at other points, and concludes a treaty with Austria in
its own name and that of the German Empire.
SPAIN AND POIRTUGAL.
1797. The Spanish fleet defeated in battle off Cape St. Vincent by an English fleet. 1798. All
the ports of Spain blockaded by the English. Portugal—1799. The queen, Maria, pronounced hope-
lessly insane; her son, Prince of Brazil, is made regent of the kingdom with full regal powers, išč.
In alliance with England and Russia, Portugal renews war with France; Bonaparte compels Spain to
declare war against Portugal. • --" -
GERMANY, AUSTRIA, PRUSSIA, AND HUNGARY.
1797, Austria—By the peace of Campo Formio Austria lost Lombardy and the Netherlands, but
obtained a large portion of Venetia. 1799. In alliance with Russia Austria declares war against the
French Republic the second time. 1801. Bonaparte compels Austria to accept the peace of Luné-
ville. Prussia—1797. Frederick William III. king. After 1795 Prussia maintained its neutrality.
Hungary furnished Austria with money and men to make war on the French.
IRUSSIA.
1797. Engages actively in war against France, forming an alliance with England, Austria, Na-
ples, and Turkey. 1799. Sends armies to Italy, Switzerland, and Holland against the French Rº-
ublic, 1799. Concludes a convention of armed neutrality with Denmark and Sweden. , 1800.
akes friendly advances toward France. 1801. The Emperor Paul assassinated by conspirators
among the Russian nobility
ITALY.
1797. Bonaparte forms the Cisalpine Republic, composed of Mantua, Milan, the portion of Parma
north of the Po, and Modena; France makes war on the pope. 1798. The French overthrow the
Papal States and erect a Roman Republic; the Ligurian Républic established at Genoa; Naples can
cludes a treaty of alliance with Great Britain and Russia; the French establish the Parthenopean Re-
public in Naples. 1800. The Austrians defeated by the ‘French at Marengo.
§º.
SWITZERLAND.
1798. Two French armies invade Switzerland without a pretext, capture the city of Berne, plun-
der its army and treasury, and proclaim the Helvetian Republic of eighteen cantons, with Aarau as
its capital; Geneva, Berne, and several other portions of Swiss territory incorporated with the
French Republic. 1800. Aloys Reding leads an insurrection to overthrow the French-created re-
public, but fails; a new constitution imposed on the Swiss.
DENNIAIRIE AND SWEDEN.
1801. By an alliance with Russia, Prussia, and Sweden, Denmark involved, herself in War with
England; she suffered much in a naval battle off Copenhagen, and lost her colonies in the East and
West Indies; these were restored by treaty. Sweden—1798, Gustavus IV., on his accession, to the
throne as full monarch at the age of eighteen, became involved in hostilities with France and Russia,
1800. Sir John Moore sent with an English army to Sweden, but soon returned.
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SECOND PRESIDENT.
Born in Quincy, J/ass., Oct. 19, 1735. Graduate at Harvard College. I 755. A d'un itſea" ſo
the bar, 1758, Commissioner to France, 1778. Author of Constitution of A/assac/ reset/s, I 779.
Al/inister to negotiate peace with Great Britain, 1779; sent to Aolland, 1780, summoned to
Paris to consult on the general Aeace, which was signed, 1783. Appointed Aſinister Plenipo-
tentiary to C, eat Britain, 1785. Resigned, 1788, and was elected Pice-President. Æðected
President of the United States, 1796, defeating 7.homas Jefferson. Died July 4, 1826.
Vice-President, 7% omas Jefferson.






CONTEMPORAN E O US EVENTS.
Jefferson's Administration [1801–1809).
TEIE UNITED STATES.
1801. Thomas Jefferson inaugurated President of the United States; Tripoli declares war against
the United States. 1802. Ohio admitted into the Union. 1803. War with the Barbary States begins;
Louisiana purchased from France. 1804. An ºf expedition from the Mississippi to the Pacific
begins., 1805. Peace with the Barbary States effected; Aaron Burr's mysterious expedition in the
Hº: Walley. 1806, Partial non-intercourse with Great Britain adopted. 1807. Attack on the
frigate Chesapeake; successful navigation by steam accomplished. 1808. The slave-trade abolished.
1809. Embargo Act repealed.
3.
GREAT BRITAIN.
1801. Nelson's victory at Copenhagen; British national debt $2,600,000,000; the French expelled
from Egypt. 1802, Peace of Amiens. 1803, War against Bonaparte renewed. 1804, England
threatened with invasion by Napoleon I. 1805, Nelson's victory and death at Trafalgar. 1806.
Death of Pitt (the premier) and Charles J. Fox. 1807. Orders in council against the Berlin decree;
abolition of the slave-trade. 1808. Small English armies sent to the Spanish Peninsula. 1809.
Death of Sir John Moore. *
- IFIRANCE. • -
1801. Bonaparte First Consul, 1802, Legion of Honor instituted; Bonaparte made Consul for
life. 1803. France sells Louisiana, to the United States; the Bank of France established; declara-
tion of war against England. 1804. Conspiracy of Moreau and Pichegru; Bonaparte proclaimed em-
eror as “Napoleon I.” 1805. Napoleon crowned king of Italy; defeats the Allies at Austerlitz. 1806.
attle of Jena; the Berlin decree; the beginning of the “Continental system,” 1808. New nobility
of France created.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
1801. Spain begins war against º 1802. Cedes Trinidad to England. 1804, Spanish
treasure-ships valued at $3,000,000 seized the English; declares war against England. 1806.
Godoy, “Prince of Peace,” the real ruler. 1807. Conspiracy of the Prince of Asturias. 1808. The
French take Madrid; Godoy dismissed; abdication of Charles IV.; Joseph Bonaparte king of Spain.
Portugal—1801. At war with Spain. 1807. On the invasion of the French the regent and royal
family fly to Brazil; Marshal Junot enters Lisbon. 1808. The defeated French army allowed to
evacuate Portugal, in British ships.
GERMANY AND A USTRIA.
1801, Francis II., Emperor of Germany, ruler. 1804, Francis, whose title is an empty one,
assumes the hereditary title of emperor of Austria as Francis I., and unites all his domains under the
name of the “Austrian Empire.” T805, Joins the new coalition against France; defeated at Auster-
litz; surrender of General Mack, 1806, Loses Venice and the Tyrol; the German Empire dissolved
and the end of the “Holy Roman Empire” established by Charlemagne, accomplished; Francis lays
down the imperial crown of Germany.
IRTUSSIA.
1801. Alexander I. emperor. 1802, Promotes the treaties which lead to the gradual dissolution
of the German Empire. 1803. The Fº of Georgia, in Asia, incorporated with Russia. 1805.
The emperor present at the battle of Austerlitz. 1807. Russians defeated at the battle of Friedland;
successful war with the Turks; Alexander and Napoleon conclude the treaty of Tilsit on a raft in the
river Niemen; the Ionian Islands ceded to France. -
ITALY.
1801. Possession of Wenice confirmed to Austria, 1802. The Italian Republic established with
Bonaparte as president; the king of Naples concludes a peace at Florence. 1805. Napoleon crowned
king of Italy; a new constitution formed; Eugene Beauharnais made viceroy. 1806, Austria loses
its Italian provinces. 1808. Etruria united with France; Napoleon makes the Prince Borghese ruler
at Turin and gives the crown of Naples to Murat.
SWITZERLAND.
1802, Civil war in Switzerland; the Helvetic government retires to Lausanne. 1803. Bonaparte
assumes the title and functions of “Mediator of Switzerland ”; the Federal government restored and
a Landermann appointed by France; three cantons separate from the Republic; a new constitution
given to Switzerland, under which it enjoyed peace for ten years.
IDENIMARIK AND SWEDEN.
1801. Admirals Nelson and Parker bombard Copenhagen, destroying eighteen Danish war-ships
and killing eighteen hundred of their crews in battle, 1807. Admiral Gambier and Lord Cathcart
bombard Copenhagen, and capture eighteen Danish ships of the line, fifteen frigates, and thirty-seven
brigs, Sweden--1809. The Swedes, after suffering from the rule of their half-insane king, Gustavus
IV., depose him and seat his uncle, the regent, Duke of Sudermania, on the throne as Charles XIII.
BIOLLAND.
1806. The Batavian Republic, administered by a director (Schimmelpenninck), terminates, and
Napoleon erects Holland into a kingdom, placing his brother Louis on the throne; on the abdication
of Louis, in 1810, Holland was incorporated as an integral part of the French Empire.
*
THIRD PRESIDENT.
Born in Shadwell, Pa., April 2, 1743. Received a classical education in IPillia; and
Mary College. Admitted to the bar, 1767. Member House of Burgesses, Va., 1769. AElected
to the Colonial Congress, 1775. Chosen to prepare the Declaration of Independence, adopted
July 4, 1776. Elected Governor of Va., 1779. Member of Congress, I783. Appointed
Minister to France, to succeed Benjamin Franklin, 1784. Appointed Secretary of State by
President Washington, 1789. Elected Vice-President, 1796. Flected President of the U.
S., 1801, cnd re-elected for second term. Founder of the University of Pirginia.
Zied July 4, 1826. Vice-President, Aaron Burr.

CONTEMPOR AN E O U S E W ENTS.
Madison’s Administration [1809–1817].
THE UNITED STATES.
1809. James Madison inaugurated President of the United States; Embargo Actrepealed. 1811
War with Indian tribes; battle of Tippecanoe; engagement between the President and Little Belt.
1812. Embargo laid for three months; war declared against Great Britain; surrender of Detroit; cap.
ture of the Guerriere; action between the Wasp and Frolic, the United States and Macedonian ; Louisi.
ana admitted into the Union. , 1813, Action between the Chesapeake and Shammon ; Perry's victory on
Lake Erie; Buffalo burnt. 1814, Great cruise of the Essex in the Pacific; battles on Niagara frontier;
Washington City captured and the Capitol burnt; battles at Plattsburg; treaty of peace signed at
Ghent. 1815. Battle of New Orleans; treaty of peace ratified; war with Algiers. 1816. James
Monroe elected President of the United States; United States Bank rechartered.
GREAT IBRITAIN.
1809, Troops under Wellington sent to Portugal to drive out the French; Arthur Wellesley, the
commander, made “Wiscount Wellington "; an expedition of 40,000 land troops and a large fleet,
sent to capture the Dutch island of Walcheren, was unfortunate. 1810, King George becomes hope-
lessly insane; arrest of Sir Francis Burdett, and a great riot 1811. The Prince of Wales made re-
gent of the kingdom; frequent riots in the manufacturing districts. 1812. War with the United States
begun; the prime minister, Perceval, assassinated; England allied against Napoleon. 1813. End of
the war on the Peninsula. 1814. Attempt to invade Louisiana; peace with the United States. 1815.
Wellington gains the battle of Waterloo; Great Britain a party to the Congress at Wienna. 1816.
Great riot in London. -
FRANCE.
1809, Divorce of Napoleon and Josephine. 1810, Holland united to France; Napoleon marries
an Austrian princess. 1811. Coolness between France and Russia. 1812, War with Russia declared;
disastrous expedition to Moscow. 1813. A triple alliance against France, which the British enter.
1814, Paris surrenders to the Allies; Napoleon abdicates and retires to Elba; Bourbon dynasty re-
stored. 1815. Napoleon returns from Elba; flight of the Bourbon court; the slave-trade abolished;
Napoleon defeated at Waterloo, and again abdicates; the Bourbon dynasty again restored; Napoleon
a prisoner for life on St. Helena. 1816. By law the Napoleon family is excluded from France for
GW CI’.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
1809. The French make many conquests in Spain. 1810. The Spanish Cortes meet and nomi-
nate a regent. 1811. Wellington defeats the French under both Massena and Soult. 1812. Consti-
tution adopted by the Cortes; Wellington occupies Madrid. 1813. Wellington drives the French
over the Pyrenees and enters France. 1814, Ferdinand WII. restored. 1815. The Inquisition re-
vived and the Jesuits restored ; from 1814 to 1819 there were twenty-five changes in the Spanish
ministry. Portugal—1814. Cedes Guiana to France, 1815. Union of Portugal with Brazil.
GERMANY, AUSTRIA, AND PRUSSIA.
1815. A confederation of German states which had maintained their sovereignty (formerly about
300, then 40) was formed. , Austria—1809. The peace of Wienna deprived Austria of 42,000 sq. m. of
territory and 3,500,000 of population. 1810. The Archduchess Maria Louisa marries Napoleon.
1812. Austria is in alliance with Napoleon against Russia. 1814. A congress of sovereigns assembles
at Vienna. 1815. “Holy Alliance” formed, Italian provinces restored, and the Lombardo-Wenetian
kingdom established. Prussia—Engages in war against Napoleon. 1813, A great popular uprising
to expel the French from Prussia; the “landwehr,” or militia, established. 1814. The king visits
England.
IRUSSIA.
1809. Turks defeated near Silistria. 1812. War with France; Moscow burnt by tho Russians.
1813. The emperor forms a coalition with other powers against Napoleon; the emperor at the battle
of Leipsic. 1814. The emperor enters Paris; visits England; a member of the congress of sovereigns
at Vienna; an agreement that Poland should be annexed to Russia. 1815. The emperor chief in the
formation of the “Holy Alliance.”
ITALY.
1809. Napoleon gives Tuscany to his sister Eliza with the title of Grand Duchess; Italy contin-
ued to bear heavy burdens on account of the wars of Napoleon; the wife of Napoleon obtains three
Italian duchies, with reversion to her son. 1814. Tho French troops ovacuato Italy, and the pro-
vinces are restored to their legitimate rulers. 1815. The Lombardo-Wenetian kingdom cstablished
for Austria; Murat takes up arms for the independence of Italy, but is defeated; affairs of Italy
arranged by the congress at Vienna. 1816. Insurrections prevail.
DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY.
1814, Denmark compelled to cede Norway to Sweden in exchange for Pomerania. 1815. Den-
mark makes over Pomerania to Prussia in exchange for money and for other territory. Sweden—
1809. Finland ceded to Russia. 1810. On the sudden death of a prince Marshal Bernadotte is
chosen crown prince. 1812, Swedish Pomerania seized by Napoleon. 1814. By the treaty of Kiel
Norway is ceded to Sweden. , Norway—1814, The Danish crown prince accepts the crown from
the Norwegians as an independent sovereign; tho Swedish crown prince, with an army, and the help
of a British fleet, takes possession of the country.
HOLLAND.
1810, Incorporated as a part of the French empire. 1815. Prince of Orange is declared king
(Willinn I.) by an Assembly of Notables, and a constitution is adopted; ancient southern provinces are
annexed to IIo!!and by the congress at Vienna.
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CONTEM POR AN E O U S E W ENTS.
Monroe’s Administration [1817–1825].
THE UNITED STATES.
1817. James Monroe inaugurated President of the United States; Mississippi admitted into the
Union. 1818. Illinois admitted into the Union; United States troops invade §. Pension Act
passed. 1819. Alabama admitted into the Union; warm debate on the question of slavery. , 1820.
Maine admitted into the Union. 1821. Debate on the admission of Missouri; the “Missouri Com
promise"; Missouri admitted;, Florida annexed. 1822. Independence of Spanish-American govern-
ments acknowledged. 1823. The “Monroe Doctrine” announced. 1824. Convention with Great
Britain for the suppression of the slave-trade; convention with Russia in relation to the northwest
boundary; Lafayette visits the United States; John Quincy Adams elected President of the United
States. -
GREAT BRITAIN.
1817. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus suspended. 1818. The public debt $4,300,000,-
U00; specie payments resumed. 1819. Queen Charlotte dies; Queen Victoria born; great réform
meeting in Manchester broken up by military force. 1820. The “Cato Street Conspiracy” discovered;
George III., dies; accession of George IV. ; trial of Queen Caroline. , 1821. Coronation of George IV. ;
Queen Caroline dies. 1822. Canning becomes Minister of Foreign Affairs; favors Catholic emāncipa-
tion. 1823, Independence of Spanish-American Republics acknowledged; free-trade policy recom-
mended.
FRANCE.
1817. Louis XVIII, king of France. 1818. The congress at Aix-la-Chapelle reinstates France in
dignity and power; a royal charter given. 1820. Assassination of the Duke of Berri, 1821. Napo-
leon dies at St. Helena; the “Holy Alliance" active and influential at court. 1823. At their request
the king sends one hundred thousand French soldiers into Spain to support Ferdinand, the Bourbon
king; Cadiz, with the Cortes, captured by the French. 1824, Fraudulent elections; despotic laws en-
acted; the king dies and Count d'Artois ascends the throne as Charles X.
GERMAN CONFEDERATION.
1815. Takes the place of the Confederation of the Rhine; it included Austria, Prussia, and all
the petty kingdoms and principalities which had preserved their sovereignty. 1817. The Prussians
established a Ministry of Education. 1818. The Prussian Zollverein, or Commercial Union, soon united
the German states on the basis of material interests. 1819, Assassination of Kotzebue produces an
anti-liberal reaction; congress at Carlsbad. 1820–23. Austria tries to suppress popular indications of
liberal ideas everywhere; Prussia always liberal; Austria, otherwise. 1824, Austria favored the
Turks in their war against the Greek patriots.
TUSSIA.
1817. A partial abolition of serfdom in the German-Baltic provinces begun, but emigration of the
peasants from one province to another not allowed., 1818. The emperor pºsides at the Congress of
Aix-la-Chapelle, where Russia abandoned liberal reforms, the Austrian minister, Metternich, control-
ling the emperor and czar. 1820–22. At three congresses the emperor urges the policy of suppressing
political and religious freedom; the Jesuits expelled from Russia. 1824, Russia favors the Turks in
their war upon Greek patriots.
SPAIN AND POIRTUGAL.
Spain—1817. The slave-trade abolished for compensation, 1819. Insurrection in Walencia re-
pressed. 1820. The Spanish revolution begins; the king (Ferdinand) swears to support the consti-
tution framed by the Cortes. 1823 The king removed by the Cortes, first to Seville and thence to
Cadiz ; the French enter Spain and invest Cadiz, but soon evacuate it; despotism resumed; the
Cortes dissolved and execution of many liberals. Portugal—1820, Revolution in Portugal; Consti-
tutional Junta. 1821. A liberal constitution adopted; return of the court from Brazil. 1822. Prince-
regent becomes king 1823. The constitution modified. 1824. Disturbances in Lisbon.
ITALY.
1817. The Congress of Vienna had divided Italy in the interest of despotism, without regard wo
the aspirations of the people for national unity. 1818. Ante-revolutionary institutions having been
restored, the dissatisfied people in some places rise in insurrection. 1820-21. Revolutionary out-
breaks occur in Naples and Sardinia. , 1821. The congress at Laybach orders Austrian º to put
down popular movements in Italy. 1822–23, Austrian troops complete the subjugation of the liberal
party. 1823–24. Windictive persecution of the liberals; the Papal States enjoy immunity from in-
surrections by the force of Austrian bayonets. -
- DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY.
1817. Frederick VI, king of Denmark, 1820. A national bank established at Copenhagen.
1824. Denmark makes a commercial treaty with Great Britain. Sweden—1818. Bernadotte, the re-
i. ascends the throne as King of Sweden and Norway with the title of Charles John XIV. ; Berna-
otte, after ºng in vain to have the constitution of Norway modified, accepts it. Norway—The
legislature of Norway yote to abolish titles of nobility, and that the people shall be called citizens in-
stead of subjects; the king vetoes the measure.
SWITZERLAND.
1817. Switzerland, on the invitation of the czar, joins the “Holy Alliance” and is governed by
that body..., 1823. Concedes at the urgent request of the great Powers to place restrictions on the
liberty of the press and to deny the right of asylum to political refugees. 1820–24. Closely watched
by the “Holy Alliance,” for the people, dissatisfied with the political situation, were restive and were
moved by an anxious desire for reform.
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CONTEMPORAN EQ US EVENTS.
J. Q. Adams's Administration [1825–1829].
TEIE UNITED STATES.
1825. John Quincy Adams inaugurated President of the United States; the great Erie Canal in
the State of New York completed; controversy between the National Government and the State of
Georgia concerning the lands of the Creek Indians, 1826. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both
signers of the Declaration of Independence and both ex-Presidents of the United States, die on July
4 at the same hour; commissioners appointed to attend a congress of representatives of the Spanish-
American Republics at Panama. is; Tariff convention at Harrisburg, Pa., at which the foundation
of the American system for encouraging home manufactures was laid. 1828. The American system
adopted by Congress and denounced by Southern politicians; Andrew Jackson elected President of
the United States.
GREAT IBRIT AIN.
1825–26. Great commercial panic in England; a Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill passes the
House of Commons, but rejected in the Lords. i826. British troops sent to defend Portugal from
Spanish intervention. 1827. Duke of York dies; George Canning becomes prime minister in April
and dies in August; an English fleet destroys an Egyptian fleet in the bay of Navarino. 1828. The
Duke of Wellington forms a purely Tory ministry; agitation in Ireland by the “Catholic Associa-
*sº threatens revolution; Wellington introduces a Catholic Emancipation Bill, which becomes law
1Il CŞ29.
FRANCE.
1825. Coronation of Charles X. at Rheims. 1826. France co-operates with others in defending
Portugal from Spanish intervention, 1827. The National Guard of forty-five thousand men dis-
banded; war with Algiers; riots in Paris, with a cry of “Down with the ministry ! down with the
jesuits? ”; creation of seventy-six new peers; France, Great Britain, and Russia form a treaty for put-
ting a stop to hostilities between the Türks and the Greeks. 1828. French troops occupy the Morea;
Béranger imprisoned and fined because of his satirical songs; educational establishments of the
Jesuits suppressed.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
1825–26, Several insurrections of the Carlists occur; independence of the revolted Spanish-
American colonies generally acknowledged. 1826. Spain abandons its last foothold on the American
mainland. , 1827. Spanish subjects permitted to trade with the Spanish-American Republics. 1828.
The French evacuate Cadiz and it is made a free city, Portugal—1826, Death of John VI, and acces-
sion of Dom Pedro, who relinquishes the throne in favor of his daughter, Donna Maria. 1827. Dom
Miguel regent. 1828. The British armies leave Portugal; Dom Miguel assumes the title of king.
IRUSSIA.
1825. Death of Alexander I. ; Grand Duke Constantine renounces his right to the throne. 1826.
Emperor Nicholas crowned at Moscow; war declared against Persia; the shah forced to sue for
peace. 1827. Nicholas visits England and is invested with the Order of the Garter. 1828, War de-
clared against the Ottoman Porte; the Caucasus conquered; Russia joins France and England in ex-
plaining why they helped tho Greeks; the Turks cede to Russia the mouths of the Danube and seve-
ral fortresses.
GERMAN CONFEDERATION.
1825–29. The German states enjoyed almost uninterrupted repose for many years after about
1824; it was the repose caused by reactionary measures supported by the strong arm of military power;
the Emperor of Austria, Francis I., lived until 1835, having reigned thirty-one years; the King of Prus-
sia, Frederick William III., lived until 1840, having reigned forty-three years, Hungary, a dependency
of Austria, chafed under the repressive rule of Prince Metternich, the embodiment of reactionary prin-
ciples, but kept quiet until the general European outbreak in 1848.
ITALY.
1825–29. Italy, too, at this period felt the deadening influence of the reactionary policy in Europe.
Though Austrian bayonets suppressed tendencies to insurrection, the love of freedom and the desire
for Italian nationality were as fervent as ever in the bosoms of the Italians. The quiet of Italy during
the pontificates of Pope Leo XII. and Pius VII. (1823–31), and far into that of Pius IX., was only the
calm before the tempest, which burst in 1848.
DENMARK swepEN, AND NORWAY.
1825–29. These kingdoms at this period, enjoying the unusual blessings o- peace, were all pros-
perous. Of Denmark Frederick WI. was still king; under Bernadotte (Charles XIV.). John Sweden.
and Norway were prosperous. Commerce and the arts and manufactures flourished, and methods and
facilities for promoting internal intercourse were multiplied.
HOLLAND.
1825–29, Hºlland was ruled at this period by William Frederick, who had assumed the title of
King of the Netherlands. He had married a sister of Alexander I., Emperor of Russia. There was
now much dissatisfaction, among the inhabitants of southern Netherlands (now Belgium), who were
largely Roman Catholics in religion, and, closely allied by family ties with the French, felt inclined to
break off and join France. This feeling culminated in revolution, and Belgium became an indepen-
dent kingdom in 1830.
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CONTEMPO RAN E O U S E W ENTS.
Jackson’s Administration [1829–1837].
TEIE UNITED STATES.
1829. Andrew Jackson inaugurated President of the United States; the Legislature of Virginia
deny the right of Congress to pass a tariff bill, 1831. Death of ex-President Monroe. 1832, First
appearance of the Asiatic cholera in the United States; the Black Hawk War; “State Rights” con-
vention in South Carolina; nullification movements begin in South Carolina; the President's procla-
mation against the Nullifiers, 1833. Henry Clay's compromise measure tends to avert civil war; the
government funds removed ºn the custody of the United States Bank by the President. 1834–35.
Seminole War breaks out. , 1835. Great fire in New York. 1836. Arkansas admitted into the Union .
the General Post-Office and Patent-Office burnt.
GREAT BRITAIN.
1829, Roman Catholic Relief Bill passed. 1830. Accession of William IV. to the throne; Liver-
pool and Manchester railway opened. 1831. First appearance of the cholera in England; Réform Bill
rejected by the House of Lords; great riot at Bristol. 1832. Reform Act passed; Sir Walter Scott
dies; the East India Company's charter renewed; slavery ceases in all the British colonies; the first
Reform Parliament opens; Houses of Parliament destroyed by fire; Corporation Reform Act passed.
1836, Stamp duty on newspapers reduced; modification of the tithing system.
FRANCE.
1829. The Polignac administration formed. 1830. Chamber of Deputies dissolved; Algiers taken;
revolution in Paris begins with barricades; conflicts in Paris; a constitutional charter published;
Charles X. abdicates and retires to England; Duke of Orleans accepts the crown as Louis Philippe W.
1831. Abolition of the hereditary peerage decreed. 1832. Insurrection in Paris. 1833. An attempt
to assassinate the new king, 1834, Lafayette dies. 1835. Another attempt to kill the king, 1836.
The king again fired upon; death of Charles X. ; Louis Napoleon's attempt at insurrection at Strass-
burg; the king fired on while on his way to the Chamber.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
1830. Salic law abolished in Spain. 1832. The queen appointed regent during the king's in-
ability to reign. 1833. Don Carlos declares himself the legitimate successor to the king; death of
Ferdinand WII. ; the queen assumes the title of queen-regent until her infant daughter shall attain to
her majority; Royalist volunteers disarmed; Queen Christina marries Ferdinand Muñoz, afterwards
Duke of Rianzares; quadruple treaty establishes the regal rights of Isabella. , 1834. Don Carlos ap:
pears suddenly in Spain. 1835. A British legion raised for the queen of Spain. 1836, Carlists de-
feated at San Sebastian. Portugal—1829. The throne restored to Donna Maria II., then fifteen years
of age, who assumes royal power. -
IRUSSIA.
1829. War against the Turks; peace concluded. 1830. War for the independence of Poland
begun; revolution at Warsaw. 1831. The throne of Poland declared vacant; Russia loses seven
thousand men in the battle of Grochow; Grand Duke Constantine dies; Warsaw taken and the insur-
rection *}. the Emperor Nicholas issues a proclamation decreeing that the kingdom of Po-
land shall henceforth form an integral part of the Russian Empire. The Russian government now
turns its attention to the improvement of its internal affairs; reforms are introduced, commerce
and the useful arts are fostered, and more attention is given to the subject of education.
THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION,
1829–37. Austria and Prussia were still the principal states of the German Confederation. Prus-
sia was steadily growing in resources and power, both intellectual and physical, under the benign in-
fluences of peace. Its school system was a model for other states. Neither in Prussia nor Austria did
any startling events occur at this period. Probably the wisest act done in the German Empire during
a period of peace was the establishment of the Zollverein, or Customs Union, under the lead of Prus-
sia, between the years 1829 and 1834. The peculiar position of Austria prevented its participating in
this Union. Berlin was the centre of artistic productions.
ITALY.
1829–37. At this period Italy presented no events of great importance. Pope Pius VIII. died in
1831 and was succeeded by Pope Gregory XVI.
DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY.
1829–37. These states, now presented a uniform aspect of comparative dulness in their history.
There was a peaceful calm in public affairs. There were aspirations for independence in Norway, but
no insurrections. In 1831 King Frederick gave a new charter to Denmark.
IBIOLLAND AND BELGIUMI.
1829–37. The people of southern Holland, especially in the districts bordering on France, were
closely allied with the French in religion, language, and consanguinity, and were restive under the
rûle of Frederick William of the Netherlands. They were ripe for insurrection, and in 1830 began a
revolution at Brussels. A provisional government declares Belgium independent, and European
powers acknowledge that independence; Antwerp taken by the Belgians. 1831. The crown of
Belgium offered to a French Pº and declined; a regent appointed; Leopold, Prince of Coburg,
elected jº. Sovereign of the Netherlands begins war; five great powers attempt pacification.
1832. The king of France sends fifty thousand troops to aid Belgium; Antwerp taken by the French.
1834, Treaty between Holland and Belgium signed at London; the Belgian kingdom established.
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S. Senator, I797.
Orleans, 1815.
U. S. Senator, 1823.
at the “Hermitage,” June 8, 1845.
term, Al/artin Van Buren.
A. ected as first A’epresentative from Tennessee in Congress, 1796.
General of the Army, ISI2.
Expelled the Seminoles from Florida.
A lected President of 1/e United Stafes, 1828; re-elected' 1832.
Vice-President, ſirst term, John C. Ca/houn , second
Admitted to the bar, I 786; began Aractice, AWas/-
(ſ.
Made the memorable defence of AVºw
Appointed Governor of Florida, 1821.
AXied

CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS.
TVan Buren’s Adzninistration [1837–1841].
THE UNITED STATES.
1837. Martin Van Buren inaugurated President of the United States; Michigan admitted into the
Union; credit system explodes; independent treasury system adopted; financial troubles and an extra-
ordinary session of Congress; revolutionary movements in Canada. 1838. The South Sea exploring
expedition sails under Captain Wilkes; Canadian insurrection begins; Americans sympathize with
the Canadians. 1840, Northeastern-boundary question agitated; South Sea exploring expedition dis-
covered an Antarctic continent; Major-General Harrison elected President of the United States.
GREAT BRITAIN.
1837. Wictoria ascends the throne, as queen-regnant 1838, Coronation of Queen Victoria;
efforts made to crush the Canadian rebellion; Poor Laws extended to lveland; Afghan War begins.
1839. The British army enters Cabul; war with China begins. 1840, Penny postage established in
the United Kingdom; Queen Victoria marries her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, in February;
gives birth to a princess in November; attempt to assassinate the queen; revolutionary movements
of the Chartists and the Corn-Law League; Dost Mohammed, in India, conquered.
IFRANCE.
1837. Amnesty granted to political offenders; Prince Louis Napoleon goes to America. 1838.
Talleyrand dies; birth of the Count of Paris, a claimant to the throne; Marshal Soult attends the
coronation of Queen Victoria; coalition between Thiers and Guizot against the ministerial party.
1839. The coalition destroys that party. 1840. Thiers becomes Minister of Foreign Affairs; four great
Powers sign a treaty with Turkey without consulting France; the Chamber of Deputies decree the
bringing of Napoleon's remains from St. Helena to Paris; Prince Louis Napoleon attempts insurrec-
tion again and is sentenced to imprisonment for life; provision made for fortifying Paris. * . .
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
1837. British troops capture Irun, in Spain. 1839. Don Carlos seeks refuge in France. 1840.
Morello surrenders; Cabrera, the Carlist general, defeated, enters France; revolutionary movement at
Madrid suppressed; the ministry dismissed and the Cortes dissolved; Espartero makes a triumphal
entry into Madrid; the queen abdicates, leaves the kingdom, and goes to France; Espartero expels
the papal nuncio. Portugal—1837. The Duke of Terceira attempts to restore Dom Pedro's charter;
fails and goes to England. 1838. Oporto Wine Company re-established.
THE GERMIAN CONTFEDERATION.
1837–41. During this period the German states, enjoying peace, made great progress, especially
in all material affairs. Their cities grew rapidly; they were not dependent for waiti, and spiendor
upon the accident of their being royal residences, but industrial pursuits created wealth and luxury.
Agriculture flourished, and the merchant navy of Germany had again arisen and become the third in
extent and importance in the world. This material prosperity made Germany a unity, and a dissolu-
tion seemed impossible. Literature and the arts also flourished. 1840, King Frederick William III.
of Prussia died and was succeeded by his son, Frederick William IV., brother of William I, the pre-
sent emperor of united Germany. r
IRUSSIA. - -
1837–41, Nicholas was ambitious to extend his dominions southward and eastward, and so cam
in contact with the interests of England and Turkey. He coveted the control of the Black Sea. The
Turkish Empire stood in his way, and he endeavored to weaken it by diplomacy and war. 1840,
The Russians fail in an expedition against Khiva; Nicholas signs a treaty, with other great Powers,
confirming Syria to the Sultan ; he supported the cause of Don Carlos in Spain at this period.
ITALY.
1837–41. The º power was predominant in Italy at this period under the sway of the ener-
etic Pope Gregory I. The reactionary spirit, aided by Austrian bayonets and the thunders of the
#. kept the restless people in subjection, and there was very little progress in the arts, manufac-
tures, and commerce in Italy, while the deadening influence of ecclesiastical dominion prevailed. The
free spirit of the people was not crushed, only held in temporary subjection. Italy was a slumbering
volcano, soon to burst into fearful activity.
DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY.
1837–41. These three countries continued to pursue “the even tenor of their way” in peace and
prosperity. Christian VIII. was yet king of Denmark, and Bernadotte of Sweden and Norway. Chris-
tian was anxious to have his claim to the duchies of Holstein and Schleswig confirmed, and trouble
was anticipated for the kingdom from his ambition. It was postponed only a short time,
BIOLLAND AND BELGIUMI.
1839. Treaty between Holland and Belgium signed in Londom. It grew out of a conference held
in London on the Belgian question, by the decision of which the treaty of 1831 was maintained, and
the pecuniary compensation of sixty million francs offered by Belgium for the territories adjudged to
#. was declared inadmissible. 1840, King William I. abdicates and is succeeded by his son
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EIGHTH PRESIDENT.
Born in Kinderhook, W. Y., Dec. 5, 1782, Admitted to the bar, 1803. Appointed Sur-
rogate of Columbia co., 1898. Elected State Senator, 1812; continuing such until 1820, and
acting as Attorney-General a part of the period. Elected U. S. Senator, 1821; re-elected,
1827. Elected Governor of New York, as a Democrat, 1828, but resigned shortly after
inauguration to become Secretary of State in President Jackson's Cabinet. Resigned, 1831,
and was appointed Minister to England, but the Senate refused to confirm him. Elected
Vice-President, 1832. Elected President of the United States, 1836. Mominated for Presi-
dent and defeated, 1840, (Gen. Harrison), 1844, (James K. Polk), 1848, (Gen. Taylor).
Aſade a tour of Europe, 1853, '55. Died July 24, 1862. Vice-President, (elected by Senate)
R. M. Johnson. º

CONTEMPOR AN E O U S E W E N T S.
IHarrison and Tyler’s Administration [1841–1845].
TELE UNITED STATES.
1841. William Henry Harrison inaugurated President of the United States March 4; dies just a
month afterwards and is succeeded by the Vice-President, John Tyler; Tyler inaugurated; extraordi-
nary session of Congress; Sub-Treasury Bill repealed; dissolution of the cabinet isºg. Seminole
War ended; return of the South Sea exploring º after a voyage of about ninety thousand
miles; great political excitement in Rhode Island and civil war threatened. 1843, Bunker Hill
monument completed. 1844. James K. Polk elected President of the United States; Morse's electro-
magnetic telegraph established; agitation concerning the annexation of Texas; treaty for admission
#. 1845. March 4, Tyler signs the bill for the admission of Texas and Florida as states of the
Ill OD1.
GREAT BRITAIN.
1841, Prince of Wales born. 1842, King of Prussia visits England; the queen twice fired at ;
Income-Tax, Bill passed; the queen first visits Scotland; treaty of peace with China; massacre of
twenty-six thousand men, women, and children in British India. 1843, Great Repeal meeting in Ire-
land; the queen visits the Orleans family in France; the Scinde War; annexation of Scinde to the
British Empire. 1844. The Emperor of Russia visits England; O'Connell tried for conspiracy; rank
of Roman Catholic bishops defined. -
IFRANCE,
1841. France at this period was enjoying great prosperity. The policy of Louis ºp. W’8S
peaceful as a rule; civil affairs chiefly engaged the attention of the legislators; the duration of copy-
right to thirty years after the author's death was fixed; a bronze statue of Napoleon was placed on the
column of the Grande Armée at Boulogne; an attempt was made to assassinate the king's son on his
return from Africa. 1842. The Duke of Orleans, heir to the throne, killed by an accident, 1843.
The Queen of England visits the royal family at the Château d'Eu ; occupation of the Society Islands
by the French threatens a rupture with England.
THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION. -
1841–45. In Austria Ferdinand, son of Ferdinand I., was on the throne and Frederick William
IV. On that of Prussia. The Confederation pressed forward in prosperity with few stirring events to
Inark their progress. Prussia and Austria were generally antagonistic in views—the former being
liberal, the latter narrow. Austria was jealous oft Prussia because of the growing influence of the
latter (by pursuing a wise policy) in the affairs of the Confederation. There was a restless liberal
feeling in all the states, but wise measures prevented outbreaks. In 1844 there was an attempt to as-
sassinate the King of Prussia.
º SPAIN.
1841. Insurrections in favor of Queen Christina led bº. O'Donnell and Concha; the palace
at Madrid attacked; General O'Donnell takes refuge on French territory; Espartero decrees the sus-
pension of Queen Christina's pension. 1842. An insurrection breaks out in Barcelona and the na-
tional guard join the insurgents; Barcelona surrenders to the regent Espartero. 1843. The revolu-
tionary Junta re-established at Barcelona; the revolution successful, and Espartero flies to Cadiz and
thence to London; Isabella, thirteen years old, declared to be of age and proclaimed queen. 1844.
The queen-mother returns to Spain.
IRUSSIA.
1841–45, The Russian Empire at this time, with the Emperor Nicholas at its head, presents the
tame history of a people enjoying the blessings of peace. Nicholas was ambitious; he was also wise.
His covetous gaze was continually on the Turk and on domains in Asia. He had long before asserted
the belief that the destruction of the Turkish Empire and diving the Ottomans from Europe were
measures necessary for the permanent security of the Christian Powers in Europe. He was in the
habit of speaking of Turkey as “the sick man.”
ITALY.
1841–45, Italy still continued submissive under the sway of various masters, yet not any of the
gº zeal of the people for national freedom was abated: Pope Gregory XVI. ruled the Papal
States. .
DENMARK, swepEN, AND NORWAY.
1844, King Bernadotte dies and is succeeded by his son Oscar as king of Sweden and Norway.
Christian VIII, still ruled Denmark. . ... * * * ... -
IBIOLLAND AND BELGIUM. - - - º
1844. The ex-King William of Holland dies; his son, William II., is sovereign of Holland. The
new kingdom of Belgium soon settled into a peaceful calm after the revolution which created it, and
under a peaceful policy it has made great progress in every department of human industry. It lies
between Holland and France and occupies 11,370 square miles. It is divided into nine provinces. Its
soil is generally productive and its coal-fields are very extensive. Next to England, Belgium produces
more fuel than any other country in Europe. It comprises the domain of old Flanders, and of its
5,000,000 or 6,000,000 inhabitants fully 2,500,000 speak the Flemish language.
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NINTH PRESIDENT.
Born in Berkeley, Charles City co., Va., Feb. 9, 1773, Educated at Hampton Sidney
College and studied medicine. Joined the AVorthwestern Army, I792, serving against the
Indians. Secretary of the Northwestern Territory, 1797, and Delegate to Congress, 1799.
First Territorial Governor of Indiana, 1800, serving twelve years, and concluding eighteen
Andian treaties. Gained the celebrated baffle of Zippecanoe over the Indians, AVov, 7, ISII.
Commander of the Northweste, m Army during war of 1812. Elected to Congress from Ohio,
1816. Minister to the Republic of Columbia, S. A., 1828. AElected Aresident of the United
States, 1840. Died April 4, 1841, one month after inauguration. Pice-President John
Tyler. - - w

TENTH PRESIDENT.
Born in Charles City co., Va., March 29, 1790. Graduate at William and Mary College,
1807. Admitted to the bar when 19, and elected to the Legislature when 21. Elected to
Congress, 1816. Alected Governor of Virginia, 1826, and sent to the U. S. Senate the
following year, resigning in 1836. Elected Vice-President, 1840. Became President of the
United States by the death of President Harrison, April 4, 1841. Presiding officer of the
Peace Congress, Washington, D. C., Feb., 1861. Member of Virginia Convention which
decided to secede, April, 1861. Elected member of Confederate Senate. Died Jan. 17, 1862.
President of the Senate, William R. King.

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ELEVENTH PRESIDENT.
Born in Mecklenberg co., W. C., Aſov. 2, 1795.
Carolina, 1815. Admitted to the bar, 1820.
lature, 1823.
Elected Governor of Tennessee, 1839.
A/exican War occurred during his administration.
I849. Died June 15, 1849.
Graduate of the University of AVorth
Alected Representative to the 7ennessee Zegis-
Blected to Congress, 1825, and held / is seat until 1839, being Speaker 1835-37.
Flected President of the
7%.”
Retired from the Presidency, A/arch,
'nited States, 1844.
Pice-President, George M. Dallas.



CONTEMPORAN E O US EVENTS.
Polk’s Administration [1845–1849].
TEIE UNITED STATES.
1845. James K. Polk inaugurated President of the United States; Florida and Texas admitted
into the Union; death of Andrew Jackson, 1846, War with Mexico begun; battles of Palo Alto and
Resaca de la Palma; Iowa admitted into the Union; proclamation of war with Mexico; Scott's suc-
cessful campaign in Mexico from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. 1847. General Kearney takes
possession of Santa Fé, New Mexico; United States troops everywhere victorious; battle of Buena
Wista; California declared a part of the United States. 1848. Peace with Mexico concluded and pro-
claimed; Wisconsin admitted into the Union; gold discovered in California • General Taylor elected
President of the United States.
GREAT BIRITAIN
1845. Anti-Corn-Law agitation; permission given to remove Napoleon's remains from St. Helena;
Danish possessions in the East Indies purchased by the English ; Irish National Education Society in-
corporated; failure of the potato crop in Ireland; Sikh War in India. , 1846, Citadel at Lahore, India,
occupied by the English and the Sikh War ended; British officers in lndia raised to the peerage.
1847. O'Connell's last speech in Parliament; $50,000,000 given for the relief of the famishing Irish.
1848. State trials in Ireland; Irish agitators sentenced to transportation.
FRANCE.
1845. Attempt to assassinate the king. 1846. Louis Napoleon escapes from Ham; seventh at-
tempt on the life of the king; marriage of the Duke of Montpensier to the Infanta of Spain. 1847.
Jerome Bonaparte returns to France after an exile of thirty-two years; death of the ex-Empress Maria
Louisa. 1848. A proposed grand reform banquet at Paris and violent revolutionary tumult in conse-
§. ; Louis Philippe abdicates in favor of his infant grandson, the Count of Paris; a republic pro-
claimed and a provisional government formed; perpetual banishment of the king and his family de-
creed; Red Republicans; §. in a state of siege ; Louis Napoleon elected President of the French.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
1845. Don Carlos relinquishes his right to the crown in favor of his son; marriage of the Queen
of Spain to her cousin. 1847. Two shots fired at the queen; Espartero restored to favor. , 1848. Sir
Henry Bulwer, the British -envoy, ordered to leave Spain in forty-eight hours. Portugal—1846. A
British squadron enters the Tagus. 1847. The insurgents enter Oporto; the Portuguese Junta sur-
render to a Spanish force.
THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION.
1848. Insurrections throughout Germany; the King of Prussia takes the lead as an agitator to
reconsolidate the German Empire by a proclamation; German National Assembly meets at Frankfort.
Awstria—Insurrection at Vienna and flight of Metternich; the emperor flies to Inspruck; Archduke
John appointed vicar-general of the empire; a Constitutional Assembly meet at Vienna; the emperor
abdicates in favor of his nephew, Francis Joseph. Hungary—A formidable rebellion breaks out; the
insurgents defeated by the Austrians; all who acknowledge º emperor as King of Hungary denounced
as traitors. us -
IRUSSIA,
1846. The Grand Duke Constantine arrives in England. 1848. The º revolutions appear
to have had little effect on the Russian Empire. , Russian armies were sent to assist Austria against
the Hungarians. The czar's own dominions safe from political disturbances, he was ready to assist
other despotisms in suppressing popular liberty. The Russian forces prevented the accomplishment
of the independence of Hungary in }.
ITALY.
1846. Pius IX. pope. , 1847. The King of Sardinia espouses the cause of the Italian º against
Austria. 1848. Insurrection in Lombardy and Venice supported by the King of Sardinia and the
É. ; Sardinian army defeated by Radetzky, the Austrian general; the Italians capitulate; armistice
etween them and Austria. -
SWITZERLAND.
1846. An attempt to have the education of the people controlled by Protestants fails; Roman
Catholics now form a league (Sonderbund) to support education by the Jesuits; insurrection at Geneva
against Jesuit teaching. 1847. The diet declares the Sorderbund illegal. 1848. The Jesuits ex-
pelled and monastic property secularized.
IDENIMARK.
1846. The crown of Denmark declares its right to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. , 1848.
Frederick II. ascends the throne; insurrections in the duchies the North Sea blockaded by the
Danes; Russian troops attack and defeat the Danes.
BIOLLAND AND BELGIUM.
1846. Louis Bonaparte, ex-King of Holland, dies, 1848. The King of Holland agrees to political
reforms and grants a new constitution. The only effect upon Belgium of the revolutionary agitations
in 1848 was the establishment of an electoral reform and the abolition of the newspaper duty.
H PRESIDENT,
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Vice-President, Millard
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U O N T E M P () R, AN E O U S E W ENTS.
Taylor and Fillmore's Administration (1849–1859].
THE UNITED STATES.
1849. Zachary Taylor inaugurated President of the United States; New Mexico erected into a
Territory; inter-State convention in favor of a railway to the Pacific. , 1850. Movement in Canada in
favor of annexation to the United States; Arctic expedition to search for Sir John Franklin sails;
Southern convention to consider the slavery question; President Taylor dies; Vice-President Fill-
more inaugurated President; California admitted into the Union; passage of the Fugitive-Slave Act.
1851. Lopez's expedition against Cuba sails; Kossuth visits the United States. isã2. Kossuth pub-
licly received by Congress; Commodore Perry sent to Japan to make a treaty.
GREAT BRITAIN.
1849, Adelaide, Queen-dowager of England, dies; Queen Victoria visits Ireland and holds her
court at Dublin; Irish Tenant League meets; the Sikh army surrenders unconditionally. 1850. The
ueen visits Belgium; , Bengal native infantry disbanded. 1851. Burmese War; Pegu annexed to
ritish India; great exhibition of the World's industry opens in London; gold arrives from Australia;
Duke of Wellington dies. - - -
IFRANCE.
1849. An anticipated insurrection provided against. , 1850. Louis Philippe dies at Claremont,
England, in exile. 1851. Electric telegraph connection between º and France established;
Louis Napoleon's coup-d'état ; one hundred and eighty members of the Legislative Assembly arrested;
Paris in a state of siege, and bloody conflicts in the city; Consultative Commission foun ed; Louis
Napoleon elected president for ten years. 1852. Members of the Assembly banished; “liberty trees”
cut down and burnt; National Guard disbanded ; Louis Napoleon elected emperor of the French as
“Napoleon III.”; marries Eugénie, a Spanish maiden. -
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
1850. Isabella II. queen ; diplomatic relations between Spain and England interrupted; the in-
fante, Don Henrique, permitted to return to Spain; the queen pardons the filibusteros who invaded
Cuba from the United States; a princess born ; attempted assassination of the queen; the renowned
General Castaños dies at the age of ninety-six. Portugal—Maria II. queen; an American squadron en-
forces claims against the government. 1851. A military insurrection led by the Duke of Soldanha;
he enters Oporto in triumph; marriage of Don Miguel; revision of the constitution by the Cortes
sanctioned by the queen. *.
GHERMANY.
1849. The German National Assembly elects the king of Prussia emperor of Germany; he declines
the honor and recalls the Prussian members of the Assembly; the Frankfort Assembly transfers its
sittings to Stuttgardt; treaty of Vienna between Austria and Prussia for the formation of a new cen-
tral government; the alliance of Prussia against some of the smaller German states protested against
by Russia; treaty of some of the states for a revision of the Union. Hungary declares, itself a free
state ; Kossuih Supreme governor; the Russians assist the Austrians; several battles between the
Hungarians and Austrians and Russians; utter defeat of the Hungarian army by Haynau; Kossuth
flees to Turkey; patriots shot; amnesty granted; many executions.
IRUSSIA.
1849. Russia demands the expulsion of Hungarian refugees from Turkey. 1850. They are sent to
Konieh, in Asia Minor; conspiracy against the life and policy of the emperor detected; harbor of
Sebastopol completed; an extensive conscription for the army put in force in western Russia by
order of the czar; the czar visits Vienna.
ITALY.
1849. A division of the Sardinians partially defeated by the Austrians; their complete defeat
afterwards; King Charles Albert abdicates in favor of his son, Victor Emmanuel; Charles Albert dies
at Oporto July 28; treaty of Milan between Sardinia and Austria signed. 1830. Ecclesiastical juris-
dictions abolished. 1851. Count Cavour made Minister of Foreign Affairs. Papal States—1849. A
Constitutional Assembly meets at Rome; the people divested of all political power; the French occupy
Civita Vecchia; French repulsed from Rome; the pope appeals to the great Roman Catholic powers;
a French officer presents the keys of the gates of Rome to the pope at Gaeta; re-establishment of the
pope's authority proclaimed; the pope establishes a Roman Catholic hierarchy in England,
IDENIMARK,
1849. War between Denmark and the duchies renewed; victory of the Danish troops over those
of the allied Germans and of the duchies; armistice signed at Malmö. 1850. Denmark makes a
separate peace with Prussia; the integrity of Denmark guaranteed by England, France, Russia, and
Sweden; the Danes gain victories oyer the troops of Holstein; protocol signed in London by the min-
isters of all the great powers. 1851. Holstein places its rights under the protection of the Germanio
Confederation. 1852. Austrians evacuate Holstein; the succession of the }. Crown Settled.
*
HOLLAND AND BELGIUM.
1849–52. William III, king of Holland; Leopold I. king of Belgium.
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CONTEM B OR AN E O U S E W ENTS.
Pierce’s Administration [1853–1857].
THE UNITED STATES.
1853 Franklin Pierce inaugurated President of the United States; disputes with Mexico con:
cerning boundaries; expedition to explore the northeast coast of Asia sails, also one for the Arctic
Seas under Dr. Kane; four expeditions begin explorations for a route for a railway to the Pacific;
Perry's expedition arrives at Japan; Crystal Palace Exhibition opened in New York. 1854. Treaty
with Japan concluded ; the “Ostend Circular” issued; Kansas-Nebraska Bill passed; steamer Arctic
lost. 1855. The Panama railway opened; American filibusters under Walker in Nicaragua defeat-
ed; political troubles in Kansas begin ; Kane's expedition returns to New York. 1856. A Free-State
Legislature assembles at Topeka, Kansas; official intercourse with the British minister suspended;
civil war in Kansas; the famous Charter Oak at Hartford blown down.
GREAT BIRITAIN.
1853. England and other great powers take measures to establish peace between Russia and Tur-
key; first railway in India opened from Bombay, Oude annexed to the British Empire in India; the
ueen visits Ireland; National Association for the Windication of Scottish Rights formed. 1854.
reaty of alliance between England, France, and Turkey signed ; beginning of the Crimean War.
1855. Emperor and empress of the French visit England; the queen and her husband visit the French
sovereigns; peace with Russia proclaimed. 1856. War with China and Persia begins.
r
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
1854. Birth and death of a princess; General O'Donnell and others banished; military insurrec-
tion near Madrid; Madrid and Barcelona “pronounce” against the government; peace restored and
Espartero in favor; the queen-mother łº and leaves Spain. 1855, New constitution of the
Cortes proposed; the Cortes vote that “all power proceeds from the people”; Don Carlos dies. 1856.
Radical changes in administration. Portugal—1853. Death of Queen Maria; , the king-consort be-
comes regent; Dom Pedro W., aged sixteen, king; he visits England slaves in the royal domains
freed. 1855. First railway in Portugal opened.
Aº
THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION.
1858–Prussia. A revolutionary plot discovered at Berlin; Prussia signs a protocol for preserving
the integrity of Turkey. 1854. Continues neutral during the Crimean War. 1855. Excluded from the
conference at Vienna, Austria—1853. Attempted assassination of the emperor; commercial treaty
with Prussia. 1854, Alliance with England; alliance with England and France relative to the East-
erz question. 1855. Concordat with the pope. Hungary—1853. Crown of St. i; and royal in-
signia discovered and sent to Vienna. 1856. Amnesty for political offenders of 1848–49. -
RUSSIA.
1853. War with Turkey; the czar concentrates his forces on the frontiers of Turkey; confer
ence between the º of Russia and Austria at Olmütz ; also of the czar and the king of Prussia
at Warsaw. 1854. Friends (called Quakers) intercede with the czar for peace; ten northern pro-
Vinces put in a state of siege; war with England, France, and Turkey—the Crimean War. 1855. The
czar Says he will fight only for the faith and Christianity; Nicholas dies; Alexander II. ascends the
§. visits his army at Sebastopol. 1856. Crowned at Moscow; proclamation of peace in the
lTIOleå.
ITALY.
1855. In Sardinia a bill for the suppression of convents passed; conventions with England and
France to employ fifteen thousand troops for the war in the Crimea signed. 1856. A rupture with
Austria and subsequent war; an important concordat between the pope and Austria completed by
which much of the liberty of the Austrian Church was given up to the Papacy; #. dissatisfaction
prevails throughout the Austrian Empire; English and French ambassadors withdrawn from Naples;
attempted assassination of the king.
IDENNIARIK.
1852. The succession of the crown of Denmark was settled by a treaty signed at London. It
was awarded to Prince. Christian, of the Sonderburg-Glücksburg line, and his male heirs. This ar-
rangement gave great dissatisfaction both to Denmark and to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.
as on the event of the extinction of this family Russia reserved the ancient right of succeeding to a
ortion of the duchies. This treaty was rejected by the legislature in 1852 and 1853; but the king,
eeling himself pledged to the foreign Powers, dissolved the Assembly in 1853, and the treaty was
accepted by a new legislature in 1854. That year the king presented a new constitution.
HOLLAND AND BELGIUMI.
1853. The re-establishment of a Roman Catholic ministry in Holland announced; increase of the
army of Belgium to one hundred thousand men voted; the king (Leopold) proclaims Belgium neutral
in the Italian War.
FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT.
Son of General Benjamin Pierce, of the A'evolutionary Army. Born at Hillsboro, AV. H.,
Avov. 23, 1804. Graduate at Bowdoin College, Me., 1824. Admitted to the bar, 1827.
*ected to State Legislature, 1829, remaining four years, and ðeing Speaker two. AElected to
Congress, 1833; to the U. S. Senate, 1837; and re-elected I84I. Aesigned I842 and resumed
A’ałice of law at Concord, M. H. Declined appointment as A ttorney-General by Aresidenz
*. Enrolled himself for the Mexican War as a private, but received a A rig.-General's
**mission from the President before his departure, March, 1847. A'esigned his commission
*/?er the war, resuming his law practice. Elected President of the United States, 1852.
A'esumed his £rofession at close of term. Died Oct. 8, 1869. Vice-President, William R.
Aºng, Died before taking seat.

CONTEMPOR, AN E O U S E WENTS. f
JBuchanan’s Administration [1857–1861],
THE UNITED STATES.
1857. James Buchanan inaugurated President of the United States; Chief-Justice Taney gives
the famous decision in the Dred Scott case; the Atlantic cables break in August; United States
troops forbidden to enter the Mormon territory, 1858. Minnesota admitted into the Union; first per-
manent telegraphic communication between Europe and America established; rebellion of the Mor-
mons put down. 1859. John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry. 1860. First embassy from Japan ar-
rives; stormy Democratic National Convention at Charleston; threats of disunion in all parts of the
Southern States; Abraham Lincoln elected President of the United States; South Carolinians pass
an ordinance of secession; civil war begins in Charleston harbor.
GREAT BRITAIN.
1857. Mutiny of the Sepoys and others in India; wars in British India from 1857 to 1860; great
commercial panic. 1858. Marriage of the º: royal to the crown prince of Prussia; Jewish
Disability # passed; the government of the East India Company ceases. 1859. Proclamation of
the neutrality of England concerning the Italian war; organization of volunteer rifle corps author-
ized; commercial treaty with France approved by Parliament, 1860. The queen reviews eighteen
thousand volunteers in Hyde Park; great emigration to America from Ireland; the queen and her
gººd visit their daughter in Prussia; peace with China signed; Prince of Wales visits the United
tates.
IFRANCE.
1857. Conspiracy to assassinate the emperor discovered in July; the emperor and empress visit:
England; Napoleon III, meets Alexander II. at Stuttgardt. 1858. An attempt to assassinate the em-
peror in January ; Public Safety Bill passed ; republican outbreak at Châlons suppressed; conference
at Paris respecting the Danubian principalities. 1859. War against Austria declared; victory of the
French and Sardinians at Solferino; peace concluded in July. , 1860, Treaty for the annexation of
Savoy and Nice signed ; the emperor meets the German sovereign at Baden; passports for English-
men discontinued.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
1857. Isabella queen of Spain; insurrection in Andalusia speedily suppressed; cruel military
executions; O'Donnell again chief minister. 1858. Siege of Barcelona ceases; joint French and
Spanish expedition against Cochin-China arrived. 1859. War with Morocco begins. 1860, O'Donnell
commands the º in Africa; Moors defeated and peace agreed to on hard terms for the Africans;
Napoleon's proposal to admit Spain as a first-class power opposed by England and given up. Portugal
– 1858. French ships of war accompany the ultimatum of the French government to the Tagus. 1860.
Death of King Pedro V.
TEIE GERMAN CONFEDERATION.
1857. Excitement throughout Germany at the successes of the French troops in Lombardy;
diplomatic intercourse between Austria and Sardinia broken off; alarming illness of the King of
Prussia, and his son appointed regent. , 1858. Prussia declares its neutrality in the Italian war, but
arms to protect Germany. 1859, Conference at Eisenach concerning German unity, and Prussia
asked (but declines) to take the initiative. 1860. The regent of Prussia and Napoleon meet at
Baden; death of Frederick William IV. of Prussia; Hungary demands a restoration of the old con-
stitution.
IRUSSIA. .
1857. The czar meets Napoleon at Stuttgardt and the Emperor of Austria at Weimar. 1858,
Partial emancipation of the serfs on the imperial domains; the establishment of a Russian naval sta-
tion on the Mediterranean at Willa Franca produces some excitement in Europe. 1859, Russia dis-
approves the warlike movements of the German Confederation during the Italian war; the czar pro-
tests against the recognition of the sovereignty of the people.
ITALY.
1859. War between Austria and Italy begins; peaceful revolutions in Florence and a provisional
government established; insurrection in the Papal States; the pope appeals to Europe against the
King of Sardinia; Garibaldi exhorts the Italians to arm ; Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and the Ro-
magna form a defensive alliance; Tuscany chooses Prince Eugene as regent of Central Italy; Gari.
baldi retires from the Sardinian service ; Sardinian constitution proclaimed. 1860, Savoy and Nice
ceded to France; French troops leave Italy; insurrection in the Papal States; Victor Emmanuel enters
Naples as king.
DENNIAR.E.
1857. The Sound duties abolished for a compensation. 1858. Fortification of Copenhagen de-
creed ; discussion between the government and the duchies carried on with zeal. 1860. The Assem-
bly of Schleswig complains that the promise of equality of national rights, has not been kept, and
protests against annexation to Denmark; Prussia declares it will aid the duchies; Denmarkthreatens
war if troops of the German Confederation enter the duchies.
HOLLAND AND BELGIUMI. d
1857-61. During this period Holland and Belgium were undisturbed by any serious political agi-
tation. , There was a persistent conflict between the two great parties in Belgium known as “Catho-
lic” and “Liberal,” the special topic of º being the influence of the clergy in public instruction.
The Liberals gained the upper hand in 1858, and ruled the country till 1870.
FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT.
Born in Franklin county, Pa., April 23, 1791. Gº aduate at Dickinson College, 1809.
Admitted to the bar, 1812. Elected to the State Legislature, 1814; re-elected, 1816. Flected
to Congress, 1820; resigned March, 1831. Appointed Minister to Russia, May, 1831. Re-
turned 1834, and elected to U. S. Senate for an unexpired term; re-elected for full terms,
I836, 1842. Secretary of State during President Polk's administration. Appointed Minister
to England, 1853. Returned 1856. Elected President of the United States, 1856. The Civil
War broke out in the closing months of his administration. Died June 1, 1868. Vice-
A’resident, John C. Breckenridge.

CONTEM POR AN E O U S E W ENTS.
Lincoln and Johnson’s Administration [1861–1869).
THE UNITED STATES.
1861. Conventions in Southern States pass ordinances of secession; the great civil war begun;
inauguration of Abraham Lincoln; Fort Sumter attacked; the President calls for troops to put down
rising rebellion; Congress makes provision of men and money for a war; the English government
favors the insurgents. , 1862. The government and the banks suspend specie payments; war with
England threatened; futile efforts to capture Richmond, the º of the Confederacy. 1863. The
emancipation of the slaves proclaimed ; the civil war rages in eleven States of the Union; decisive
battle at Gettysburg; the fall of Wicksburg opens the Mississippi to free navigation; Lincoln re-elected
President; Southern ports “repossessed.” 1865. Surrender of the Confederate armies and close of
the civil war; assassination of Lincoln ; Vice-President Johnson becomes President; reorganization
of the States begin, 1866. Successful laying of the Atlantic cable; the President in open opposition
to Congress. 1868. The President impeached; U. S. Grant elected President.
GREAT BRITAIN.
1861. Great excitement about the capture of Mason and Slidell; the queen and Prince of Wales
visit Ireland; death of Prince Albert. 1862. Great distress among the manufacturing classes; Prince
of Wales marries a Danish princess;, distress in Ireland and numerous agrarian murders; great increase
in the cultivation of cotton in British India. 1863, England, France, and Austria remonstrate with
Russia on cruelties in Poland. 1864. Enthusiastic reception of Garibaldi in England; the Ionian
Islands made over to Greece. , 1865. Important commercial treaty with Austria signed. 1866, New
Parliament opened. 1867–68. Reform }. passed ; a British army conquers Abyssinia; Mr. Glad-
stone becomes prime minister and moves the disestablishment of the Irish Church.
FRANCE.
1861. Prince Napoleon speaks in favor of Italian unity, the º alliance, and against the
temporal power of the pope; a circular forbidding the priests to meddle with polities issued; official
recognition of the kingdom of Italy; convention between Great Britain, France, and Spain respecting
1ntervention in Mexico. 1862. French victories in Cochin-China; the French declare war against
the Mexican government. 1863, Napoleon makes Archduke Maximilian emperor of Mexico; invites
a congress of European sovereigns. 1865. An international exhibition of industry decreed. 1866.
Prussia refuses compliance with Napoleon's demands. 1867. Great exhibition opened in Paris. 1868.
An impending crisis warded off.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
1861. Santo Domingo annexed to Spain; intervention in Mexico. 1862. Church property sold.
1863. Don John de Bourbon renounces his right to the throne; Emperor of France visits the Queen
of Spain. 1864, Rupture with Peru; Queen Christina returns to Spain, 1866. Peace with Peru;
i. lands sold; Santo Domingo given up; military insurrections. 1868. Flight of the queen to
8.Il C0.
TEIE GERMAN CONFEDERATION.
1861. A German National Association decide to build a German fleet. 1862. They recommend
the formation of a federal government under the leadership of Prussia; meeting of plenipotentiaries
from the German states respecting federal reform. 1863. Congress of deputies of German states to
consider national reform ; the Emperor of Austria invites a German congress at Vienna; Prussia de-
clines. 1864. Prussia retains the duchies. 1865. The Gastein convention signed. 1866. Prussian
troops march into Holstein. 1867. New German-constitution adopted.
IRUSSIA.
1861, Decree for the total emancipation of 23,000,000 serfs issued; a political constitution asked
for. 1862. Increased privileges granted the Jews. 1863 Insurrection in Poland; termination of
serfdom in Russia March 3. , 1864. Representative government asked for. 1865. Province of Turkis-
tan, in Central Asia, established, 1867, Sells Alaska to the United States. -
ITALY.
1861. The French fleet retires from Gaeta; assembling of Italian Parliament, which declares Wic-
for Emmanuel King of Italy; the kingdom recognized by other powers; a Spanish revolutionist at-
tempts to cause an uprising of the people in Sicily and is shot. , 1862. Triumphant progress of Gari-
baldi through Italy establishing rifle clubs; calls on the Hungarians to rise and England to join in the
general cause of liberty; Mazzini issues an inflammatory manifesto. 1863. The king visits Naples;
review of the National Guard. 1864. Jews permitted to dwell at Rome; decree for the transfer of the
capital. ... 1865. New Parliament meets at Florence. 1866. Proposed alliance with Prussia, 1867.
Garibaldi and his volunteers active. 1868. Frequent risings of the people induced by Mazzini's
teaching and Garibaldi's activity. -
- IDENIMIAIRIEC. -
1861, German troops enter the duchies; decimal coinage adopted., 1862. Union of Denmark
and Sweden proposed. 1863. Schleswig annexed to Denmark; crown of Greece accepted for Prince
George; the German Diet demands of Denmark the uniting the duchies with equal rights; the Dan-
ish army strengthened; King Frederick VII. dies and accession of Christian IX.5 great excitement
among the northern Powers. 1864. War for the duchies; treaty of peace signed at Vienna. 1865,
A new constitution for Denmark.
IBELGIUM.
1865, King Leopold I. dics; ascension of Leopold II.
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SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT.
Aorn in Zaydin county, A.J., Feb. 12, 1809. Kemoved to Z//inois, 1830, and worked at
*a*splitting, ſtat-boating and clerking. Was Captain in the Black Hawk Iſar, 1832.
Studied law; began practice, 1836; settled in Springfield, 1837. Flected to State Legislature,
I836, 1838; to Congress, 1846. Kepublican candidate for U. S. Senator, in opposition to
Stephen A. Douglas, wit/, whom he canvassed the State, 1858. AE/ected President of the
Cºmited States, 1860; re-elected, 1864. A war measure, his Amancipation Proclamation,
*aking effect Jan. I, 1863, fut an end to slavery forever in the United States. Shot by
/o/* Wilkes Booth, April 14, 1865, at Washington, D. C., and died the following day.
Pice-President, first term, Hannibal Hamlin, second term, Andrew /o/inson.

SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENT.
Born at Raleigh, N. C., Dec. 29, 1808. Mever attended School. Instructed principally by
his wife. Emigrated to Greenville, Tennessee, 1826, and began &usiness as a tailor.
Alderman of the town, 1828. Mayor, 1830-'34. Elected to State Legislature, 1835, re-
elected 1839. Elected to State Senate, 1841. Member of Congress, 1843-'53. Elected
Governor of Tennessee, 1853, and U. S. Senator, 1857. Strong Union man at opening of
Civil War. Appointed Military Governor of Tennessee, 1862-64. Elected Vice-President,
1864. Became President of the United States on the assassination of President Zincoln,
April 15, 1865. The hostility between the President and the party that elected him began in
1866, and resulted in his being impeached, Feb., 1868. On his trial before the High Court of
Impeachment, the votes of the Court were taken in May on three of the eleven articles, which
resulted in 35 for conviction to 19 against. He was, therefore, acquitted on these, a two-thirds
vote being necessary to convict, and the vote on the remainder was indeſinately postponed.
Flected U. S. Senator, 1874. Died July 31, 1875. President of the Senate, L. S. Foster.

EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT.
Born at Point Pleasant, O/tio, April 27, 1822. Graduate at U. S. Military Academy,
1843. Served in the Mexican War. Ordered to Oregon, 1852. Captain, 1853. Kesigned
commission, 1854. Removed to Galena where he engaged in the tanning business. Colonel 21st
Ill. Vols. and Brig.-Gen., July, 1861. Appointed Lieut.-General, March, 1864. Aeceived
surrender of Confederate General Lee, April 9, 1865. Commissioned General, a grade created
for him by Congress, July 25, 1866. Elected President of the United States, 1868, 1872.
Started on a tour of the world from Philadelphia, May 17, 1877, returning via. San Fran-
cisco, Sept. 20, 1879. Died, July, 23, 1885. Vice-President, first term, Schuyler Colfax,
second term, Henry Wilson.

CONTEMPO RAN E O U S E W ENTS. XV
Grant’s Administration [1869–1877].
THE UNITED STATES.
1869. Ulysses S. Grant inaugurated President of the United States; measures for the restoration
of the Union adopted; the XVth Constitutional Amendment adopted—the last for securing liberty
and equality to every citizen; railway to the Pacific completed., 1870. A Joint High Commission for
the settlement of disputes between America and Great Britain sits in Washington; weather-signalling
introduced; Fenians invade Canada. 1871. Treaty concerning the depredations of the Alabama :
tribunal of arbitration appointed. 1872. Award of the tribunal paid; the Union perfectly restored,
1874. A new apportionment of representation made. , 1875, Preparation for the resumption of specie
payment. 1876, Great Centennial Exhibition in l’hiladelphia; war with the Sioux; Colorado admit-
ted into the Union. 1877. Decision of the Electoral Commission.
GREAT PRITAIN
1869. Bill for the disestablishment of the Irish Church becomes a law; treaty for settling the
Alabama difficulty with the United States rejected by the latter. 1870. A General Education Act
passed. 1871. Religious tests in the universities as to lay students abolished; the system of pur-
chasing commissions in the army abolished. 1872. The tribunal of arbitration decide that Great
Britain should pay the United States $15,500,000 because of the depredations of the Alabama : the
award passed. #3. Gladstone ministry resign and Disraeli forms a new ministry. 1874, Dissolu-
tion of Parliament; Ashantee War. 1876. War in Afghanistan continues.
IFRANCE.
1869. Discovery of waste and extravagance in the use of the 3. money; much dissatisfaction
and opposition to the emperor manifested. 1870. Extensive discontentment among the laboring
classes everywhere appears; Napoleon seeks a quarrel with Prussia; war declared against Prussia July
19; beginning of the Franco-German war; Germany united against France; the emperor takes his son
to the front; is defeated and made prisoner at Sedan September 2; destruction of the empire and end
of the Napoleonic dynasty; Napoleon and family find a refuge in England, where he dies. 1871. The
French Republic established; M. Thiers the first President; brief reign of the Commune 1872. Six.
teen factions in the Legislative Assembly. 1873. The German troops leave France ; Marshal MacMa-
hon President. 1874. Son of Napoleon III. saluted by the Bonapartists as Napoleon IV.
SPAIN.
1869, Warious insurrections in Spain . with much bloodshed; the Cortes vote against a
republic. 1870. Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen elected king; the opposition of France
to this choice causes the Franco-German war; Leo olā declines, and Amadeus, son of Victor Emmanuel,
chosen king. 1872. A Carlist insurrection breaks out. 1873. Almadeus, persistently º; &S 8,
“foreigner,” abdicates; slavery abolished in Porto Rico, West Indies; a republic established in
Spain. 1874–75. Carlist power rapidly wanes. 1876. Reply of the Spanish government to the Wati-
can and insists upon maintaining religious toleration ; end of the Carlist rebellion.
GERMANY.
1869. Napoleon's schemes to prevent German unity (the North and South Confederations) hasten
that result; Prussia's war with Austria and other German states placed the former at the head of the
German Confederacy and marked it as one of the first military §.”. Of Europe; Schleswig and Hol-
stein and other territory annexed to Prussia. 1871. King William crowned Emperor of united Ger-
many in January, and on March 21 the first Parliament of united Germany assembled at Vienna;
since then Germany has been a unit. 1872. Jesuit religious houses suppressed. 1873, Roman Ca.
tholics make fierce opposition to the government. 1876. The “Old Catholics” abrogate the celibacy
of the clergy.
IRUSSIA.
1869. For several years Russia had been making efforts to secure domain, commerce, and domin-
ion in western Asia. Expeditions compelled the submission of several khanates, or small principali-
ties. 1872. An expedition sent against Khiva. 1873. Khiva, Bokhara, and Khokan in the power
of the Russians; a canal, Seven hundred and fifty miles long, to connect the Caspian Sea with the Sea
of Azov, at a cost of $62,000,000, begun by Russia. , 1876. Russian influence in Afghanistan adverse
to that of British ; the emperor desires political reforms in the empire, but is opposed by the nobles;
Russia represented in the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. -
ITALY.
1870. The King of Italy notifies the Roman Pontiff that Rome must be occupied as the capital of
the kingdom ; Napoleon withdraws French . from Rome; end of the temporal power of the
pope, which had been exercised for eleven hundred years. December The Italian Parliamont de-
clares Rome the capital of Italy. 1871 Bill of “Papal Guarantees,” which permits the pope to enjoy
the title of a sovereign and to receive an annuity of $625,000, passed; its privileges réfused by the
pope, who occupies Rome as a spiritual sovereign; Italian unity completed.
IDENIMIATRIK.
1869. The war with the Germans dreadfully exhausted the kingdom, but it now gradually recu.
perated; the Danish crown prince marries the only daughter of the King of Sweden; hope revived of
the reunion of the three Scandinavian kingdoms. 1874. The king visits Iceland on the one thou-
sandth anniversary of its Settlement by Scandinavians, and is received with enthusiasm.
*
NINETEENTH PRESIDENT.
Born in Delaware, Ohio, Oct. 4, 1822. Graduate of Kenyon College. Began practice of
law in Cincinnati, 1856. Flected City Solicitor, 1858. Appointed AZajor 23d Ohio /n/., at
opening of Civil War. Brevetted Major-General for bravery at Fisher's Hårſ and Cedar
Creek. AElected to Congress, Oct., 1865, re-elected 1866, AE/ected Governor of Ohio, IS67,
I869, 1875. Republican candidate for President, 1876. The adherents of Governor S. /.
Tilden, the Democratic candidate, claimed the election for him. Owing to the extraordinary
complications in several States, an AElectoral Commission was authorized by Congress, consist-
ing of five members of the Senate, five of the House and five Associated Justices of the
Supreme Court. By a vote of 8 to 7 f/ie Commission counted 185 votes of States for Hayes
and Wheeler to 184 for Tiſden and Hendricks. Messrs. Hayes and Wheeler were accord-
ingly inaugurated, March 4, 1877. According to the officia/ returns, Gozernor Zilden had a
£opular majority over all others, of I57,397 zotes. Pice-President, Iſiſ/iam A. Wheeler.

XVI CONTEMPORAN E O U S E WENTS.
Iſayes’ and Garfield's Adrainistrations [1877–1881].
THE UNITED STATEs. ,
1877. Rutherford B. Hayes inaugurated President of the United States; a conciliatory policy to.
wards the Southern States adopted; good effects of the policy soon manifested. 1878. Congress fail-
ing to make appropriations for the maintenance of the military establishment, an extraordinary ses-
Sion was held in October; the opposition in Congress seemed disposed to block the wheels of
government; an Anti-Chinese Bill vetoed. 1879. Congress refuses to vote appropriations for the
support of the government service; an extraordinary session of Congress begins in March; resump-
tion of specie payment after eighteen years' suspension; remarkable exodus of colored people from
Southern States. 1880. A joint resolution to amend the Constitution so as to give women a right to
vote introduced in both Houses of Congress; the President calls, the attention of Congress to the
|##" of an inter-oceanic ship canal; James A. Garfield elected President of the United States.
; º urated March 4, begins a prosperous administration; shot by an assassin July 2; dies
September 19. ... •
GREAT BRITAIN.
1877. The queen proclaimed Empress of India; Parliament invites action in favor of Sustaining
Turkey against Russia; Convention with Egypt for the suppression of the slave-trade. 1878. The
army reserve called out; preparations for war with Russia; the foreign policy of the government
sustained; Lord Lorne made governor of Canada; Cyprus ceded to #. 1879, Definitive
treaty between Great Britain, and Turkey; war prosecuted in southern Africa (the Transvaal and
Zululand). , 1880 Irish Relief Bill passed; Land League formed; agitations prevail in Ireland; Lord
Beaconsfield resigns; Gladstone becomes prime minister; Irish Tenant Compensation Bill rejected
by the Lords. 1881. Irish members expelled from the Commons; the queen orders the court to go
; lºng for a week for the death of President Garfield; Lord Beaconsfield dies; Irish Laid
ill passed. -
IFRANCE.
1877. Defeat of the Amnesty Bill and reorganization of the ministry; repeal of the Press Law;
triumph of the Ultramontane party; end of the ministerial crisis. 1878. Holding of another great
international exhibition of industry. 1879. Resignation of President McMahon; Jules Grévy elected
President of the French Republic ; amnesty granted to Communists; restoration of the seat of gov-
ernment to Paris; Legislature meets there for the first time, since 1870; International Ship-Canal
Congress meets in Paris; Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte killed in Africa; more than three thou-
samá Communists pardoned. 1881. France engages in war with Tunis.
SPAIN.
1877. Insurrections in Cuba; constitutional guarantees denied the Basque provinces; universal
suffrage, established. 1878. Attempt to assassinate King Alfonso ; marriage of the young king and
an archduchess of Austria. 1880. The Cortes 3.” bill (which becomes law) to abolish slavery in
Cuba : the sons of King Alfonso declared the direct heirs to the Spanish throne with the titlé of
“Princes of Asturias”; this was done by royal decree, which abrogated the decree of 1850. 1881.
The king orders the court to go into mourning for a week for the death of President Garfield.
GERMANY. -
1877. The Reichstag, or Parliament, opened (February 22) by the emperor; Bismarck, the Chan-
cellor of the Empire, has leave of absence from , official duties; Von Moltke, viewing the French
budget, doubts a permanent peace with France; Austrian and Hungarian delegations vote for credits
asked by the Austrian Minister of War. 1878, Attempted assassination of the emperor; signing of
the treaty of Berlin; Austrian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Socialist Bill adopted; con-
vention between Austria and Turkey; Bismarck's Parliamentary Discipline Bill rejected; all exiled
clergy who ask permission allowed to return to Germany. 1880. International conference at Berlin
to define the boundaries of Greece. 1881. Anti-Jewish movements in Germany.
IRTUSSIA-
1877. Russia determines to invade Turkey; Turkey defies protocols signed at London; Russian
troops cross the Pruth; Russia declares war against Turkey (April 24); Russian troops occupy
Bucharest and enter Roumania. , 1878. Preliminary treaty of peace between Russia and Turkey
signed. 1879. Definitive treaty of peace between Russia and Turkey signed; two attempts to assas-
sinate the czar. 1880. Attempt to destroy the royal family by blowing up the Winter Palace with
dynamite; Russians defeated by the Turkomans. 1881. Assassination of the emperor by the Nihil-
ists; accession of his son, Alexander III. ITALY
1877. Cardinal Joachim Pecci elected pope and receives the title of Leo XIII. as the successor
of Pius IX, deceased. 1878. Wictor Emmanuel dies; King Humbert, son and successor of Wictor
Emmanuel, reigns wisely and maintains peace and prosperity in his dominions; attempt to assassinate
the king. 1880. Abolition of the grist tax.
EIOLLAND AND SWEDEN.
1877. The grand ship-canal connecting Amsterdam with the sea opened. 1879, Marriage of the
Ring of Holland to the Princess Emma of Waldeck; Professor Nordenskjöld, an accomplished Swe-
dish explorer, navigates the Polar Sea around the north of Europe from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Ocean. -
IBELGIUMI.
1880. Belgium suspends diplomatic relations with the Vatican; the king orders the court to go
into mourning a week for the death of President Garfield.
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TWENTIETH PRESIDENT.
Born in the town of Orange, Ohio, AVov. 19, 1831. Graduate at IWilliams College, 1856.
Became Professor of Latin and Greek in Hiram College, O.
A lected Stafr Senator, 1859.
Appointed Colonel, 42d Ohio Vols., 1861.
AVominated for Congress while in the field, 1862,
but continued in service until 1863. Member of 38th, 39th, 40th, 41st, 42d, 43d, 44th, 45th
and 46th Congresses. AElected U. S. Senator, Jan. 1880. Flected President of the United
States, Mov., 1880. Shot by Charles J. Guiteau, Washington, D. C., July 2, 1881. Died at
AElberon, AW. J., Sept. 19, 1881. Vice-President, Chester A. Arthur.

CoN TEM POR AN E OUS EVENTs. xvii
Arthur's Administration [1881–1885].
TEIE UNITED STATES.
1881, Chester A. Arthur succeeded James A. Garfield as President of the United States. 1882,
The Edmunds' Anti-Polygamy Bill passed; Anti-Chuese Law, to continue ten years, passed; Utah
refused admission as a State ; a Bill to give the suffrage to women favorably reported to Congress;
Commissioners to negotiate a treaty with Mexico appointed. 1883. Civil Service Reform Bill passed;
destruction of life and property in the Ohio Valley by floods ; the East River Bridge (New York and
Brooklyn) opened; Northern Pacific Railroad finished; disbanding of the Continental Army, and the
Evacuation of New York by the British in 1783, celebrated. 1884. Commercial treaty with Mexico
ratified; survivors of the Greely Arctic Expedition rescued ; Grover Cleveland elected President of
the United States—ten million votes east; great Exhibition at New Orleans opened; a treaty of com-
mercial reciprocity with Cuba negotiated, but not ratified. 1885 Washington Monument dedicated;
General Grant placed on the retired list with full pay.
GREAT BRITAIN.
1881. Parnell, the Irish agitator, arrested in Dublin. 1882. Bill to exclude atheists from Par-
liament introduced; Queen Victoria shot at while passing the Windsor railway station; over five
hundred agrarian outrages in Ireland in one month réported ; the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and the
Under Secretary murdered in Phoenix Park Dublin ; British forces bombard and burn Alexandria, in
Egypt, and seize the Suez Canal ; Repression Bill passed. 1883. Attempt to blow up government
offices at Westminster with dynamite; a bill to reduce the British public debt $865,000,000 in §
years passed; Lord Lansdowne inaugurated Governor-General of the Dominion of Canada; Britis
forces in Egypt; General Gordon in peril. 1884. Franchise and redistribution bills, which put the
government into the hands of the people, passed. , 1885. Attempt to blow up the Tower and Houses
of Parliament with dynamite; treaty with Italy signed.
IFRANCE
1882. Primary Education Bill passed; French troops enter Tunis; Expedition to southeastern
Asia; Franco-Spanish treaty ratified; a bill providing for the protection of the Suez Canal defeated
and the ministry resign. 1883. The Assembly vote twenty-five million francs for the Tunisian expe.
dition ; Prince Napoleon, arrested for issuing a political manifesto—his arrest creates a ministerial
crisis; a law to restrain the actions of French princes passed ; expeditions against Tonquin and Mada-
gascar; French troops gain a foothold in China. 1884. The campaign in China ended by a treaty of
peace; violation of the treaty by the Chinese renews the war; Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty presented
to the United States; cholera rages in Marseilles and Toulon; Senatorial Reform Bill passed.
GHERMANY.
1881. Bismarck's policy assailed in the German Parliament by Liberals. , 1882. The Emperor
recommends Prussia to abolish the four lower grades of class taxes for the benefit of poorer tax pay-
ers. 1883. The government issues a decree prohibiting the importation of American pork in its pro-
ducts; seizure of Swartow disavowed; note sent to the Vatican requiring notification of ecclesiastical
appointments. 1884. The Germania Monument at Niederwald to commemorate the victories of
1870–71 unveiled; the Laskor resolutions of the United States Congress returned with explanations
by Bismarck; the Chancellor three times defeated in the German Parliament by the opposing votes
of the Liberals. 1885. Amicable relations exist between the Emperor and the Pope. -
IRUSSIA.
1881. Commissioners appointed to examine and reorganize the system of provincial government,
looking to local self-government. 1882. Accession of Alexander #. Prince Gortchakoff, the pre-
mier of the empire, retires from office on account of old age and ill-health : treaty with Persia rati-
fied; the decree banishing Jewish apothecaries pronounced illegal : coronation of the Czar deferred
one year because of apprehended dangers to his life 1883. Commissioners appointed to examine
and amend the laws relating to the Jews; two thousand persons arrested in Moscow for plotting to
kill the Czar; Nihilists convicted and pupished; Alexander III. crowned at Moscow with great pomp;
anti-Jewish riots at different places. , 1884, Peace reigns throughout the empire; the Czar and his
family win the good will of the people. 1885. Russia looks with covetous eyes upon British India
and threatens.
SPAIN.
1882. A bill introduced into the Spanish Chamber of Deputies for the immediate abolition of
slavery in Cuba and granting civil rights to the freedmen; commercial treaty with France approved.
1883. The Chamber of Deputies refuse to abolish the parliamentary oath; a bill substituting affirma-
tion for the oath, when desired, ſº ministers decide to treat as freemen forty thousand slaves in
Cuba who were not liberated in 1870; a riot in favor of a republic among troops at Badajos and at
other places; reformation of the army effected. 1884. King Alphonso hooted and hissed at in Paris
by a crowd; the French embassy at Madrid threatened ; reciprocity treaty with the United States
negotiated. 1885. Districts in Spain dreadfully scourged by earthquakes and cholera.
ITALY.
1881. An attempt to murder the premier in the Chamber of Deputies. 1882. Universal suffrage
established for all who can read and write; the Pope sends a circular letter to Irish bishops concern-
.# Collections of funds for political purposes; the first election in Italy after the adoption of Univer-
S8,
Suffrage was on October 29, 1882; since that period the country has enjoyed continual peace and
repose.
NT.
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TWENTY-SECONID PRES: DENT,
Aorn in Caldwell, M. J., March 18, 1837. Educated at Canton, M. V., until 16. Went
to Mew York and taught for a while in the Asylum for the Blind. Went to Buffalo, studied
law, and was admitted to the bar, 1859. Appointed Assistant District-Attorney of Erie co.,
1863. Drafted into the army while so employed, and furnished a substitute. Elected Sheriff
of Erie co., 1870. Flected Mayor of Buffalo, 1881. AElected Governor of New York by a
majority of nearly 200,000, 1882. Elected President of the United States, as a Democrat,
1884. Vice-President, Z'homas A. Hendricks, died AVoz. 25, 1885.

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WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM.
Born at Bocounoc, Cornwall, Eng., Nov. I5, 1708.
College, Oxford. Entered Parliament, 1735. First took prominent part in debates,
I74I: Returned to the next Parliament. Appointed one of the joint Vice-Treasurers
for Ireland, Feb. 22, 1746; Paymaster-General, May 6, and Secretary of State, Dec.,
I756. Resigned in following April, but recalled by the King, June II, and became
Premier. Resigned Oct. 1761, receiving a pension for the lives of himself, wife and son.
Attempts were made in 1763, 1765, 1766, to bring him into the cabinet again, and in Aug.
I766, he consented to form a new Ministry. His memory is precious to Americans,
because of his declaration in 1766, that the Kingdom had no right to levy a tax upon the
Colonies, and his steadfast opposition to all measures repressive to the Colonists. Died
May 11, 1778.
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Born in Boston, Mass., Jan. 17, 1706.
Apprenticed to his brother, a printer, 1718. Settled in Philadelphia, 1726. Founder of
the Public Library. Clerk General Assembly of Pennsylvania, 1736. Postmaster, 1737.
Elected to Assembly, 1747, and the ten succeeding years. “Brought down electricity
from the clouds,” 1752. Discoverer of the utility of lightning rods. Deputy Postmaster-
General of the British Colonies in America, 1753. Founder of the Academy of Sciences,
same year. From 1757 spent several years in England as agent of several colonies.
Sent by Congress as Commissioner to France, 1776. Was a commissioner to arrange
treaty of peace. , Appointed Minister to France. Participated in the framing of the
Federal Constitution, 1787. Died April 17, 1790.
Attended Grammar School two years.

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Born in Hanover co., Va., April 12, 1777. Admitted to the bar, 1797, at Lexington,
Ky, Member of Legislature, 1803. Appointed U. S. Senator for an unexpired term,
1806. Speaker of Legislature, 1807. Elected U. S. Senator, 1809. Representative in
Congress, 1811, and Speaker six terms. A commissioner to negotiate peace with Great
Britain, 1814. Re-elected to Congress, and became one of the most active Protectionists.
Member of Congress and Speaker, 1823. Secretary of State, 1825. Elected U.S. Sena.
tor, 1831, beginning his tariff labors. Nominated for President, 1831, 1844. Resigned
from Senate, 1842; re-elected 1849. Died June 29, 1852.

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Born in Franklin co., Ohio, Oct. 15, 1818. Graduate at U. S. Military Academy,
1838. Took an active part in the Mexican War, being “mentioned " for gallant conduct
at Buena Vista, Feb. 23, 1847. Brig.-Gen., May, 1861. First commander of the Army
of the Potomac. Maj.-Gen, of Vols., March 14, 1862, and commander Department of
Rappahannock, April 14. Relieved of command, Sept. 5, 1862. In command of Depart-
ment of the Pacific, July, 1864 to June, 1865. Brevet Maj.-Gen., U. S. A., 1866.
Succeeded the late Gen. Meade, as Maj.-Gen., U. S. A., Nov. 25, 1872, and placed in
command of the Military Division of the Pacific, Died May 5, 1885.






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Born in New York City, 1801. Entered the nav ſº º - -
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several exploring expeditions, the most important being in the years 1838, '42, of which
he published an account in five volumes, gaining the gold medal of the Geographical
§§ º º 1855. Nearly involved the U. S. and Great Britain in war
e Confederate commissioners, M S. e tº º
Steamer Trent, Nov., 1861. essrs. Mason and Slidell from the British
º Commodore, 1862. Rear-Admiral, 1866 &
placed on retired list. Author of many scientific papers. Died . 8, 1877. Soon after

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THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER.
Born in Waterford, Ireland, Aug. 3, 1823. Favorite orator with the Young Ireland
party of 1846 '4S. Sentenced to death for sedition, but the sentence was commuted to
transportation for life. Escaped from Tasmania, 1852, went to New York, and became
editor of the Z, is/. AVews, 1856. Major 69th N. Y. Vols., 1861. Brig.-Gen., 1862-63.
Secretary of Montana Territory, 1865. Drowned July 1, 1867

Born in Stratford, Va., Jan, 19, 1807. , Graduate at U. S. Military Academy, 1829.
When Gen. Scott invaded Mexico he appointed Captain Lee Chief Engineer of the army
under Gen. Wood. Received three promotions for services in the campaign. Superin.
tendent U. S. Military Academy, 1852. In command of troops that captured John
Brown, 1859. Resigned his commission as Colonel, U. S. A., April 20, 1861, and was
appointed Maj.-Gen. by the State of Virginia immediately afterward. Gen.-in-Chief, C.
S. A., Jan. 31, 1865. Surrendered to Gen. Grant, Appomattox Court House, Va., April
6, 1865: . With the exceptions of the unsuccessful invasions of Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania, his military operations were confined to his native State. After the war, was
elected President of Washington College, Va. Died Oct. 12, 1870.
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BENJAMIN CHURCH.
Born in Plymouth, Mass., 1689. When the Indian
King Philip started on the war-path, Capt. Church took
the lead of the whites. In the spring of 1676 he broke
the power of the New England tribes. Continued hos-
tilities against the Indians until 1704. Died Jan. 17,
j718.
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NATHANIEL GREENE.
Born in Warwick, R.I., 1740. Was an anchor-smith
When the Revolution broke out. He hastened to Boston
after the Lexington engagement, and was one of the
Th9sº useful officers in the army to the close of the war,
$98. Wing the rank of Major-General from Congress.
Died June, ingé.
BENEpic T ARNOLD.
. Born in Norwich, Conn., Jan. 3, 1740. He fought
in the Revolutionary war until 1778, when he was court-
martialed. He then bargained for the surrender of
West Point to the British. The capture of Major
*śprevented the betrayal. Died in London, June
, 1801.
ROBERT MORRIS,
Born in Lancashire, Eng., Jan., 1733. Came to Amer-
ica, 1744. Became heavy importer in Phila. Member
Continental Congress, 1775, Signer of the Declaration
of Independence. Established the first National Bank,
1781. Declined Secretaryship of the Treasury under
Washington. Died May 8, 1806.



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RUFUS PUTNAM.
Born in Sutton, Mass., April 9, 1738. Entered the
provincial army, 1757. , Cóntinued in Service during re.
mainder of French and Indian war. Entered the Revo
lutionary army, 1775, and became a Brig.-Gen. Com:
missioned Supreme Judge, Northwest Territory, 1780
and Surveyor-General U. S., 1796. Died May 1, 1824.
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JOHN JAY.
Born in New York City, Dec. 12, 1745. Graduate at
King's College, 1764. Admitted to the bar, 1768. Mem-
ber of the first Continental Congress. Chief Justice of
New York, 1777. President of Congress, 1778–79.
Special Minister to Spain, 1779. , Commissioner to ne-
#: peace with Great Britain, 1782. First Chief
Justice of the U. S. Died May 17, 1829.
Born in Upper Marlborough, Md., Jan. 8, 1735. Edu-
cated at St. 8. College, French Flanders, and the
Jesuits’ College. Liege. Ordained a priest, 1769; cop.
secrated a bishop, 1790, and made archbishop. 1808. . At
request of Congress, delivered an eulogy on Washinº-
ton, Feb. 22, 1800. Died Dec. 3, 1815.
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RUFUS KING.
Born in Scarborough, Meg, 1755. Entered Harvard
College, 1773, remaining until the students were dis-
persed by military movements. Returned to college
iºn, and graduated with distinction as a classical
scholar and orator. Was one of the first U.S. Senators
from New York. Minister to Great Britain, 1796, and
again in 1825. Died April 29, 1827.
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JAMES JACKSON.
Born in Devonshire, Eng., Sept. 21, 1757. Came to
America, 1772. Was an efficient officer throughout the
Revolution. Elected Governor of Georgia, 1788, but
declined on account of his youth : accepted in 1798.
Was twice U. S. Senator. Died March 19, 1806.
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PETER STUYVESANT.
tº; in Friesland, Holland, 1602. First director of
N e Dutch West India º in the province of New
Fººtherland on the Hudson. Arrived at New Amster.
§. May, 1647... Ruled until iºd, when he surren-
$ººl to the English, who named the town New York.
ied Aug., 1685
WILLIAM PEN N.
Born in London, Oct., 1644. Educated at Oxford.
Became a Quaker while a student and was driven
from home. Returned to Quakers and was chosen
preacher. Procured grant of present Pennsylvania,
1681. Founded Philadelphia. Died July 30, 1718.
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PHILIP SCHUYLER.
Born in Albany, N. Y., Nov. 22, 1733. . Entered the
army, 1755, serving three years. Was in expedition
#. Ticonderoga and Crown Point, as Colonel.
ember of second Continental Congress. One of the
four Maj.-Gens. appointed to command the army, 1775.
Twice U. S. Senator. Died July, 1804.



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COTTON MATHER.
Born in Boston, Feb. 12, 1663. Educated at Harvard
College. Ordained a clergyman, 1684. Was a firm
believer in witchcraft and chief promoter of the Salem
Witchcraft excitement of 16 2. A voluminous writer,
and prodigy of learning. Died Feb. 18, 1728. *
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POCAHONTAS.
Favorite daughter of Powhatan. Saved the life of
Captain Smith after his condemnation to death. Her
marriage, April, 1613, to John Rolfe, an Englishman,
insured peace in Virginia, and made her powerful
father a warm friend of the English,
ABRAHAM whiPPLE,
Born in Providence, R., I., 1733. Led a sea-faring
life from boyhood. Burned the British armed-schooner
Ga&pé in Narragansett Bay, June 17, 1772, Fired first
gun in naval service of the Revolution, driving the
ritish frigate Rose from the blockade of Narragansett
Bay, 1775. Commander, 1776, and in active service
until May, 1780. Died May 29, 1819.
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GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE.
Born in Albemarle County, Va., Nov. 19, 1752. Went
to the Ohio region, 1772. Captain in army operating
Reclaimed the great Northwest
against Indians, 1774. g
erritory from the English, French, and Indians.
Gained rank of Brig.-Gen. while serving under Steuben
in Virginia, 1781. Known as the “American Hanni-
bal.” Died in Kentucky, Feb., 1818.





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DAVID RAMSAY.
Born in Lancaster County, Pa., April 2, 1749. Set-
tled in Charleston, S. C., as a physician. Elected to
Congress, 1782, '85, and President pro tem., '86. Was
the author of many valuable historical works, and the
“father” of American copyrights. Died May 8, 1815.
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Porn in Hanover Count sº fº ºn º
gº y, Va., May 29, 1736. First
º §ttention by his eloquonce when 27. Ad-
W. ed to the bar, 1759. First Republican Governor of
§. 1776-'84., Great advocate of State Rights.
& Hººd 19 Federal Constitution, but acquiesced when
* became law, Died june 6, 1799.
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CHARLES THOMSON.
Born in Ireland, 1730. Came to America, 1741.
Adopted as a son by Delaware Indians, 1756. Elected
Secretary first Continental Congress, 1774, and served
until 1789. Wrote, but destroyed, a most valuable his-
tory of those days. Died Aug. 16, 1824.
Born in Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 3, 1738. First scholar
: nºt Raduate of the College of Philadelphia. Set-
, leCl 1D
tinental Congress, Signer of Declaration of Independ-
Sºce, Judge of Admiralty for Pa., and Judge U. S.
Court, 1790. Died May 9, iº91.
ordentown, N. J., 1768. Member of Con- .




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BENJAMIN WEST.
Born in Springfield, Pa., Oct. 10, 1738. Was a clever
ortrait painter at 15. Studied and painted in Italy and
}; Won the friendship of George III., and with
the aid of Reynolds the two ſounded the Royal Acad-
emy of Fine Arts. Died March 11, 1820.
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PAUL JONES.
Born in Arbigland, Scotland, July 6, 1747. Settled in
Virginia, 1773. Volunteered services and was com-
missioned Lieutenant in the Navy, 1775. Made several
successful cruises to British waters. Fought the
memorable battle in his Bonhomme Richard with the
Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, Sept. 23, 1779.
After the war became a Rear-Admiral in Russia, and
ſought the Turks in the Black Sea. Died July 18, 1792.
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SAMUEL KIRKLAND.
Born at Norwich, Conn., Dec., 1741. Educated for
missionary work, and labored for ſorty years among
the tribes of the Six Nations, chiefly the Oneidas. Suc.
CGssful treaty-maker, having confidence of Indians.
Died Feb., 1808.
DANIEL BOON E.
Born in Berks County, Pa., 1734. Family emigrated
to North Carolina. Became a noted hunter and ex-
plorer. Penetrated the unknown valley of the Missis-
sippi, and made a settlement on the “Kain-tuck-ee"
river, 1775. Captured by Indians and adopted, 1778.
Escaped, helped make Krntucky an independent State,
lost his title to the land he subdued, and started on an
exploration of the far West. Died Sept. 26, 1820.




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JOHN WINTHROP.
Born in Boston, 1715. Graduate at Harvard College,
1732. Called at the time “most learned man in Amer-
ica.” . Took famous observations of transits of Venus,
1761, '69. Hollis Professor in Harvard. Received de-
gree of LL.D., Edinburgh University. Died May 3, 1779.
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JOHN DICKENSON.
Born in Maryland, Nov. 13, 1732. Studied law in the
Temple, London. Member 'Pennsylvania Assembly,
1764, of Stamp-Act Congress, 1765, and of first Con-
timental Congress, 1774. Wrote the Declaration of
$9 mgress, 1775. Governor of Pennsylvania, 1782. Died
Feb. 14, 1808,
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ROGER WILLIAMS.
Born in Wales, 1599, Educated at Oxford. Driven
to America by religious persecution, 1631. Formed a
congregation, Salem, Mass., 1634.
Founded the colony of Rhode Island. Father of Amer-
ican Baptists. Died April, 1683.
B inished, 1635.
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JONATHAN TRUM BULL.
Born in Lebanon, Conn., June 21, 1710. Graduate at
Harvard College, 1727. Prepared for the ministry, but
became a merchant. Elected Member of the Assembly
1733, and Governor of Connecticut, 1769; re-elected
§ºr for iourteen consecutive terms. Died Aug.
17, 1785.






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CADWALLADER COLDEN.
Born in Dumse, Scotland, Feb. 17, 1688. Educated at
|Edinburgh University. Came to America, as a phy-
sician, 1708. Became Surveyor-General of New York,
and one of the Governor's Council. Lieut.-Governor
and acting magistrate, 1760, serving through Stamp-Act
excitement. Died Sept. 28, 1776.
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BENJAM!N RUSH.
Born in Byberry, Pa., Dec. 24, 1745. Educated at
Princeton and Edinburgh, as physician and scientist.
Member Continental Congress, 1775, and signer of
Declaration, of Independence. Prof. of Chemistry,
Medical College of Phila. Served heroically through
yellow ſever scourge, 1793. Died April 19, 1813.
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DAVID RITTENHOUSE.
Born in Roxborough, Pa., April 8, 1782. Became one
of the most eminent mechanicians and mathematicians
of his time. Inventor of “fluxions” in algebraical
analysis. Constructed a machine to show motions of
solar system. First Director Philadelphia Mint. Died
June 6, 1796.
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FRANCIS MARION.
Born in Winyaw, S. C., 1732. Fought in the war
with the Cherokee Indians, 1761. Entered Revolution-
ary Army as Captain. Was with Moultrie at Charles-
ton. Organized the famous brigade that bore his name,
with which he cleared the Carolinas and Georgia of the
enemy. Died Feb. 29, 1795.











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ROBERT R. Livinásion.
Iłorn in New York City, 1747. Graduated at King's
College, 1764. Studied law under Chief Justice Smith.
Was Secretary of State from organization of the Feder-
al Government until 1783, when he became Chancellor
of the State of New York, Administered the oath to
ºshington. Minister to France, 1801. Died
eb. 26, 1813.
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JOHN HANCOCK,
*9th in Braintree, Mass., 1737. Graduate at Harvard
§e, 154, Became counting-room clerk for his
!. Entered public liſe, 1766. An abettor of the
...; 1773, President Provincial Congress of Mass.
jº §: ...tº Congress when the Decla-
Indence Was Signed. * > -s; a
Several years. Died Oct. 3, iº. d. Governor of Mass
TENCH COXE.
Born in Philadelphia, Pa., May 22, 1755. Was one of
the earliest advocates of cotton-growing. In 1785 an-
nounced his belief in the future greatness of the cotton
district south of Maryland. Was identified with every
important industrial movement from 1787 until his
death. Died July 17, 1824.
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SAMUEL SLATER.
Born near Belper, Eng., June 9, 1768. Apprenticed
to a cotton-spinner. Came to America with models of
Arkwright's machines, Nov., 1789. Began making cot-
ton-spinning machinery, Providence, R. I., Jan. 18.
1790. Eleven months afterward the successful man.
ufacture of cotton in the United States was begun.
Died April 2 \, 1834.







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JOHN MARSHA!_L,
Born in Germantown, Va., Sept. 24, 1755. Was in
military service 1775–1780, when he studied law. Secre-
tary of War, 1800. Appointed Chief Justice of the
United State-, Jan., 1831. Author of a “Life of Wash-
{ngton.” Died July 6, 1835.
John RANDOLPH.
Born near Petersburg, Va., June 2, 1773, the seventh
in descent from Pocahontas (q.v.). Educated in Col-
umbia (N.Y.) and William and Mary (Va.) Colleges,
Elected to Congress, 1799, he ferved for 24 years, and in
the Senate 2. Appointed Minister to St. Petersburg,
iš. Ill health forced him to resign. Died May,
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Born in Dedham, Mass., April 9, 1756. Graduate at
Harvard College, 1774. Admitted to the bar, 1781.
Mcmber of the State Legis'ature, and elected to Con-
gress, 1789. Declined election to Presidency of Har-
ward College, 1805. Died July 4, 1808.
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BENJAMIN THOMPSON.
Born in Mass., March 1753. Became a schoolmaster,
but marrying a rich widow, gave his mind to scientific
research. Refused to take part in political affairs when
the Revolution opened. Sought British protection in
Boston. Was bearer of despatches from Lord Howe to
England. After the war went to Bavaria, where he was
created Count Rumford. Died Aug., 1814,
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AARON BURR.
Born in Newark, N. J., Feb. 5, 1756. , Graduate at
Princeton College, 1772. Commissioned Lieut.-Col.
1777, and served two years, when his health compelled
him to resign. Appointed. Attorney-General of New
York, 1789, and elected U. S. Senator, 1791. Candidate
for President, 1800, when Congress decided the tie vote
in favor of Jefferson, and gave Burr, the Vice-Presi-
dency. Fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel,
1804. Died Sept. 14, 1836.
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JOHN C. CALHOUN.
Born in Abbeville district, S. C., March 18, 1782.
Graduate at Yale College, 1804. Took a seat in Con-
ess, 1811, serving six years. Secretary of War for
fººdent Monroe, 1817. Elected Vice-President of the
Šć S., 1825; re-elected with President Jackson, 1828.
eºretary of State for President Tyler, 1843. Re-elected
3i ºnator, 1845, serving until his death. Died March
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DANIEL WEBSTER.
Born in Salisbury, N. H., Jan. 18, 1782. Graduate at
Dartmouth College. Admitted to the bar, 18 5. Elect-
ed to Congress from New Hampshire, 1813 ; re-elected,
1814. Removed to Boston to practice law, 1816, resign-
ing from Congress. Elected U. S. Senator, 1826. Secre-
tary of State for President Harrison ; retained by Presi-
dent Tyler. Negotiated the Ashburton Treaty, 1842.
Re-elected U. S. Senator, 1845. Secretary of State for
President Fillmore. Died Oct 24, 1852,
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ROBERT FULTON.
Born in Little Britain, Pa., 1765. At the age of 21 he
began studying with West, the painter, but gradualiy
developed a genius for mechanics, and became a civil
engineer. He made a voyage from New York to Albany
in the Clermont, his first experimental steamboat, in 36
hours, 1807. Successfully constructed submarine hat-
teries, and built the first steam man-of-war for the
Government. Died Feb. 24, 1815. -










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MARTHA WASHINGTON.
Born (Martha Dandridge) in New Kent County, Va.,
May, 1732. Married Daniel Parke Custis, 1749. Became
a widow when about 25. Married Col. George Wash-
ington, Jan, 6, 1759, and settled on the Mount Vernon
estate. Presided Over the executive mansions in New
York and Philadelphia. She survived her husband less
than three years.
T. MACDO NOUGH.
Born in Newcastle County, Del., Dec. 23, 1783. Was
a midshipman in the navy, 1798; a lieutenant, 1807; a
master-commandant, 1813. Was in command" of four
£hips and ten galleys at the battle of Plattsburgh, Lake
Champlain, Sept. 11, 1814. For his victory he was hand-
somely rewarded by Congress, the States of New York
and Vermont, and the cities of New York and Albany.
Died Nov. 10, 1825.
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WILLIAM E. CHANNING.
Born in Newport, R. I., Alpril 7, 1780. Graduate at
Harvard College, 1798. Regent of Harvard, 1801; li-
censed to preach. 1803 ; Ordained pastor of the Federal
Street Unitarian Society, Boston, 1803. Preached with-
out aid until 1824, when an assistant was employed.
Received degree of D.D. from Harvard. Was connected
with the society nearly 40 years, Died Oct. 2, 1842.
- * * *
WILLIAMTJTWORTH.
Born in Columbia County, N. Y., 1794, Was a dis-
tinguished officer in the war of 1812–15, and rendered
and services in the Mexican War. Commanded the
rst division of the army that moved on Monterey, and
brevetted Maj.-Gen. for gallantry during that engage-
ment. Also received a sword from Congress. A hand-
Some monument is erected to his memory in New York
City. Died May, 1849. -
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wiLLIAM BAINBRIDGE,
Born in Princeton, N. J., May 7, 1774. Entered the
naval servicc, 1798. Received thanks of Napoleon
Bonaparte for saving French residents in Algiers from
enslavement by the Dey. Was active in War of 1812,
and honored by Congress with a gold medal. Was
President of the Board of Navy Commissioners three
years. Died July 27, 1833.
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S. VAN RENSSELAER.
n: near Albany, N. Y., Nov. 1, 1764. Graduate at
§º. College, 1782. Elected lieut.-Governor of
§. York, 1795. On declaration of war against Great
.* 1812, he was commissioned a Maj.-Gen, and
Placed in command of the N.Y. militia. After the war
Wàs elected to Congress. His last years were spent in
Princely benefactions. Died Jam, #6,184)
OLIVER ELLSWORTH.
Born in Windsor, Conn., April 29, 1745. Educated at
Yale and Pi inceton Colleges. Admitted to the bar in
Hartford, 1770. Member Continental Congress, 1777.
Appointed Judge of the Superior Court of Conn., 1784.
First U. S. Senator from his State. Appointed Chief
Justice of the United States, 1796. Ambassador to
France, 1799–1801. Died Nov. 26, 1877.
WASHINGTON |RVING.
Born in New York City, April 3, 1783. Studied law
when sixteen, but abandoned it for the charms of
literature. Went to the south of Europe for his health,
1804. Returned to New York, 1806. as Secretary of
Legation at London, 1829–1832. Received degree of
LL.D. from the University of Oxford, 1831. Minister
to Spain, 1842. Died Nov. 28, 1859.




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WILLIA PINKNEY.
Born in Annapolis, Md., March 17, 1764. Admitted to
the bar, 1786. Appointed Attorney-General of the
U. S., 1811 : U. S. Minister to Russia, 1816. On his
return, 1820, was elected U. S. Senator. Was a pro-
º statesman and brilliant orator. Died Feb. 25,
e
ROBERT Y. HAYNE.
Born near Charleston, S. C., Nov. 10, 1791. Studied
law and was admitted to the bar. , Volunteered for the
army, early in 1812. Became Maj.-Gen. of the State
militia. Began practice of law at Charleston. Speaker
of State Assembly, 1818. Attorney-General same year.
U. S. Senator ten years. Chairman of Committee of
the South Carolina Convention which reported the
nullification ordinance, 1832. Soon after was elected
Governor. Issued a counter manifesto to President
Jackson's proclamation. Died Sept. 24, 1841.
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ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
Born on the island of Nevis, British West Indies, Jan.
11, 1757. Came to the U.S., 1773. Was active with pen
and sword during Revolution. Was Washington’s aide
and chief Recretary, 1777–782. Admitted to the bar in
New York, 1782. Secretary of the Treasury, 1789.
Died July 4, 1804.
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EDWARD Livingston.
Born in Clermont, N.Y., 1764. Graduate at Princeton
College, 1781, Admitted to the bar, 1785. Elected to
Congress, 1794, serving until 1801, when he resumed
his gºś, from which he was called to the Office Of
L. S. District-Attorney. Took the yellow fever during
the epidemic of 1803, while visiting the sick. He was
in service under Jackson in Louisiana, 1814. Chief of
a commission to codify the laws of the ſtate, and
author of the penal code, adopted 1824. U. S. Senator,
1829. Minister to France, 1833. Died May 23, 1837.


C. C. PIN CKNEY.
Born in Charleston, S. C., Feb. 25, iT46. Educated in
England. Degan practice of law in Charleston, 1769.
Entered the army, and was captured at the fall of
Charleston. Appointed Minister to the French Re-
public, 1796, and second Maj.-Gen. in the army, 1797.
Author of “ Millions for defence, but not one cent for
tribute.” Died Aug. 16, 1825.
1 Born in what is now Putnam County, N. Y., July 31,
#. Graduate at Yale College, 1781. Admitted to the
t ar, 1785, and settled in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Removed
; |New York City, 1793, and became 'Professor of aw
#ºolººla College. Elected Recorder of the City,
'97. Received degree of LL.D. from Columbia, Harº.
}. and Dartmouth Colleges. Appointed Associate
#;" of the New York Supreme Court, 1797. With
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1814–23. Died inec. 12, iči. $ $
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DE witt CLINTON.
Born in Little Britain, March 2, 1769 Graduate at
Columbia College, 1786. Appointed U. S. Senator,
1801. Elected Mayor of New York City annually from
1803 to 1815, except in 1807, '10. Ursuccessful candidate
for President, 1812. Chiefly instrumental in procuring
the law for constructing the Erie Canal. Elected Gover-
nor of New York, 1817, 1820, 1826. Died Feb. 11, 1828.
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EDWARD EVERETT.
Born in Dorchester, Mass., April 11, 1794. Graduate
at Harvard College, 1811. Entered Unitarian ministry,
Boston, 1813. Appointed to the Eliot chair of Greek
literature just created in Harvard, 1814. Elected to
Congress, 1824, holding his seat ten years. Elected
Governor of Massachusetts, 1834, and re-elected three
times. Appointed Minister to Great Britain, 1840. Com-
missioner to China, 1845, Secretary of State of the
Iſnited States, succeeding Daniel Webster, 1-52. U. S.
Senator, 1853, Candidate for Whce-President, 1860,
Died Jan. 15, 1865.



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W. C. C. CLA BORN E.
Born in Va., 1775. Educated at William and Mary
College. Studied law, went to Tennessee, and was
elected a member of the Constitutional Convention
when 21. Appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court
when 22. Appointed Governor of the Mississippi Ter-
ritory, 1801, ºnd of the Louisiana Territory, 18, 4. Gov-
ernor' of the State, 1812, and greatly seconded Gen.
Jackson in the defense of New Orleans, in 1815. Died
Nov. 23, 1817.
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JOHN C. FREMONT.
Born in Savannah, Ga., Jan. 21, 1813. Projected {l
survey of the region between the Missouri river and
the Pacific ocean, 1842. His first expedition lasted four
months, and the second, full of hardships, from May,
1843, until July, 1844. Elected Governor of Northern
California, July 4, 1846. In Oct., 1848, started on a
fourth expedition, and in 1853 on a fifth. First candi-
date of Republican party for President, 1856. Maj.-Gen.
during part of the Civil War, and Governor of Arizona
after its close.
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Born in South Kingston, R.I., Aug. 23, 1785. Early
in 1812 he was in command of a flotilla of gunboats in
New York harbor. Volunteering to reinforce Com.
Chauncey on Lake Ontario, he was sent by that officer
to Lake Erie to superintend the º; of a squadron
to oppose the British. On Sept. 10, 1813, he fought the
memorable battle in the Lawrence, achieving a most
brilliant victory. Died, a Commodore, Aug. 23, 1819.
ISAAC SHELBY.
Born near Hagerstown, Md., Dec. 11, 1750. Entered
military life, 1774. . In command of a com any of minute
men in Va., 1776. Appointed State Commissary of
Supplies, 1777, and attached to the Continental Com-
missary Department, 1778. First Governor of State of
Kentucky, 1792. Served a second, term, 1812. Led
4,000 Kentucky Volunteers across the Canadian fron-
tier, 1813; and for his fight upon the Thames received
a gold medal from Congress. Died July 18, 1826.







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ANDREW G. CURTIN.
Born in Centre co., Pa., April 22, 1817. Studied law in
Dickinson College. Canvassed the State for Henry
Clay, 1844. Appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth,
1854. Elected Governor of Pennsylvania, 1860 : re-
elected, 1863. As one of the War Governors, he did
much to strengthen the Union cause, and facilitate the
raising of the vast armies. Appointed Minister to
Russia, 1869. Member of the 47th, 48th, 49th Congresses.
4.
SAMUEL COOPER.
Born in New York, 1798. Graduate at U. S. Military
Academy, 1815. First Lieutenant and aide de camp to
Gen. Macomb, 1828-’30. Captain, 1836. Brevetted Col.
of the Staff, for meritorious conduct in the Mexican War,
1848. Adjutant-Gen. U. S. Army, 1852. Resigned Com-
mission, Mar. 7, 1861. Appointed Adj.-Gen. of the Con-
federate armies, Mar. 16, 1861, and Served in addition as
Inspector-General.
ROBERT ANDERSON.
Born near Louisville, Ky., June 14, 1805, Graduate at
U. S. Military Academy. Was a Col. of Ill. Vols., in the
Black Hawk War. Served in Seminole War, winning a
çaptaincy by his gallantry. Aide de camp to Gen.
Scott, 1888. Appointed an Asst. Adj.-Gen, on the re-or-
anization of the army staff. Was with Gen. Scott
through the Mexican War. Selected to command
troops in Charleston Harbor. With 80 officers and
men he defended Fort Sumter against a fierce bombard-
Iment for 88 hours, and was compelled to surrender, April
14, 1861. Maj.-Gen., U.S. A., Feb., 1865. In the same
Year, he raised his old flag over the ruins of Sumter.
Died Oct 33, isºl.
SAMUEL HOUSTON.
Born near Lexington, Va., March 2, 1793. Ram away
from home and lived with the Indians three years, being
adopted as his son by a chief. , Entered the army as
private, 1813. Served with distinction in Indian cann-
haigns, Resigned in 1818, and began studying law in
Nashville, Tenn. Admitted to the bar the same year.
Maj.-Gen. of Militia, 1821; Member of Congress, 1823-'27;
Governor of Tennessee, 1827. In April, 1829, resigned
and went to live with the Indians again. He wrested
Texas from Mexico by the battle of San Jacinto, April,
1836, and became President of the Republic of Texas the
the same year; re-elected 1841. First U. S. Senator from
the State of Texas, Died July 25, 1863.











CALEB CUSHING.
T}orn in Salisbury, Mass, Jan., 1800, Graduate at Har-
vard College, 1817. Admitted to the bar, 1825. Elected
to Congress, 1835. Went from the Whig to the Demo-
cratic party, 1841. Appointed Commissioner to China,
concluding the first American treaty, 1843. Entered
Mexican War at head of regiment equipped at his own
expense. Judge of Mass. Supreme Court, 1852. Attºy-
Gen. U. S., 1853. President of the National Democratic
Convention, 1860. Commissioner to codify laws of Con-
gress, 1866. Active in the purchase of Alaska from Rus:
sia, 1869. A counsel for settlement of the “Alabauna”
claims, 1872, Died Jan. 2, 1879.
JOHN B. FLOYD.
T}orn in Smithfield, Va., June 1, 1806. Graduate at
Columbia College, S. C., 1829. Began practice of law in
native county, but soon moved to Arkansas. Returned
to Virginia, 1839. Member of Legislature, 1847-'49. Gov-
ernor of Virginia, 1850-'53. , Delegate to National Demo-
cratic Convention, 1856. Appointed Secretary of War
by President Buchanan, 1857. By his order, the army
was dispersed in remote parts of the country and im
mense quantities of arms were transferred from North
ern to Southern arsenals, 1860. He resigned in December,
1860, because a Brig.-Gen. in the Confederate army threw
tha act of surrendering Fort Donelson to Gen. Grant,
1862, upon Gen. Pillow, and escaped into Southern Ten
nessee, Died Aug. 26, 1863
i
HENRY A. WISE.
Born in Drummondtown, Va., Dec. 3, 1806. Graduate
at Washington College, Pa., 1825. Elected to Congress,
1833, and twice re-elected. Senate rejected his nomina.
tion for Minister to France, 1842. Appointed Minister to
Brazil, 1844. Elected Governor of Virginia, 1855. John
Brown's seizure of Harper's Ferry, his capture, trial and
execution, occurred under Gov. Wise's administration,
1859. Member of State Convention, 1861, and labored
to effect a compromise with the seceded States. Upon
the secession of Virginia he entered the Confederate
military service as a Brig.-Gen. Died Sept. 12, 1876,
Born in the “ Glades,” Somerset county, Pa., Jan, 10,
1810. Admitted to the bar, 1831. Became a local Judge,
1842, and served for nine years, when he was elected a
Supreme Court Judge, short term. Elected for full
term (15 years), 1854. Attorney-General of the U. S.
under President Buchanan. Opposed the position of the
President at the secession crisis, holding that the Gov-
ernment had a right to suppress insurrection anywhere
and under any pretense. In Dec., 1860, he was appointed
Secretary of State in place of Gen. Cass, resigned, and
served to close of administration. He was engaged in
many celebrated cases, and contributed his views on
current public topics to the magazines and newspapers.
Died Aug. 19, 1883.




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LUTHER C. LADD.
On the 19th of April, 1861, while a body of Massachu-
setts troops were en route to the field of action, they
were fired upon on the streets of Baltimore, Md., by se-
cessionists. Luther C. Ladd, a little over 17 years of age,
Addison O. Whitney, 21 years of age, both of Lowell,
and Charles A. Taylor, of Boston, were killed outright :
and Sumner H. Needham, of Lawrence, was mortally
wounded. The bodies of the first soldiers killed in the
War were given a public funeral in Lowell, and a grand
“Martyrs’ Monument” was erected June 17, 1865.
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E. O. C. ORD.
Aś in Maryland, 1818. Graduate at U. S. Military
jºy, 1839. Served against the Seminole Indians,
W |-'42. On duty in California during the Mexican
*F, putting an end to the reign of terror there. Ac-
;Pººled the expedition against John Brown, 1859.
; 'gºen, of Vols., Sept. 1867, and placed in command
e brigade, Army of the Éotoma. Participated in
‘..."isº"; operations in Mississippi. Commanded
As 8th Corps at the º and capture of Wicksburg.
Sºmander of the 18th Corps he took part in the
**tions before Petersburg and Richmond. Brig.
Gen. U.S.A. iść,” fºss."Dºº, i.
. . . . . . . . ;
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MARSHALL LEFFERTs.
Born in Brooklyn, N. Y., 1820. Entered military life
Gen. H
as a staff officer to all, of the New York militia.
Became Col. of the famous Seventh Regiment, of New
York City, Aug. 15, 1859. Made a grand parade in honor
of the Prince of Wales, 1860. Took his regiment to the
field, April 19, 1861, May 26, 1862, and June 17, 1863.
During their first term the regiment opened communi-
cation between the National Capital and the North, by
relaying the rails of the railroad from Annapolis to
Washington. Died suddenly, July 3, 1876.
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MICHAEL CORCORAN.
Born in Carrowkell, Ireland, Sept. 21, 1827. Aº:
ed to the fish"Constabulary force when i9. He re-
Signed in 1849, came to America, settling in New York
Číty. Elected Col. of the 69th Régiment, N. G. S. N. Y.
1859, Court-martialed for refusing to parade his regi-
ment at the Prince of Wales's reception, 1860. Took his
regiment to the seat of war, and participated in the
first “Bull Run” battle, where he was taken prisoner,
He was held nearly a year. Qn his release was made a
Brig.-Gen. Organized the famous Corcoran Legion,
Army of the Potomac, 1863. Fel) from his horse, and
died Dec. 22, 1863.





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NATHANIEL ||YON.
Born in Ashford, Conn., July 14, 1819. Graduate at U.
S. Military Academy, 1841. Served at the bombardment
of Vera Cruz, and the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras,
and Churubusco. Early in 1861 he was placed in com-
mand of the U. S. Arsènal at St. Louis. His energy in
capturing the State Guards, in breaking up the Confed-
erate force at Potose, and in taking civil control when
Gov. Jackson fled from the capital, saved the State to
the Union. He encountered the Confederate forces
under Sterling Price at Wilson's Creek, Mo., Aug. 10,
1861, and was killed, after being twice wounded, while
leading a charge,
FRANCIS H. PIERPONT.
A very significant civil and political movement was
inaugurated in Northwestern Virginia, in the early part
of May, 1861. The Union feeling was very strong, and,
accordingly, there was much opposition to Governor
Letcher and the Confederatos in control of the eastern
counties. A convention was held at Wheeling in the
middle of June. A new State Government was organ-
ized, with Mr. Pierpont as Provisional Governor, a Union
Legislature was elected, and steps were taken for the
erection of a new State, which culminated in the for-
mation of the free State of West Virginia, admitted into
the Union June 2, 1863.
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G|DEON J. P|LLOW.
Born in Williamson Co., Tenn., June 8, 1806, Grad-
uate at Nashville Hºſº, 1827. Began the prac:
tice. Of law in Columbia. elegate to the National
Democratic Convention, 1844. Entered the Mexican
War as a Brig.-Gen. of Vols., and served under Gens.
Taylor and Scott, attaining the rank of Maj.-Gen.
After the war, was acquitted on charges of insubordi-
nation. Joined the Confederate army, 1861; command-
ed at Belmont, Mo., Nov. 7, 1861, and was second in
command under Gen Floyd at Fort Donelson, Feb. 1862.
Yº ºved from command for leaving his post. Died
ct., 1878. -
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STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS.
Born in Brandon, Vt., April 23, 1813. Studied law a
short time in Canandaigua, N. Y., leaving in 1831 for the
West, and settling in Jacksonville, Ill. Taught school
and studied law, and was admitted to the bar, 1834.
Was Attorney-General of the State before he was 22.
Secretary of State, 1840. Judge of the Supreme Court,
1841. Elected to Congress, 1848, '44, '46, and U. S. Sen-
ate, 1847. Canvassed the State in opposition to Abra-
ham Lincolm for U. S. Senator, 1858, and was re-elected.
Conservative Democratic candidate for President, 1860.
After Mr. Lincoln's inauguration he supported the
Union cause. Died June 3, 1861.




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ROBERT PATTERSON.
Born in º Co. Tyrone, Ireland, Jan. 12, 1792.
His father fled to America, having been engaged in Or-
ganizing the Irish rebellion of 1798. Robert served
through the war of 1812–14, retiring a Captain, and re-
turning to the counting-house business in Philadelphia.
Became Maj.-Gen. of State militia, and quelled the
“Red Row " riots in 1838, and the “ Native American"
riots in 1844. Appointed Maj.-Gen. of Volunteers for
the Mexican War, he rendered conspicuous Services
throughout the campaign. In April, 1861, he was select-
ed to command the Pennsylvania troops, and Gen. Scott
placed him over the Department of Washington, and
gave him unlimited powers. Returned to his business
at the close of his term. Died Aug. 7, 1881.
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will AM s. HARNEY.
Born in Louisiana, 1798. Aº to U.S. Army,
Feb. 1818, Paymaster, jS33. i.ieut.-Col. 2d Dragoons,
1836, Fought in the Séminole War in Florida. revet
$º or gallant conduct. Served with distinction
in the Mexican War. Brevet Brig.-Gen., 1858. While
§ 90mmand on the Pacific coast, he took possession of
he neutral territory of Sanjuan island, Puget, Sound.
**. In ºommand of Union troops in Missouri in the
early part of the Civil War, Retired 1863.
==
WINFIELD SCOTT.
Born in Petersburg. Va., June 13, 1786. Studied law
and was admitted to the bar, 1806. When Congress
enlarged the army he obtained a captain's commission.
Appointed Lieut.-Col. on declaration of war of 1812;
promoted to Brig.-Ger., March, 1814. Became Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Army, 1841. His career in the
Mexican War displayed master-pieces of military exe-
cution, and placed him among the great military heroes
of modern times. Defeated for President of the United
States, 1852. Brevetted Lieut.-Gen. (an office created
for him by Congress), Feb. 1855, taking rank from
March 29, 1847, in honor of his services in Mexico. Re-
signed his commission on account of age, Oct. 31, 1861.
Died May 29, 1866.
WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM.
Born in Lebanon, Conn., May 28, 1804. Educated in
the public Sºhools, and went into mercantile business
when 21, settling in Norwich. Elected Mayor, 1849,
1850, 1856, 1857. Elected Governor of Connecticut, 1858;
re-elected seven times, declining a ninth consecutive
nomination, in 1866. After two years' rest from the
tºg"; of his great war services, he was elected to the
U. S. Senate 1868, for the term ending March 3, 1875.
Died Feb. 8, 1875.
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ADAM J. SLEMMER.
Born in Montgomery co., Pa., about 1828. Graduate
at the U. S. Military Academy, 1850. Served against
Seminole Indians and on the California frontier, four
years. Appointed Assistant Professor U. S. Military
Academy, 1855. Transferred to Fort Pickens, Jan. 10,
1861, which he held against all assaults until May 9,
1861. Major, May, 1861; Brig.-Gen., Nov., 1862; brevet
Lieut.-Col., U. S. A., Dec., 1862; brevet Colonel and
Brig.-Gen., March, 1865. Severely wounded at Stone
River. On garrison duty after, the war, and in com-
mand at Fort Laramie, D, T. Died Oct. 7, 1868,
WM. G. BROWNLOW.
Born in Wythe county, Va., Aug. 29, 1805. Entered
the traveling ministry of the Methodist Church, 1826.
Removed to Tennessee, 1828. Edited the Knoxville Whi
from 1839 until November, 1861, when it was suppressed
by the secessionists, and he was imprisoned. Defended
slavery, but opposed secession. After a year he was
allowed to pass through the Northern lines. When the
Union army captured ićnoxville he started another news.
paper, and vigorously supported the prosecution of the
war. Elected Governor of Tenn., 1865-'67, Elected to
; is§nate, taking his seat March 4, 1869. Died April
9, 1877,
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JOHN J. CRITTENDEN.
Born in Woodford county, Ky., about 1785. Served in
War of 1812. Began practice of law in Frankfort, Ky.
U. S. Senator, 1817. Devoted himself to his profession
until 1835, when he again became U. S. Senator. Ap-
pointed Attorney-General of the U. S., 1841, serving but
a few weeks. Elected U. S. Senator, 1842 : Governor of
Kentucky, 1848. Appointed Attorney-General of the
U. S., 1850. Re-elected U. S. Senator, 1855, for term
ending March 4, 1861. Author of the “Crittenden Com-
promise,” proposed to adjust the secession difficulties,
but rejected by Congress. Died July 26, 1863.
LEWIS CASS.
Born in Exeter, N. H., Oct. 9, 1782. Settled in Mar"
ietta, O., 1799. Studied law and was admitted to the bar,
1802. Entered the War of 1812 as Col. Of the 3d Ohio
Vols. Urged the invasion of Canada ; crossed the line
and won the battle of Toronto. Prisoner of war on
surrender of Detroit. Became Maj.-Gen. Ohio Vols.,
and Brig.-Gen., U. S. A. Military Governor of Mich-
igan, 1873.31. Secretary of War under President Jack-
son. Appointed Minister to France, 1836, resigning
1842. Elected U. S. Senator, 1845. Nominated for
President, 1848, Secretary of State, 1857-'60, Died
June 17, 1866,






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J. B. MAGRUDER.
Born in Port Royal, Va., 1808. Graduate at U. S. Mil-
itary Academy, 1830. In the Mexican War, he won the
brevet of Lieut.-Col. by his skillful handling of light
artillery. Visited Europe under a commission from
the War Department, to report upon the artillery ser-
vice in the great armies. On his return he resigned his
commission and entered the Confederate, army, as a
Brig.-Gen. He served in front of Richmond, until after
the battle of Malvern Hills, when he was transferred
to the Trans-Mississippi army. Died Feb. 24, 1871.
JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON.
s Born in Longwood, Va., Feb., 1807. Graduate at U.
§: Military Academy, 1829. Aide-de-camp to Gen. Scott
Tº the Seminole War. Attained rank of Colonel in the
Mexican War. Quartermaster-Gen. and Brig.-Gen., 1860.
Resigned, April 22, 1861, and entered the Confederate
ºny. In command of all the forces on the Peninsula
ºld at Richmond, 1862. In command of the Depart-
. of Tennessee, 1862-63. In Nov. 1863, he was
jºred to the army in the South and West, and was
jºin by Sherman until he took up a position at At-
.* Ga., when he was relieved july 17, 1864. In Feb.,
3. When Sherman had penetrated South Carolina, he
. 9rdered to the command of all forces available to
Sheck the advance, Surrendered a few days after the
ºënder of Gen. Lee. Settled in Richmond. Member
of the 46th Congress. -
ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
Born near Harrisburg, Pa., Sept. 8, 1815. Clerk in
Register's office, 1828. Secretary State Electoral Col-
lege, 1840. Clerk State House of Representatives, 1841.
Member 28th, 29th Congresses. Appointed Territorial
Governor of Minnesota, 1849–53 Mayor of St. Paul,
Minn., 1855. Elected Governor of Minnesota, 1859; re-
elected 1861. Elected U. S. Senator, 1862. '69. Appoint-
ed Secretary of War by President Hayes, to succeed
Secretary McCrary, Dec. 10, 1879. Chairman of the
Utah Commission, 1882.
JOHN E. WOOL.
Born in Newburgh, N. Y., 1789. Received a captain's
commission in the army at outbreak of the War of 1812.
At the storming of Queenstown Heights he was shot
through both thighs. Brevetted Lieut.-Col. for bravery
at Plattsburg. At close of the war he was appointed
Inspector-Gen. of the Northern Division ; in 1821 In-
spector-Gen. of the whole army ; and in 1826 Brevet
Brig.-Gen, for 10 years' faithful service. In the Mex-
ican War he selected the ground on which the battle of
Buena Vista was fought ; was in command at Saltillo:
and succeeded Gen. Taylor in command of the army of
occupation. Maj.-Gen. U. S. A. 1848. Received thanks
of Congress and a sword, 1854. During the Civil War
his superior skill as an organizer of troops was used
effectually in New York, Baltimore, and Fortress Mon-
roe, Died Nov. 20, 1869.




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AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE.
Born in Liberty, Ind., May 23, 1824. Graduate at U. S.
Military Academy, 1847. Served in the Mexican and In-
dian wars. Entered Union Army, April, 1861. Com-
manded a brigade at the first battle of Bull Run. Pro-
moted to Brig.-Gen. and Maj.-Gen. Commanded a suc-
cessful expedition to North Carolina, 1862; the left wing
of the Union army at Antietam; the Army of the Poto-
mac, and the Ninth Army Corps. Elected Governor of
Rhode Island, 1866, '67, '68. dmitted within German
and French lines at Paris during Franco-German War,
1870.” 1. Elected U. S. Senator, 1874; re-elected, 1880.
Died Sept. 13, 1881.
JOHN A. ANDREW.
Born in Windham, Me, May 31, 1818. Graduate at
Bowdoin College, Me., 1837. Admitted to the bar, in
Boston, Mass., 1840. Attracted public attention by his
connection with the Burns and Sims cases under the
Fugitive Slave law of 1850. Closely identified with the
anti-slavery party from 1848. Delegate to the National
Republican Convention, 1860. Elected Governor of
Massachusetts same year, and was re-elected four times,
being one of the most efficient of the “War Governors.”
Prepared the address of the Northern Governors to the
people of the North, 1862. President of the first Na-
tional Unitarian Convention, 1865, Died Oct. 30, 1867.
EDWIN D. MORGAN.
Born in Washington, Mass., Feb. 8, 1811. Received a
public school education. Engaged in mercantile pur-
suits, New York city. Alderman of N. Y. city, 1849.
State Senator, 1850, 51, ’52, '53. State Commissioner of
Emigration, 1855-'58. Chairman National Republican
Committee, 1856-'64. Governor of the State of New
York, 1859, '60, '61, 62. Maj.-Gen. of Vols. Sept. 28,
1861–Jan. 1, 1863, serving without pay. While Governor
he raised, equipped and hastened to the field 220,000
volunteer soldiers, Elected U. S. Senator, 1863. Died
Feb. 14, 1883.
JOSEPH HOLT.
Born in Breckinridge co., Ky., 1807. Chose the legal
}rofession. Appointed Commissioner of Patents, 1857;
ostmaster-General, 1859 ; Secretary of War, 1860 ;
Judge Advocate-General of the Army, 1862. In the
last capacity he was engaged in many celebrated trials
growing out of the Civil War, most notably that of the
conspirators who planned the assassination of President
Lincoln, 1865. Qn the retirement of Judge Bates, he was
offered but declined the post of Attorney-General of the
United States. Brevet Maj.-Gen., March 13, 1865, and
retired Dec. 1, 1875.



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RICHARD YATES.
Born in Warsaw, Ky., Jan. 18, 1818. Graduate at Illi-
nois College, Studied and practiced law, Representa-
tive in the State Legislature, 1842, 43, '44, '45, '46, 48,
'49. Member of the 32d and 33d Congresses from two
different districts. Governor of Illinois from 1861 to 1865.
Elected to the U. S. Senate as a Union Republican to suc-
ceed W. A. Richardson, and took his seat March 4, 1865,
for the term ending March, 3, 1871. Died Nov. 27, 1873.
AUST IN BLA. R.
Born in Caroline, Tompkins co., N.Y., Feb. 8, 1818.
Graduate at Union College, N. Y., 1839. Studied law
and on removing to Michigan began its practice, Was
CŞunty, clerk of Eaton county, and prosecuting attorney
9f Jackson county. Member of the State Legislature.
99 yernor of Michigan from 1861 to 1865. Elected to the
40th, 41st and 42d Öongresses.
JACOB THOMPSON.
Born in Caswell county, N. C., May 15, 1810. Gradu-
ate at the University of North Carolina, 1831. Admitted
to the bar, 1834. Member of Congress, 1839-'51. Secre.
tary of the Interior from March, 1857, to Jan. 7, 1861.
Was one of the most active secessionists before and
after the breaking out of the Civil War. Governor of
Mississippi, 1862-64. Became aide de camp to Gen.
Beauregard. Died 1885.
W! LLIAM SPRAGUE.
Born in Cranston, R. I., Sept. 12, 1830. Received an
academic education. Became largely interested in man-
ufacturing pursuits. Elected Governor of Rhode Island,
1860, by the Democrats and Conservative Republicans.
Raised several regiments for the Union army, and ac-
companied them to the field. Declined appointment as
Brig.-Gen. of Vols, U. S. Senator, 1863-75.



JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE.
Borm near Lexington, Ky., Jam. 21, 1821. Educated at
Centre College, Danville, and studied law. Served in
the Mexican war, and was counsel to Gen. Pillow, Elect-
ed to Congress, 1851; re-elected, 1853. Elected Vice-
President on ticket with James Buchanan, 1856. Elected
U. S. Senator, 1860. Defended the Confederacy in the
Senate and volunteered for its army. Expelled by vote
from Senate, Dec., 1861. Appointed a Maj.-Gen. in the
following summer. Served continuously in the field
until Feb., 1865, when Jefferson Davis appointed him
Secretary of War. After Johnston's surrender he went
to Europe, returning in 1868, and withdrew from public
life. Died May 17, 1875. *
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JOHN A. D|X.
Borm in Boscawen, N. H., July 24, 1798. Entered the
army, 1812, and was aide-de-camp to Gen. Brown, when
Commander-in-Chief, U. S. A. Resigned his commission
1828, adopted the legal profession, and united with the
Democratic party. Adj.-Gen., State of New York, 1830.
U. S. Senator, 1845. Assistant Treasurer, New York,
1853. Postmaster, 1859. Secretary of the Treasury,
Dec. 1860-March, 1861. Maj.-Gen. of Vols., May, 1861,
and soon after, Maj.-Gen., U. S. A. Military command.
ant in New York during the “Draft” riots, 1863. Com-
manded Department of the East, 1864-65. Minister to
France, 1866-'68. Elected Governor of New York, 1872,
and defeated by S. J. Tilden, 1874. Died April 21, 1879.
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Born in Washington, D.C., Feb. 10, 1805. Appointed
midshipman, June 18, 1812. Recaptured an English
brig from Greek pirates, 1827. Executive officer of the
frigate Ohio, at the siege of Vera Cruz, Mexico, March,
1847. , Was flag officer of naval forces that co-operated
with the army in the waters of North Carolina, 1862. A
fleet under his command silenced the Confederate bat-
teries at Sewell's Point, May, 10, 1862, and moved up to
Norfolk, which was found evacuated. Commissioned
Rear-Admiral, July 16, 1862. After close of Civil War he
was in command of European Squadron. Commandant
Navy Yard, Mare Island, Cal., 1868, and subsequently
that at Washington, D. C. Died Feb. 20, 1877.
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WM. L. YANCEY.
Born at Ogeechee Shoals, Ga., Aug. 10, 1814. Admit-
ted to the bar, 1837, and removed to Montgomery, Ala.
Elected to Congress, 1844, and re-elected for a second
term. Delegate to the National Democratic Convention,
1848, Took an active part to make Kansas a slave State,
1854-'56. Delegate to the National Democratic Conven-
tion, 1860, at Charleston, but his Southern policy was
opposed, whereupon he joined the convention at Balti-
more. Reported the ordinance of secession adopted by
the Montgomery convention. Appointed Commissioner
to Europe by the Confederacy, 1861. Unsuccessful in
gaining recognition, he returned and served in Con-
federate Congress, Died July, 1863.




Born in Madison Co., Ala., 1819. Graduate at Uni-
versity of Alabama, 1835. Private Secretary to his
father when Governor. Began the practice of law in
Huntsville. Member of the Legislature, 1842, 44, 45.
Elected Judge of the County Court, 1846, resigning 1848
to resume his practice. Elected U.S. Senator 1853; re;
elected 1857. Tesigned on breaking out of the Civil
War. Became a member of the Confederate Congress,
and was also º: in secret diplomatic work for the
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8.
cer, 1865. s released 1866. Died Jan. 8, 1882.
H|RAM PAULD!NG.
Born in New York, Dec. 11, 1797. Appointed Mid-
shipman, Sept. 1, 1817. Saw first service at the battle
9f Lake Champlain. Commander, Feb. 9, 1837. Cap-
tº Feb. 29, 1844. Commandant Washington Navy
Yard, 1853-'55. Commanding Home Squadron, 1856-5S.
Rear-Admiral, July 16, 1862, and ordered to command
of the New York Navy Yard. No small portion of the
efficiency of the blockading fleets was due to his per-
$9mal attention in fitting and equipping the vessels.
Relieved from duty, 1865. Governor of the Naval Asy-
lum, Philadelphia, 1867-'69. Port Admiral, Boston,
1869-71. Died Oct. 2), 1878.
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e surrendered himself to a Union offi-
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GABREL J, RAINs.
Born in Craven Co., N. C., 1804. Graduate at U. S.
Military Academy, 1827. He served in the Seminole In-
dian War, and won his Majority in the Mexican War.
In 1854 he was ordered to the Pacific coast, where he
became a noted Indian fighter, Just as he had been
promoted to Lieut.-Col. (1860), he resigned his commis-
sion to enter the Confederate army, and was appointed
a Brig.-Gen. His most noted services were in connec-
tion with the torpedo bureau of the Confederacy, of
Yºh. he was the organizer and chief. Died Aug. 6,
1.
Simon CAMERON.
Born in Lancaster Co., Pa., March 8, 1799. Learmed
the printer's trade, and became a newspaper editor in
Doylestown, 1820, Removed to Harrisburg 1822, and
took charge of the leading Democratic paper of the
State. Elected U. S. Senator, 1845. He favored the
Mexican War and the extension of the Missouri Com-
promise Line to the Pacific. Re-elected U. S. Senator,
1857. Immediately after his inauguration, President
Lincoln appointed him Scoretary of War, which office
he held until Jan. 11, 1862, when he was appointed
Minister to Russia. Re-elected U. S. Senator, 1866, 73.
Resigned 1877. Succeeded by his son.



JOHN SLIDELL.
Born in New York City, about 1793. Graduate at Co-
humbia College, N. Y., 1810. Studied law, but was en:
gaged in mercantile business, 1817-'20. , Being admitted
to the bar, he became U. S. District Attorney in NeW
Orleans, 1829, and held office, until 1833. Elected to
Congress, 1843. Appointed Minister to Mexico, 1845,
Elected U. S. Senator, 1853, and was re-elected. In 1861
with James M. Mason (guád vide), he was appointed a
Confederate Commissioner to Europe they were taken
from the British steamer Trenč, by Captain Wilkes, U.
S. N., and imprisoned in Fort Warren, from which they
were released upon the demand of Great Britain, and
allowed to resume their journey. Died in London, Eng.,
July 29, 1871.
PHILJP KEARN.Y.
Born in New York City, June 2, 1815. Was º;
ed to the army, 1837, and sent to Europe to study French
cavalry tactics. Entered the military School at Sau-
mur, and then joined the army in Africa as a volunteer.
Appointed ałde-de-Camp to Gen. Macomb, 1840, and to
the same office under Gen. Scott, 1841. §º 3.
company of dragoons at his own expense, and escorted
Gen. Scott into Vera Cruz. Lost his left arm at the
City of Mexico while charging a battery. Resigned
commission, 1851. Served during the Italian campaign,
1859. He hurried from Europe when the Civil War
broke out. His services were gladly accepted, and he
was placed in command of the New Jersey troops.
Maj-Gen. U. S. A., July 4, 1862. Killed at Chantilly,
Va., Sept. 1, 1862.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
Born in Florida, N.Y., May 16, 1801. Entered Union
goſiege, isis. Admitted to the bar, 1822. Elected a
State Senator, 1830. Defeated for Governor, 1834.
Elected Governor, 183S ; re-elected 1840, declining a
third term, 1842. Canvassed the State for Henry Clay
1844, but devoted the most of the period 1843–49 to his
extensive legal practice. Elected U. S. Senator, 1849;
re-elected 1855. Appointed Secretary of State by Pres-
ident Lincoln, immédiately after his first inauguration.
He retained the important post throughout the War.
At the time of Mr. Lincoln's assassination, Mr. Seward
was brutally assaulted. Retired from Cabinet Service
March, 1869. Made a tour around the world 1870-71.
Died Oct. 10, 1872,
EDWIN M. STANTON.
Born in Steubenville, O., I)ec. 19, 1814. Graduate at
Kenyon College. 1833. Admitted to the bar, 1836. In
1847 he removed his family to Pittsburg, Pa., though
retaining an office in Steubenville. His business be-
fore the U. S. Supreme Court becaume so º that he
was compelled to remove to Washington, D.C., in 1857.
Appointed Attorney-G neral of the U. S. Dec. 1860,
retiring March 4, 1861 Appointed Secretary of War
Jan. 11, 1862. He was retained in the Cabinet of Presi-
dent Johnson until Aug. 1867, when he was suspended,
after peremptorily refusing to resign. This action led
to the impeachment proceedings of 1868. He resigned
after the acquittal of the President. Appointed Asso-
ciate Justice U. S. Supreme Court by President Grant, a
few days before his death, Dec. 24, 1869.




Šs =s
BEN.J. F. CHEATHAM.
Born in Davidson Co., Tenn., 1819. Went into the
Mexican War twice, as Captain of a company and
Colonel of a regiment. Commanded a brigade in bat-
tles around Mexico City. Commissioned a Brig.-Gen.,
Confederate army, May, 1861, and Maj.-Gen., March, 1862.
His services were confined to the Western armies, the
record of his command extending through all the Oper-
ations of the Army of Tennessee, sharing in Hood's
final campaign.
OLIVER P. MORTON.
Born in Wayne Co., Ind., Aug. 4, 1823. Educated in
Wayne County Seminary and Miami University, O.
Admitted to the bar at Centreville, ind., 3847. Elected
. udge, 1852. Left the Democratic for the Repub-
º party, 1854. Defeated for Governor, 1856. Elect-
. Lieut.-Goverpor, 1860. Two days after inauguration
e.became Governor º the election of Governor Lane
tº the U. S. Senate. Élected Governor, 1864. Élected
º the U. S. Senate, 1867; re-elected for following term.
#ber of the Électoral Commission. Died Nov. 1,
te
STEPHEN B. MALLORY.
Born in Nassau, N. P., 1810. Educated in New York.
Moved to Key West, Fla., studied law, and was admit:
ted to the bar, 1833. Became County Judge, Judge of
Probate, and Inspector of Customs. Elected U. S. Sen-
ator, 1851; re-elected 1857. Expelled on the secession
of his State, Jan. 1861. During the Civil War he held
the position of Secretary of the Confederate Navy. At
the close of the war he was arrested. Released on
parole, March, 1866. Died Nov. 16, 1873,
JOHN T. GREBLE.
Born in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 19, 1834. Graduate at
TJ. S. Military Academy 1854, and assigned to the
artillery branch. He was detailed for active duty at
Fortress Monroe, Oct., 1860. Assisted in preventing
the seizure of that important post by Confederates.
Sent to Newport News as Master of Ordnance, May 26,
1861, he superintended the fortification of that place,
and trained the volunteers to artillery practice. He
accompanied the expedition to Great Bethel, and was
the first regular army officer who perished on the field.
Killed June 10, 1861. -




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ALEX. W. RANDALL.
Born in Montgomery co., N. Y., Oct., 1819. Studied
law and settled in Waukesha, Wis., 1840. Appointed
Judge of the Second District, 1856. Governor of Wis-
consin, 1857-1861, Minister to Italy, 1861-'65. Post-
master-General, 1866-'69. Resumed the practice of law
at Elmira, N. Y. Died July 25, 1872.
WILLIAM DENNISON.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 23, 1815. Graduate at
Miami University, 1835. He became a lawyer, a railroad
and a bank president. Was Governor of Ohio, 1860-62,
and evinced sterling qualities as the “War” Governor.
He refused to surrender alleged fugutive slaves, denied
the right of secession, and affirmed the loyalty of his
State. Appointed Postmaster-General, 1864, serving two
years,
HENRY W. HALLECK.
Born in Waterville, N. Y., Jan. 16, 1815. Graduate at
U. S. Military Academy, 1839. Assistant Prof. of En-
gineering at the Academy, 1840. Served through Mexi-
can war... Appointed Maj.-Gen. U. S. A., Aug. 19, 1861.
Became Gen.-in-Chief of the Army and Chief of Staff
under Lieut.-Gen. Grant, Died Jan. 9, 1872.
ISRAEL WASHIBURNE.
Born in Livermore. Me., June 6, 1813. Educated in
the public schools. Member of State Legislature, 1842-50,
In the latter year was elected to Congress and served
continuously from Dec. 1, 1852, to Jan. 1, 1861, when he
yesigned to enter upon his duties as Governor of Maine,
(elected 1860). He was re-elected, 1861, and declined a
third nomination. Was appointed Collector of Customs
at Portland, Me, Died May 12, 1883,













SS3 §§ Nº.
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JOHN S. MOSBY.
The noted Confederate “Guerilla.” Was a graduate
of the University of Virginia, and a lawyer of local rep-
utation. He was for a long time Gen. Lee's most trusty
Scout, and a terror to non-combatants within the Union
lines. In March, 1863, he dashed into the village of
Fairfax Court-house, took from his bed and carried
away the Federal commanding officer, U. S. Consul
at Hong-Kong, China, 1881.
JOHN B. HOOD.
Born in QWingsville, Ky., June 29, 1881. Graduate at
du S. Military Academy, 1858. Engaged ou frontier
utyun til 1861, when he entered the Confederate Army,
.# in every position from first lieutenant to that
9.99mmander-in-Chief of an army, with the rank of
#. Gen. He lost a leg at Chickamauga. Succeeded
en. Johnston in command of the army resisting Gen.
h $ºman's invasion of Georgia, 1864. Led “a forlorn
§. $f the Confederacy,” at Franklin, Nov. 30, and
iº Dec. 15, 16, 1864, and was relieved by Gen.
O § Taylor. He was a very gifted officer, and thor.
; ly understood the science of war. Died Aug. 30,
* * Ž -
WILLIAM NELSON.
Born in Maysville, Ky., 1825. Entered the U. S.
Navy, 1840. Participated in the siege of Vera Cruz,
1847. Became Lieut.-Commander, is 61. Exchanged
the naval for the military service, and made Brig.-Gen.,
Sept. 16, 1861. Commanded the 2d division of Buell's
army at Shiloh. Placed in command of Louisville, Ky.,
when threatened by *; Maj.-Gen. of Vols., July
17, 1862. Shot dead at St. Louis, Sept. 29, 1862.
JOSEPH HOOKER,
Born in Hadley, Mass., Nov. 13, 1814. Graduate at
U. S. Military Academy, 1887. Served in the campaigns
in Florida and Mexico, and resigned, 1853. , Brig.-Gen.
of Vols., May 17, 1861. Served around Washington un-
til March, 1862, when he was assigned to the command
of a division. Army of the Potomac. From that time
until June 27, 1863, he participated in all the move-
ments of that army, becoming its commander in Jan.,
1863. In Sept., 1868, was placed in command of the
Army of the Cumberland, and in 1864, he accompanied
Sherman as far as Athanta, when he asked to be relieved.
Received thanks of Congress. Retired upon full rank
as a Maj.-Gen., Oct., 1868. Died Oct. 31, 1879,




- :
º
JOHN A. WINSLOW.
. Born in N. C., Nov. 9, 1811. Midshipman, 1827;
lieutenant, 1839; commander, 1855; captain, 1862;
Commodore, 1864; Rear-Admiral, 1866. Served gal-
łantly during the Mexican War, but his principal dis-
tinction arises from having fought the only sea engage-
ment of the Civil War, On June 10, 1864, while in com-
mand of the U. S. S. Kearsarge, off the port of Cherburg,
France, he discovered, fought, and sunk the much
dreaded Confederate steamer Alabama. He became a
Commodore for this remarkable action. Commander of
Gulf Squadron, 1866, '67. Died Sept. 29, 1873,
.* º
º
JAMES B. McPHERSON.
Born in Sandusky Co., O., Nov. 14, 1828. Graduate at
head of class at the U. S. Military Academy, 1858. In-
structor at Academy until 1854, when he was assigned to
duty as engineer on the defences of New York harbor.
In charge of construction of Fort Delaware, 1857, and
subsequently of the defences at Alcatraz Island, Cal.
Appointed aide-de-camp to Gen. Halleck, Aug., 1861.
Brig.-Gen. U. S. Vols. and Maj.-Gen., Oct., 1862. Served
with Gen. Grant from the capture of Fort Henry, 1862,
to the surrender of Vicksburg, 1863, and was pro-
nounced by him to be “one of the ablest engineers and
most skillful generals.” In command of the Depart-
ment and Army of Tenn., 1864, and of the left grand
division before Atlanta, Ga., where he was killed July
22, 1864,
º
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WILLIAM B. CUSHING.
Born in Wisconsin, Nov. 24, 1844. Appointed to the
U.S. Naval Academy from New York, 1857. In May,
1861, he went into service at Hampton Roads, and
captured the first naval prize of the war. Captured
Jacksonville, Fla., and destroyed the salt works at New
Juliet, Nov., 1862. The most daring act of the whole
War was the destruction by him of the Confederate ram:
Albemarle, at her wharf at Wilmington, N. C., Oct. 27,
1864. Received thanks of Congress, and was promoted
to be a Lieut.-Commander. Died Dec. 17, 1874.
Sºss
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P. G. T. BEAUREGARD.
Born in parish of St. Bernard, La., May, 1818. Grad-
uate at U. S. Military Academy, 1838. Served through
Mexican War. His advice decided the manner in which
the City of Mexico was attacked. Superintended con-
struction of Custom House and Marine Hospital, New
Qrleans. Appointed Superintendent U. S. Military
Academy, 1860. Resigned to enter Confederate service,
1861. Constructed the works at Charleston which
forced Major Anderson to evacuate Forts Moultrie and
Sumter, April, 1861. Was in command at the second
Bull Run battle, July 21, ’61; second in command
under S. A. Johnston, at Shiloh, April 6, '62; defende
Charleston, when besieged by Gilmore,”63; and, with
Gen. Jos. E. Johnston at the final surrender, April,
1865. After the war settled in New Orleans,




§
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SAMUEL R. CURTIS.
Born in Ohio, Feb. 1807. Graduate at the U. S. Mili-
tary Academy, 1881. Resigned in the following year,
and was engaged in civil engineering until 1837. Be.
game Adi-Gen... of Qhio militia. Served through the
Mexican War with Ohio troops, and after the discharge
of his regiment, he was appointed civil and military
governor of Camargo, Monterey, and Saltilio. Member
of the 35th. 36th, 37th, 38th Congresses. Was one of
the first Brig.-Generals appointed at opening of Civil
War. Won a decisive victory at Pea Ridge, iSG2. Had
Command of Departments of Missouri, Kansas, and the
Territories, aud the Northwest. Died Dec. 26, 1866.
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Bºrn in Clarksburg, Va., Jan. 21, 1824. Graduate at
. S. Military Academy, 1846. , Was immediately order-
ed to the Mexican War, where he was brevetted Captain
and Major for meritorious conduct. Resigned his com-
ºššion, 1852, and became a Professor in the Virginia
Military Academy. Left this position and went into
the Confederate army as a Brig.-Gen. , Gained the 80-
#. *ēt of “Stonewall" at the first battle of Bull Run.
§ *Gen. Sept. 1861, in command at Winchester.
ºed the Chuckahominy, June, 1862, Fought until
ºly Wounded by his own men, at Chancellors-
Ville, May 2, 1863. Died eight days after.
*
Born in Rutherford Co., Tenn., 1814. Joined the
Texan army under Gen. Houston, 1836, and was assign-
ed to the artillery. Served gallantly at San Jacinto, and
afterward settled in Texas as a surveyor. At the out-
break of the Mexican War he raised a company of Tex-
an rangers, which were accepted by Gen Taylor. With
his men he won great honor at Monterey and Buena
Vista. Joining Gen. Scott's army be participaled in
the capture of Mexico City, and was rewarded by ap-
pointment as U. S. Marshal for Texas. Brig.-Gen. in
the Confederate army. While leading a corps at the
battle of Pea Ridge, March 7, 1862, he was shot dead.
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DAVID E. TWGGS.
Born in Georgia, 1790. Entered the U. S. Army as
Captuin, 1812. Served throughout the war, and was
retained with the brevet rank of Maj. Was Col. of
Dragoons in Mexican War. Commanded the right
wing at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Paluma. Brevetted
Maj.-Gen., and presented with a sword by Congress.
Commanded a division under Gen. Scott, 1847, and was
military governor of Vera Cruz in the following year.
As commander of the Union troops in Texas, 1861, he
surrendered military stores and material to the State
authorities, and delivered his troops to the Conſeo-
erates. Died Sept. 15, 1862.








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JAMES M. MASöN.
Born at Analostan Island, Va., Nov. 3, 1797, Graduate
at University of Pennsylvania, 1818. Admitted to the
bar, 1820. Member of Congress, 1837-’39, U. S. Senator,
išić 361. Author of the Fugitive Slave law. Entered
The Confederate Congress, 1861. In the fall of that year
he and John Slidell ; wide) were sent to Europe as
Special Commissioners by the Confederate Government.
After the close of the Čivil War he went to Canada,
where he remained three years, returning, soon aſtºr
the issue of President Johnson's proclamation of 1868.
Died April 28, 1871.
ROBERT C. SCHENCK.
Born in Franklin, O., Oct. 4, 1809. Graduate at Miami
University, 1827. Studied law and was admitted to the
bar. Elected to the State Legislature, 1841, and to
Congress, 1843; re-elected for the four succeeding
terms. Minister to Brazil, 1851–’54. When the Civil
War broke out he was commissioned a Brig.-Gem, of
Vols. Being wounded in battle he was appointed Mil-
itary Governor or Baltimore and its vicinity. Member
of Congress 1863–71, when he was appointed Minister
to Great Britain. Resigned 1876.
SłMON B. BUCKNER.
Born in Kentucky, 1823. Graduate at U. S. M11 Itary
Academy, 1844. . In the war with Mexico, 1846–48,
wounded and twice brevetted ; assistant instructor U.
S. Military Academy, 1848–50; resigned March 26, 1855.
Superintendent of construction of the Chicago custom-
house, 1855. Col. of Jilinois Vols. for the Utah expedi-
tion. Inspector-General commanding Kentucky home
guards, 1860–61. Joined the Confederate army. Sur-
Fendered Fort Donelson to Gen. Grant. As Maj.-Gen.,
was assigned to the third grand division, and with Kir-
by Smith surrendered to Gen. Canby, May 26, 1865.
SAMUEL J. K|RKWOOD,
Born in Harſord Co., Md., Dec. 20, 1813. Removed
to Ohio, 1835. Admitted to the bar, 1843. Prosecuting
Attorney four years. Removed to lowa, 1855, Elected
Governor, 1859; U. S. Senator, 1866; Governor, 1875.
The day before the inauguration be was re-elected U.
S. Senator, his term beginning March 4, 1877. Ap-
ointed Secretary of the Interior by President Garfield.
e retired in 1882, and was succeeded by Henry M.
Teller. As “War" Governor he saved his State an
immense Sum of money,



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GUSTAVUS V. FOX.
Born in Saugus, Mass., June 13, 1821. Midshipman
1838. Appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy, by
President Lincoln, 1861. He was considered by leading
naval and military officers the practical head of the
navy throughout the entire war. Soon after the close
of the war he was selected to present in person to the
Czar of Russia the congratulations of Congress upon
His Majesty's escape from assassination. Resigned on
return, and entered manufacturing business.
HORATIO G. W. RIGHT.
Born in Clinton, Conn. March, 1820. Graduate at U.
S. Military Academy, in the corps of engineers, isłł. In
ºbarge of construction of Fort Jeffersºn, and superin-
tended that of Fort Taylor, Fla., 1846-56. Commanded
ºpedition that destroyed the Norfolk Navy Yard, 1861.
ºnned and began work on Fort Ellsworth, covering
§lexandria. Brig.-Gen., Sept. 14, 1861. Organized the
Port Royal expedition. Maj.-Gen., July, 1862. Suc-
§eeded to the command of the 6th Corps, May 9, 1863.
Frºvetted Col. U.S.A., for services aſ 'Spottsylvania;
Brig.-Gen. at Clear Harbor, and Maj.-Gen for the cap.
ture of Petersburg. Chief of Engineers, June 30, 1879.
THEODORE RUNYON.
Born in Somerville, N. J., Oct. 25, 1822. Graduate
at Yale College, 1842. Admitted to the bar, 1846, Qity
Attorney of Newark, N.J., 1853; City Counsel, 1856;
Mayor, 1863, '64, '65. Maj.-Gen. State Militia, 1856.
Took the first brigade of N.J. troops to the war, April
27, 1861. Saved the National Capital. Appointed
Chancellor of N. J., 1873. ‘80, second term expiring
1887. Received degrée of LL.D from Yale and Rutgers
Colleges, and Wesleyan University.
CASSIUS M. CLAY.
Born in Madison Co., Ky., Oct. 19, 1810. Graduate at
Yale College, 1832. Elected Member of Legislature, 1835,
'40. Started a newspaper in Lexington, Ky., June,
1845, and for advocating the emancipation of slaves in
the State, he was frequently mobbed and had his mate-
rial destroyed. Volunteered for the Mexican War, 1846,
and was taken prisoner, Jan., 1847. Advocated the elec-
tion of Gen. Taylor to the Presidency, 1848. Ram for
Governor of Kentucky on an anti-slavery platform, 1851.
Advocated the election of Abraham Lincoln, 1860. Min-
ister to Spain, 1861. Minister to Russia, 1862-’69. Ad-
vocated election of Horace Greeley, 1872.




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ANDREW H. FOOTE,
Born in New Haven, Conn., May 4, 1808. Midship-
Iman, 1822 ; lieutenant, 1830; commander, 1852; cap-
tain, 1861; Rear-Admiral, 1863. Appointed to the coin-
mand of the western flotilla in the fall of 1861. Took
Fort Henry, Feb. 6, 1862. Eight days later he bombard-
ed Fort Donelson, which surrendered the following day
to the army. Received the surrender of Island No. 10,
after a most stubborn engagement, April 7. He was
compelled to resign his command by wounds received
at Fort Donelson. Received the thanks of Congress,
June 16, 1862, . Ordered to relieve Rear-Admiral Dupont
Off Charleston, he died on his way thither, June 26, 1863.
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RAPHAEL SEMMEs.
Born in Charles Co., Md., Sept. 27, 1809. Appointed
midshipman, 1826; promoted to lieutenant, 1837, and
commander, 1855. In 1834 he studied law and was ad-
mitted to the bar. Served during the Mexican War, as
Ağde to Gen. Worth. Took command of Confederate
steamer Sumter at New Orleans, ran the blockade, and
captured several merchant vessels in the Gulf, July,
1861. Placed in command of the famous Alabama.
Aug., 1862, and continued his career of capturing and
destroying merchant vessels. . His vessel was runk in
the Cherburg harbor, France, by the U. S. S. Kearsarge,
June 19, 1864. Died Aug. 30, 1877.
Born in Londom, Eng , Feb. 24, 1841. Came to Am-
erica when five years old, subsequently located at
Springfield. Ill. Studicq law and was admitted to
the bar Elected a Member of º 1847. Rhist'd
a regiument for the Mexican War. hen Gen. Shields
was wounded at Cerro Gordo, he succeeded to the com-
mand of the brigade. Re-elected to Congress on his
return. Removed to California, 1852, and to Oregon,
1860, and was elected U. S. Senator. Raised a regiment
and entered the Union Army as a Brig.-Gen. While
leading Sis brigade at the battle of Ball's Bluff, Va., he
was kil, eu, Oct. 21, 1861.
* * *º
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JOSEPH J. REYNOLDS.
Born in Kentucky, 1822. Graduate at U. S. Military
Academy, and entered the army, º 1, 1843. Ass’t
Prof. geography, history, and ethics, at Military Acad–
emy, 1846; Ass’t Prof. natural and experimental phi-
losophy, following year; principal Professor, 1849.5%
Commissioned Brig.-Gen. U. S. Vols., June, 1861. Re-
signed in Jan., 1832 ; re-appointed, Nov. 10, and pro-
moted to Maj.-Gen., #éb. 2, 1863. In command of De-
artment of Arkansas, 1864-66. Appointed Col. 26th
. S. Inf., July 28, 1866; transferred to 25, h_{ref., Jan v
1870, and to 3d Cav., Dec. 15, 1870. Breveu Maj.-uen--
for gallantry in the wal, and rathreu.



AMBROSE P. H|LL.
Born in Culpepper Co., Va., Nov. 9, 1825. Graduate
at the U.S. Military Academy, 1847. On coast survey
Service, 1855–61. Resigned his commission to enter the
Confederate army. Made Maj.-Gen. for services with
Gen. J. E. Johnston at Bull Run. Captured Harper's
Ferry, Sept. 14, 1862. Took an active part in the battles
ºf Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and
Gettysburg, and the #. battles in the Spring of 1864
around Richmond. illed at Petersburg, April 2, 1864.
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Born in Bergen Point, N. J., Sept. 27, 1803. Ap-
pointed midshipman, 1815. In 1845, having attained the
rank of Commander, he was ordered to the Pacific in
$9mmand of the frigate Congress, bearing the flag of
'om, Stocktºn. For three years he was incessantly en-
gaged against the Mexicans and Indians. * t O
the command of the Washington Navy Yard, Jan., 1861,
*nd of the South Atlantic Squadron in Sept., holding
tho latter until June 3, 1853, and rendering some of the
ºst, brilliant naval services of the war, "Died, a Rear-
Admiral, June 23, 1865.
WILLIAM L. DAYTON.
Born in Baskingridge, N.J., Feb. 17, 1807. Graduate at
College of N. J., 1825. Admitted to the bar, 1830. Asso-
ciate Justice Supreme Court of N. J., 1838 '41. Appoint-
ed U. S. Senator to fill vacancy 1842, and elected for the
full term 1845–51. Candidate for Vice-President On the
ticket with John C. Fremont 1856. Appointed Attor-
ney-General of N. J. 1857, resigning in 1861 to accept ap-
pointment as Minister to France, which position he
held until his death, Dec. 1, 1864.
, " . .
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HENRY wilson.
Born in Farmington, N. H., Feb. 16, 1812. When 21
he went to Natick, Mass., to learn shoemaking. Be-
came self-educated. Appeared as a public political
speaker, 1840. Elected to the Legislature the same year,
he served four years in the House and four in the Sen-
ate. Defeated as bºree Soil candidate for Gevernor, 1853.
Elected U. S. Senator. 1855; re-elected 1859, '65, Was
a member of Gen. McClellan's staff a short time.
Elected Vice-President of the U. S., on the ticket with
Gen. Grant, 1872. Made a tour of the Southern States,
1875. I)ied Nov. 22, 1875.




§
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FRIETSCHE.
This venerable lady, whose patriotic action inspired
John G. Whittier to compose one of his most *...;
and popular poems, lived close to a bridge that spanne
the stream which runs through Frederick, Md. When
“Stonewall ” Jackson marched through the city in
Sept., 1862, many Union flags were flying. These he
ordered hauled down. , Barbara kept fiers flying until
it was shot from its staff, when she seized and waved
the tattered ensign. Jackson ordered his men to march
on, forbidding another shot. She died June, 1864.
ALFRED PLEASANTON.
Born in the District of Columbia, Dec., 1823. Gradu-
ate at the U. S. Military Academy, July, 1844. Served
conspicuously in the Mexican War. In the Civil War
he commanded his regiment on its march from Utah to
Washington, and served with it in the Peninsular cam-
paign of 1862. In Sept., 1862, was given command of a
division of cavalry in the Army of the Potomac. He
was a Maj.-Gen. and chief of cavalry at Gettysburg.
Drove Gen. Price from Missouri, 1864. Resigned his
commission in the Regular Army, 1868.
JOHN H. M.ORGAN.
Born in Huntsville, Ala., June 1, 1826. Served in a
cavalry regiment in the Mexican War. Settled in Lex-
ABNER OOUBLEDAY.
Born in Saratoga Co., N. Y., June 26, 1819. Graduate at
U. S. Military Academy, 1842. Captain, 1855. Was one
ington, Ky. Organized the Lexington Rifles, Sept., 1861,
with whom he entered the Confederate service. Com-
manded a picked force with which he made frequent and
daring raids into the Union lines. Was captured in
1853, but effected his escape. In 1864 he undertook a
raid into Tennessee. He was surprised at night by
Federal cavalry at Greenville, and while trying to es-
Cape was shot dead, Sept. 4.
of the little gº at Fort Sumter during the bom-
bardment, 1861, and is said to have fired the first gun
for , the Union, in the war, April 12. Commanded a
division at Antietam, 1862. Obtained the rank of Maj.-
Gen., Nov., 1862. Served at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 3,
1863, Mustered out of Vol. service, Aug. 24, 1865. Re-
tired from Regular Army, Dec. 11, 1873, at his own
request, having served over 30 years.




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B. M. PRENTISS.
Born in Bellville, Va., November 23, 1819. Settled in
Quincy, Ill., where he learned the trade of rope-maker.
In the war with Mexico he was Adj. of the 1st Ill.
Volunteers, distinguishing himself at Buena Vista.
Went into the Civil War as Col. of the 7th Ill. Volun-
teers. Appointed Brig.-Gen. May, 1861. Was surprised
and captured at Shiloh, April, 1862. Maj.-Gen. of
Volunteers, Nov. 29, 1862. Member of the court-martial
that tried Fitz John Porter. Defeated Gen. Holmes,
Helena, Ark., July 4, 1863.
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MANSFIELD LovELL
This name is º connected with one of the
greatest events of the Civil War: the surrender of New
9rleans to the Union authorities. He was born in the
District of Columbia, educated at the U. S. Military
§§ademy, and proved an efficient young officer in the
Mexican War. * As Maj.-Gen. C. S.A., he assumed com-
}. of the Department of Louisiana, Oct. 18. 1861. He
jºs Well as possible with the limited means al-
... ºut cºld not hold the key tº the Valley of
the Mississippi. His conduct at New Orleans was win.
§cated by several Confederate officers. Settled in
New York after the war.
JOHN H. REAGAN.
Born in Sevier Co., Tenn., Oct. 8, 1818. Settled in the
Republic of Texas, 1839. Elected to State House of
Representatives for two years, 1847; Judge of the Dis-
trict Court for six years, 1852; resigned and was re-
elected 1856. Member of the 35th, 36th, 44th, 45th, 46th,
47th Congresses. Appointed Postmaster-General of
the Confederacy, holding the position to close of the
War. Was also Acting Secretary of the Treasury for a
short time. Member of the State Constitutional Con-
vention, 1875.
GIDEON weLLES.
Born at Glastonbury, Conn., Feb. 1, 1802. Studied
law. Became editor of the Hartford Tºmés, 1826. Mem-
ber of Legislature, 1827—"35, when he was appointed
Comptroller of Public Accounts. Postmaster at Hart-
ford, 1836–41. Appointed a bureau chief in the Navy
Department, 1846, serving three years. Was a delegate
to the National Republican Convention which nomi-
nated Abraham Lincoln. Appointed Secretary of the
Navy, March, 1861, and served until Gen. Grant became
President, when he was succeeded by Adolph E. Porie,
Whº sº." followed by George M. Robeson. Died Feb.
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DAVID G. FARRAGUT,
Born at Campbell's Station, Tenn., July 5, 1801. At
the age of 11 was appointed midshipman. Was on the
frigate Essea; when she was captured by British sloops
off Valparaiso. Was Flag-Officer of the fleet organized
to attack, New Orleans, Jan., 1862, and directed that
memorable engagement from the rigging of the Hart-
ord. Rear-Admiral, 1862. Passed the batteries of Port
udson, 1863, and materially aided Gen. Grant in the
capture of Wicksburg. Compelled the surrender of the
forts in Mobile Bay, Aug., 1864; Congress created the
#. of Vice-Admiral for him for this work. Appointed
dmiral, July 25, 1866. Died Aug. 13, 1870.
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BRAXTON BRAGG.
Born in Warren Co., N. C., 1815. Graduate at U. S.
Military Academy, 1837. Served through the Mexican
War, gaining a brevel of Lieut.-Col. for meritorious
Conduct. Resigned the service, 1856. At the beginning
of the Civil War he was made Commander-in-Chief of
the Volunteer Forces of Louisiana, and shortly after-
ward a Brig.-Gen. in the Confederate Army, with com-
mand at Pensacola, Fla. Maj.-Gen. Feb., iS62, in com-
Imānd of the 2d Corps at Shiloh. General, in April
fºllowing, Defeated by Gen. Grant at Missionary Ri ge,
Nov., 1863. On special duty at Richmond, 1864. Died
Sept. 27, 1876.
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i_EONIDAS POLK.
Born in Raleigh, N. C., 1806. Graduate at U. S. Mili-
tary Academy, 1827. Resigned same year and began to
study for the ministry. Consecrated Missionary Bishop,
Protestant Episcopal Church, 1838. Became Bishop of
the Diocese of Louisiana, 1841. Accepted the commission
of a Maj.-Gen. in the Confederate Army early in the
war. His first engagement was at Belmont, Nov. 7, 1861.
He was in command of a corps at Shilob, and invaded
Kentucky with Gen. Bragg. For disobedience of orders
at Chickamauga,, 1863, he was relieved and placed
under arrest. While reconnoitering near Marietta, Ga.,
he was killed, June 14, 1864.
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CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.
Born in Boston, Mass., Aug. 18, 1807. Grandson of the
second and son of the sixth President of the United
States. Went to Russia with his father, then U. S. Min-
ister, when two years old, remaining six years. Grad-
uate at Harvard College, 1825. Studied law with Daniel
Webster, and was admitted to the bar. Elected Mem-
ber of Congress, 1858. Minister to Great Britain, 1861-'68,
when he was recalled at his own request. Appointed
Arbitrator for the U. S. in the Geneva Tribunal for set-
tlement of claims arising from the Civil War, 1871.
Author of several historical works, a fr. quent contrib-
utor to magazine literature, and an able speaker.





















BEN.J. H. GRIERSON.
Born in Pittsburg, Pa., July, 1837. Removed at an
early age to Ohio, and subsequently to Illinois. Served
on the staff of Gen. Prentiss in the Civil War. Was
Maj.;_Col. of the 6th Ill. Cav.; Brig.-Gen. of Wols , 1863;
and Maj.-Gen., 1865. He was one of the most conspic-
uous cavalry leaders, and achieved remarkable success
in many important operations, expeditions, and raids.
Appointed Col. 10th U. S. Cavalry, July, 1866, Brevet-
ted Maj.-Gen. U. S. A., March 2, 1867.
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C. C. AUGUR.
Born in New York, 1821. Graduate at U S. Military
Academy, 1843. served in the military occupation of
Texas, 1845–46; in the war with Mexico, 1846′48; and
*Sºmandant of cadets at the Military Academy, 1861.
flººd Maj.-Gen. U. S. Wols., Aug. 9, 1862. Severe-
A.Younded at Cedar Mountain. In Gen. Bank-2 expe-
dition to New Orleans, 1862 : command of the district
º Baton Rouge, 1863; in expedition to Port Hudson,
j §§§ cºmmand of the Pepartment of Washingtºn,
#. $63, of the Platte, 1867-'71; and of Texas, i871.
**Vet Maj.-Gen. U. S.A., March 18, 1865.
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SILAS H. STRINGHAM.
. Born in New York, Nov. 7, 1797. Midshipman, 1810;
lieutenant, 1814; commander, 1831: captain, 1841 ;
retired, 1861. Commandant Charlestown Navy-Yard,
1864–66. Port Admiral. New York, 1867. Served in the
last war with Great Britain, in Algiers, and Mexico.
In the Civil War he commanded the squadron which
reduced Forts Hatteras and Clark and gave the U. S.
authorities possession of the sounds of North Carolina-
Died Feb. 7, 1876.
DAVID HUNTER.
Born in Washington, D.C., July 21, 1802. Graduate at
U.S. Military Academy, and entered the army, July, 1822.
Appointed Col. 6th U. S. Cav , and Brig.-Gen. of Vols.,
May 14, 1861. Commanded division at Bull Run, July
21. Maj.-Gen. Wols., Aug., 1861. In command of De-
partment of the South, 1862. In May, he declared
slavery abolished in the department, which order was:
annulled by the President. Command of Department
of West Va., May, 1864. Member of the commission.
that tried the assassination couspirators, 1865. Retired:
from the service, July, 1866. Died January, 1886.






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FRANZ SIGEL.
Born in Zinsheim, Grand Duchy of Baden, Nov. 18,
1824. Educated in the military school at Carlsruhe. Be-
came Chief-Adjutant in the Baden army, 1847. As Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army of 1848 he
was defeated, and fled to America, 1850. Commissioned
Brig.-General in the Union Army, May 17, 1861. Made
Maj.-Gen. for his services at Pea Ridge, Mar., 1862, and
appointed to the command of the 11th Corps, Sept., 1862.
Resigned his commission, May, 1865, and settled in New
York City. Was elected Register of the City and
‘County, 1874.
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MONT GOM ERY C. ME}GS.
Born in Georgia, and a graduate of the U. S. Military
Academy. Cadet, July 1, 1832 : second lieutenant, July
1, 1836; brevet second lieutenant of engineers, Aug. 1,
1837; first lieutenant, July 7, 1838 : captain, March 3,
1853; Colonel 11th Infantry, May 14, 1861. He was pro-
moted to Brig. Gen., and appointed Quartermaster-
General of the army, May 15, 1861, and honorably dis-
“charged the heavy labors of his office throughout the
Civil War. Brevetted Maj.-Gen. for distinguished ser–
viees, July 5, 1864, Retired Feb. 6, 1882.
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DOROTHEA. L. Dix.
Born in Worcester, Mass. Went to Europe in 1834,
and spent three years studying the methods of treat-
ment of the insane, paupers, and prisoners. From 1841
to 1861, she devoted herself exclusively to ameliorating
the condition of suffering humanity, particularly the
insane, and visited the public institutions of nearly
every State in the Union. From the beginning to the
close of the Civil War she was Superintendent of Hos-
pital Nurses, having entire control of their appoint-
ment and a-signment. After the war she resumed her
labors in behalf of the insane.
washingtoN HUNT.
Born in Windham, N. Y., Aug. 5, 1811. Admitted to
the bar, 1834. Member of Congress, 1843–49. Comptroller
of State of New York, 1849. Elected Governor, 1850; de-
feated for same office, 1852, by Horatio Seymour. He
then retired from active political life, but was drawn
before the public again in 1864, when he was a delegate
to the National Democratic Convention at Chicago. He
was repeatedly elected a delegate to the Triennial Con-
Yºgº; the Protestant Episcopal Church. Tied
eb. 2, 1867.



Born in Huntsville, Ala., May 29, 1825. Removed to
Philadelphia and began the practice of law, 1848. Enter-
.2d the Union Army as Lieut.-Col. of a Philadelphia regi-
ment which he raised. At the expiration of the term
the regiment re-enlisted under him as Col., and was
attached to the º of the Potomac. Brig.-Gen., Feb.
1862. Served in all the battles of the Peninsula, as well
as those before Washington. Promoted to be Maj.-
&en., May 23, 1863. Led a division at Gettysburg, and
commanded his Corps after Gen. Sickles was wounded.
In command of the 10th Army Corps, Army of the
James, July 23, 1864. Died Oct. 18, 1864.
SAMUEL JONES.
Born in Virginia, 1s2), Graduate at U. S. Military
#jºy, 1841. On frontier duty and in garrison,
<) #: Instructor at the Academy, 1845–’Éi; again
† frontler and garrison duty, 1851-'58, when he was
º to duty in Washington as assistant to the
th #.º. Resigned April 27, 1861, and entered
; onfederate service as Col. Became Maj.-Gen, in
ment * Was in command of the Confederate Depart-
#...ºth Carolina, Georgia and Florida, 1864.
J ...re: his command, under instructions, to Gen.
ohnston, May 18, 1865.
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GEORGE G. MEADE.
Born in Cadiz, Spain, Dec. 31, 1815. Graduate at U. S.
Military Academy, 1835. Served in the Seminole War,
and then resigned to enter upon the profession of civil
engineer. Served with distinction in the Mexican War,
and after its close was engaged in light-house con-
struction. Brig.-Gen. of Wols., August, 1861 ; in com-
mand of the Pennsylvania troops which constituted a
division in the Army of the Potomac, with which army
he served throughout the war. Brilliant as were his
services he will be best remembered as the victor of
Gettysburg, July 1, 2, 3, 1863. Iteceived thanks of
Congress; .nade Maj.-Gen. U. S. A. Died Nov. 6, 1872.
...: £ 5. {º} F. º ãº.
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HENRY H. SIBLEY.
Born in Louisiana, July, 1816. Graduate at U. S.
Military Academy. July 1, 1838. Served in Florida War
and throughout the Mexican campaign, gaining the
brevet of Major for gallantry. With The Utah expedi-
tion, 1857–60, and that against the Navajoe Indians,
1860. Entered the Confederate service, 1861, and was
soon a Brig.-Gen. Sought the conquest of New Mex-
ico, 1862 : fought at Valverde, Feb. 21, and occupied
§º. and Santa Fe in March, but was com-
pelled to evacuate in April. At the close of the war he
entered the Egyptian army. .






ROBERT B. RH ETT.
Born in Beaufort, S. C., Dec. 24, 1800. He went by the
family name of Smith until 1837, when he assumed his
ancestral one of Rhett. Became a lawyer. Entered
*:::::: life, 1826, when he was elected to the State
egislature. .
1832. Was an emphatic States’ Rights advocate. Mem-
ber of Congress, 1836-1849. , Elected U. S. Senator, 1850;
resigned, 1852. Member of State Secession Convention;
1860. Chairman of the Committee of the Provisional
Congress, which reported the Confederate Constitution.
Delegate to the National Democratic Convention, 1868.
JDied Sept. 14. 1876.
Born in Philadelphia, Pa., 1810. Appointed midship-
man, Feb. 1, 1826. On coast survey duty, 1836-'42; ord-
nance duty, 1847-'57, when he perfected the invention
of the Dahlgren gun. On ordnance duty Washington
Navy Yard, 1860-61. Appointed commandant of the
yard, commissioned captain, July, 1862, and appointed
Chief of the Ordnance Bureau. Rear-Admiral, Feb. 7,
1863. In command of naval force to co-operate with
Gen. Gillmore in Charleston Harbor, July, August and
September, 1863. Led expedition up the St. John's
River, Florida, Feb., 1864. Co-operated with Gen.
Sherman at capture of Savannah, Ga., Dec. 23. 1864.
Entered Charleston, Feb., 1865. Commandant South
Pacific Squadron, 1866. Appointed to command of
Washington Navy Yard, 1869. Died July 12, 1870.
Elected Attorney-General of the State,
R. M. T. HUNTER.
Born in Essex co., Va., April 21, 1809. Educated at
the University of Virginia and the Winchester Law
School. Member of Congress 1837, 41, ’45, '47, and
Speaker 1839-'41. U. S. Senator, 1847-’51. Was Secretary
of State in the Confederacy, a Confederate Senator, and
one of the Commissioners who met President Lincoln
and Secretary Seward at the Hampton Roads confer-
ence, Feb., 1865. Appointed Collector of Customs for
the District of Tappahannock, Va., May 21, 1885.
STEPHEN C. ROWAN.
Born in Ireland, Dec. 28, 1805. Appointed midship-
man from Ohio, Feb. 15, 1826. Took an active part in
the Mexican War. Commanded naval battalion under
Com. Stockton at battle of the Niesa, Upper California.
Executive officer of the Cyane when she bombarded
Guaymas. In the Pawnee engaged Confederate batter-
ies, Acquia Creek, the first naval action of the Civil War,
May, 1861, Commanded naval flotilla and greatly aided
the army in the capture of Roanoke Island, Feb. 1862,
Captured the works and Confederate fleet in Albemarle-
Sound. As Commodore, commanded naval forces at fall
of Newbern, N. C. Commanding Asiatic Squadron as:
Rear-Admiral, 1868-’69. Vice-Admiral, U. S. N., Aug-
, 15, 1870.




DANIEL E. SICKLES.
Born in New York, Oct. 20, 1822. Admitted to the
bar, 1843. Secretary of Legation at London, 1853. State
$enator, 1855. Elected to Congress, 1856, '58, '60. Raised
the Excelsior Brigade, and was appointed Col., June,
1861. ...Brig.-Gen. Vols. Sept., 1861. Attached to Hook-
er's division, 3d Corps, in the Peninsular campaign.
Succeeded to the command, April, 1863, being then a
Maj.-Gen. Lost a leg at Gettysburg in the second day's
fight. In commandſ of District of North and south
Carolina, 1866-'67. Retired as Maj.-Gen. U. S. A., April,
1869. Minister to Spain, 1869–74. Resumed law prac-
tice, New York City.
T. F. DRAYTON.
f Was a wealthy land-owner, whose mansion stood a
º yards from the beach and not more than a mile
i. Fort Walker, erected on the Hilton Head side of
. Royal entrance, to oppose the Federal naval ex-
º: º of Nov., 186i. As Brig.-Gen. was in command
IIlê s fort with 625 men under him. After a bombard-
f *t of four hours on the 7th he had to evacuate the
Ort, which * &
Whext ...” was occupied by Gen. Wright's brigade the
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ALEXANDER MCD. McCOOK.
Born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, April 22, 1831. Grad-
uate at U. S. Military Academy and entered the army,
1852. Instructor at Academy, 1857-’61, Brig.-Gen. of
Vols., Sept., 1861, and assigned to the Cumberland
Department. Commanded a division at Shiloh and
Corinth; the 1st Corps at Perryville; 20th Corps at
Stone River, and Chickamauga, and the troops for the
defence of the National Capital at the time of Early’s
raid in July, 1864. Resigned his commission, Oct., 1865,
and was appointed Lieut.-Col. of Inf., March, 1867.
Seven of his brothers ſought on the Union side, and
three of them, with their father, were killed.
-xx-
THOMAS L. CRITT ENDEN.
Born in Russellville, Ky., in 1819. A son of John J.
Crittenden, author of the “Crittenden Compromise.”
He served with honor in the Mexican War, and entered
the Union army early in the Civil War. Commanded a
division at the battle of Shiloh, April, 1862, and was
soon after made Maj.-Gen. of Vols. At the battle of
Stone River. Jan., 1863, he commanded a corps. Breyet
#sºn. U. S. A., March 2, 1867; retired as Col., May





#G#77'Q
HUGH JUDSON KILPATRICK.
Born near Deckertown, N. J., Jan. 14, 1836. Gradu-
ate at U. S. Military Academy, and entered army, May
8, 1861. Captain 5th N. Y. Wols., May 9 ; wounded at
Big Bethel, June 10. Col. 2d N. Y. Cav., Dec., 1862.
Participated in the Rappahannock and Maryland cam-
paigns and the second Bull Run battle. Commanded a
brigade of cavalry in Stoneman’s raid, and became Brig.-
Gen., June, 1863. Commanded a division at Gettys-
burg, and the cavalry on Sherman's march to the sea.
Maj.-Gen. Vols., June, 1865. Resigned in regular army,
Dec., 1865, and his volunteer commission, Jan. 1, 1866.
Appointed Minister to Chili, Nov., 1865; recalled,
1868.' reappointed and died at his post, Dec. 4, 1881.
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WILLIAM W. AVERILL.
Born in New York, 1830. Graduate at U. S. Military
Academy, 1855. Col. 3d Penn. Cav., 1861. Commanded
the Cavalry about Washington, and served in the Pen-
insular campaign. Brig.-Gen. of Wols., 1862. Partici-
pated in Stoneman's expedition toward Richmond,
April–May, 1863. Engaged in, and in command of,
Fkirmishes, raids, and actions in West Va., the Shenau-
doah Valley, and Tennessee. Captain 3d Cav. U. S. A.,
July, 1862, and brevetted Major, Lieut.-Col. Colonel,
Brig.-Gen., and Maj.-Gen. U. S. A Resigned. May,
1865, and was appointed U. S. Consul-General to Canada.
ſ/ 2. ' g5
GEORGE SYKES.
Born in Dover, Del., Oct. 9, 1822. Graduate at U.S.-
Military Academy, 1842. Gained the brevet of captain,
in the Mexican War, and served constantly on the
frontier, in expeditions and against the Indians, 1848–
'61. Commanded a battalion of regular troops at Bulê
Run. Brig.-Gen., 1861. In command of the regular
infantry in the defence of Washington, 1861–62, and
the division of regulars in the Peninsular campaign of
1862. Succeeded Gén. Meade in command of the 5th
Corps, June, 1863. Brevetted Col. for gallantry at
Gaines's Mills; Brig.-Gen. for Get ºgº Maj.-Gen-
for services during the war. Col. 20th U. S. Inf., Jan..
C. L. VALLANDIGHAM.
Born in New Lisbon, O., 1822. Admitted to the bar.
1842. Member of Legislature, 1845–46. Elected to
Congress, 1857, and re-elected for two succeeding terms.
Opposed measures for carrying on the war by the na-
tional government. Defeated for Congress in 1863 he
assailed the government with such bitterness that he
was arrested by order of Gen. Burnside, tried and sen-
tenced to close confinement during the war. President.
Lincoln commuted the sentence to banishment beyond
the lines. He went to Canada, and afterward returned.
to Ohio, but was not molested. Died June 17, 1871.







Born in Maury Co., Tenn., May 19, 1812. Received
academic education; became a printer and newspaper
editor. State Printer, 1835; State Comptroller, 1845–
*49; State Senator, 1849; Member of Congress, 1853-
'59; delegate to the Peace Congress, Feb., 1861. En-
teréd Confederate army, and was assigned to the Com-
mand in Eastern Tennessee as a Brig.-Gen., Aug. 8,
1861. Defeated at Camp Wild Cat, Qct. 21, 1861,
and at Mill Spring, Ky., where he was killed Jan. 19,
186
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GEORGE E. P|CKETT.
nº in Henrico Co., Va., Jan. 25, 1825. Educated at
he U. S. Military Academy, and on graduation, was
3. to service in Mexico under Gen. Scott. After
P ‘...ºr he was on duty in the Territories and on the
*ific Coast. Resigned his commission, 1861, and vol-
. ºred for the onfederate Army, commissioned Col.,
*.*.* tº promoted to Brig.-Gen, advanced tº Maj.
9n, after being wounded at Gaines' Mills. He was
§ ed in nearly every battle fought by the Army of
ºthern Virginia, Retired to private life after Gen.
i §§§ Surrender with an unquestioned record as a dar-
"g and stubborn fighter, 15ied July 30, 1875.
ROSWELL S. RIP LEY.
Born in Ohio, 1824. Graduate at U. S. Military Acad–
emy, and commissioned brevet second lieutenant of
Artillery, 1843. Served throughout the war with Mex-
ico, and brevetted Captain and Major for gallantry.
Resigned commission and engaged in business in
Charleston, S.C., 1853. Entered the Confederate army-
as a Brig.-Gen. He directed the fire upon Fort Sumter,
April, 1861; was wounded at Antietam, and subse-
quently served in South Carolina.
- > * '2%
DON CARLOS BUELL.
Dorn near Marietta, O , March 23, 1818. Graduate at
U. S. Military Academy, 1841. Served in the Infantry
until 1848. Became Ass’t Adj.-Gen. U. S. A., with rank
of Col., July 17, 1862, and Maj.-Gen. U. S. Wols., March
21, 1862. Served in Florida, Texas, and Mexico, and
received severe wounds at Churubusco. In command
of Department of the Ohio, 1861–32; of the Army of
the Ohio, 1862; engaged at the battle of Shiloh, siege of
Corinth, operations in Northern Alabama, and the re-
treat, to Louisville to cut off the army of Gen. Bragg,
which he drove from Kentucky. Resigned his com-
mission, June 1, 1864.





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BENJAM IN HUGER.
Born in Charleston, S. C., 1805. Graduate at U. S.
Military Academy, 1825. Served through the Mexican
War as chief of ordnance in Gen. Scott's Army. With
Gens. McClellan and Mordecai he was sent by the Gov-
ernment to observe and report upon the war in the Cri-
mea, 1856. At the opening of the Civil War he entered
the Confederate Army as a Brig.-Gen., and was soon
promoted to Maj.-Gen. Participated in the battles on
the Peninsula and around Richmond, in co-operation
with Gems, Longstreet, A. P. Hill, and Magruder. Died
Dec., 1877.
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John C. PEMBERTON.
Born in Philadelphia, Pa., 1817. Graduate at “ , ” U.
S. Military Academy, 1887. Served in the Seminole
Indian War, and aided in suppressing the disturbances
on the Canadian border at Detroit. At the breaking
out of the Mexican War he was appointed aide-de-camp
to Gen. Worth, and was present at the battles of Palo
Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and Monterey, at the storm-
ing of the City of Mexico, and the siege of Vera Cruz.
Served on the Kansas border, and took part in the
Utah Expedition. Resigned his commission. April 26,
1861, and entering the Confederate Army, was appointed
a Lieut.-Gen. In 1862. Surrendered Vicksburg to Gen.
Grant, July 4, 1863. Died July 18, 1881.
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JOHN N. MAFFIT.
Was a son of the celebrated Irish Methodist minister
of the same name. He had served in the U. S. Navy,
but resigned to enter, the Confederate Navy. He was
placed in command of the English-built cruiser Oreto,
whose name was changed to the Florida, after its re-
ception at Mobile, and with it he escaped the blockade
at that point. As Semmes with the Alabama took to
the ocean, Maffit with the Florida hovered most of the
time off the American coast. His vessel was captured
in Brazilian waters by Capt. Collins of the U. S. S.
Wachusett, in Oct., 1864.
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E. KIRBY SMITH.
Born in St. Augustine, Fla., 1824. Graduate at U. S.
Military Academy. 1845. Was brevetted First Lieut.
and Captain for gallantry in the Mexican War. Severe-
ly wounded in a fight with Comanche Indians in Texas,
May 13, 1859, Resigned April 6, 1861, and entered the
Confederate Army as Brig.-Gen. Made Maj.-Gen., 1862,
and placed in command of the Department of East
Tennessee. He led the advance in the invasion of
Kentucky. Lieut.-Gen, for his victory at Richmond,
Ky., Aug. 80, 1862. Made General after battle of Mur.
freesboro. Surrendered May 26, 1865. Professor of
Mathematics in the University of the South, Tenn.,
Sept., 1875.















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JAMES LONGSTREET.
Born in South Carolina, 1820. Graduate at U. S.
Military Academy, 1842. From the occupation of Texas
he was engaged in all the principal battles of the war up
to the storming of Chapultepec, where he was wounded;
Resigned his commission, June, 1861, and commanded
a Confederate brigade the following month. Maj.-Gen.,
1862; thereafter he was one of the most not cq officers in
the Čonfederate service, becoming Lieut.-Gen. and Gen.
After the war he settled in New Orleans, renewed his
allegiance to the Federal government, and was appoint-
ed to several lucrative offices.
JUBAL A. EARLY.
Born in Whrginia. Graduate at U. S. Military_Acad:
emy, 1837. Wis a Major in the Mexican War. Joined
the Confederate Army at the outbreak of the Civil War.
Was a Maj.-Gen. at the battles of Gettysburg, Pa., July
1, 2, 3, 1863. He invaded Maryland aſ the head of an
army, in July, 1864. He was défeated by Gen. Sheridan
near Winchester, and at Fisher's Hill, Va., Sept. 20.
Qn Oct. 19 he attacked the Union Army at Cedar Creek,
Va., in the absence of Gen Sheridan, who, however, ar-
rived in time to rally his armv and gain a decisive vic-
tory. After the wº practiced law in Richmond, Va.
John M. SCHOFIELD.
Born in Chautauqua Co., N.Y., Sept. 29, 1831. Grad-
uate at U. S. Military Academy, and assigned to the
artillery, 1853. Was Prof. of Philosophy at the Acad-
emy, 1855–60. Chief of Staff to Gen. Lyon in opera-
tions in Missouri early in 1861. Brig.-Gen. U. S. Vols.,
Nov., 1861. In command of Army of the Frontier
Oct., and Maj-Gen. Vols., Nov., 1862. Commanded
Department of Mo. until Jan., 1864, when appointed to
command of Army of the Ohio. In command of Depart-
ment of N C., Feb. 9, 1865. Sec. of War ad. &n., May,
1868, to March, 1869. Supt. U. S. Military Academy, 1876.
f
ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON.
Born in Mason Co., Ky., 1803. Graduate U. S. Mili-
tary Academy, 1826. After serving through the Black
Hawk War, he resigned and went to Texas, where he
entered the army as a private and rose to the chief
command, Secretary of War of the Texan Republic,
1838. Led an expedition and routed the Cherokee
Indians, 1839. Served in the Mexican War. In com-
mand of Utah expedition and department, 1857. Re-
signed, May, 1861; ºutered the Jonfederate army; was
commander-in-chief at Shiloh, and killed on the first
day of the battle, April 6, 1862,




JOHN VV. GEARY.
Born near Mt. Pleasant, Pa., Dec. 30, 1819. Became
a civil engineer. Went into the Mexican War as
Lieut.-Col. 2d Pa. Vols., and commanded the regi-
ment at Contreras and Garita de Belen. Appointed
first Postmaster of San Francisco, 1849. Mayor of the
city, 1850. Territorial Governor of Kansas, 1856. En-
1ered Union army, June, 1861. Brig.-Gen. April, 1862.
Distinguished himself at Gettysburg, 1863. , Maj. Gen.
Jan., 1565. Elected Governor of Pennsylvania, 1866, '69.
Died Feb. 8, 1873.
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STERLING PRICE
Born in Prince Edward Co., Va., Sept. 1809. Settled
in Missouri as a farmer. Elected Member of Congress,
1844. Hesigned at outbreak of Mexican War, and went to
the field at the head of a cavalry regiment. Commis-
Sioned Brig.-Gen, and appointed Military Governor of
Chihuahua for his brilliant capture of Taos. Elected
Governor of Missouri, 1853; declined re-election, 1857.
Appointed Maj.-Gen. of State militia, he organized the
State Guards, which Gen. Lyon forced to surrender. He
sustained Gen. Lyon's attack at Wilson's Creek, in
which the Union Army was defeated, and captured the
city of Lexington after a four days' siege. Became
Maj.-Gen. C. S. A. Died Sept. 27, 1867.
* - / 2%
REVERDY JOHNSON.
Born in Annapolis, Md., May 21, 1796. Admitted to
the bar, 1815. ected U. S. Senator, 1845, and was ap-
§: Attorney-General of the U. S. four years later.
ember of the Peace Congress, 1861. Re-elected U. S.
Senator, 1862. Appointed Umpire for the settlement of
uestions which had arisen with foreign governments
uring the Civil War. Appointed Minister to Great
Britain, June, 1868. Negotiated a treaty for the settle-
ment of the “Alabama’’ claims, which was rejected by
the Senate. Recalled 1869. Died Feb. 10, 1876.
E. E. ELLSWORTH.
Born in Mechanicsville, N. Y., April 23, 1837... Fail-
ing to obtain an appointment to the U. S. Military
Academy, he went to Chicago, where he organized a
corps of yº. upon the plan of the French zou–
aves. On the breaking out of the Civil War he removed
to New York City, where he organized his famous Zou-
ave regiment, recruited mainly from the Fire Depart-
ment, and with it hastened to Washington. His regi-
ment was ordered to Alexandria, May 23, 1861. A Con-
federate flag was flying from the Marshall House. He
went to the roof, hauled it down, and while descending:
the stairs was shot dead by the proprietor, who in turn.
was killed by Private Brownell.





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NATHAN B. FORREST.
Born in Bedford Co., Tenn., July 13, 1821. Was
engaged in business up to Civil War, which he entered
as a private. Became Col. of a Tenn, regiment of
cavalry, March, 1862. Wounded at Shiloh, April 8. In
command of Confederate cavalry at Chattanooga; Brig.-
Gen. July 21, 1862. In command at Murfre 2sboro’,
Sept. ; of a brigade, Dec. 4; engaged in the action at
Parker's Cross Roads, Dec. 31, 1852; and in the battle
of Chickamauga, Sept. 19, 2), 1863. Maj.-Gen., Dec.,
1863. In command of forces at the surrender of Fort
Pillow, April, 1864. Lieut.-Gen., Feb., 1865. Surren,
ainesville, May 9, 1865. Became a railroad
dered at
president after the war. Died Oct. 29, 1877.
DAVID McM. GREGG.
Born in Penn., 1833. Graduate at U. S. Military
Academy and entered army, 1855. Served in Mexico,
and marched his command thence to California where
he was on frontier duty against the Indians up to 1861.
First lieut.; March ; Captain 6th U. S. Cav., May: Col.
8th Penn. Cav., Jan., 1862, which he led through the
battles of the Peninsular campaign. Brig.-Gen. U. S.
Vois., Nov., 1862. Commanded a division of cavalry in
Stoneman's raid toward Richmond. Was in Gettysbur
battles and the pursuit of Gen. Lee. In command o
the cavalry corps of Grant’s army, Aug., 1864, to Feb.,
1865, when he resigned, Brevetted Maj.-Gen. of Vols.
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JOHN SEDGWICK.
Born in Cornwall, Conn., Sept. 13, 1813. Graduate at
TJ. S. Military Academy, 1837. Won the brevets of
Captain and Major, for bravery in Mexican War. Brig.-
Gen. U. S. Vols., Aug. 1861. Commanded a division of
Sumner's corps in the Peninsular campaign, 1862. Maj.-
Gen. of Vols., July 4, 1862. Commanded a division and
was woundcq three times at Antietam Carried Marye's
Heights in the rear of Fredericksburg, May, 1863. Made
a ſorced march of 35 miles in 2 hours with the 6th Corps
to the relief of Gen. Meade at Gettysburg. Captured an
entire Confederate division during the passage of the
Rapidan, Nov. 7, 1863. Killed in action near Spottsyl-
vania Court-house, May 9, 1864.
HUMPHREY MARSHALL.
Born in Frankfort Co., Ky., Jan. 13, 1812. Graduate as:
TJ. S. Military Academy, 1832. Resigned from the army's
1833. Studied law and practiced until outbreak of
Mexican War, when as Col. he took the 1st Kentucky
cavalry to the field. After the war he settled on a farm.
Elected to Congress, 1849, '51 ; appointed U. S. Com-
missioner to China, 1852; recalled, 1853; re-elected to
Congress, 1855, '57. He was opposed to secession, but
went into the Confederate service, Sept., 1861, as a
Brig.-Gen. Resigned his commission shortly after, and
was elected to the Confederate Congress. Resumed law
practice, Louisville, Ky. Died March 28, 1872.











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ROBERT OULD.
After a protracted correspondence between repre-
sentatives of the Union and the Confede' ate forces on the
subject of prisoners of war, a cartel for the exchange of
risoners was signed July 22, 1862, by Gen. John A.
ix and Gen D. H. Hill. City Point and Vicksburg
were made the exchange points, and the former became
the most prominent. Robert Óuld acted as Confederate
agent of exchange until the close of the war, while the
ederal side was represented in turn by Col. Ludlow,
Gen. S. A. Meredith, and Gen. B. F. Butler.
* -
EDWARD R. S. CAN BY.
Born in Kentucky, 1819. Graduate at U. S. Military
Academy, 1839. For his services in the Mexican War
he received the brevets of Major and Lieut.-Col., and
was promoted to full rank of Captain, 1851. , Col. 19th
U. S. Inf., May, 1861, in command of the Union troops
in New Mexico. Brig.-Gen. of Vols., 1862. In com-
mand of U. S. troops in the city and harbor of New
York during the “Draft Riots” of 1863. Maj.-Gen. of
Vols., 1864. Received the surrender of Gen. Dick Tay-
lor's army after the fall of Richmond. Full rank of
Brig.-Gen. U. S. A., July 28, 1866. After the war he
was placed in command of the Department of the Col-
umbia, and was murdered by the Modoc Indians at the
Lava-Beds in Northern California, April 11, 1873.
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W. F. LYNCH.
Born in Va., 1801. Midshipman, 1819; Lieutenant,
1828. Made his famous expedition to the Dead Sea,
and near Jordan, 1848. Promoted to Commander of
his return: Captain, 1856. Resigned, 1861; commis-
sioned Flag Officer, with rank of Commodore, Confed-
erate Navy. June 10. Commanded the squadron which
resisted Burnside's attack on Roanoke lsland, Feb. 7,
8, 1862. Was commande: at Smithville when Porter
attacked Fort Fisher, and on the fall of the fort he re-
tired to Wilmington. Died Oct. 17, 1865.
GEORGE H. THOMAS.
Born in Southampton Co., Va., July 31, 1816. Grad-
uate at U. S. Military Academy, 1840. Assigned to duty
on the day of his graduation, he served continuously in
the army for twenty years. Took a leave of absence in
Aug., 1860, but reported for duty again, April 14, 1861.
He served through the Shenandoah campaign with the
bravery of a veteran; but it was not until his influence
began to be felt in the operations i the West. that the
country came to appreciate his extraordinary abilities.
Success followed success, and the crowning glory of all
was the annihilation of Gen. Hood's army in Dec., 1864.
Honors and rewards were pressed upon the victor ; Con-
ress voted him thanks, and he was made a Maj.-Gen.
ied March 28, 1870.








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SCHUYLER COLFAX.
Born in New York City, March 23. 1823. Common
school education. Removed to Indiana, 1836. Delegate
to and Secretary of National Whig Conventions, 1848, 52.
Member of Congress from 1854 to 1868, when he was
elected Vice-President of the U. S., on the ticket with
Gen. Grant. Speaker of the House during three Com-
gresses. Died, Jan. 13, 1885.
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F. T. FRELINGHUYSEN.
Born in Millstone, N. J., Aug. 4, 1817. Graduate at
Rutgers College, 1836. Delegate to Peace Congress, 861.
Appointed Att'y-Gem, of N. J., 1861 and 1866. In last
year elected U. S. Senator, serving to March, 1860. De-
clined appointment as Minister to England, 1870. Tect-
ed U. S. Senator, 1871. Member of Electoral Con mis-
sion. Secretary of State under President Arthur, l ied,
May 20, 1885.
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MRS. U. S. GRANT.
Miss Julia Dent was born in 1826. After graduating
in 1843, Lieut. Grant formed her acquaintance, and on his
return from the Mexican War, he was married to her, Aug.
1848. After the Civil War she shared the honors paid
her famous husband. His choice of a burial place was
conditioned on a pledge that she should be buried beside
him. The composition of his “ Personal Memoirs ""
was lightened by the fact that she was to enjoy a large
royalty from its sale, after his death.
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The “Mistress of the White House " during the ad-
ministration of President Arthur, who was a widower,
was his sister. She had lived in Albany, N. Y. since her
marriage. While in Washington she was recognized as
the “lady of the house ’’ at the President's receptions,
and dinners, and as such gave receptions every Saturday,
P, \l. during the official seasons,




































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ELIAS HOWE.
Distinguished American mechanician. Born in Spen.
cer, Mass., July 9, 1819. Completed the first sewing
machine. 1845. Had long litigation in courts, but
established his claims, 1854. Received Cross of Legion
of Honor and many medals. Irealized $2,000,000 up
. expiration of his patents, Sept. 10, 1867. Died October
. J867.
PETER COOPER.
Born in New York City, Feb. 12, 1791. Was the first
to use anthracite coal in puddling iron. Built from
original designs first locomotive engine constructed in
America. Built and endowed “Cooper Institute ’’ at
cost of $800.000. Greenback candidate for I’resident,
1880. Died Apl. 4, 1883.
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Born in New Haven, Conn., Dec. 29, 1800. Perfected
the idea of vulcanizing India rubber by means of Sul-
phur, 1839, gaining over sixty patents. Received Cross
of Legion of Honor, and numerous medals. Subjected
to costly litigation, but realized a great fortune and
founded a monopoly. Died July 1, 1860.
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RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
Born in Boston, Mass., May 25, 1803. Graduate at
Harvard College, 1821. Ordained minister Second Unitar-
ian church, Boston. Settled in Concord, and devoted
limself to study. Eminent as essayist, poet, philoso-
pher. Received degree of LL.D., Harvard, 1866. Died
April 27, 1882.





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CHARLES SUMNER.
Born in Boston, Mass., Jam. 6, 1811. Graduate at
Harvard College and Cambridge Law School. Admitted
to the bar, 1834. Delivered his first great oration, Bos.
ton, July 4, 1845. First anti-slavery speech, 1850. Qrig-
inal champion of the slave in Congress. His opposition
to the admission of Kansas as a slave State caused Pres-
ton Brooks to severely assault him in the hall of Con-
ress, 1856. Chairman of U. S. Senate Committee on
oreign Relations many years. Tied Mch. 11, 1874.
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CHARLES F. DEEMS.
Pastor of “The Church of the Strangers,” New York
City. Born in Baltimore, Md., Dec. 4, 1820. Graduate
at Dickinson College, Pa., 1839. Professor of Logic and
Rhetoric in the University of North Carolina, 1841.
President of Greensboro’ Female College, N. C.,
1846-51, Presiding Elder of the Wilmington and New-
bern district, 1860-'65. Organized “Church of the
Strangers,” 1868. Received gift of Mercer Street Presby-
terian Church property from Com., Vanderbilt, 1870.
Founded American Institute of Christian Philosophy.
Author of “The Light of the Nations.”
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PROF. S. F. B. MORSE.
Born in Charlestown, Mass., Apl. 25, 1791. Graduate
at Yale College, 1810, and studied for a painter. , Con-
ceived the idea of telegraphic service, 1832. Sought aid
in the U, S., England and France to build an experi-
mental line, without success, until 1843, when Congress
Yoted him $30,000. The first message was sent over the
line, Baltimore to Washington, May 27, 1844. Laid the
first sub-marine cable, N. Y. Harbor, Oct., 1842. Died
Apl. 2, 1872. *
Fifth Bishop and second Archbishop of New York,
and first Cardinal in the United States of the 11oly
Roman Church. Born in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 20,
1810. Graduate at Mount St. Mary’s College arºd Semin-
ary, Md. Ordained priest in St. Patrick's Cathedral,
New York, Jan., 1834. First President of St. John's
College, Fordham, N. Y., 1841. Consecrated Coadjutor
to Bishop Hughes, 1844. . First Bishop of Diocese of
Albany, 1847. Inaugurated Archbishop, Aug. 20, 1864.
Raised to the dignity of a Cardinal Priest, March 15,
1875. Died Oct. 10, 18S5.




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Born in Switzerland, May 28, 1807. Studied anatomy,
zoology and botany in the chief institutions of Europe.
Came to U. S., 1846. Professor of Zoology and Geology,
Cambridge Scientific School. Established scientific
school on Penikese Island, Buzzard's Bay, 1871. Died
Dec. 14, 1873. His son, Prof. Alex. Agassiz, succeeded
him as chief of the Scientific school.
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Born on Staten Island, May 27, 1794. Began life by
rowing a small passenger boat from the Island to New
York. Stupplicq the military posts about the city with
provisions, 1814. Built his first vessel, 1814; first steamer,
1853. Presented the steamer Vanderbilt to the Govern-
ment, 1862, for which he received thanks of Congress.
Began his railroad operations, 1857. Built and endowed
Vanderbilt University, Tenn., at a cost of $750,000.
Died Jan. 4, 1877,
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CHARLES DICKENS.
One of the most popular authors of the century,
Born at Portsmouth, Eng., 1812. , Became newspaper
critic, and reporter. His first book was “Sketches by
Boz,” 1836. Made his first trip to the U. S., 1842, when
Splendid attentions were paid him everywhere. Returned
on a lecturing tour, November, 1867. Died at Gadshill,
Eng., June 9, 1870,
* . º
HORACE B. CLAFL|N.
Distinguished merhant prince. Born in Mulford,
Mass., Dec. 18, 1811. Iteccived a common school edu-
cation, and after Serving in his father's store, went into
business for himself, 1832. Opened his importing and
jobbing, dry goods house in New York City, July, 1843.
Suspended briefly in panic of 1860-61, but passed credit-
ably through those of 1857, 1873. He gave largely to
church and charity. Died, Nov. 14, 1885.





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SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. * FREDER!CK EDWIN CHURCH.
Born in Cornish, N. H., Jan. 18, 1808. Graduate at Born in Hartford, Conn., May 14, 1826. Became an
Dartmouth College, 1826. Admitted to the bar, 1829. art pupil of Thomas Cole, and attracted attention by his
Elected U. S. Senator from Ohio, 1849. Twice Governor earliest landscape paintings. Made sketching trips to
of Ohio. Elected U. S. Senator, 1860, and appointed South America, 1853, '75, Completed his great “Niag-
Secretary of the Treasury, Mch. 6, 1861. Appointed ara Falls,” 1868, exhibited in both countries. Visited
Chief Justice U. S. Supreme Court, 1864. Died May 7, Europe and the Holy Land, 1868. Located at Hudson,
1873. Q N. Y., with studio in N. Y. City.
>:SEE
HORACE GREELEY. t JOHN A ROEBLING.
Born in Amhurst, N.H., Feb. 3, 1811. , Began publica- Designer of Brooklyn Bridge, also Niagara Suspen-
tion of New York Tribune, 1841. Member of Congress, sion Bridge, which he built. Born in Muhlhausen, Thur-
1848. With Thurlow Weed and William H. Seward ingia, Prussia, June 12, 1806. Received degree of Civil
took a very active part in State and national politics. Engineer at the Royal Polytechnic School, Berlin.
One of Jefferson Davis' bondsmen, May, 1867, Liberal Settled in U. S. at Pittsburg, Pa., 1831. Manufactured
Republican candidate for President, 1872. Defeated by the first wire rope ever made in America. Engaged as
Gen. Grant, and died Nov. 29, following. Author of engineer of the East River Bridge, May, 1867. Died
“The American Conflict.” from result of an accident, July 22, 1869. His son,
Washington A., completed the work, 1883.


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HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.
Authoress of “ Uncle Tom's Cabin.” Born in Litch-
field, Conn., June 15, 1812. Removed to Walnut Hills,
near Cincinnati, Ohio, 1832, and was married to Rev.
Calvin E. Stowe, D.D., 1836. She began publishing “Uncle
Rom’s Cabin” as a serial in the National Era, in 1850. Two
years later it was brought out in book form, and had an
*normous sale. She traveled extensively and never
allowed her gifted pen to be idle when wrongs were
crying for redress.
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JANE GREY SWISSHELM.
Eminent philanthropist and journalist. Born in
Wilkins urg, Pa., 1816. Removed to Louisville, Ky.,
1838. Early in life she became convinced of the evils of
human slavery and the injustice of existing laws to wives
and mothers; and until the day of her death she wielded
a most trenchant pen in behalf of these reforms. During
the Civil War she devoted herself to hospital work in the
armies. Died July 22, 1884.
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ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.
“Champion of Woman Suffrage." Born in Johns-
town, N. Y., Nov. 12, 1816. Graduate at the Johnstown
Academy, 1831. Married Henry B. Stanton, a lawyer
and anti-slavery agitator. 1839, and with him went to Lon-
don to attend the “World's Anti-Slavery Convention,”
1840. She organized the first Woman's Rights Convention
in the United States, July 19-20, 1848. She became ac-
quainted with Susan B. Anthony, in 1850, and thence
forward they were associated in reformatory labor.
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SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
Born in South Adams, Mass., Feb. 15, 1820. Taught
school in various parts of New York State for fifteen
ears. , Entered upon her temperance labors in 1851, and
in the following year identified herself with the Woman's
Rights, movement. Was an incessant worker in the
Anti-Slavery cause, 1857-66, Frequently appeared be.
§ Congressional committees in advocacy of Woman
Su III'age.
















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FREDERIC A. BARTHOLD!.
Designer of the colossal bronze statue “Liberty Fn-
lightening the World,” on Bedloe's Island, New York
Tharbor. Was born in Colmar, France. Achieved re-
nown in his own country by notable works of art, and
in the U. S. by his statue of Lafayette, in New York
city, and “Peace,” “The Young Vine Grower,” and
“Génius in the Grasp of Misery,” shown at the Centen-
Inial Exhibition, to which he was a comunissioner.
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JAMES RUSSSILL Lowel L.
Born in Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 22, 1819. Graduate at
TIarvard College, 1838. IXlected Prof. of Belles Lettres in
Harvard, in succession to H. W. Longfellow, 1855. Editor
of the Atlantic Monthly, 1857-62, and of the North Ann-
en-ican Repiew, 1863-72. Received degree of LL. D.
from Cambridge University, Eng., 1874. , Appointed
Minister to Great Britain, 1874, and succeeded by E. J.
Phelps, 1885. A voluminous author and popular lecturer.
Born in Fayetteville, N. Y. Graduate at Houghton
Seminary, and remained two years as teacher. Becanae
principal of the Collegiate Institute, Lafayette, Ind.
On the election of her brother to the Presidency, she
accompanied him to the White House, becoming its
mistress. Author of “George Eliot's Essays and Other
Studies.” 1885.
2_2~. 3.” * ... : * *
CYRUS W. FIELD.
The “Father of the Atlantic Cable.” Born in Stock-
bridge, Mass., Nov. 30, 1819. Organized first ocean
telegraph company, Mar. 10, 18°4. Crossed ocean fifty
times on cable business up to 1866. Displayed great
pluck in spite of failures, and was honored at home and
abroad on ultimate success. Active promoter of ele-
vated railroad systems of New York city. Erected mon-
unment to Maj. André on his property at Tarrytown,
N. Y., which unknown parties destroyed in 1885.











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W. W. CORCORAN.
Distinguished philanthropist and art patron. Born ine
Georgetown, D.C., Dec. 27, 1798. Presented the Wash-
ington Orphan Asylum its valuable grounds, erected and
endowed the Corcoran Art Gallery, and the Louise Home-
for Women; endowed Columbian College with a princely
estate, and gave largely to the College of William and
Mary, the Virginia Military Institute, the University of
Washington and Lee, the University of Virginia, and
other institutions.
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WILLIAM H. VANDERB|LT.
The richest man in the world. Born at New Bruns-
wivk, N. J., May 8, 1821. Educated at Columbia College
Grammar School, New York. On the death of his father,
Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jan. 4, 1877, he came into possess-
ion of a fortune of $95,000,000. He died Dec. 8, 1885, and
in his will bequeathed the enormous sum of $200,000,000
in cash, securities and realty.
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D ORMAN B. EAT ON.
ſ}orn in Vermont. Graduate at State University,
1848, and Harvard Law School, 1850. Went to New
York City 1851, and was associated with Judge Kent.
Chairmati U'. S. (‘ivil Service Commission, 1873, 1875.
Member (‘ivil Service Commission, authorized by act of
Jan., 1883. Resigned, July 27, 1885. A voluminous
writer on political reform.
*. JOHN H|LL.
“The Father of Cheap Postage.” Born in Catskill, N-
Y., June 10, 1821. Member New Jersey State Assembly,
1861, 62. '66, serving last year as Speaker. Elected to the
40th, 41st, 42d and 47th Congresses, aid to the State Senate-
for 3 years, 1874. , IIe introduced into Congress bills to-
abolish the franking º a:, u to provide for a one-
cent postal card and the reduction of ordinary postage toe
two cents. HDied, July 24, 1884.






















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GEORGE STONEMAN.
Born in Bush, N. Y., 1824. Graduate at U. S. Military
Academy, 1842. Served with the cavalry in California
and Oregon, 1847–1855. Brig.-Gen., of Vols. Aug., 1861.
Maj.-Gen. Nov., 1862, Brig.-Gen., by brevet, U. S. A.,
Mar. 13, 1865, for services in the capture of Charlotte,
N. C. Maj.-Gen., by brevet, “for gallant and meritor-
ious services in the field during the war,’ same date.
Col. 21st Inf. July, 1866. Retired Aug. 16, 1871. Elected
Governor of California, 1882.
******
JOHN TAYLOR.
Born in Milthrope, England, Noy. 1, 1808. Settled ill
‘Canada, 1882, and began investigating the principles of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Ordain-
•ed one of the Twelve Apostles in Missouri, Arrived in
Salt Lake City with the fugitive, Mormons, 1847. Acted
as Judge, foreign missionary and historian, Succeeded
Brigham Young as head of the “Church,” 1877,
GEORGE H. CROOK.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Sept. 8, 1828. Graduate at U.
S. Military Academy, 1852. In the Civil War became
Maj.-Gen, of Vols. Appointed to command of cavalry,
Army of the Potomac, 1865. Command of District of
Idaho, 1866-72. Brig.-Gen., U. S. A., Oct. 29, 1873.
Connland of District of Arizona, 1873. Successful
Indian fighter.
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SITTING BULL.
(With original drawing.)
Born in Dakota Ter., 1837. Became a sub-chief at age
of 14, and, having killed a foe, a full chief, a year later,
Previous to 1868, made many hostile expeditions against
the whites and friendly Indians. Directed the Custer
massacre, May 25, 1876, and escaped into Canada. After
much negotiation he crossed the line and surrendered
to the U. S. Military authorities, July 20, 1881.



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- JOSEPH R. HAWLEY.
Born in Stewartsville, N. C., Oct. 31, 1826. Graduate
at Hamilton College, N. Y., 1847. Admitted to the bar
at Hartford, Conn., 1850. Entered Union Army as
Lieut., April, 1861; mustered out as Maj.-Gen., Jan.
1866. Governor of State, 1866. President National
Republican Convention, 1868. President U. S. Centen-
nial Commission from 1873 to close of Exhibition. Mem-
ber 42d, 43d, 46th Congresses. Elected U. S. Senator
for term ending March 3, 1877. Editor Hartford Courant.
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WESLEY MERRITT.
Born in New York City, 1836. Graduate at U. S
Military Academy, 1860. On Stoneman's staff in raid on
Richmond, 1863. Commanded division of cavalry in
Va., 1863-64. Brevetted Maj.-Gen. Vols., for services
in Shenandoah campaign. Present at the surrender,
Appomattox C. H. Lieut.-Col. 9th U. S. Cavalry, 1866.
('ol. 5th U. S. Cavalry, 1876. Appointed Supt. of
U. S. Military Academy.
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FITZ - HUGH LEE.
Born at Clermont, Fairfax county, Va., Nov. 19, 1835.
Nephew of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Graduate at U. S.
Military Academy, 1856. Resigned commission, 1861.
Became General of cavalry in Confederacy. In 1875 the
Khedive of Egypt solicited the services of himself and his
“Black Horse, Cavalry '' for a body guard, Elected
Governor of Virginia, 1885.
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WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS.
Born in Kingstone, Ohio, Sept. 6, 1819. Graduate at
U. S. Military Academy, 1842. In charge of fortifica-
tions at Newport, R. I., 1847-52. Chief-Engineer, State
of Ohio, 1861, Brig.-Gen., 1861. Commanded at battles
of Iuka, Corinth, Murfreesboro’, 1862; Chickamauga,
1863. In command of. Department of Missouri, Jan.,
1864. Resigned commission, 1867, and settled in San
Francisco. T. Member 47th and 48th Congresses. Ap-
pointed Register of the Treasury, 1885.









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DANIEL W. VOORHEES.
Born in Butler county, Ohio, Sept. 26, 1827. Graduate
at Asbury University, 1849. Admitted to the bar, 1851.
Appointed U. S. District Attorney for Indiana, 1858.
Member of 37th, 88th, 41st and 42d Congresses; seat
successfully contested in the 39th. Appointed successor
to O. P. Morton, in U. S. Senate, 1877 ; elected for full
terms, March, 1879, Jam., 1885. Prominent as a Demo-
crat leader. -
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WILLIAM D. KELLEY.
“Champion of Protection.” Born in Philadelphia, April
3, 1814. Received a thorough English education.
Ten years Judge of Court of Common Pleas of Phila.
delphia. Delegate to National Republican Conven-
lion, 1860., Elected to the 37th, §. 39th, 40th, 41st
42d, 43d, 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th and 49th Congresses.
Senior member of the House in continuous servič,
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W. H. BARNU M.
Born in Columbia county, N. Y. Sept. 17, 1818. Re-
ceived public school education: Moved to Lime Rock,
Conn., Delegate to Dem. National Conventions, 1868,
'72, '76, ’80, '84, and Chairman Executive Committee
several years. Member of 40th, 41st, 42d, 43d and 44th
Congresses. Elected U. S. Senator, te fill vacancy for
term ending March 3, 1879.
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Born in Concord, N. H., Dec. 28, 1835. Graduate at
Haryard Law School, 1855. Member of Legislature, 1862,
'63, '64, and Speaker last two years. Solicitor and Judge
Advocate-Gen. Navy Department, 1865. Same year First
Ass’t Secretary of the Treasury. Delegate-at-Large to Na-
tional Republican conventions, 1868, 7.2. One of counsel
for Hayes' Electors before Florida Canvassing Board, 1876.
Appointed Secretary of the Navy, April, 1882, serving to.
March, 1885, -





































































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AINSWORTH R. SPOFFORD.
Born at Gilmanton, N. H., Sept. 12, 1825. Appointed
First Assistant Librarian, Library of Congress, 1861.
Promoted to Librarian-in-Chief, 1865. The original Li-
brary was built in 1800, and destroyed in 1814. The
second building was burned in 1851. It now occu-
pies a portion of the central Capitol building. POS-
sessed of a phenomenal memory for names, dates and
events. Husband of distinguished authoress, Harriet
"rescott Spofford. e
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WADE HAMPTON. NS
Born in Charleston, S. C., March 28, 1818. Grandson
of Gen. Hampton of revolutionary fame. Graduate at
South Carolina College. Was a member of both
branches of State Legislature, resigning from Senate,
1861. Served in Confederate Army through Civil War.
Three times Beverely wounded. Lieut.-Gen., 1864.
#;";governor of S. C., 1876, 1878, and U. S. Senator,
J. N.
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BENJAMIN H. H.ILL.
Born in Jasper county, Ga., Sept. 14, 1823. Graduate
at University of Ga., 1844. Admitted to the bar, 1845.
Presidential Elector, 1856, 1860. Advocated Union cause
in State Convention, 1861. Senator in Confederate
Congress. Imprisoned in Fort Lafayette, 1865. Elected
to 44th, 45th Congresses, and U. S. Senate, 1876.
Died, Aug. 16, 1982.
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Born in Brookville, Ind., April 10, 1827. Abandoned
study of law to enter Mexican War. Adj.-Gen. of Indi-
ana, 1861. Forced the Confederates to evacuate Harpers'
Ferry, and led a division at capture of Fort Donelson,
for which became Maj.-Gen. ember of Court which
tried the Lincoln conspirators. Presided at trial of
Capt. Wirz, of Andersonville, Was Governor of
New Mexico and Minister to Turkey after the war.

























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MRS. LUCRETIA GARFIELD.
Born near Hiram, Ohio, 1837. Married James A. Gar-
field, then a professor in the college where she was
studying, 1858. She was well suited by nature and edu-
cation to be the helpmate of her husband. Through his
course in the Civil War and in Congress, she was con-
stantly assisting and encouraging him . It was to her
sick couch, that her husband intended to hasten on that
fatal morning of July 2, 1881, and she was his tender
nurse during the eighty days of suffering.
PHILIP H. SHERIDAN.
Born in Somerset, Ohio, 1831. Graduate at U.S. Mili:
tary Academy, 1853. Served on the Indian frontier, 1855
-61. Brig.-Gen. of Wols., 1862, In command of cavalry
corps, Army of the Potomac, April, 1864. Maj.-Gen.
Regular Army, Nov. 1864. Lieut.-Gen., March 9, 1869.
Succeeded Gen. Sherman, in command of the Armies of
the U. S., Nov. 1, 1883.
Born in Lexington, Ky., in 1821. Married to Abraham
Lincoln, Nov. 4, 1842. Accompanied the President to
the White House, March 4, 1861. Was with him when
shot by Wilkes Booth, in Ford's Theatre, April 14, 1865.
Congress gave her a pension of $3,000 per year. Subse-
quently increasing it to $5,000, and made a special gift
of $15,000. Died, July 16, 1882.
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WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.
Born in Lancaster, Ohio, Feb. 8, 1820. Graduate at
U. S. Military Academy, 1840. Served in Florida and
Mexico. Resigned, 1853. Re-entered army, serving in
the Western campaigns. Succeeded Gen. Grant in Com-
mand of Army of the Tennessee, 1863, and of Military
Division of the Mississippi, 1864. Planned and led the
great march to the sea from Atlanta, Ga., 1865, Lieut.-
Gen. 1866. General, March, 1869. Retired, Nov. 1, 1883.



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GEORGE BANCROFT.
Born in Worcester, Mass., Oct. 3, 1800. Graduate Har-
vard College, 1817. Collector Port of Boston, 1838.
Secretary of Navy, 1845. Minister to Great Britain, 1846;
to Prussia, 1867; to North German Confederation, 1868;
to German Empire, 1871. Author of a very celebrated
History of the United States. The last years of his life
were spent in revising this work,
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JAMES W. MARSHALL.
The first to discover gold in California. Born in Hope
Township, N. J., 1812. Made the overland trip to Cali
fornia, June, 1845. Entered service of Gen. Sutter, Sut-
ter's Fort. Participated in the movement that led to in-
dependence of California, 1847. While building a mill
race for his lumber business at Coloma, he discovered
the existence of gold, Jan. 18, 1848. Died, 1885.
|
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WENDELL PHILLIPS.
Born in Boston, Mass., Nov. 29, 1811. Graduate Harvard.
College, 1831; Cambridge Law School, 1833. Began agi-
º behalf of Anti-Slavery, Temperance and wom-
an’s Rights, reforms, 1837. Succeeded Mr. Garrison as-
President of the Anti-Slavery Society. Received John.
Brown's slaves into his house. Distinguished lecturer.
Died Feb. 2, 1884.
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FREDERICK Douglass.
Born in slavery, about 1817. Self-educated. Ran.
away from his master, settling in New Bedford, Mass.
Wºº. by Mass. Anti-Slavery Society to lecture, 1841.
Made lecturing tour in Great Britain. Secretary Santo-
Domingo Commission, 1871. Presidential Elector for N.
Y., 1872. Appointed U. S. Marshal for District of Col-.
umbia, by President Hayes.































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- CHARLES J. FOLGER.
Born on Nantucket Island, Apl. 16, 1818. Graduate at
Hobart College, N. Y., 1836. Admitted to the bar 1839.
Judge of Ontario, county (N. Y.,) Court of Com-
mon Pleas, 1844. Elected County Judge of Ontario, 1851.
imémber of New York Senate 8 years from 1861, and Pres-
ident pro tem. 4. U. S. Sub-Treasurer, New York, 1870.
Elected Chief Judge, Court of Appeals, 1880, Appointed
Secretary of the Treasury, Oct. 1881. Defeated as Repub-
lican Candidate for Governor, 1882. Died Sept. 4, 1884.
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MARSHALL JEWELL.
Born in Winchester, N. H., Oct. 20, 1825. Engaged in
leather business in Hartford, ("onn. Elected Governor,
1869, 71, 72, Appointed Minister to Russia, 1873. Re-
called, 1874, and appointed Postmaster-General. Elect-
ed chairman National Republican Committee, 1880.
Was a man of strong personal attractiveness and high
executive abilities. Died Feb. 10, 1883,
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ROBERT T. LIN COLN.
Eldest son of the “Martyred President.” Born in
Springfield, Ill., Aug. 1, 1843. Studied in Ill. State Uni.
versity, Phillip's Academy, Harvard College and Law
School. Ass’t Adj.-Gen. on Staff of Gen. Grant, resign-
ing to practice law, 1867. Presidential Elector. 1876. Ap-
pointed Secretary of War by Prest Garfield : served to
close of Pres’t Arthur's administration.
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JOHN SHERMAN.
Born in Lancaster, Ohio, May 10, 1823. Mem'
ber Congress, 1855, Supported Gen. Fremont, 1856.
Elected to 35th, 36th Congresses. Elected U. S. Senator,
1861, '66, '72, '80. Prominent in making Treasury notes
legal tenders, 1862. Proposed the Refunding Act, pass-
ed 1870. The resumption of specie payments, Jan. 1,
1879, a triumph of his financial policy. Secretary of
the Treasury through Pres’t Hayes's administration.
Elected President of the Senate, pro-tent, Dec. 7, 1885.








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WILLIAM
Born in Vermont, 1830, Graduate at U. S. Military
Academy, 1855. Served in Uniofi Army through Civil
War, attaining volunteer rank of Maj.-Gen., and Regular
Army rank of Col. Sent to observe the Franco-German
War, 1870-71. Military attaché U. S. Legation at Wien-
aa, 1877. Appointed Chief Signal Officer of the Army,
I}ec. 6, 1880.
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GEORGE F. EDMUNDS.
Porn in Richmond, Vt., Feb. 1, 1828. Public school
*ducation. Admitted to the bar. Member State Legis-
lature, 1854, '55, '57, '58, '59, serving three years as
Speaker, State Senator and President pro tem, 1861-62.
Entered U. S. Senate, by appointment, Apl. 5, 1866, and
by election, for terms ending 1869, '75, '81, '87. Member
of Electoral Commission. Succeeded Judge Trumbull
as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
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SAMUEL S. COX.
Born at Zanesville, Ohio., Sept. 30, 1824. Graduate
at Brown University, 1846. Secretary of Legation to
Peru, 1855. Delegate to Dem. conventions, 1864-68.
Member of 35th, 36th, 37th and 38th Congresses from Ohio,
and the 41st, 42nd, 43d, 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th and 48th
from New York, whither he removed 1865. Elected to
49th Congress, but resigned in summer of 1885, to accept
appointment as Minister to Turkey. Distinguished as
Statesman, Scholar and author. º
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ALLEN G, THURMAN,
Born in Lynchburg, Va., Nov. 13, 1813. Removed to
Ohio four years later. Received academic education.
Admitted to the bar, 1835. Member of the 29th Con-
gress. Judge Supreme Court, Ohio, 1851. Chief-Justice
same Court, 1854-56. , Elected U.S. Senator, 1868, 1874.
Frequently mentioned as a possible Democratic candi-
date for President.





































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THURLOW WEED.
Born in Cairo, N. Y., Nov. 15, 1797. Was cabin boy
two terms in State Legislature. Editor of the Albany
Evening Journal, 1830-1862. Rendered historic services
Scott, Gen. Fremont and Mr. Lincoln, when candidates
for Presidency. Sent on confidential mission to the
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‘on a Hudson River boat. Served in war of 1812. Served
to William IIenry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Winfield
European Courts, 1861. Died, Nov. 22, 1882.
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HANNIBAL HAMLIN.
Born in Paris, Me., Aug. 27, 1809. Member Maine
Legislature, 1836-1840, and Speaker three years. Member
28th, 29th Congresses, Governor, 1857. U. S. Senator.
Elected Vice-President of the U. S., 1860. Appointed
Collector Port of Boston, 1865. U. S. Senator for terms
ºng 1875, 1881. Appointed Minister to Spain, Oct.
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JU DAH P. BENJAMIN.
Born in St. Domingo, 1812. Family settled in Sa-
Yamah, Ga.; 1816. Educated in Yale college. Removed
to New Orleans, La., 1831. Admitted to the bar, 1834.
I)eclined the appointment as Att'y-Gen. of the U. S., 1849.
U. S. Senator, 1852-1861. . . Appointed Att'y-Gen. in
Provisional Government of the Southern Confederacy,
1861. Secretary of State from Feb. 1862, to close of war.
Admitted to the bar in England, 1866. Became a Q. C.
Died, May 8, 1885.
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MONTGOMERY BLAIR.
Born in Franklin county, Ky., May 10, 1813. Gradu-
ate U. S., Military Academy, 1835, Served in Seminole
War. Resigned commission and admitted to the bar,
St., Louis, Mo., 1839. Became U. S. District-Attorney,
and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Removed to
Maryland, 1852, and appointed Solicitor of U. S. in the
Court of Claims. Appointed Postmaster-General, Mch.,
1861. Resigned, June, 1864, Died, July 27, 1883.




WINFIELD S. HANCOCK.
Born in Montgomery County, P., Feb. 14, 1824.
Graduate at U. S. Military Academy, 1844. Served in
Mexican war. Attached to Army of Potomac as Brig.-
Gen., 1862. Severely wounded at Gettysburg, 1863.
Participated in every great battle in the East. Received
thanks of Congress. Maj.-Gen. Regular Army, March
13, 1865. Democratic candidate for President, 1880.
In charge of Gen. Grant's funeral, 1885.
BENJAMIN F. BUTLER.
Born in Deerfield, N. H. Nov. 5, 1818.
At Waterville College, Me., 1838. Began practice of law,
Graduate
Lowell, Mass. Brig.-Gen. Union Army. 1861. Served
to close of civil war, gaining rank of Maj.-General. In
charge of New Orleans after its surrender. Elected to
40th, 41st. 42d, 43d and 45th Congresses. A manager
of the impeachment of President Johnson. Elected
Governor. Mass. by Democratic and Greenback par-
tics, 1882. Greenback candidate for President, 1884.
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DAVID D. PORTER.
Born in Philadelphia, Pa., 1805. Entered U. S. Navy
as Midshipman, 1829. On coast survey service, 1836-
1841. In charge of Naval rendezvous at New Orleans
in Mexican War. In continuous service in civil war.
Superintendent U. S. Naval Academy after close of war.
Viee-Admiral, 1866: Admiral, 1870. Iteceived thanka
of Congress.
JOHN ERICSSON.
Born in Sweden, July 31, 1803. Built the locomo.
tive “Novelty" to compete against the “Rocket”, in
England, 1829. Came to U. S. 1839. Began building
war vessels. Designed and buili, the famous “Monitor,”
which rendered such timely service, March, 1862.
Completed the torpedo boat, “The Destroyer,” in 1884,
utilizing the heat of the sun and atmosphere as mo-
tive power.




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MORRISON R. WAITE.
Born in Lyme, Conn., Nov. 29, 1816 ; , son of a
former Chief-Justice of that State. Graduate Yale
College, 1837. Moved to Ohio, and admitted to the bar.
1839. Counsel for the U. S. before the Geneva Tribu-
Inal, 1871-72. President of Ohio Constitutional Conven-
tion, 1873. Appointed Chief-Justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court, Jan. 21, 1874, succeeding Salmon P. Chase.
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FITZ-JOHN PORTER.
Born in Portsmouth, N. H., 1823. Graduate at U. S.
Military Academy, 1845. Participated in chief battles of
Mexican War. Brig.-Gen. of Vols., 1861. Brig.-Gen.
U S. A., by brevet, June, 1862. His Corps bore the
brunt of the second Bull Run engagement. Found
guilty of disobedience of Pope's orders, and cashiered,
Jan, 21, 1863. Exculpated and restored to citizenship
by Congress, 1884.
Born in Corydon, Ind., 1833. Served in Union Army
through Civil War, reaching rank of Maj.-Gen. Vols.
Severely wounded before Atlanta. Appointed U. S.
Judge for the Indiana district, by President Grant;
Postmaster-General, April 3, 1883, on death of Mr.
Howe, and Secretary of the Treasury, Sept., 1884, on
death of Judge Folger.
Appointed Judge of the 7th U.
S. Circuit, Oct. 28, 1884.
EDWARD F. BEALE.
Born in Washington, D. C., Feb. 4, 1822. Graduat;
at U. S. Naval Academy, 1842. Served with Cons
Stockton, Mexican War. Volunteered to leave Kear
ny's Surrounded camp to seek assistance at San Diego,
for which successful mission he was presented with
epaulettes and a sword, 1847. Resigned from navy
at close of war. Supt. of Indian Affairs for New Mexico
and Cal; Surveyor-General Cal, and Nevada, Minister
to Austria, 1876



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JAMES B. BECK.
Born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, Feb. 13, 1822. Re-
ceived academic education before coming to the U. S.
Graduated in law at Transylvania University, Ky., 1846,
beginning practice at Lexington. Member of 40th, 41st,
. and #Congresses. Declined re-election to the 44th,
Elected U. S. Senator as a Democrat, taking Seat, Mch.
5, 1877. Re-elected, 1882.
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ROSCOE CONKLING.
Born in Albany, N. Y., Oct. 30, 1829. Educated for
he bar. Removed to Utica, 1846. District Attºy for
Jneida county, 1850. Mayor of Utica, 1858. Elected to
36th, 37th, 39th and 40th Congresses, and to U. S. Sen-
ate, 1866, 1873, 1879. Itesigned with his colleague, Mr.
Platt, 1880, charging bad faith on President Garfield, in
Established
himself in law practice, in New York City, rigidly avoid-
the matter of New York Collectorship.
ing politics.
JOSEPH .E. BROWN.
Born in Pickens county, S. C., April 15, 1821. Edu-
cated in Calhoun Academy, and graduate at Yale Law
School, 1846. State Senator of Ga., 1849. Pierce Elect-
or, 1852. Judge Superior Courts, Blue Ridge Circuit,
1855. Elected Governor of Ga., iS57, and in the four
succeeding elections. Chief-Justice. State Sup. Ct.
1868. Appointed U. S. Senator to fill vacancy, May
1880, and elected for unexpired term in Nov. following
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DAVID DAVIS.
Born in Cecil county, Md., Mch. 9, 1815. Educated
at Kenyon College, Ohio. Settled at Bloomington, Ill.
Judicial Circuit of Ill., 1848, '55, '61. Associate Justice
U. S. Supreme Court, 1862, Resigned and elected U.S.
Senator, 1877. Nominated by Labor Reform Party for
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Presiden.t, 1872. As Senator was independent in politics.
















HENRY B. ANTHONY.
Born in Coventry, R. [., April 1, 1815. Graduate
Brown Universtiy. Became editor Providence Journal.
Elected Governor, 1849, 1850. Declined a third term.
Elected U. S. Senator, 1850, 1864, 1870, 1876, 1882, and
President pro tem. of Senate, March 23, 1869, March 10,
1871. His º experience made him very effective in
committee work, Died, Sept. 2, 1884.
WILLIA
Born in Monroe county, Ill., Sept. 14, 1825. Graduate
at McKendree College. Was four terms member, and
one Speaker of Ill., House of Reps. Elected to the 38th,
43d, 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th and 49th Congresses. As
Chairman of Committee on Ways and Means, was
prominent in opposition to the tariff system, effecting a
saving of many millions of dollars, Saw service in the
Mexican and Civil wars,
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GEORGE B. McCLELLAN.
Born in Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 3, 1826. Graduate at
U. S. Military Academy, 1846. Served in Mexican War.
Sent by Government to study Crimean War. Maj.-Gen.
of Ohio Vols., April 23, 1861. Maj.-Gen. 1n Regular
Army following month. Gen.-in-Chief Armies of the U.
S., Nov., 1861. Superseded, Nov., 1862. Democratic
candidate for prº 1864. Eng.-in-Chief, Depart-
ment of Docks, N. Y. City, 1870. Elected Governor of
New Jersey, 1877. Died, Oct. 29, 1885.
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JAMES B. STEEDMAN.
Born in Northumberland county. Pa., 1818. Served
in Ohio Legislature two terms. Public Printer, Wash-
ington, D.C., 1857. Delegate to Charleston Convention.
Entered the Civil War as Col., 14th Ohio Vols. Brig.-
Gen., July, 1862. Won distinction and promotion at
Chickamauga. . . Provisional Governor, Georgia, 1865.
State Senator, 1879. Died, Oct. 18, 1883.




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WILLIAM M. EVARTS.
Born in Boston, Mass., Feb. 6, 1818. , Graduate Yale
‘College and Harvard Law School. Admitted to the bar
in New York City, 1841. Chief counsel for President
Johnson, at impeachment, 1868. Att'y-Gen. of the U.S.,
1868-1872. Represented U. S. at Geneva, “Alabama’’
tribunal, 1872, and Republican party, before Electoral
Commission. Secretary of State, 1876-80. Elected U.
S. Senator, 1885.
CHARLES O'CONOR.
Born in New York City, Jan., 1804. Member Consti-
tutional Convention, 1840. Democrat Elector-at-Large,
1852. Nominated by Dem. National and Workingmen's
Conventions for President, 1872. Was one of time ablest
and most successful members of the American Bar, his
services in the Forrest divorce suit, the Jumel estate
litigation, and the prosecution of the Tweed Ring in
1871, being historic. Died, May 12, 1884.
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TIMOTHY O. HOWE,
Born in Livermore, Me., Feb. 24, 1816. Received ac.
ademic education. Elected State Legislature, 1845. Re-
moved to Wisconsin same year. Elected Judge of Cir-
cuit and Supreme Courts, 1850. Resigned 1855. Elected
to the U. S. Senate, 1861, '67, '73, as a Union Republican.
Was succeeded by Matthew H. Carpenter, an eminent
lawyer and Republican. Appointed Postmaster-Gen-
eral, Dec. 1881. Died March 25, 1883.
GEORGE F. HOAR.
Born in Concord, Mass., Aug. 29, 1826. Graduate at
Harvard College, 1846, and afterwards at the Dame Law
School. Member State Legislature, 1852. State Senator,
1857. Elected to the 41st, 42d, 43d and 44th Congresses,
and to the U. S. Senate, 1876, 1883. Delegate to Repub-
lican National Conventions, 1876, 1880, 1884; President of
that of 1880. Member of Electoral Commission, Regent
Smithsonian Institute, and President American Antiquar.
ian Society.




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|Born in Athens, Tenn., June 20, 1824. Admitted to
the bar in Alabama, 1845. Presidential Elector, 1860.
èlegate to State Convention which decided on Seces-
asion, 1861. Joined Confederate Army as private, May,
1861. Brig.-Gen., 1863. Presidential Elector, State-at
Large, 1876. Elected U. S. Senator to fill vacancy, 1876.
Re-elected, 1882.
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HENRY W. SLOCUM.
Born in Delphi, N. Y., Sept. 24, 1827. , Graduate at U.
S. Military Academy, 1852. Practised, law in Syracuse,
N. Y., 1856-61, and was artillery instructor .N. Y.
Militia, 1859-61. Served in Union Army through Civil
War. Maj-Gen. of Vols. 1862. Elected to the 41st,
42d and 48th Congresses as , Congressman-at-Large.
Democrat; lawyer ; resident of Brooklyn and railroad
smanager.
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J. PROCTOR KNOTT.
Born near Lebanon, Ky., Aug. 29, 1830. Removed to
Missouri, 1850. Admitted to the bar, 1851. Appointed
Att'y-Gen. of Mo., Aug, 1859, and elected to same posi-
tion, Aug. 1862. Returned to Ky., 1863. Elected to the
40th, 41st, 44th, 45th 46th and 47th Congresses.
Governor, 1883.
Elected
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J. C. S. BLACKBURN.
Born in Woodford County, Ky., Oct. 1, 1838. Gradu-
ate at Centre College, 1857. Admitted to the bar, 1858,
and practiced until isºſ." Entered confederate army
1861, serving through war. Resumed practice, 1865, and
elected to the Legislature, 1871, 73. Elected to the 44th,
#. 46th, 47th and 48th Congresses, and U. S. Senator,








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JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Born in Kentucky, June 3, 1808. Graduate U. S. Mili-
tary Academy, 1828. Was Colonel in Mexican War.
U. S. Senator from Miss., 1847. Secretary of War under
President Pierce. Withdrew from Senate on Mr. Lin-
coln's election. Chosen Provisional President Confed.
erate States, Feb. 4, 1861; elected President, 1862. Cap.
tured at Irwinsville, Ga., May 10, 1865. Released on bail,
1867. Included in general amnesty, Dec. 25, 1868.
ROBERT TOOMBS.
Born in Washington, Ga., July 2, 1810. Graduate Union
College, N. Y., 1828. Admitted to the bar, 1830. Served
in the Creek war; in the Georgia Legislature; in Con-
gress from 1844 to 1853, when he was elected U. S. Senator,
retiring on secession, of Georgia. Secretary of State of
the Confederate Government, Feb. 21. 1861, and Brig. Gen.
Never accepted the general amnesty. I)ied December
15, 1885.
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L. Q. C. LA
Born in Oxford, Ga., September 17, 1825. Graduate at
*"Emory College, 1845. Admitted to the bar. 1847. Prof.
of mathematics in Mississippi State University, 1849.
Resigned from Congress when Miss. seceded, and
entered Confederate army. On Confederate service in
Russia, 1863. Re-elected Prof. in State University, 1866.
Elected to 43d and 44th Congresses, and U. S. Senator,
1876, 1882. Appointed Secretary of Interior, March, 1885.
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
Born in Taliaferro County, Ga., Feb. 11, 1812. Gradu-
ate Franklin College, 1832. Served in both branches:
State Legislature, 1836-42. Opposed the seccession of
the State, but agguiesced in the act. Chosen Vice-Presi.
dent of the Confederate States, 1862. One of three-
Commissioners who conferred with President Lincoln,
Feb. 1865. Arrested, confined in Fort Warren, but re-
leased, ()ct, 11, 1865. Re-entered Congress, 1872. Author
of two works on the Civil War. Died, March 4, 1883.




WINFIELD S. SCHLEY.
Born in Maryland, 1839. Graduate at U. S. Naval
Academy, 1860. Distinguished himself throughout
Civil War. T_ieut.-Commander, 1866. Instructor at
Naval Academy, 1867. Commander, 1874. Was the
successful commandant of the Greely Relief Expedition
to the Polar regions, finding the survivors of the party,
June 22, 1884. Appointed chief of bureau, Navy De-
partment, Washington, D.C., 1885.
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THOMAS ALVA EDISON.
“The Wizard of Electricity.” Born in Milan, Ohio,
Feb. 11, 1847. Was a newsboy in early life. Began his
electrical experiments in Cincinnati, 1867. First inven-
tion was a method of sending two messages at once over
a single wire. Invented the phonograph, and brought to
#. a system of electric lighting by incandescence.
is patents on electrical apparatus number over 100.
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ADOLPH US W. GREELY.
Born at Newburyport, Mass., 1844. Entered the
army as private, 1861. Mustered out volunteer service,
1867. Appointed to Regular Army, 1869. First Lieuten-
ant, 5th Cavalry, 1873. In command of an expedition to
establish meteorological stations on Lady Franklin Bay.
Sailed from St. Johns, July 7, 1881. Two expeditions
to rescue him failed, but a third, under Lieut.-Comman-
der Schley, found him and six other survivors of bia
party, near mouth of Smith's Sound, June 22, 1884.
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GEORGE W. MELVILLE.
Born in New York City, Jan., 1841. Served as engi-
neer in the navy in the Civil War. Engineer on Tigress
in the cruise after the Polaris party. Engineer on Arctic
exploring steamer Jeannette. Sailed from San Fran-
cisco, July. 1879. After the wrecking and separation of
officers and crew into two parties, made successful
search for Capt. DeLong's party, and found all dead,
March, 1882.



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O LIVER O. HOWARD.
Born in Leeds, Me., Nov. 8, 1830. Graduate at Bow
doin College, 1850, U. S. Military Academy, 1854. Col.
of Maine Vols., and Brig.-Gen., 1861. Maj.-Gen. of
Vols., 1862. Received thanks of Congress, 1864. Lost
an arm at Fair Oaks. After the war was Commissioner
of Freedmen's Bureau. Special Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, and Supt. of U. S. Military Academy, 1881-2
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HUGH MCCULLOCH.
Born in Kennebunk, Me., 1810. Admitted to the bar,
1833, and removed to Fort Wayne, Ind. Appointed
Comptroller of the Currency, 1863. Was Secretary of the
Treasury, March, 1865–1869. Reappointed Secretary of
the Treasury, to succeed Walter Q. Gresham, after de-
clining position on Tariff Commission, Oct. 28, 1884,
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JAMES G. BLAINE.
Born in Washington County, Pa., January 31, 1830–
Graduate at Washington College, Pa.
Legislature 1859, '60, '61 and '62, serving last two years as
Speaker.
three. Secretary of State in President Garfield's Cabinet;
resigned after President Arthur's accession.
“Twenty Years of Congress.” Republican candidate for-
President of U. S., 1884.
Member of Maine-
Member of seven Congresses and Speaker of
Author of
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Born in Jackson County, Ill., Feb. 9, 1824. Served:
through Mexican War. Graduate at Louisville Law–
School, Ky., 1851. Member of Legislature four years.
Prosecuting Attorney, 1853-57. Presidential Elector.
1856. Resigned from 37th Congress to enter Union,
army. Attained rank of Maj.-Gen. Declined appoint—
ment as Minister to Mexico, 1865. Elected U. S. Sena-
tor, 1871, 1879, 1885. Republican candidate for Vice-
President of U. S., 1



























THOMAS A. HENDRICKS.
Born in Muskingum county, Ohio, Sept 7, 1819.
Graduate at South Hanover College, Ind., 1840. Dele-
gate to Ind. State Constitutional Convention, 1850. Com-
missioner Gen. Land Office, 1855-59. Defeated for Gov-
ernor, 1860, but elected 1872. Defeated for Vice-Presi-
dent of the U. S., in 1876, by decision of Electoral Com-
mission, on ticket with S. J. Tilden, and elected in 1884,
on ticket with Grover Cleveland. Died suddenly, Nov.
25, 1885,
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Ajgustus H. GARLAND.
Born in Tipton county, Tenn., June 11, 1832. Removed
to Arkansas in following year. Admitted to the bar,
1853. Opposed secession of Arkansas, but went with his
State. Member of the Provisional Congress. Took
part in drawing up Constitution of Confederate States.
Elected U. S. Senator, 1866, but was refused admission,
March 4, 1867. Elected Governor, 1874. Elected U. S.
Senator, 1876, 1883, Appointed Attorney-General of the
U. S., March, 1885.
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SAMUEL J. TILDEN.
Born in New Lebanon, N. Y., Feb. 9, 1814, Graduate
at University of New York, 1834. Admitted to the bar
in New York City. Was very active in politics until
1846, when he began to engage in great railroad litigations.
Elected Governor of New York, 1874. Democratic can-
didate for President of the U. S., 1876, Claimed the
election, but acquiesed in the decision of the Electore’
Commission, which favored R. B. Hayes, Republican
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SAMUEL J. RANDALL.
Born in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 10, 1828. Received.
academic education. Member of City Council, four
years ; of the State Senate, two. Member of the 38th,
39th, 40th, 41st, 42d, 43d, 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th and
49th Congresses. Speaker of last sessions of 44th, 45th
i. 46th Congresses, Long recognized as a Democratic
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DANIEL MA
Born in Albany, N. Y. Aug. 16, 1831. Connected with
the Albany Argus from his 11th year. Delegate to Dem-
ocratic National Conventions, 1876, 1884. Secretary State
Committee, 1879, '80. Elected Chairman, 1881. Presi-
dent National Commercial Bank, Albany. Cast the vote
of New York for Cleveland at National Convention,
1884. Appointed Secretary of the Treasury, March, 1885.
* * * * * *
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THOMAS F. BAYARD.
Born in Wilmington, Del., Oct. 29, 1828. Called to
the bar, 1851. Appointed U. S. Dist.-Att'y for Dela-
ware, 1853, Elected to U. S. Senate to succeed his
father, 1869. Re-elected 1875, 81. Member of Electoral
Commission. Appointed Secretary of State, March, 1885.
Was an earnest and constant advocate for true Civil
ãº. reform, and did much to correct Custom House
8. OU 86°8.
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Born in Conway, Mass., 1839. Graduate at Williston
Seminary and Harvard Law School, 1865. Admitted to
the bar in New York City. Aided in the prosecution of
the Tweed Ring. Seven years Corporation Counsel in
New York, resigning, 1882. It was estimated that his
saving to the city while its counsel, directly amounted
to $2,000,000, and indirectly to much more. Appointed
Secetary of the Navy, 1885.
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WILLIAM C. END|COTT.
Born in Salem, Mass., 1827. Graduate at Harvard
College, 1847. Admitted to the bar, 1850. Appointed
Judge of . Supreme Court, 1873; resigning in 1882 on
account of poor health. Joined Democratic party, 1860.
Appointed Secretary of War, March, 1885. #. is a
member of the Historical Society and of the Board of
Overseers of Harvard College. Was never an active
politician.
















































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OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, AND HOW IT IS
ADMINISTERED.
Government is necessary for the restraint of disorderly persons and for the Security of justice.
It is the manifestation of organized social power. Its primary and necessary functions are to main-
tain the peace and to execute justice between different members of society.
Where there is no transgression there is no necessity for law. Every citizen has a natural right
to defend his life and property from injury. The collective body of citizens have the right to organ-
ize power for the general good—in other words, to create a Government, which, therefore, Justly
derives its powers from the will and consent of the governed—TITE PEOPLE.
According to this fundamental principle the people of the United States, in representative con-
vention assembled, established a National Government in republican form, having its functions pre-
scribed by a written declaration adopted by the people and known as the Constitution of the Unwed
States.
THE GOVERNMENT.
The National Government is composed of three co-ordinate departments—namely:
1. THE LEGISLATIVE, or that which makes the laws.
2. THE EXECUTIVE, or that which enforces the laws.
3. TIIE JUDICIAL, or that which interprets the laws and administers justice.
These powers are lodged in different hands. The body which makes the laws has nothing to do
with the enforcement of them, while the judicial department is independent of the legislative and
executive departments.
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
The legislative power is vested in a Congress of representatives of the people. It consists of a
Senate and House of Representatives. The members of the former are chosen by the several State
Legislatures, and those of the latter are chosen directly by the people by secret ballots.
REPRESENTATIVES.—A representative, when chosen, must be twenty-five years of age, a citizen of
the United States six years, and an inhabitant of the State in which he is chosen.
The number of representatives of each State is determined by the population of the State. In
order to keep the number of the members of the House of Representatives about the same the ratio of
representatives is changed from time to time. For example, in 1792 the apportionment was 33,000
inhabitants to every representative; in 1870 the number was 138,000 inhabitants to every representa-
tive.
When a vacancy happens in the representation of a State the executive authority of such State
issues writs of election to fill such vacancy.
The representatives choose their own presiding officer (the “Speaker") and others, and have the
sole power of impeachment.
SENATE–A Senator, when chosen, must be thirty years of age, nine years a citizen of the United
States, and an inhabitant of the State for which he is chosen.
Each State is entitled to two Senators, without regard to its population. They are chosen for a
term of six years. Each Senator has one vote.
The Vice-President of the United States is President of the Sonate, but has no vote unless they
be equally divided.
The Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting as such high court it is
the duty of the Chief Justice of the United States to preside, and no person may be convicted without
the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of the Senate present,
l
O U R N A T I O N A T G O V E R N M E N T
BOTH HOUSES.—The two Houses of Congress meet at the same time and place, in separate chatty
bers. Each House is the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members. A
majority in each House constitutes a quorum.
Each House determines its own rules of proceeding, may punish its members, and, with the cou.
eurrence of two-thirds of the members present, may expel a member.
Neither House during the session of Congress unay, without the consent of the other, adjourn for
more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses may be sitting.
Members of both Houses are privileged from arrest (except in cases of treason, felony, or breach
ef peace) during their attendance at the sessions of their respective Houses, or going to or returning
from the same. Nor may they be questioned in any other place for any speech or words in debate it.
either House.
No person holding office under the United States may be a member of either House during his
continuance in office.
The existence of each Congress is limited to two years,
POWERS OF CONGRESS.
Congress is vested with sovereign powers to levy and collect taxes and provide for the national do.
fence; to borrow money; to regulate commerce with forcign nations and among the several States;
to coin money; to punish counterfeiters; to establish post-routes and post-offices; to grant patenta
and copyrights; to declare war, carry it on on land and Sea (but not to make appropriations, for the
purpose, for a longer time than for two years), and conclude peace; to create and maintain a navy; to
call forth the militia of the several States in certain contingencies, and to enact all laws necessary for
the execution of the powers granted them. But Congress may not suspend the privilege of the wri;
of habeas corpus unless where the public safety may require it; pass a bill of attainder or ex-yost-
facto law; lay a tax or duty on inter-State exchanges of commodities; give commercial preference to
any port; subject vessels bound to or from one State to enter, to clear, or pay duties in another State;
cause money to be drawn from the public treasury, excepting appropriations made by law; grant any
title of nobility, nor allow any person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States,
without the consent of Congress, to accept any gift from any foreign power while holding such office.
MODE OF PASSING LAWS.
All bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives. Every bill Ingst
have the concurrence of both Houses, and then be presented to the President of the United States.
If approved by him he signs it and it becomes law; if not approved he returns it with his written ob.
jections. This is called a veto. Then it may be reconsidered, aud, if passed by a vote of two-thirds of
each House, it becomes a law without the signature of the President.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the two Houses may be necessary
(excepting on a question of adjournment) is presented to the President of the United States, and
may take the course of a bill.
The enumerated powers wested in Congress are denied to the several States which compose the
Republic.
THE STATES.
The several States of the Republic are independent in a degree, but not sovereign. By the provi-
sions of the National Constitution they are denied the exercise of the functions of sovereign power.
Originally there were thirteen States in the Union. Since then the process of forming a new
State is by erecting a prescribed domain of the Republic into a Territory and organizing a Territorial
government, administered by a chief magistrate and other officers appointed by the President of the
United States, by and with the consent of the Senate. The Territory has a Legislature to enact laws
of local application, but Congress may reject any of them. The inhabitants elect a delegate who re-
presents them in Congress, tells that body what the Territory needs, but has no vote. The people of a
Territory do not vote for President of the United States. When a Territory contains a specified num-
ber of inhabitants a convention may be called, a State Constitution formed and adopted, and applied-
tion be made to Congress for the admission of the Territory into the Union as an independent State.
The application may be rejected, and there is no appeal but to another Congress. If permitted to
become a State if immediately assumes State powers and takes its position as an equal of the othae
States according to its ability. -
ii
A N D H O W, IT IS A D M I N H S T E R E D .
When a new State is formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State, or formed by
the junction of two or more States or parts of States, the consent of the Legislatures of the States con-
cerned and of Congress must first be obtained.
Congress must guarantee to every State in the Union a republican form of government, and pro-
tect all from invasion when required by the proper authorities of a State or States So invaded.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
The executive power of the Republic is vested in a President of the United States, whose term of
office is limited to four years. He is eligible to re-election indefinitely. His power is co-ordinate but
not coequal with that of the Legislative Department. He is the agent to execute the will of Congress
expressed by laws.
The method of choosing a President and Vice-President is prescribed in the Twelfth Amendment
to the National Constitution (see page xx. Of the Supplement).
The President is commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United States; also of the
militia of the several States when called into the actual service of the Republic.
With the advice and consent of the Senate, the President makes treaties with foreign Powers and
the Indians within the Republic; appoints ambassadors and other representatives of the Government
in foreign lands, also judges of the Supreme Court and all other officers of the National Government
whose appointment is not otherwise provided for. He has power to fill official vacancies during the
recess of the Senate.
It is the duty of the President to convene Congress when extraordinary occasions may require a
session; to give to Congress, when in session, from time to time, information concerning the state of
the Republic, and to recommend moasures for their consideration ; to receive ambassadors and other
public Hministers, and to take care that all the laws shall be faithfully executed.
The President may be removed from office on impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors.
JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.
The judicial power of the United States is vested in one Supreme Court, sitting at the National
Capital, together with such inferior courts as Congress may, from time to time, establish in various
parts of the Union. The judges of the Supreme Court and inferior United States courts hold their of.
fices during good behavior.
The jurisdiction of the National Judiciary extends to all cases of law and equity arising under the
Constitution of the United States; the laws of the United States and treaties made under their autho-
rity; all laws affecting ambassadors, other ministers, and consuls of the United States; controversies in
which the United States may be a party; controversies between two or more States, between a State
and citizens of another State, and between citizens of different States, but not to any suit in law or
equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the States by citizens of another State or by citizens
or subjects of any foreign State,
The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in all cases affecting ambassadors, other public minis-
ters, and consuls, and those in which a State may be a party. In all other cases it has appellate juris-
diction both as to law and fact.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT,
* & * e * e ſº * .
The President administers the laws through the advice and assistance of seven cabinet ministers,
who are each at the head of a separate executive department. Five of these ministers are denomi,
nated “Secretaries.”
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.
The Executive Departments are known respectively as of the State, of Finance or the Treasury, of
War, of the Navy, of the Interior, of the Post-Office, and of Justice.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT is in charge of the Secretary of State. It has two branches—namely,
the Diplomatic and the Consular. It has a Disbursing Agent, a Translator, Clerks of Appointment and
Commissions, of the Rolls and Archives, of Territorial Business, and of Pardons and Passports; also a
Superintendent of Statistics. The Diplomatic branch has charge of all correspondence between the
l ll
O U R N A T I O N A L G O V E R N M E N T .
Department and other diplomatic agents of the United States abroad, and those of foreign powers
accredited to the Government. The Consular branch has charge of all correspondence between the
Department and the consuls and commercial agents of the United States.
THE FINANCE OR TREASURY DEPARTMENT is in charge of the Secretary of the Treasury, who has
as assistants a First and Second Comptroller of the Treasury, a Commissioner of Customs, six Audi-
tors, each charged with distinct functions, a Treasurer, a Register, a Solicitor, and a Comptroller of
the Treasury. [Ie has under his direction a Light-House Board, a Bureau of Construction, the United
States Coast Survey, the Internal Revenue, and the United States Mints. He has the general super-
vision of the financial transactions of the Government, and is charged with the execution of the laws
concerning commerce and navigation.
THE WAR DEPARTMENT is under the control of the Secretary of War, who is charged with all
}ºusiness pertaining to the Army and the supervision of all fortifications, arsenals, and stores, also of
the Weather Signal Service. He has under his control the offices of the Commanding General of the
Army, the Adjutant-General, the Quartermaster-General, the Paymaster-General, the Commissary-
General, the Surgeon-General, the Engineer's Office, the Topographical Office, the Ordnance Office, and
the Office of Refugees and Freedmen; also the Military Academy at West Point. These titles indicate
the functions of the respective bureaus.
THE NAVY DEPARTMENT is under the control of the Secretary of the Navy, who is charged with
all business pertaining to that branch of the service. That business is conducted through the aid of
eight bureaus—namely, of Yards and Docks, of Navigation, of Ordnance, of Construction and Repairs,
of Equipment and Recruiting, of Provisions and Clothing, of Steam-Engineering, and of Medicine and
Surgery. These several titles indicate the functions of the respective bureaus. The Secretary of the
Navy has control of the Marine Corps, a military organization attached to the Navy. .
THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT is in charge of the Secretary of the Interior, who has the care and
management of the Public Lands, of Pensions, of the Indians, of the Patent Office, of the Department
of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Education. -
TEIE POST-0PFICE DEPARTMENT is in charge of the Postmaster-General. The business of this De-
partment is distributed among several bureaus, as follows: the Appointment Office, in charge of the
First Assistant Postmaster-General; the Contract Office, including the Inspection Division, in charge
of the Second Assistant Postmaster-General; the Finance Office, in charge of the Third Assistant
Postmaster-General, who has also charge of the Dead-Letter Office; and the Money-Order Office, in
charge of the Superintendent.
THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE is in charge of the Attorney-General of the United States. Its
ordinary duties may be classified as follows:
1. 0ſlicial opinions on the current business of the Government.
. Examinations of the titles of land purchased for sites of public works.
. Applications for pardons in all cases of conviction in the courts of the United States.
. Applications for appointment in all the judicial and legal departments of the Government.
. The conduct and argument of all suits in the Supreme Court of the United States in which the
Government is concerned.
. The supervision of all other suits arising in any of the Departments, when referred to the At-
torney-General.
.
6
iV
T H E S T OR Y
OF
A G R E A T N A T L O N .
IN T R O DU CTION.
The spirit of Discovery awakened in Europe—The great advantage of the Crusades to Trade—
Missionaries and Merchants—What was known of the Atlantic Ocean—The wonderful Island of
St. Brendan—Iceland and Greenland—Discoveries on the Coast of Africa—The Madeira Islands
—Italy the School of Geography.
AT the beginning of the Christian era, the Roman Empire extended
over all Southern and Western Europe as far as Britain, over North-
ern Africa, and the Levant. There was regular intercourse through
all the vast empire, and there was trade with countries lying beyond.
After the Roman Empire fell, barbarians overran many parts of
Europe, and the Mohammedans gained Africa and the East. When
new countries were formed, there was little trade, and people had
only scanty knowledge of distant parts, even in Europe. The only
people who traveled far, were pilgrims who used to go to the Holy
Land. The ill-treatment given to the pilgrims by the Mohammedans
led to the wars known as the Crusades, in which most of the Chris.
tian kingdoms of the West united to recover Palestine from the hands
of the Saracens. The expeditions sent out failed to wrest it from
them, but they made the East known to the marines and merchants
who began to trade with those distant countries.
102 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
One great and good result came forth from the Crusades, although
they failed in their main object. People learned more of the East, of its
science its fabrics, its plants, its riches of every kind. A spirit of travel
was awakened. Missionaries set out to announce the gospel to distant
lands; merchants hastened to open new avenues of trade. All Europe
was astir. The accounts brought back by Carpini and Rubruquis, who
penetrated into Tartary, opened a new world. Then Marco Polo, the
greatest of early travellers, pushed on till he reached Cathay, or China,
and astonished men with his accounts of the strange people of that
land. Catalani next described the wonders of Asia, and Mandeville gave
a book of travels in which he introduced the most extraordinary stories.
Then commerce reawakened from its long sleep, and trade between the
various Christian States, and between them and distant lands, was ex-
tended with remarkable rapidity. In the commercial operations which
sprang up, Genoa and Venice took the lead : their ships were not con-
fined to the Mediterranean, but sought the shores of the Atlantic The
sciences of Geography and Navigation became in Italy favorite studies,
and were cultivated to an extent not common in other parts of Europe,
with rare exceptions.
But most of the Kings of those times were too much taken up with
wars and pleasures to give any attention to such severe studies, or
encourage them as they should. Italy, where there were free Repub-
lics, full of commercial activity, and then the religious centre of Chris-
tendom, had the most learned geographers and navigators, as well as
the most skillful naval commanders.
Other nations, therefore, for several centuries, looked as a matter of
course to Italy for the latest improvements in all that regarded navigation
and the sea. Kings even hired ships from these Italian Republics to aid
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 103
them in their wars. This will explain to us why so many Italian naviga-
tors took part in the early discoveries of America—Columbus, Cabot
Vespucius, Verrazzani.
But the explorers did not all go by the way of the Mediterranean.
The people on the shores of the Atlantic had from the earliest times made
voyages that seem incredible when we know the wretched kind of ves-
sels in which they sailed. The earliest known vessels of the British isles
were coracles, and our readers would hardly think of venturing out to
sea in them now. They were simply a strong basket of wicker-work,
covered with a hide drawn tightly over it while still soft.
In these flimsy boats the natives of the British Isles ventured out to
sea, crossed over to the mainland of Europe, and even carried on war-
like and piratical expeditions.
As the West was converted to Christianity, zealous missionaries set
out in these coracles to carry the truth to parts which were yet Pagan.
The most famous of all these early voyages is that of St. Brendan,
Abbot of Clonfert, who died in 577, in the western part of Ireland.
This brave and adventurous missionary sailed with a party of compan-
ions, born and bred like himself on that wild coast, out into the Atlantic,
in vessels of wicker and ox hides, and evidently reached Iceland. His
authentic narrative was soon lost sight of, but the minstrels and story-
tellers made his voyage the most popular narrative of the Middle Ages.
According to the story in this form, of which there are many versions in
lifferent languages, he met floating islands made of crystal, with churches,
houses, and palaces, and all the furniture in them of the same sparkling
material. He mistook a large sleeping fish for an island, and his party,
landing on it unawares, was nearly engulfed. He finally came to an
island, where there was a mountain of fire, evidently the mouth of hell,
104 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
and where devils, by hurling fiery stones at them, drove them from the
shores. Interwoven with all this are meetings with hermits and won-
derful personages. It is easy to see the icebergs in this, and understand
how the story grew ; the whale is easily recognized ; and in the volcanic
island we see Iceland with its Mount Hecla. The natives flocking to
the shore to oppose the new comers were naturally supposed to be hurl-
ing the stones which came from the volcano.
When Iceland was subsequently discovered and colonized, and thus
took its place in geography, no one thought of identifying it with St.
Brendan's Island; but out of his story grew two islands, the island of
Demons, which in most early maps figures on the northwest coast of
America from Labrador to Greenland : and a second St. Brendan's Isle
which was supposed to be off the Canaries. This island, the story grew,
used to appear and then vanish, and the traditions of Spain and other
countries made it the residence of some great personage in their history,
whom the people believed to be living in a sort of retirement, to reap-
pear one day in this world and Save his country.
A volume would scarcely contain all that has been written about.
St. Brendan's voyage and his wonderful island.
But the existence of St. Brendan's island west of the Canaries was
long so firmly believed, that expeditions were frequently sent out to
reach it. They returned unsuccessful, or perished and were no more
heard of Articles from the shores of America driven on the Azores
and Canaries were all naturally supposed to come from St. Brendan's
Island, and kept up the common faith in its existence. All this made
men familiar with the thought of voyages out into the unexplored
WaterS. * &
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. , } 05
Under the leadership of Ingulph they colonized Iceland in the ninth
century, and that remote island became before long a centre of learning
and religion in the north. Soon after, Eric the Red discovered and
colonized Greenland in the 10th century. At this time these North-
men were all pagans, fierce and cruel. Leif, the son of Eric, however,
returning to Norway became a Christian, and in the year 1000 brought
out clergy who converted the pagan settlers in Greenland.
As we now know that land, we can scarcely conceive how a colony
could have been planted and grown up on that desolate shore. But it
is evident that it was then washed by the Gulf Stream, and enjoyed a
comparatively mild climate.
The settlement of the Northmen in Greenland subsisted down to the
middle of the fifteenth century, and there is extant a bull of Pope Nicho-
as as late as 1450, recommending the piety of the Bishop of Garda, whe
had erected a fine church at that place in Greenland : and the ruins of
this church have, it is thought, been recently discovered.
But if these hardy Northmen had passed beyond St. Brendan's, they
too had their strange lands further on. One was White Man's Land of
Greater Ireland : the other was a country called Winland, or land of *
Wines, to which some of their people actually went.
From the vague account given in one of the Icelandic sagas or poems
as to Winland, many attempts have been made to decide exactly where
it was : Nearly two hundred years ago, a very learned little book
talled “A History of Ancient Winland,” was published at Copenhagen,
and within a year or two an American scholar has been endeavoring to
*xplain it all, but there are not many who put much faith in the matter
and those who believe that the Old Mill at Newport is a Scandinavian
ruin, erected by the early Northmen. are very few indeed.
} 06 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
The people of the North were thus actually colonizing the New
World ; but while the declining settlement in Greenland was struggling
for existence against the Esquimaux or Skroelings, who had become
very hostile, and finally destroyed it utterly, the people of Southern
Europe seem not to have made any attempts in this direction. Some,
however, think that the hardy Bretons of France, and the Basques,
a maritime people, living in France and Spain on the shores of the Bay
of Biscay, reached Newfoundland at an early day and there began to
take codfish ; but they were not learned navigators ; they wrote no
books and drew no maps.
The great mariners of southern Europe were, however, pushing dis-
coveries in another direction. As the Crusades had failed, Asia Minor
and Egypt remained in the hands of the Mohammedans, who viewed all
Christians passing through their land with jealousy. If the Christian
ships could sail around Africa and so reach the rich lands of India and
Cathay, they might carry on a profitable trade, with which the Saracons
and Turks could not interfere. The Carthaginians were said to have
done it. So the minds of men began to turn in that direction.
About the middle of the fourteenth century French vessels began to
trade down the coast of Africa, and actually reached Guinea. Genoese
and Catalans discovered the Canaries, and the island of Madeira was
next added to the list of discoveries. -
As to the discovery of Madeira, so called from a Portuguese word
meaning wood, the island having been found covered with beautiful
trees, a very romantic story is told.
In the reign of Edward III., Anna d'Arſet, a noble young English -
lady, fell in love with a poor young man named Robert Macham. As
her family were endeavoring to force her to a marriage with a wealthy
or, OUR Country's AcIIIEVEMENTs. 107
suitor whom she loathed, they resolved to fly to France. To facilitate
their plans, a friend of Robert entered the service of Anna's guardians
as a groom, and was thus able to attend her on her daily rides near the
seashore, and arrange the plans of the lovers. Robert found a vessel
suited for their purpose and when it was ready, she rode down to meet
the small boat in which he was to come ashore for her. Their secret
had however been discovered. As she neared the shore and recognized
her lover's boat approaching, she heard a clatter of hoofs and saw her
pursuers approaching. She spurred her spirited steed into the surf, rid.
ing as far as he would bear her, and thus was received by Robert, com-
pletely discomfiting her pursuers. The vessel, though with but a scanty
crew, at once hoisted Sail. But the next day a terrible storm came on.
Day came and went, with no cessation of the tempest, and the frail ves-
sel, driven before the gale, was hurried into strange seas. No land was
seen till on the thirteenth day, green hills, rich in tropical vegetation,
greeted their eyes. Robert and Anna fanded with a few of those on
board, and were delighted with the beauties of the new-found isle ; but
before they had recovered from the fatigues of their terrible voyage an-
other storm drove their vessel off. They were on the Island of Ma-
deira, separated from Christendom. Poor Anna, worn out by by he
hardships and excitement, could not rally even in this beautiful spot—
she sank rapidly, and died the third day. Robert buried her at the
foot of a tree where she had spent much of her time in prayer; but his
own days were sealed. In less than a week he too breathed his last,
and was laid beside her. Their comrades hastened to leave a spot
fraught with such melancholy memories. They succeeded in reaching
the coast of Morocco in their small boat, to find their former comrades
of the vessel already in slavery there. A Spaniard, also held in bond.
I 08 THE STORY OF A GRFAT NATION.
(
age, learning their story, was able after his return to Spain to guide a
Portuguese ship to the island tomb of the unfortunate lovers. Such is
the romantic story of the discovery of Madeira.
The Azores, or Vulture Islands, were next discovered in 1448 by Dom
Gonzalo Vello, Commander of Almouros, and on Corvo, one of the
islands of this group a statue was found, with an inscription on the ped-
estal in strange characters that none could decipher. And this statue,
so the story goes, pointed westward with its right hand, as if to show
that there the great discovery was to be made.
The next year Anthony Nolli, a Genoese navigator, discovered the .
Cape Verde Islands.
Meanwhile in Europe students had taken up the ancient geographers
Ptolemy and Strabo. Editions of Ptolemy were printed with all the later
discoveries. Maps were drawn, and all who sought to advance in the
sea service studied and compared what was handed down from the past
with what was discovered day by day. e
There was at that time in Europe a thoughtful, studious man, mak-
ing marine charts and maps for sea captains, selling books of geography
to students, though doubtless studying well every book before he parted
with it, for many of his books still preserved are covered with his notes,
He was a man of action, too ; he could command a ship and guide it
skillfully in the fiercest of storms, or on the least frequented coasts. Nor
was be lacking in bravery. He had met the Mohammedan corsairs and
repulsed them, though he bore scars that showed how dear victory cost
him. This man was to make a discovery that would throw in the shade
the discoveries of all before him, change completely the current of
Inen's thoughts, and raise up a new order of things. This man was
Christopher Columbus.


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P A R T I,
CHAPTER I.
The early Life of Christopher Columbus — His first Voyages—Terrible Naval Engagement
near Lisbon—His wonderful Escape—His Scheme of crossing the Atlantic—Genoa, Venice
and Portugal refuse to aid him—Home in Genoa-At Palos—Father Marchena and th–
Convent of Santa Maria de la Rabida—He starts for the Court of Ferdinand and Isa
belli.
GENOA, one of the great commercial republics of Italy, a city of long
historic fame, was the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. His family
were genteel—not above honest toil, but people of culture. His father
Dominic possessed some small property at Genoa and places near it,
and at the same time was a comber and weaver of wool. They were
therefore comfortably off, and Christopher was born in a house belong-
ing to his father outside the city walls where the road winds off to the
little town of Bassagno. Tradition, which recent proof sustains, show.
that the future glory of Genoa was baptized on the hillside church of
Santo Stefano di Arco by the Benedictines who presided there.
He was the eldest son, and the hope of the house. His father sought
to give him an opportunity to acquire knowledge greater than his own
home afforded him. The commencement of an education had been laid
in Genoa, and before he reached his tenth year Christopher was sent to
Pavia. Here some one attached to the University for three years in-
112 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION,
structed the boy, who evidently showed aptness for learning, and dili-
gence. At his early age he could not have followed the course of the
University, but he acquired the rudiments, a knowledge of Latin, and
some insight into mathematics. But he was naturally a student and a
lover of books.
Back again to the narrow street of Genoa, where his father's place of
business was, came the boy, his imagination fired by the glimpse into
learning, the open sea beckoning him to its life of adventure and free-
dom. Obedient to his father, whom he ever honored through life, he
took his place in the workshop and sought to mould himself to the
quiet life of commerce. But he yearned for action in the career where
his grand-uncle was already famous. -
At fourteen he was already on shipboard. Docile, prompt, eager to
learn, eager to advance, he was one to win his way with his commander
and with all. His voyages carried him over most of the Mediterranean,
from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Archipelago. That sea was at that
time swept by corsairs which sailed under the Crescent, and made war
on all Christian flags. Every merchant-ship went armed, and a sea-
fight was often the incident of a voyage. Young Christopher in one of
these engagements received a deep wound, which, though healed at the
time, broke out in his later years and endangered his life.
In 1459 Christopher had become an officer under his grand-uncle,
who commanded a fleet for King René, of Anjou, then seeking to win
his kingdom of Naples. It is evident that young Christopher did his
duty well, for René sent him in command of a vessel to cut out a gal-
ley from Tunis, which had become notorious for its ravages on Chris-
tian commerce.
A few years after this we find him on the Atlantic, commanding a
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 113
vessel in a Genoese fleet, under Colombo il Mozo. His native State
was at war with the sister republic of Venice, and they were on the
lookout for some rich vessels of the Queen of the Adriatic. They
finally came upon them between Lisbon and Cape Saint Vincent. It
was a sad spectacle to see Italians thus arrayed against each other, but,
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CONVENT OF SANTA MARIA LA RABIDA AT PALOS,
as is usual in such wars, the feeling was intense on both sides. All day
long the Venetians gallantly resisted the attack of the Genoese. Chris.
topher Columbus had grappled one of the Venetians, and in the hand
to hand fight on her deck had nearly forced her to yield, when she took
fire. In a moment both vessels were in flames. But the ships were so

} 14 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
bound together by spars and cordage, as well as grappling-irons, that
Columbus was unable to disengage his vessel from her burning anta- .
gonist. The combat ceased, and as the fires would soon communicate
to the powder, the recent antagonists plunged into the sea, the only
rivalry being to reach the shore, which a line of breakers showed them
some five miles distant. Columbus struck out maufully, spent as he
was with the terrible fight, but in his exhausted state he would never
have reached the shore had not Providence thrown in his way a large
oar, by the aid of which he at last reached land, to turn and look back
on the sea, beneath which lay all that remained of the noble vessel he
so lately commanded
At Lisbon, which he had thus strangely reached, he found his brother
Bartholomew making and selling charts, and dealing in books of navi-
gation, the great Prince Henry having made Lisbon a resort of expe.
rienced naval men. The society of these men was very attractive to
Christopher, who, joining his brother in business, made it ſucrative
enough to enable him to send remittances to his father, whose commer-
cial affairs had not prospered. While perfecting his knowledge of geo-
graphy and arriving at the final theory as to transatlantic voyages, he
married Doña Philippa Perestrello, daughter of an Italian navigator
who had made many voyages of exploration and died Governor of
Porto Santo, one of the Madeira Islands. The papers of this naviga-
tor aided him still more, and King Alphonsus, at one of his audiences,
showed Columbus some enormous reeds that had been driven across
the Atlantic. As early as 1474, we know, by letters of the celebrated
Italian cosmographer Toscanelli, that Columbus had already laid before
bim his plan of reaching Cathay by sailing westward, and that his mo-
tive was the extension of Christianity. But he was not yet ready to
or, our COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 115
submit his plan to the world. This he did in 1476. Like a true son
of Genoa he first proposed it to that republic ; but they shrunk fronu
undertaking to test it. Venice viewed it with no greater favor.
Discouraged at this, Columbus, weary of the shore and study, from
time to time made short voyages, with some extending to the Ger-
man Ocean and to the north Atlantic, even beyond Iceland.
At last there came an opportunity to lay his favorite plan before the
King of Portugal, who began to show an interest in new discoveries.
The plan of Columbus was referred to a committee of learned men, one
of them being a cosmographer of some note. They rejected it as un-
wise ; but the King favored it so much, that listening to unworthy ad-
vice, he secretly sent off a vessel to test the soundness of the views of
the Genoese navigator. Providence did not permit treachery to suc-
ceed. Columbus, crushed with disappointment and afflicted by the
death of his faithful, loving wife, fled from Lisbon in 1484, taking by
the hand his son Diego, and was soon once more in Genoa.
But he could not rest. His faith in his plan was intense, and he was
no longer of an age when he could waste time in inaction. Again he
endeavored to enlist the Republic of Genoa, and failing he set out with
young Diego for Spain, entering it unheralded and unknown.
A little out of the petty seaport town of Palos, in Southern Spain, on a .
high promontory looking over the sea, nestled in the pines that clothe its
summit stood a little Franciscan convent, built on the ruins of an old
Pagan shrine. At the door of this rambling old-time structure Colum-
* one day knocked, as many a wayfarer did, to ask a little refreshment
for his son. The Guardian of the Convent, Friar John Perez de Mar-
*ena, entered as he was admitted, and, struck by the whole bearing of
* Stranger, asked him of the object of his journey. From one in his
} {6 THE STORY OF A GREAT INATION ,
guise, the reply was strange"enough. He was from Italy on his way to
Court to lay an important plan before the Kings, for so Spaniard.
always called Ferdinand and Isabella, each being monarch of a separate
state.
If Padre Marchena was surprised to find his strange guest a man of
such ability and enterprising mind, Columbus was no less delighted to
find in the Guardian of the little convent of Santa Maria de la Rabida,
not only a kind-hearted man, but one of great learning, scientific attain-
ments, and an excellent cosmographer, prized especially by Queen Isa-
bella for his wonderful acquirements and his solid piety and humility,
which induced him to prefer hiding his abilities at Palos, rather than
display them in the sunshine of the Court.
A friendship was at once formed, close and strong, between the two
men, and the deep religious feeling of Columbus, and his studies, made
their union lasting. Columbus and his son became the welcome guests
of the friars, and in this haven Columbus enjoyed a repose to which he
had long been a stranger. Here, guided by this learned man, he ex-
tended his studies, and spent much time in prayer. At last, with a
higher, nobler courage, with his plan more firm than ever, and an array
of learning to maintain it, he set out for the court, bearing a letter
strongly commending his project to a man of great influence with the
sovereigns. With the freedom of a Friend this good man obtained
and handed him a sum of money to meet his expenses, and Crowned
his friendly acts by taking on himself the care of young Diego's educa-
tion and support. Columbus now bent his way to Cordova, to renew
proposals that had been elsewhere rejected
CHAPTER, IL
Position of the Spanish Kingdoms—Columbus at Court—His Plan rejected—Employed by
Queen Isabella—Returns to Palos in order to go to France — Padre Marchena again-
Queen Isabella resolves to send him out—The little Fleet fitted out at Palos—The Portu-
guese endeavor to defeat his Voyage—The open Sea—Alarm of Sailors—Land l—He takes
Possession in the Name of Isabella—Voyage Home—The Portuguese again—Enters Lisbon
—Received by the King—At Palos—Pinzon and Columbus—The Discoverer proceeds to
Court to announce his success.
THE condition of Spain at this period was a peculiar one, not easily
&
understood without a knowledge of its past history.
When the Roman Empire fell, under the attack of the hordes of bar
barians who overran it, and planted new kingdoms in various parts,
Spain fell into the hands of the Goths, a warlike race who sprang from
what is now called Sweden. These Goths became Christians and ruled
over Spain for many years, till in the year 711, the Saracens or Moors,
who had embraced the religion of Mohammed and conquered all the
northern part of Africa, arrived at the straits between Spain and
Africa, then called the Pillars of Hercules, but was now to be called
Gibraltar, the mountain of Tarifa, one of their leaders.
It depended now on the Goths, whether the religion of Mohammed
should enter Europe, or be checked. The Goths were brave, but their
king was a wicked tyrant, and his nobles were so incensed at him that
*ome of them actually invited in the Saracens, who reduced all Christians
* Slavery, giving them no choice between the Koran and the sword,
death or the religion of Mohammed.
118 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Roderic, the last of the Gothic kings, met the Saracens in battle in
Xerez, and after a bloody engagement was totally defeated and slain,
though many believed that he escaped and was shut up, doing penance in
some cave or some lonely island, to reappear one day and recover his
kingdom.
But the Gothic monarchy fell at Xerez. The Saracens swept over
Spain, reducing it all to their power. Only a few brave Christians, under
a prince named Pelayo, retiring to the mountains of Asturias, defied the
Saracens, and after defeating them in several battles secured their inde-
pendence.
Meanwhile, the Saracens established kingdoms, which ruled with
great splendor and magnificence, cultivating art and science. But
the little Christian kingdom of Pelayo gained strength, and other Chris-
tian kingdoms were gradually formed as they recovered part of the land
from the Saracens. Of these the most important were Aragon and
Castile, and on the Atlantic, that of Portugal. At last, Ferdinand, king
Aragon, married Isabella, Queen of Castile in her own right, and united
the two great kingdoms of Spain. But the people were jealous. Each
State remained independent of the other; Ferdinand led the troops of
Aragon, and Isabella those of Castile, in the war they undertook to
overthrow Granada, the last of the Moorish kingdoms. They were not
styled King and Queen of Spain, but the “Catholic Kings.”
It was to their court at Cordova that Columbus proceeded : but the
Moorish war absorbed all thoughts, and Isabella, though favorably in-
clined, could promise to aid him only when the war should be ended. His
plans were laid before a committee of learned men, none of them how-
ever navigators or of great geographical knowledge. They decided
against it Still Columbus was kindly treated and employment given
|
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 1 9
him suited to his abilities. He married again and remained for six years
in vain urging his favorite project. Then he gave it up, and returning to
Palos, announced to his friend Padre Marchena his intention of going
to France. The good friar wrote to Queen Isabella urging her not to
lose so great an opportunity. One of her officers, Luis de Santangel,
warmly espoused his cause, and when Granada fell, on the 30th of Decem-
ber, 1491, all seemed to promise a speedy success. But when they began
to treat the matter seriously with Columbus they took alarm at the mag-
nitude of his claims. He was to be Admiral of the Ocean, Viceroy of
all new found lands, and to receive one tenth of all the gold, precious
stones and other commodities exported from them. At last all fell
through, and Columbus started for Cordova to take leave of his family
before proceeding to France.
Then Queen Isabella decided to send him out on his voyage of ex-
ploration, if she had to pledge her jewels to obtain the money. An offi-
cer was soon galloping after Columbus. On the 30th of April a patent
was issued, creating him Grand Admiral of the Ocean, Viceroy of all
the islands and mainland he might discover, and making the dignities
hereditary in his family. The little fleet of three vessels was to be fitted
out at Palos, but it was not got ready except with great difficulty, so
foolhardy did the project seem to the shipowners and seamen of that
maritime place. At last, by the aid of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, who had
Been at Rome a map showing land beyond the Atlantic, and had faith
in the project, the vessels were equipped.
An old heavy carrack, furnished by the town of Palos, was named by
Columbus the Santa Maria; it was old, but still serviceable, and
became his flagship. The Pinta, and the Niña, the latter belonging
to the Pinzons, completed the important Squadron, which carried in
120 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
all a hundred and twenty men, royal officers, physicians, and a gold-
Smith to test what might seem to be precious metals. In this party there
were an Englishman and an Irishman. After piously attending divine
service in the chapel of La Rabida, they moved in procession to the
shore and embarked. Early on the third of August, 1492, Columbus,
having completed all his arrangements, and commended his under-
taking to the Almighty, in his friend's little church on the shore,
stepped on board his flagship, and hoisting his flag gave the order to
sail. He steered at once to the Canaries. Here he made some neces-
sary repairs on the Pinta, and altered the sails of the Niña. Here too
he heard that three Portuguese vessels had been sent out to capture him
and defeat his expedition. But he eluded them, and his flotilla went,
boldly into the unexplored sea. That soon assumed a character new to
the oldest mariners; and what perplexed Columbus sorely, the needle in
the mariner's compass no longer pointed due north, but inclined west-
ward. For a time all went well. Twice the cry of land was raised by
Pinzon, claiming the pension promised by Queen Isabella, but it was
a mere delusion. Then men grew sullen, mutinous and threatening.
The life of Columbus was in danger. At last he stood alone. On the
seventh of October, led by the Pinzons, the men of all the vessels rising
in arms demanded that Columbus should abandon his mad project and
sail back. Never did his greatness of soul display itself more nobly.
. He awed them into submission. He had started to go to the Indies and
he intended to pursue the voyage till, by the help of God, he found it.
That night was spent in watching, and as Columbus urged, in prayer.
At ten o'clock, as he stood on the poop of the Santa Maria, he discerned a
light moving in the darkness. The Pinta then ran ahead, and at two in
the morning a sailor on board that caravel, John Rodriguez Bermejo
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 121
discovered land. The cannon booming over the western wave an-
nounced the glad tidings, and Columbus, kneeling, intoned the TE DEUM,
which was chanted with heartfelt joy. The ships now lay to in a reef-
harbor of immense size, till morning should enable them to approach
land safely.
On Friday, October 12, the rising sun discovered to their eyes an
island clad in verdant groves of the mangrove tree; a lake whose
clear waters flashed
in the morning sun
º lay near the inviting
SS shore. No sight could
be more charming to
men whom long ab-
sence from land had
driven almost to fren-
zy. Anchoring in the
harbor, Columbus, now
flushed with pardona-
ble pride at the tri-
umphant success, ar-
iss------- rayed in a scarlet man-
PORTRAIT OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. tle, and bearing the
royal standard with the figure of Christ Crucified, landed in his
cutter, as did the commanders of the other vessels. Planting the
cross he knelt to adore the Almighty, kissing the earth to which
His hand had guided the vessels. Uttering a prayer of singular
beauty, which history has preserved, he rose, and named the
island San Salvador, Holy Saviour. Then drawing his sword he form-

122 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
ally took possession in the name of Queen Isabella for her kingdoms of
Castile and Leon.
The island was called by the natives Guanahani, and now bears the
name of Turk's Island. And from Hawk's Nest Reef Harbor there
burst on the view of the great discoverer so many islands around, that
he knew not which to visit.
Some of the party now wandered around, full of wonder at strange
plants, and flowers, and birds. Others with axes shaped a large cross.
No human beings were seen, but at last a few naked forms appeared
and cautiously drew near. The Europeans in their dress and arms were
a strange spectacle to them, as they with their copper tint, their beard-
less faces, their want of all clothing, were to the Spaniards. A friendly
intercourse began, and all was gladness.
Columbus planted the cross where he had set up the royal banner
and intoned hymns to thank God in a Christian spirit. Then con-
tinuing his voyage, he discovered several other islands, to which
he gave the names of Santa Maria de la Concepcion, Isabella, in
honor of the Queen, Fernandina, in honor of the King. Then he
reached the great island, Cuba, which he named Juana, in honor of
the daughter of Isabella, and finally, Hispaña, which, however, retains
its Indian name, Hayti.
While exploring this maze of islands the Santa Maria stranded, and
became a total wreck. The great discoverer then erected a little fort on
the shore of Hayti, in the territory of the friendly Cacique Guacana-
gari, and leaving in it forty-two of his best men, sailed homeward in
the Niña and Pinzon in the Pinta.
Terrible storms were encountered, and Columbus, fearing that he
ahould never see Europe again, drew up an account, which he enclosed
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs
123
FAO SIMILE OF THE FIRST LETTER OF COLUMBUS,
Published in 1498,
From the only known copy in the Ambrosian Library, Milan.
Commencement
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launayozmaranillabelmúðo abomdeacoºbeeſcrimiraſms
allº. Eatodaslaw pubiasbeſiempreballano los ;
tales compeutnagoaoonbcpofupentrytſjöfaszboiu
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º



} 24 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
in a cask, in a cake of wax, and set adrift. At last, however, the Niña
reached the Azores, but the Portuguese treacherously seized some of his
mer, who landed to offer up their prayers in a chapel by the sea. With
some difficulty he obtained their release, and continuing his voyage, on
the 4th of March he was off the mouth of the Tagus, and, not without
great risk, succeeded in bringing his storm-racked caravel into the road-
stead of Rastello. Being thus driven into the waters of Portugal he
wrote to the King, who at once invited him to Court. In spite of his
chagrin at his own want of spirit in declining the offers made by Colum-
bus, John II. now received him as he would a prince. Columbus had
written letters to two officers of the Court of Queen Isabel, as well as
to the sovereigns themselves. He was however anxious to reach them
in person. At Palos the crew of the Niña were received as men res-
cued from the grave. To add to the general joy, in the midst of their
exultation the Pinta, Pinzon's vessel, came slowly up the bay. It had
been driven to the Bay of Biscay, whence Pinzon had written to the
Court.
After fulfilling at La Rabida and other shrines vows made amid their
perils and storms, Columbus with some of his party proceeded to Bar-
celona by way of Seville, bearing with him in his triumphal progress
seven natives of the new-found world, with gold and animals, birds and
plants, all alike strange to the eyes of Europe.
CHAPTER III.
Columbus is solemnly received by Ferdinand and Isabella at Barcelona—His second Woyage
-Other Nations enter the Field of Discovery—Voyages of Cabot and Vesputius—The Name
of the latter gives a Title to the New World—Columbus sails on his third Voyage—His
Enemies—Bobadilla—Columbus arrested and sent to Spain in irons— Bis fourth Voyage—
He beholds the Destruction of his Enemies by the hand of Providence—Reaches the Coast
of North America—Returns to Spain—Dies at Walladolid—Strange Migrations of his Body
—His Tomb at Havana.
THE fifteenth of April, 1493, was a glorious day for Barcelona. The
whole city was astir. The great discoverer of a New World was to
enter the city and be solemnly received by Ferdinand and Isabella. Be-
neath a canopy of cloth of gold, on two thrones, sat the Queen of Cas-
tile and the King of Aragon: and on a rich seat by them the Prince
Royal. An arm-cl.air awaited him, who now approached. At the
shouts of the people and the sound of music all eyes turned towards the
city gates, and ere long the banner of the expedition was seen by the
Courtiers around the throne, as the procession made its slow way
through the wondering crowd. The sailors of the Niña, with the
Strange products of the New World, trees and shrubs, fruits and aro-
matics, rude golden articles, the arms of the natives, birds, animals,
and strangest perhaps of all, several Indians wondering and wondered at.
Richly attired, but modest, Columbus, advanced. The Sovereigns arose
from their thrones to meet him, and extended their hands to welcome
the great Discoverer. He bent his knee in reverence, but they would
126 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
not permit it. Isabella bade him be seated and covered as a grandee
of Spain. Then at their request he made his report of that wonderful
voyage and explained how strange and new the islands were in their
people, and their productions. All listened with breathless attention
to this unlooked-for result of what had so long been regarded as a dream.
It was the triumph of Columbus, the triumph of Isabella.
Then in that spirit of religion which influenced him and made him
deem himself specially raised by God to bear the name of Christ to the
New World, he expatiated on the field thrown open to Christianity, all
were moved to tears.
Columbus's own letters, and letters of Peter Martyr and others, spread
the news through Europe. Printing was then fifty years old, and the
letter was printed in Spanish, in the strange gothic letter of the period.
Of this book only one copy is now known, and we give a facsimile of a
page, that our young readers may see what printing was in that day,
and what the first book in American history resembled. Latin was,
however, the universal language, and the letter of Columbus to Sanchez,
translated into Latin, was printed again and again.
The favor of the rulers of Spain did not end in the pomp of the re-
ception. Substantial honors were bestowed on Columbus, and a large
and well equipped fleet was at once prepared in which he was to carry
over a large body of settlers, domestic animals, and all necessary for oc-
cupying the territory. The Grand Admiral with a stately retinue pro-
ceeded to Cadiz, and on the 25th of September, embarked in his second
voyage in the Maria Galanta, with two other large caracs and fourteen
caravels. Among those who sailed with him were Padre Marchena
and the illustrious Las Casas. He reached Dominica on the 3d of No-
vember, and soon after an island to which he gave the name of his flag-
oR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 127
ship, Maria Galanta. Keeping on he discovered and named others of
the Windward Islands, and then reached Porto Rico, called by the natives
Boriquen. When he arrived at St. Domingo he found his fort in
ruins. His men had all been massacred. Insubordination had broken
out, and all had perished in various ways, though Guacanagari, true to
Columbus, had endeavored to save them. Saddened as he was at this
news, Columbus proceeded to found, at a suitable spot, the city of Isa-
bella, the first European town in the New World. When the works in
this city were well advanced, he sent back part of his fleet to Spain, and
establishing a post further inland, proceeded on his voyage of discovery
visiting Cuba, Jamaica and some smaller islands. Then he gave his
whole attention to his settlement, which was in a very distracted con-
dition, many of the settlers being turbulent and mutinous, with but
little inclination to any serious work. Columbus, himself regarded with
jealousy as a foreigner, had, notwithstanding his high rank as Admiral
and Viceroy, great difficulty in establishing order. When he had, as he
supposed, placed all on a better footing, he sailed back to Spain in 1496,
leaving in command his energetic brother Bartholemew. On reaching
Spain he found that his enemies had not been idle there, and that a
'Strong prejudice had been created against him.
His two successful voyages were now the theme of conversation in
Europe ; and the courts which had ridiculed his projects and the re-
Ward he claimed, now saw their error and sought to retrieve it. Portu-
3al had, we have seen, been the first to attempt to prevent Columbus
from succeeding, and now protested against the famous line of demarca-
tion drawn by Pope Alexander VI. between the Spaniards and Portu-
guese, and against the Papal Bull confirming the Spanish right of dis-
covery.
128 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
England, where Bartholomew had pleaded in vain, now determined to
attempt a voyage of exploration. It seems strange that the route of
St. Brendan was again followed.
In 1496, John Cabot, a Venetian, by long residence if not by birth,
was in England, where he had been established for some years. Full
of energy he applied to the King, Henry VII., for a patent to seek new
lands.
The cautious, money-loving King issued a patent authorizing
Cabot and his three sons to search for islands, provinces or regions in
the Eastern, Western or Northern seas, and as vassals of the English
King to occupy the territory, but they were to bring all the products of
the new found lands to the city of Bristol, and pay one fifth into the
royal treasury, a provision very characteristic of a King who in his last
will drove a close bargain as to the price of the religious services to be
performed after his death.
Under this patent, John Cabot, accompanied by his son Sebastian,
sailed from Bristol in May, 1497, with a single ship, to seek a northern
passage to China. After a pleasant voyage of what he estimated to be
seven hundred leagues, on the 24th day of June, 1497, he reached
land at about the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude, among the frozen
cliffs of Labrador. He had discovered North America in its most un-
promising part. Seeking the northwest passage he ran along the coast
for many leagues, planted the standard of England and the lion of St.
Mark for Venice. Then he started again across the Atlantic, noticing
two islands which he had not time to visit.
This summer trip of three months gave England her claim to North
America.
His return gratified all England, from king to peasant, and
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 129
though it had revealed only a barren land, led to further grants from
Henry VII.
This same year there sailed another explorer, and the most fortunate
of all, for by a strange accident his name was given to the New World.
This was Americus Wesputius, born at Florence, in Italy, in 1451, who
had been for some time in Spain directing the commercial affairs of
Lorenzo de Pier Francesco, one of the princely family of Medicis. He
met Columbus in 1496, and seems to have enjoyed his friendship. In
May, 1497, he sailed on a voyage of exploration, and running as he
estimated a thousand leagues, passing the islands discovered by Colum-
bus, reached the mainland. It is not easy to determine his course, but
he seems to have reached Honduras and to have coasted north along
the shore of the Gulf of Mexico till, doubling the southern Cape of
Florida, he again emerged on the Atlantic and ran northward for a month
along our seaboard, to an excellent harbor where he built a small vessel.
Thence he sailed back, reaching Cadiz in October, 1498.
By some, this voyage has been doubted, by others it is supposed to
have been along South America, But a more careful examination leads
us to the conclusion that to Americus Vesputius is due the honor of
being the first to explore the extensive line of coast which our Re-
public holds, on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico ; and that he did
So While the Cabots, starting from the north, were in part examining
our Atlantic seaboard. * º
But while his countrymen were thus revealing to the world the exist-
°nce of a new and mighty continent, teeming with animal and vegetable
life, rich in all that nature can give, but occupied only by roving bands
of savage men, Columbus was detained in Spain by the intrigues of his
enemies and by the dull delays of stupid or malicious officials.
130 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
It was not till May, 1498, that he so far overcame all these obstacles
as to be able again to embark; and in that month he set out on his
third and most ur.happy voyage.
That same month saw Sebastian Cabot sail from Bristol with two
ships, and a number of volunteers eager to share in the perils and ro-
mance of the undertaking. He crossed the Atlantic, and in the 55th de-
gree found himself in the midst of icebergs, which threatened him with
destruction while they filled all hearts with wonder. In spite of the
danger he sailed on, till on the 11th of June he reached an open sea
which inspired him with hopes of reaching China; but his men became
alarmed and compelled him to seek a milder climate. Running down
along the coast he saw the immense shoals of codfish on the banks of New
foundland, so numerous, some accounts say, that his ship could hardly
get through them. Then they began to see inhabitants clad in skins, and
opened trade with them. Of his voyage we have unfortunately no de-
tailed accounts. He went south till he was at the latitude of Gibraltar
and the longitude of Cuba, probably near Albemarle Sound, whence he
steered back to England. In his northerly course he saw the polar
bear feeding on fish, and apparently described its contests with the wal-
ruses, which it so often attempts to surprise asleep on the ice, but which,
almost powerless there, seeks to gain the water and drag the bear
down.
Wesputius and Cabot enjoyed lives of honor and respect. Both were
frequently employed by monarchs and received substantial marks of
favor. Cabot, in the Spanish service, visited Brazil, explored the La
Plata, and was honored by Ferdinand with the title of Pilot Major of
Spain, while Emperor Charles W. employed him in new discoveries,
and when he returned to England, sought by great offers to induce him
OR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 131
to return. But he preferred England and died at Bristol in 1557, en-
joying a pension given by Edward VI.
Vesputius was highly appreciated by the Spanish Kings, who knew
his skill in cosmography, as geography was then called, and in the pre-
paration of charts, recording the latest discoveries, to guide the ships
constantly starting out of Spanish ports. But the King of Portugal
for a time obtained his services, and he not only sailed on several Span-
ish expeditions, but commanded Portuguese fleets in which he explored
the South American coast. He, too, held the title of Pilot Major un-
der the Spanish Kings. Some have charged Americus Vesputius with
gross injustice to Columbus in robbing him of the honor of discovering
the New World by affixing his owfi name to it. But there is really no
ground for this charge, and though the name America was formed from
his Christian name, it was not done by him. The thing came about in
this way: In 1507 a celebrated geographer named Waldseemuller
published at St. Dié, a little town in Lorraine, one of the provinces re-
cently taken from France by Prussia, a little work entitled “Cosmo-
graphiæ Introductio,” and to it he added an edition of the four Voyages
of Vesputius, which had fallen into his hands. Not being familiar, it
Would seem, with the voyages of Columbus, he ascribed all the hono,
to Vesputius, and on his map first introduced the name America. Of
this book there seems to have been a large edition, as it found its way
to all parts of Europe, and as the name was more short and convenient
than the term used by the Spaniards, “The Indies,” it was adopted on
maps generally.
In this same eventful year, Vasco de Gama, doubling the Cape of
°ood Hope, sailed through the Indian Ocean and planted the flag of
Portugal on the shore of Hindostan.
132 fºLIE, STORY OF A GREAT NATICN }
On the 30th day of May, 1498, Columbus, for whom Providence
had in store its greatest trials, sailed with six caravels from the Port of
San Lucar de Barrameda, a Spanish port not far from Seville
A French fleet lay in wait for him. Steering a southerly course, he
touched at Madeira, whence he dispatched three vessels to St. Domin-
go, under command of his brother-in-law, Pedro de Arana, designing
himself, though in ill health, to make a voyage of discovery before pro-
ceeding to that island in person. Taking a southwesterly course, he
came before long into the region of those tropic calms, where the sun
pours down its fatal heat, and not a breath of air seems to ruffle the
surface of the ocean. For a week his vessels rolled like logs. Then,
wher wind came, he steered more northerly, suffering greatly, as the
long calm had nearly exhausted their supply of water. Finally, on the
last day of July, three mountain-peaks were seen, and to this island
Columbus gave the name of Trinidad, in honor of the Trinity.
Near it he perceived a strong current, as if some mighty river were
sweeping into the sea. When the tide rose, a still stranger spectacle
met his eye ; an immense tidal wave, rising as high as his masts, came
rolling on, and bearing his caravel up, met the river current, standing
like a watery mountain. He was off the mainland of South America,
at the mouth of the Orinoco. In memory of his peril, he called it the
Dragon's Mouth.
Exploring the coast for some days, he landed on Sunday, and plant
ing a cross, had divine service celebrated. Friendly intercourse was
opened with the natives, but Columbus, suffering from gout, and nearly
blind from an affection of the eyes, felt that he must reach his colony in
St. Domingo. There, Francisco Roldan, the judge in the colony, had re-
volted against Bartholomew Columbus, because he sought to protect the
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 133
Indians from the oppressions of men who sought gold by the mos'
wicked means. Bartholomew had failed to quell the troubles, and even
the crews of the vessels sent on from Madeira were won over by the
malcontents.
Columbus himself arrived sick, exhausted, and, from the condition of
his eyes, unfit for active duties.
He endeavored to conciliate, and pardoning the offenders, allowed all
who chose to return to Spain in some vessels then ready to set sail.
But they did not go till they had wrung from him humiliating condi-
tions,
He then endeavored to restore peace on the island ; but Roldan and
his party had driven the Indians to a spirit of retaliation and revenge.
While endeavoring to appease these, fresh troubles arose among the
settlers, and an attempt was made to assassinate Columbus, and he was
on the point of flying with his brothers in a ship from the island.
Well would it have been for him had he done so. His enemies had
reached Spain, and given their own version of affairs. The Chamber at
. Seville, intrusted with the management of affairs beyond the Atlantic,
Was already strongly prejudiced against Columbus. King Ferdinand,
who had never been a warm friend to the great explorer, now declared
against him openly. Even Isabella was staggered by the charges against
him.
A sudden and terrible blow was prepared for Columbus.
The sovereigns resolved to send over a Commissary to restore ordes
in the colony. For this post, requiring the highest qualities, they se-
lected a mere tool of his enemies—a soldier unacquainted with the laws,
* headstrong, violent man. brutal and unforgiving. This was the Com-
mander Francis de Bobadilla.
134 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
While Columbus was absent from the city of San Domingo, engaged
in establishing a strong fort at Conception, Bobadilla arrived, with two
caravels. He announced himself as Commissary sent to judge the
rebels, but on landing, read his patents and an ordinance conferring on
him the government and judicature of the islands and mainland of the
Indies; and an order requiring Columbus to deliver up all the fortresses
and public property into his hands. He at once seized not only these
but the private property and papers of Columbus, many of which have
never since been found.
But he was a little afraid that Columbus might resist, so he sent a
Franciscan to induce the Admiral to meet him. Bartholomew was then
at Xaragua, and Diego Columbus alone in San Domingo.
Columbus came in good faith, with no force to protect him. Seeing
him about to fall into the trap, Bobadilla seized Diego Columbus, put
nim in irons, and sent him on board a caravel. When Columbus him-
self arrived, Bobadilla not only refused to see him, but gave orders for
his immediate arrest. Thus was the discoverer of the New World,
without the charge of a single crime, without investigation while holding
his commission as Viceroy of the Indies, seized, hurried off to a prison,
and manacled like a malefactor. No one was allowed to approach him,
and no explanation given. Bartholomew was next seized and put in
irons on a caravel apart from Diego.
We have seen what the shattered health of Columbus was on reach-
ing San Domingo. Labor and anxiety had worn him down since his
arrival. And now he lay on the stone floor of his dungeon, with very
scanty clothing, suffering from pain, and denied any but the coarsest
prison fare.
Then Bobadilla went to work to secure depositions from all who had
or, ou R countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 13J
opposed Columbus ; and when he had collected enough false charges to
give color to his infamous acts, he sent an officer named Vallejo, with a
body of soldiers, to bring Columbus from his dungeon.
“Whither do you take me, Wallejo 2° asked the great man, who, feel-
ing that no law, human or divine, was respected by his enemies, supposed
he was to be led to the scaffold.
“On board the Gorda, your Excellency" replied the young officer,
who was not destitute of respect for the illustrious victim.
“Is this true, Wallejo 7”
“By the life of your Excellency,” replied the young officer, “I swear
that I am about to conduct you to the caravel to embark.”
With little delay he was carried forth, emaciated, sick, and helpless,
and thus in irons borne to the hold of the Gorda, to which his two
brothers had been already removed. And early in October the vessel
weighed anchor, and he who had just crowned his explorations by dis-
covering the mainland of the New World, was hurried across the Atlantic
like a criminal.
When from the deck of the vessel the shores of Hispaniola could no
longer be discerned, the officers came to the illustrious man to beg him
to allow them to remove his fetters. Columbus refused. They were put
upon him in the name of their Sovereigns and he would not violate their
orders.
A letter of his to a friend at Court reached there before any report
of Bobadilla's, and was at once shown to Queen Isabella. Horrorstruck
at the injustice to the great Discoverer, she ordered him and his brothers
to be at once set at liberty, and supplied with money to proceed to
court. She received him with tears. His conduct was justified, Boba-
dilla removed, but Ferdinand thwarted his return to the New World.
136 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
It was not till May, 1502, that Columbus was able to saji oace more
out into that ocean which he has made the pathway of the nations. He
reached San Domingo, but was not allowed to enter port. To his ex-
perienced eye the air was full of portents of a coming tempest. A fleet
rode at anchor in the harbor, ready to sail to Spain. It bore the brutal
Bobadilla, his greatest enemy, Roldan, and many more who had bitterly
persecuted him. They had accomplished their work, and having by
every cruelty amassed riches, were now returning to Spair. Forgetting
their hostility to him, Columbus warned them not to sail till the storm
had passed. To their inexperienced eyes, all was serene. They laughed
Columbus to scorn. Forth sailed the gay fleet, but in a moment all
changed. The hurricane came on in all its fury, sweeping over sea and
land with resistless power. Columbus was equal to the emergency
which he had foreseen. Clear as a bell, amid the rattling of the spars
and the whistling of the cordage, came his wise orders. His little fleet
weathered the storm ; but when the wind died away and the sea grew
calm, the gay fleet of his enemies had vanished. It had gone down
with all their ill-got wealth. Pursuing his voyage of discovery, Columbus
reached Honduras and coasted along to Panama. This was his last voy-
age. Amid severe storms he finally reached Spain, on the seventh of
November, 1503. Shattered in health by all that he had undergone,
he lay sick at Seville when another blow came, the death of his true friend,
Queen Isabella. His health now rapidly declined. He reached Walladolid,
but it was only to die neglected and forgotten in a poor room at an inn :
the walls unadorned except by the chains which bound his limbs on the
Gorda, and which he had never allowed out of his sight after that period
of suffering. Columbus breathed his last May 20, 1506, surrounded by
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 137
his sons and a few faithful friends, comforted with all the rites of the
religion to which he was so devoted in life.
He was buried as he directed, with his chains in his coffin, among the
Franciscans of Walladolid; but in 1573 was transferred with pomp to the
Carthusian convent of Santa Maria de las Grutas, at Seville. His jour-
neys were not, however, ended. In 1536 the bones and chains of Co-
lumbus crossed the ocean and were deposited on the right of the high
altar of the Cathedral of San Domingo ; but when Spain lost the
island, in 1795, she removed them, as her great treasure, to the Uathe-
dral of Ravana, where their place is marked by the monument which
closes out history of this remarkable mar
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Aft

C H A P T E R I W .
Attempts to conquer and colonize — The French — The Spaniards—Ponce de Leon and tlie
Fountain of Youth—Wasquez de Ayllon and King Datha-Verrazano and the stories about
him—Gomez—The Expedition of Pamphilo de Narvaez — Wonderful escape of Cabeza
de Vaca-—De Soto and the disastrous end of his splendid expedition—The French.
under Cartier and Roberval, attempt to settle Canada—Story of Margaret Roberval.
WHEN Columbus passed away in his neglected retirement at Wallado-
lid, the world had begun to see the result of his great work. The dis-
coveries and explorations of Columbus himself, of Vesputius, Cabot and
Cortereal had established the fact that the New World, now to be known
by the name of America, was no part of Asia, but a vast continent ex-
tending from the extreme north, where it was lost among the Arctic ice,
down past the equator, on almost to the southern pole.
While the French were engaged in some voyages to the northern
parts, a strange delusion led the Spaniards, in their spirit of adventure,
to Florida. In 1518, John Ponce de Leon, one of the old com-
rades of Columbus, sailed from Porto Rico in three vessels, and
on Easter Sunday, March 27th, discovered a land clad with rich-
green trees, and balmy with flowers. The day is known in the
Spanish calendar as Pasqua Florida, and the name seemed to him so ap-
propriate that he gave the new land the name of Florida, which it has
continued to bear amid all the changes and revolutions of more than
142 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
two hundred and fifty years. Finding a good port, he landed on the
8th of April, and was the first who took possession in the name of anv
European monarch of any part of the United States. Spain thus
planted her standard. As he sailed along the coast, he found the Indi
ams so hostile that they killed several of his men. But he was delighted
with the new land, and resolved to obtain a patent for it and for Bimini.
According to some, this old warrior had heard that Florida contained a
fountain of perpetual youth, bathing in which took away all marks of
age, and gave the veteran the freshness and vigor of his early years
To win and bathe in this fountain was, he thought, worth a man's mos:
earnest efforts.
A patent was easily secured, but John Ponce had to fight the Caribe
of Porto Rico, and it was not till 1521 that he sailed with two vessels to
take possession of Florida and settle there ; but other Spaniards had
meantime visited the shore, and had difficulties with the Indians, and na
found them more fierce than before. His party was driven to the ships.
and he was carried on board so badly wounded that he died soon atter
reaching Cuba, without having found the Fountain of Perpetual Youth.
Of these Spanish voyagers to Florida, the most famous, or infamous
was Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, of Toledo, who was driven, in 1520, on
the coast of South Carolina, near the Coosaw River, where a gigantic
cacique or king, named Datha, ruled over the province of Chicora.
Near this realm there had formerly lived, so the Indians told him, mea
with tails and rough skins, who lived on raw fish.
The natives at first regarded the Spaniards with wonder and alarm
but as they acted kindly the natives grew friendly, and Datha sent titiv
Indians loaded with fruits to the Spaniards, receiving them with great
joy. Ayllon used this confidence to allure a hundred and thirty of the
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 143
Indians on board his vessels, and then sailed off, disregarding the cries
and tears of their unhappy relatives on the shore. One of his ships
perished, the other reached San Domingo, where his wicked act was con-
demned, and where almost all his captives died of grief.
After the death of Ponce de Leon, this bad man obtained a patent
for Florida, and in 1524 landed with a large force. He marched a day's
journey inland to a large town, where the Spaniards were well received
for four days. Then the Indians suddenly attacked them by night, and
slaughtered them all. Before those on the shore and in the ships knew
the fate of their companions, they too were attacked with such fury that
many perished, and the survivors were barely able to sail off.
A voyage very important in its results was that made in 1524, by
John Werrazano, a Florentine navigator, in the French service, whose
family numbered several known as cosmographers.
The Spaniards tell queer stories about this navigator. They say he
was a famous pirate, and that he it was who, in 1521, captured a rich
treasure ship, in which Herman Cortes sent over to the Emperor King
Charles W., an immense quantity of gold, jewels, and precious articles of
various kinds, which he had secured in his capture of Mexico.
A letter of Werrazano published many years after, tells us that after
cruising off the coast of Spain with four vessels, he started in one, the
Delphine, on a voyage of discovery. Sailing from the Canary Islands
January 17, 1524, he ran across the Atlantic, in the most stormy
weather, and reached our shores in latitude 34 degrees north—that is, as
you will see on a map, about Wilmington, on the uninviting coast of
North Carolina. Seeing no harbor he sailed south, but soon turned
northward and ran along the coast, following the changes in the sea-
boardline, occasionally sending parties ashore to examine the country till
144 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
he came to New York harbor. This, he is supposed to have been the
first white man to enter and to admire. Then he sailed again and en
tered Narraganset Bay. Here he traded with the friendly natives, then
ploughed his way once more, along the coast of New England and Nova
Scotia, to the fiftieth degree, near Cape Breton, already discovered by the
Bretons, whence he sailed back to France, arriving in July.
The country which he had thus visited seemed full of attractions,
rich and fertile, with natives disposed to be friendly, except at the north.
He did not land or take possession ; but one of his sailors, attempting to
swim ashore, would have been drowned but for the humanity of the
natives.
Ramusio, who first published Werrazano's account, and knew many of
his friends, calls him a gallant gentleman and says that he proposed to
King Francis I. to colonize and christianize the lands he had discovered ,
but that sailing again to our shores he was killed, with several of his peo-
ple who attempted to land, and that they were roasted and devoured by
the natives before the eyes of those in the vessels, who were unable to
save or avenge them. On the other hand the Spanish historians say
that he was captured in 1524, and hung by their countrymen.
Such is the strange mystery that hangs over John Werrazano, whose
narrative seems to have first suggested the name of Rhode Island.
Some tidings of a French exploration may have reached Spain, for
after a grand consultation of Spanish and Portuguese pilots, at Badajoz,
in Spain, as to the possibility of finding a passage to the Moluccas, be:
tween Florida and Newfoundland, Stephen Gomez, an old companion of
Magellan, was sent out in a single ship by the Emperor, Charles W., in
December, 1524. He, too, reached our Atlantic coast, and ran along,
entering the harbors of New York and New England. Failing to find
oR, our count RY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 145
a passage, he filled his ship with Indians, to sell as slaves, and so sailed
back to Spain. It was at first reported to the court that he had brough
a cargo of cloves, (called in Spanish clavos,) and the court were greatly
delighted, but when it was found to be (esclavos) slaves, the Emperor
was greatly displeased, and severely condemned Gomez.
These various voyages established the fact that our coast contained no
strait running to the Pacific.
A very imposing attempt to settle the country was made by the
disastrous expedition of Pamphilo de Narvaez, an old antagonist of
Cortes in Mexico. The Emperor, Charles W., had given him a grant of
all the territory of Florida from the Atlantic to the Rio de Palmas, a
river which empties into the Gulf of Mexico, between Matamoros and
Tampico. *
He set out with a considerable fleet in June, 1527, carrying sol.
diers and a large body of actual settlers, intending to begin a col.
ony on the Rio de Palmas. His pilot was incompetent, and in a storm
they were driven on the coast of Florida, near Tampa Bay, and there,
on the 15th of April, 1528, he landed and took possession. Then send-
ing his ships on to meet him at a bay which the pilot pretended to know,
Narvaez, with 300 men, forty of them mounted, set out to explore the
territory along the Gulf. They found a miserable country, with few
natives, and were soon reduced to great straits. At St. Mark's Bay,
where they expected to find their vessels, no signs of them appeared.
Thus abandoned they set to work and beat up their stirrups, spurs, and
fron implements, to make saws, axes. and nails, and at last constructed
five rude boats. Their shirts were made into sails, horsehair and pal
metto bark made them ropes, while the flesh of their horses and corn
taken from the Indians enabled them to live. They had now been five
146 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
months on our southern shore. So in September the survivors, number,
ing 50 men, set out in these boats to make their way to Rio de Palmas,
On the 30th of October they reached the mouth of the mighty river
Mississippi, but the eurrent was too strong for their wretched boats to
enter. Here they parted. Narvaez kept close in shore, but his boat
Was at last driven out to sea and lost. Two other boats, one com-
manded by Cabeza de Vaca, reached an land on the coast of Texas,
where they fell into the hands of the Indians, and for many years were
held as prisoners. At last, in 1534, Cabeza de Vaca, with three others,
one of them a negro, escaped, and striking inland, travelled on amid
great perils and hardships, dressed like Indians, in skins, and differing
little from them. They finally reached, after a time, the more civilized
towns of New Mexico, and keeping on from town to town, and from
tribe to tribe, they early in May, 1536, entered the Spanish settlement
of San Miguel, in Sonora, having gone almost completely across the
continent in that eight year's march.
The appearance of these few men, as sole survivors of the great ex-
pedition of Pamphilo de Narvaez, filled men with astonishment, and all
listened with wonder to their stories of the interior of the continent.
They had much to tell of wild tribes, of the bison plains, with their im-
mense herds, of the strange towns of New Mexico.
Cortez, who had conquered Mexico, himself set out with a fleet to ex-
plore the Pacific coast, and discovered California in 1538.
A force was also dispatched, in 1539, from Culiacan, a province of
Mexico, with a negro who had been with Cabeza de Vaca as guide
They pushed on till they reached the Rio Grande, where the negro was
killed and the expedition returned, a friar, named Mark of Nice, who
saw the New Mexican towns only at a distance, giving his impressions.
oR, OUR Count Ry's ACHIEVEMENTs. 147
jºy
which proved to be very far from the truth. Another expedition, under
Wasquez Coronado, set out in 1538, and advanced to the town of Zuñi,
which they attacked and took, May 11th, 1541. This town was built on
a rocky height, but instead of being a city with walls of stone, proved
to be a small place, containing only two hundred warriors, with no gold
or riches to tempt the Spaniards. These New Mexican towns, which
still subsist as they did three hundred years ago, are built on high and
almost inaccessible rocks, the houses all fronting on a square within.
Outside there are no doors or openings. Each story sets back a little,
leaving a platform which they reach by ladders, and so go on up till
they come to the roof where they enter. They were more civilized than
the wild Indians, and built these towns of adobes, or sunburnt bricks, as
a defence against their enemies. They were a quiet, simple people, cul-
tivating the soil, raising maize, beans, pumpkins, and cotton ; but they
had no gold or precious stones. So Coronado, after visiting other towns,
pushed on to find Quivira, a place about which great stories were toid,
but he found only the bison plains. So, after wintering in New Mexico,
he returned ; vessels had meanwhile ascended the Colorado for a con-
siderable distance.
All this country seemed unpromising, and no Spanish settlement was
attempted.
But while these explorations were going on, produced by the reports
of Cabeza de Vaca, another Spanish officer was bold enough to attempt to
follow in the path of Pamphilo de Narvaez. This was Hernando de Soto,
who had been with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru. “He desired to
surpass Cortez in glory and Pizarro in wealth.” He offered to conquer
Florida at his own cost, and Charles W. readily granted him a patent.
His fame gathered noblemen from all parts. Never had there been an
148 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
expedition so well appointed. Six hundred men in glittering armo
and costly dresses gathered on the fleet which sailed in 1538, from San
Lucar in Spain, as gaily as if going on an excursion of pleasure.
In May, 1539, this expedition landed on the coast of Florida at
Tampa Bay, and began a march of exploration and conquest, after send-
ing back the ships. Wandering for months along the shore of the gulf
towards Pensacola he at last struck inland, and came to the Ogeechee,
then along to the headwaters of the Coosa, and so on to the town of Ma-
villa, on the Alabama. This was a town of well built cabins, better than
any they had seen. The Spaniards, weary of their hard life and mar-
ches, wished to occupy it. The natives flew to arms. A terrible bat-
tle ensued, the first between white men and Indians on our soil that
can really be called a battle. Soto gained part of the town and stored
his baggage there, but with cavalry and armor and musketry his troops
did not rout the Indians without great difficulty. They seemed in-
numerable and fought with desperation. At last, when they saw that
their arrows and darts could not repel the invaders, and that the ground
was strewn with the bodies of their bravest warriors, they set fire to
the town and retreated. Soto had won the battle of Mavilla, and killed
more than two thousand of his enemy : but eighteen of his mail-clad
men had been killed and a hundred and fifty wounded ; nearly a hun-
dred horses were killed or crippled and all his baggage had perished in
the burning town.
His gallant array now stood destitute, weakened, and disappointed.
Ships just then arrived at Pensacola, but he was too proud to return and
acknowledge his failure. So he marched north, and wintered in Chicasa,
a town in the Chickasaw country, in the north of what is now the State
of Mississippi In the spring he wished to force the natives to carry the
:
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 149
burdens of his force, now reduced to five hundred men. But this fierce
tribe set fire to the town, and attacked the invaders by night. Soto re-
pulsed them with loss, but many of his horses and live stock perished,
and arms and armor were ruined by fire, and they had so little clothing
left that they were almost as naked as the Indians. But no thought of
return entered Soto's mind ; he must find a new Mexico or Peru, or he
would perish in the attempt.
Then he came to the Mississippi, and could gaze in wonder at that
mighty river, of which Narvaez had seen only the mouth. After long
toil, he made barges and crossed with the remnant of his force. He
struck northward till he nearly reached the Missouri, then finding only
bison plains and a few scanty tribes, turned South again and passed the
winter on the Washita. In the spring he was again on the Mississippi,
at the mouth of the Red.
Below, all seemed a weary waste of cane-brake, and the Indians re-
presented it as almost uninhabited. Soto sank under his disappoint-
ments and hardships. Struck down by a malignant fever, he received
little care and attention. But he felt death at hand, and calling all
around him he named his successor, and giving them his last instructions,
prepared to meet his end. On the 21st of May, 1542, he breathed his
last, and anxious to conceal his death from the Indians, they performed
his funeral rites at night, and then consigned his body, wrapped in a
mantle, to the waters of the Mississippi. Such was the sad ending of
the pomp and show that opened his march, such the result of his long
search for realms of gold. Muscoso, his successor, attempted to reach
Mexico by land, but finally returned to the Mississippi, and building
boats, descended its turbid and rapid current to the Gulf. More fortu.
nate than Narvaez, he reached Tampico, in September, 1543.
150 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Such was the only result of Spanish attempts at conquest. They all
failed, but Spain claimed all our country, and knew the whole coast and
much of the interior. All were not fierce soldiers; one missionary,
Cancer, sought to win the natives by kindness, he landed alone, but he
was killed almost instantly. -
While Spain was thus wasting men and means in the vain pursuit of
rich kingdoms that had no more existence than the Fountain of Youth,
France acted more wisely. She did not seek gold; but her sturdy,
honest fishermen were gathering real wealth on the banks of Newfound-
land. Chabot, the sagacious Admiral of France, under King Francis I.,
saw that it would be essential to explore, and, if possible, colonize the
adjacent continent. To command the expedition, he selected an expe-
rienced captain of St. Malo, named James Cartier, and presented him
to the King. He sailed from St. Malo, April 20th, 1534, with two ves-
sels, carrying more than a hundred men. He soon came in sight of New.
foundland, and after sailing nearly around it, discovered Chaleurs Bay,
and took possession at Gaspé, rearing a cross, with a shield bearing the
lilies of France. He entered the port of Brest, on the Labrador coast,
already a well-known station.
After advancing as far as Anticosti Island, but without apparently re-
cognizing the river St. Lawrenee, he sailed back. His report was so
favorable that he was sent out the next year. His little fleet, the Grande
Hermine, the Little Hermine, and the Emerillon, after his crew had
like truly Christian men venturing on a long voyage, besought the aid
of heaven in the house of God, sailed May 16, 1535. Many gentle-
men went as volunteers, and two clergymen. The vessels were sepa-
rated by storms, but met again safely at Blanc Sablon, a place visited
on his first voyage. He then entered a large bay, which he named the
OR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. I 51
Gulf of St. Lawrence, in commemoration of the day on which he dis
covered it, the 10th day of August.
Two young Indians, whom he had taken to France with him, and who
had learned French, now proved useful as pilots. They told him that a
great river, Hochelaga, ran up into the country, narrowing in as far as
Canada, and that then it went on so far that nobody had ever been at
the end of it. So Cartier sailed on, discovered the deep river Sa-
guenay, which runs down amid such wild mountain scenery ; and
keeping on, came to an island now called Orleans. Then he found at
a narrow part of the river a rocky height, on which was perched the
Indian town of Stadaconé, ruled over by Donnacona, the Agouhanna or
Chief of Canada. This was Quebec.
He anchored his vessels in the St. Charles, and found the natives
friendly and well-disposed, but they endeavored to dissuade him from
ascending the river, telling him terrible stories about its dangers, and
even getting up a kind of masquerade to frighten him.
But Cartier went on in his boats, till he came to the present Montreal,
where he found the well-built Indian town of Hochelaga, with a triple
row of palisades, standing amid wide fields of Indian corn, beans, peas,
and squashes. This town contained fifty large cabins, made neatly of
bark sewed together, and divided into rooms, each of which contained a
family. The people took the French for visitors from heaven, and
brought them their sick and crippled to be cured.
Cartier then ascended the mountain of Montreal, whence he could
descry the Green Mountains of Vermont.
The Indians pointed out the upper waters of the St. Lawrence, which
they told him could be navigated for three moons, while another river
on the north of the island led to other lands. Encouraged by the pros-
152 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
pect before him, Cartier returned to his ships, around which a little fort
had been thrown and planted with cannon. During the winter, scurvy
broke out among his men and many died till they learned a cure from
the Indians. In the spring he sailed for France carrying off Donnacona
and some of his chief men, an act which cannot be justified.
He was not able to return at once to Canada. It was not indeed tili
1540 that Francis de la Roque, Sieur de Roberval, whom Cartier had
interested in American
affairs, obtained a pa-
tent, making him Lord
of Norembegua, as the
State of Maine was .
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tier was commissioned
to command the fleet,
and extensive prepa-
rations were made.
Spain took alarm, and
spies were sent to all
JACQUES CARTIER, DISCOVERER OF CANADA.
the ports of France to
find out the object of the expedition. When tidings came that
it was to attempt a settlement in the far north, the Spaniards
breathed more freely, but it was decided that any attempt of the
French to settle Florida must be crushed at once. On the 23rd of May,
1541, Cartier sailed with a fleet of five ships, well equipped and supplied
with provisions for two years. Their passage was stormy and it was only
after three months buffetting with wind and wave that he anchored beforg










oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 153
fe
Stadaconé. The natives eagerly asked for their chief and his com-
panions, but they had all died in France, though it does not seem that
they were treated with unkindness.
Cartier selected as the spot for his settlement a point now called Cap
Rouge, a little above Quebec, and here he laid up his vessel and erected
a fort, which he called Charlesbourg Royal. This was the first white
post planted on the continent north of Mexico. Leaving the Wiscount
de Beaupré in command, Cartier ascended the river to explore and ex-
amine. During the winter troubles arose with the Indians, in which
two Frenchmen were killed. In the spring the colonists, discouraged
by the hardships and uneasy at Roberval's delay in coming with sup-
plies, forced Cartier to embark for France, and Charlesbourg Royal
was abandoned. Near Newfoundland they fell in with Roberval, but
Cartier's people were utterly discouraged, and kept on to France.
Roberval entered the St. Lawrence, and anchoring at Charlesbourg
Royal, which he named France Roi, restored Cartier's fort. He then
examined the upper part of the river, sent expeditions to explore the
Saguenay and the coast of Labrador. But the colony did not prosper.
It was not formed of the right material—men of principle, willing to
labor and wait patiently. Many died of scurvy and other diseases, or
by accidents. At last, when all were heartily discouraged, their eyes
were gladdened by the sight of a vessel sailing up under French colors.
It was Cartier, come with orders from the King, summoning Roberval
to return to France with all his people. The order was promptly
obeyed, and France abandoned the St. Lawrence. *
Of Roberval's voyage a strange story is preserved by an old chroni-
Gier. Among those on board his vessels were his niece, Margaret Ro-
berval, and a young gentleman, to whom she had been secretly married
154 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
against the wishes of her family. As they came near Newfoundland
Roberval discovered the fact, and, inexorable in his anger, put them
ashore with his niece's nurse on an island said to be that still called Isle
de la Demoiselle, though the old chronicler supposes it to be the Isle of
Demons, which our readers will remember. The unfortunate people
built a log house, and when their store of pilot-bread was exhausted,
lived altogether on roots, berries and wild-fowl, of which numbers fre-
quented the island. Occasionally larger game was found ; but the
young man's health began to fail, and ere many months, in spite of all
Margaret's care, he breathed his last, and she was left a widow. A
child born amid these dreary scenes soon followed its father. The old
nurse, her comfort and companion, was the next to be summoned by
death, and poor Margaret remained utterly alone beside her three
graves. She was however a woman of undaunted courage. She felt
that activity alone could preserve her health and life. She had learned
to use her husband's arms, and fearlessly encountered even the white
bear in its visits to the island, using the fur and flesh for her clothing
and food. She lived in hope of being found by Some vessel approach-
ing that shore, and to attract them she kept up almost constant fires on
the highest point of her island. When she had spent two years and
five months on the desolate strand, her fires were seen by a Breton cod-
fishing vessel. They were somewhat afraid to approach, but humanity
prevailed. Margaret, after kneeling to say a farewell prayer by the
graves of her loved ones, went on board with the furs she had gathered
in her hunting excursions. ./
While France was thus attempting to settle in the north, Spain had
now securely planted her colonies in Mexico and Peru, and her ships,
richly laden, were constantly passing through the Gulf of Mexico on
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 155
their way to Spain. Many of these in the fierce tropical storms welc
unable to withstand the fury of the tempest, and were driven on the
northern shore of the gulf. The natives here, who had not forgotten
the visits of Narvaez and Soto, massacred the crews of the ship-
wrecked vessels, or spared them only for a slavery as bad as death.
It was therefore decided to plant a colony at some convenient spot on
our southern coast, and in 1559 Don Tristan de Luna was sent from
Wera Cruz with thirteen vessels, carrying no less than 1,500 men with
several clergymen, friars of the Dominican order, to attend to the spir-
itual affairs of the colony and convert the natives
Tristan landed in Pensacola Bay on the 14th of August and was
just preparing to send back a ship with intelligence when a terrible
storm came on, which destroyed every one of his ships. Many were
lost, including all on board the ship ready to sail. While looking
around for what could be saved, they found a sloop standing with all
its cargo, more than a cannon-shot from the shore, as if set there by
human hands.
Instead of building a vessel to send for relief or to carry off part of
his large force, he set to work to explore, endeavoring to live on the
Indians; but he was soon reduced to great straits, with nothing but
acorns, nuts and roots for food. However he formed an alliance with
the Coosas, and part of his army with them made war upon a tribe on
the banks of the Mississippi who seem to have been the Natchez.
At last, however, he fitted out a boat and sent word to Havana of his
distress. Angel de Villafañe soon appeared to take command, out he
abandoned the country in 1561, leaving Don Tristan, who gallantly hoped
to succeed in establishing a post. But the viceroy of Mexico soon
ordered him to return and Pensacola was deserted.
C H A P T E R. W.
FRANCE, SPAIN AND ENGLAND ATTEMPT TO SETTLE OUR SHORES,
Coligny resolves to establish a Huguenot colony in Florida—Ribaut establishes Charlesfort.
on Port Royal—Captain Albert de la Pierria—Mutiny—The Survivors saved by the
English—Laudonniere builds Fort Caroline on the St. John's, Florida—A Revolt—
Some turn Pirates—Relieved in Distress by Hawkins—Ribaut arrives—The Spaniards
resolve to crush the Colony—Melendez sent out—The Fleets meet at Caroline—Melen-
dez retires and builds St. Augustine—Ribaut pursuing him wrecked—Melendez takes
Caroline—His Cruelty—Inhuman Treatment of the Wrecked—The Massacre of the
French avenged by Dominic de Gourgues—Subsequent History of Florida—Raleigh
and his Efforts—Tobacco and Potatoes—A Settlement finally made at Jamestown.
Soon after the discovery of America, Europe was convulsed by the
Reformation and by the religious wars and troubles to which it gave
rise.
France was the scene of a terrible strife, in which Catholic and Pro-
testant contended for the mastery. At the head of the Protestant or
Huguenot party was the able Gaspar de Coligny, Admiral of France.
In one of the moments of peace during this war, he resolved to plant
a colony in America that might afford a refuge for those of his faith, if
in the doubtful struggle before them, they should be worsted.
Charles IX., who esteemed Coligny, favored his project; and the
Admiral selected for its execution John Ribaut, of Dieppe, an experi-
enced navigator and brave man. Many gathered to join the expedition,
but as usually happened, few fitted for such an undertaking. Ribaut
sailed from Dieppe on the 18th of February, 1562, in two roberges, a
our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 15
5
7
kind of small vessel. A low, well-wooded point, at Matanzas inlet. on
the Florida coast, was the first land made, but he ran along till he calm.
to a beautiful bay, to which he gave the name it still bears, Port Royal,
Here, on the 20th of May, amid the moss-draped oaks, which had
grown for centuries, the towering pines, the fragrant flowers, he planted—
probably on Parris Island—a stone carved with the arms of France, and
took possession of the new land.
He then threw up Charlesfort, so named in honor of Charles IX., pro-
bably near what is now called Archer's creek, not far from Beaufort.
Here Ribaut left twenty-six men, under Albert de la Pierria, and then
sailed back to report how attractive a land they had found. These men
for a time enjoyed their new life, but they were indisposed to work.
their commander was harsh and incompetent. They finally mutinied and
killed him, then put to sea in a wretched boat which they built. On the
ocean their provisions were soon exhausted, and they had devoured
one of their number to save the rest, when an English ship picked them
up.
Coligny did not despair. In 1564 he sent out Laudonniere with three
ships, which in June, 1564, reached the mouth of the St. John's. Here
Laudonniere erected a triangular fort of earth, called Fort Caroline,
eighteen miles up the river. The country was beautiful and attractive,
but the settlers were ill chosen. There was no order, no industry, no
religious worship, nothing to mark a well-regulated colony. They de-
pended on the natives for food, and to obtain it they used entreaty,
stratagem, and even force. Some mutinied, and compelled Laudonniere
to sign an order permitting them to depart. Then they equipped two
vessels, a l set out to cruise as pirates against the Spaniards. This
sealed the doom of the colony.
158 5
THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Spain had viewed with jealous fear all attempts to settle Florida.
Her commerce already suffered terribly from cruisers which ran out
from ports of England and France, sometimes recognized by the Gov-
ernments, sometimes mere pirates. If either of these nations got a foot-
hold in Florida, so near the route of all the rich ships from Mexico, the
Spaniards would be ruined. They took alarm at Cartier's colony, distant
as it was ; the present attempt was one they resolved to put down, more
especially as it already assumed in their eyes a piratical character.
There was then in Spain a brave man bowed down by heavy grief, a
naval commander full of energy and resolution. He sought from King
Philip II. permission to sail for Florida to seek his son whose vessel had
been wrecked on that dangerous coast, but whom he hoped to find still
alive. -
It was proposed to him to conquer Florida, and when news came of
Ribaut's colony, to root out the French. He sailed in July, 1565, with a
large fleet, but arrived almost alone at Porto Rico, his vessels having
been scattered in a storm. With his usual promptness he resolved not
to wait for the other vessels but kept on to Florida, making the coast
on the 28th of August. A fine haven that he found he named St. Au-
gustine, but he only reconnoitered it at this moment. Then he coasted
along looking for the French. -
Laudonniere's colony had gone on from bad to worse. Starvation
stared them in the face, when one day Sir John Hawkins, the slave mer-
hant, entered their harbor and not only liberally relieved their distress,
but sold them a vessel in which to leave Florida. While all were pre-
paring for the voyage, sails were again descried, and ere long the flag of
France floating to the breeze cheered every heart. Ribaut had arrived
on the 28th of August with seven ships bearing settlers and supplies.
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 159
His vessels rode at anchor before the fort, as Melendez bore down
in the San Pelayo, with four other ships of his squadron. His reply
to the French hail was stern and plain, terrible and cruel. “I
am Pedro Melendez, of Spain, with strict orders that I cannot dis-
obey : every Catholic I will spare, every Protestant shall die.” The
French ships, unprepared for action, cut their cables and stood out
to Sea. Melendez gave chase, but failing to overtake them, returned
to St. Augustine. There two of his officers were already landing
guns, stores, and troops, founding the first permanent settlement on
our soil, our oldest city, St. Augustine. Aware that a decisive struggle
must now take place, Melendez pushed on the works to put himself
in a position of defense in case of attack. And he acted wisely.
By the bedside of Laudonniere, then sick, the French had held
their council. Ribaut, against the will of Laudonniere, determined
to take all the best of his force on the ships, and sail down to St.
Augustine, so as by a bold attack to crush Melendez and his new
colony. He sailed, leaving. Laudonniere sick, with a half-ruined fort
and a motley collection to defend it.
On the morning of the 11th, Melendez saw that the French were
upon him. Off the harbor were Ribaut's ships, black with men. He
must fight now, not the unprepared fleet of the first day, but Ribaut,
eager and ready. While his men appealed to heaven to save them,
the experienced Spanish sea-captain scanned the heavens. There
he read a coming tempest, and ere long he felt that St. Augustine
was safe, as he saw the French ships wrestling with the hurricane.
His own action was prompt. The French fort was clearly left un-
guarded. In spite of remonstrance and almost a mutiny, he marched
with a good force overland, wading breast-high through everglade
160 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
º
and morass, swarming with alligator and Serpent, from St. Augustine
to the St. John's, and on the morning of the 21st of September he
burst into Fort Caroline during a driving rain. The Spaniards cut
down all before them without mercy. Before Melendez gave the order
to spare the women and children, at least a hundred of the French
had fallen. Seventy were spared : Laudonniere, with a few others,
reached the French vessels that had remained in the harbor. The
sun rose on a scene of horror, and lit up the Spanish flag floating
above the fort. Leaving a garrison, Melendez returned to St.
Augustine.
It was subsequently charged that he hung his prisoners to trees,
with an inscription : “I do this not as to Frenchmen, but as to here-
tics,” but the story is of a later date.
Melendez had returned in triumph to St. Augustine, when one
day Indians came to announce that a French ship had been wrecked
to the Southward, and that the men were unable to cross an arm
of the sea. Melendez hastened down. It was one of Ribaut's vessels.
The cruel Spaniard gave dubious words: the starving French sur-
rendered, and were butchered in cold blood. Again tidings came of
another and larger party. This was Ribaut himself, and those who
had been in his ship. The French commander in vain endeavored to
make terms. He and his whole force surrendered, and they too were
butchered. A few, Wrecked near Cape Canaveral, were spared,
but the French colony in Florida was utterly extirpated, and Spain
held the land for centuries.
France was filled with indignation at the cruel massacre, but the
King sought no redress. One man, Dominic de Gourgues, resolved
to avenge Ribaut. Obtaining a commission to proceed to the coast
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 16.1
of Africa, he sailed there, and after a fight with the Portuguese and
some negro tribes, took in, it would seem, his cargo of slaves, and
sailed to Cuba. There he announced to his men his purpose to attack
the Spanish fort on the St. John's. His proposal was received with joy.
He soon was off the harbor, and running up the coast, landed.
The Indians came flocking to the French flag. Saturiva, a chiei,
readily joined him to attack the Spaniards, whom he hated.
The force of French and Indians was soon on the march. Through
the fragrant woods of Florida, with the beautiful magnolia and the
live-oak, where birds of strange hue and all the denizens of the
swamps met the eyes of the French, they plodded steadily on, if the
story is at all true. A small Spanish outpost lay north of the St.
John's. It was carried by storm.
Them the Indians swam across the St. John's, and the French, open-
ing a cannonade across it, passed over in a single boat. A second
post was soon taken. -
All was now alarm at the Spanish fort San Matheo. The cry,
“The French are coming,” thrilled through every heart. But the
commander resolved to hold his ground. A party was sent out.
It was surrounded and cut to pieces. Then the Spaniards attempted
to escape by flight. The woods swarmed with red men, and every
Spaniard was killed or taken.
The victorious French leader then hung his prisoners on trees,
with this inscription : “I do this not as to Spaniards, but as to traitors,
robbers, and murderers.”
Such is the story of De Gourgues' vengeance, about which there
is some doubt. ;
Amid all this bloody work the city of St. Augustine was founded,
162 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
and still stands, a venerable place indeed ; with an ancient fort,
barracks that were once a convent, and everything to recall other
times and another land.
The foundations of St. Augustie were laid amid the din of arms
and warlike operations by sea and land. A fort was thrown up,
hastily at first, in September, 1565, but when all danger from the
French had passed, another was erected on the bar, and the city
begun in more regular form, Bartholomew Menendez being the first
alcalde. All the settlers were divided into squads, and required to
work on the buildings three hours in the morning, and as long in the
evening. Thus was St. Augustine built.
Peter Melendez, the governor, had meanwhile sailed to Havana
to collect his scattered fleet. As the ships arrived, he sent aid to
his establishments in Florida, and setting out with several vessels,
explored the coast, seeking in vain for any trace of his son. He
entered into friendly relations with the cruel and powerful chiefs
of Is and Carlos, and rescued a number of Spaniards, men and women,
who had been wrecked on the coast, where the Indians sacrificed
one every year to their gods.
But troubles had arisen at St. Augustine and St. Matheo. Mutinies
broke out, and for a time, while the alcalde was among the Indians,
the insurgents held both places, but they were at last reduced. They
had, however, roused the Indians to war by their cruelty, and St.
Augustine was soon surrounded by hostile natives, who refused any
longer to sell the settlers provisions, and cut off all who left the
towns. Among those who fell was Captain Martin de Ochoa, the
bravest man in the colony, who was taken in an ambuscade. Em-
boldened by Success, the Indians, gliding up by night, killed two
oR, our count KY's ACHIEVEMENTs. I 63
sentinels on the walls of the fort, and startled the astonished Spaniards
by showers of fiery arrows, with which they succeeded in setting fire
to the palmetto thatch on the store-house, which was destroyed with
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all the munitions, pro-
visions, and clothing it
contained. The confia-
gration spread to the
dwellings, and all was
dismay and alarm in the
little town. In vain,
did the
Spaniards seek to drive
them off. The Indians,
lurking in the tall grass,
even by day,
watched them fire, and
then, gliding along on
the ground like Snakes,
sent their arrows with
terrible aim.
Melendez, hearing of
all these troubles, re-
turned to St. Augustine,
restored order, quieted
the Indians, and Sup-
pressed the mutinies. He
then sailed up to St. Helena Sound, which you will see on the map
of South Carolina.
Alas in command, with one hundred and ten men.
There he built Fort St. Philip, leaving Stephen de
He had thus

164 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
explored the coast from the Florida capes to South Carolina; but
he did not rest even then. He ascended the St. John's River and ,
sent expeditions and missionaries up even into Chesapeake Bay,
where, as early as 1570, a log-chapel was reared on the soil of
Virginia.
It seemed as if the whole coast was to become a colony of Spain.
But this man of energy was not to be long in Florida. Returning
to Spain, he was appointed by the king to command the Invincible
Armada for the invasion of England, and died in 1574, just as he
was about to sail with it.
With his death the interest in Florida declined ; the settlements
were confined to the part now known as Florida. There the Spaniards
soon, by means of zealous missionaries, gained the Timuquan and
Apalache Indians, although many of those devoted men lost their
lives in this good work.
In 1586, Sir Francis Drake, who had planted the flag of Queen
Elizabeth in California, identified his name with Florida. About
the 1st of June he appeared before the harbor of St. Augustine.
At the outer fort the garrison, after firing a few volleys at his ships,
retreated to the town. Drake took possession of the Fort St. John,
and advanced in his boats to St. Augustine. The garrison was only
one hundred and fifty strong, and these, with the inhabitants, retreated,
abandoning the town to Drake, who set it on fire ; and the first
American city, with its meat town-hall, church, and other buildings,
was entirely destroyed, and the fine gardens around it laid waste.
Drake then sailed on to destroy Fort St. Philip, but ran into Carolina
and relieved Raleigh's colony. The Spaniards returned to their
ruined city, and with help from Havana soon rebuilt it.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 1.65
#,
Of the subsequent history of Florida we need say little until the
period when it became part of the United States.
In 1638 the Apalaches declared war, and advanced to the very
gates of St. Augustine, but the Spaniards finally reduced them, and com-
pelled them to furnish a number of men to labor on the public works.
Another Indian war broke out in 1687, in which the Apalachicolas
and Creeks rose in rebellion because the Spaniards wished to remove
them from their towns to another district.
Many Indians at this time retired to the English colony of South
Carolina, and the Yamassees not only did so, but became a scourge
to Florida, sacking and burning the settlements and missions.
The Spanish government, to keep off other nations on the Gulf,
founded Pensacola in 1693, but France and England hemmed her, in
and by frequent invasions destroyed the Indian towns, or drew off
the people, so that Florida became an insignificant colony.
England was not indifferent to America. Elizabeth had made her
kingdom powerful on the sea. She had defied Spain ; she too, like
the Kings of France and Spain, could give away with her pen realms
in America. One day her favorite, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, inflamed
by Frobisher's discoveries at the North, and Sir Francis Drake's
exploration of our Pacific shore up to Oregon, asked of the great
Queen a patent. It was freely granted, and extensive territories were
assigned to him. But he did not live to establish a colony. His
end was sad.
He sailed to America in a fleet, but disasters overtook him. His
largest ship was wrecked. The brave Sir Humphrey was returning
in the Squirrel, a little bark of only ten tons' burden, when terrible
storms came on. No one who had been at sea had ever met with
166 TIIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
such mountain waves or fierce wind. Every moment seemed the
last, but Sir Humphrey, seated calmly on his deck, called out to those
on his other vessel, the Hind : “We are as near to heaven by sea as
by land.” They were the last words of the brave old sailor. During
the night the lights of the Squirrel suddenly disappeared. She had
sunk with all on board.
His half-brother, the brilliant and unfortunate Sir Walter Raleigh,
obtained a patent as ample as Sir Humphrey’s.
One summer day in July, 1584, two English ships lay to off the
coast of North Carolina. The land-breeze came off rich with the
perfume of flowers and spicy odors. The sky and sea were calm.
An entrance was easily found for the ships, and the natives on
Wocoken Island sprang up in wonder to see the great canoes come
'bearing on towards their shore. From the anchored vessels came
boats of richly-clad men. The arms of England were set up, and
they gazed in wonder on the rich vegetation, the clustering grape-
vines, the forests, from which such flocks of birds arose as to deafen
with their cries. The timid natives welcomed them.
Returning, full of sanguine hopes, the explorers induced Raleigh
to send out a colony. Sir Richard Grenville brought out settlers
under Lane to occupy Roanoke Island. They did not understand
how to begin : they burned an Indian village, they treacherously
killed Wingina, a native chieftain or king. The prospect now grew
dark ; an ominous cloud was gathering. The colonists, who had not
labored to cultivate the soil, saw nothing but destruction.
To their delight they one day beheld ships entering, which by their
build and by their flags were recognized as English. Sir Francis
Drake, cruising along, stopped in to visit his friends. He found
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEv EMENTs. 167
them in despair, and taking all on board, hoisted Sail for Eng-
land.
Twice more did Raleigh attempt to colonize North Carolina. Each
time the colonists, left unprovided, perished by the hands of the
red men. The State commemorates his efforts by giving his name
to her capital.
Hy Raleigh's efforts England gained only a knowledge of three
American plants, Indian corn, potatoes, and tobacco.
Sir Walter Raleigh acquired a taste for tobacco, and often in his
hours of relaxation solaced himself by smoking in the Indian fashion.
The story is told that one day, having sent his servant for a pitcher
of water, and lighted his pipe in the mean time, the poor faithful
fellow, when he returned, seeing his master enveloped in smoke,
supposed him on fire, and dashed the contents of his pitcher over him,
rousing Sir Walter from his reverie in rather an astonished attitude.
The potatoes he is said to have given to his gardener at Youghal,
Ireland. The man looked at them, smelt them, and bit them, on
the whole regarding them with great contempt, and, when he did
plant them, put them in an out-of-the-way place, bestowing no care
whatever on his master's American plants. The neglected potato
put out its shoots, but even its purple blossom did not win it favor.
At last, at the proper time, Sir Walter ordered the man to dig them
up. He obeyed joyfully, but was soon amazed at the multiplicity
of the roots. His astonishment grew when his master ordered them
to be boiled, and it was not till he had eaten one that he began to
look on the potato with favor.
It was soon cultivated extensively in Ireland, and thence intro-
duced into England and other parts. From the fact that it was cul-
168 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
tivated first in Ireland, it is sometimes called, even in this, its native
country, the Irish potato.
A number of men in England now took up the idea of a colony
in America. Several of them were men of experience, who knew
enough about America to carry out their plans successfully. King
James gave them an ample Patent in 1606, and two companies were
formed. The London Company, which obtained all the territory
between the thirty-fourth and thirty-eighth degree, soon set to work.
On the 26th of April a little fleet of three vessels, under the
English flag, entered the capes and anchored in Chesapeake Bay,
naming the capes, in honor of the King's sons, Charles and Henry.
The whole land seemed wonderfully attractive. After some deliber-
ation they ascended the James River, and landed fifty miles from
its mouth to lay the foundations of Jamestown, named, like the
river, in honor of the King.
CHAPTER VI.
Permanent Settlements of England and France—Virginia settled at Jamestown—Early Visits
of the Spaniards to the Chesapeake–Powhatan's Tribe—Captain John Smith—Argall—
Pocahontas, her Marriage and Death—First Legislature in America—What Jamestown
resembled—Opechancanough's War and Massacre—The Company suppressed—Virginia a
Royal Colony—The People—Spain settles New Mexico—The French in Acadia—Jesuits
in Maine—Romance of La Tour—Madame La Tour—Wars with New England—Acadia
conquered, becomes Nova Scotia—Quebec founded by Champlain–His Adventurous Career
—Character of the Colony—Wars with the Iroquois—Pieskaret—Montreal—Lambert Closse,
the Indian Fighter—The French at Onoudaga.
NEWPORT's vessels, the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery,
driven by a fortunate storm beyond the North Carolina coast, where
Raleigh had attempted to plant a colony, had sailed into the mag-
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 169
nificent bay which still retains its Indian name, Chesapeake. The
English gazed around with thankfulness and wonder, and called the
point where they first anchored, Point Comfort. There are few
mora beautiful bays: rivers, many of them navigable for miles,
pour their volume of water into this sheet, which, with its picturesque
banks, its charming islands teeming with wild fowl, its rich verdure,
might justify the expression of one of the new colony, that heaven
and earth seem never to have agreed better to frame a place for
man's commodious and delightful habitation.
They were not, however, the first to visit this delightful bay.
As early as 1540 some Spanish navigator anchored within the capes,
and gave the bay which opened so gloriously on his view the name
of St. Mary's Bay, which it long bore in Spanish maps. Soon after
Melendez settled Florida, Father Segura, with a band of Jesuit
missionaries, led by a native Virginian, who, taken to Spain, had
pretended to be a sincere convert to Christianity, penetrated far up .
the Potomac, but were lured into the wilderness only to be ruth-
lessly murdered, and the whole party of zealous missionaries perished.
Melendez then sent ships to punish the murderers, and Spanish
vessels thus woke with the thunders of their artillery the shores of
the Potomac. The cruel tribe fled from the river southward, and
settled on the James.
When the English colony advanced up the James River to a spot
fifty miles from its mouth, this tribe was ruled by Powhatan, who
dwelt in savage grandeur on the Pamunkey River The settlers
for the new colony were, as usual, badly selected. There were
more men to play gentlemen than to fell trees, clear and dig the
ground, and put up houses. The queer King of England, James I.,
170 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
had given them plenty of laws, and on arriving the Council chose
Edward Maria Wingfield president. The most prominent man in
the colony, and the man best fitted to aid, was Captain John
Smith. They were so jealous of him that they expelled him from
the Council. Smith was a man who had seen much of the world.
He had been in Holland's war for freedom ; in the wars against the
Turks, where he fought like a hero; he had been a prisoner in their
hands, and escaped in a romantic manner. He was full of energy
and resource.
Those in command at once commenced to erect a fort on a tree-
clad peninsula, which at high tide was a perfect island. This fortifi-
cation was triangular in form, with a half-moon at each angle, and
from its log-walls four or five cannons frowned on the natives.
While the men were busy felling trees and squaring timber for
this work, Newport, with part of the company, ran up the river to
the falls, where they found a white boy, supposed to be the child of
members of Raleigh's unfortunate colony.
But even in this brief space the Indians began hostilities. On the
26th of May, 1607, the men working on the fort were startled by an
unexpected spectacle. The river seemed alive with canoes; the red
men, in all their war-paint, with cries and yells that struck terror to
the hearts of the new-comers, surrounded their island. Wingfield,
foremost in danger, at last drove the assailants off by means of his
Cannon, but not till twelve of the colonists were killed or wounded.
Then the fort was completed with all haste, and the settlers began
to feel more Secure ; but the neighboring marshes bred diseases that
swept off many ; until winter came with its wild-fowl and abundance
of game. Then Smith started out to explore. Wingfield was deposed.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 171
One object of the Company in England was to find a stream leading
to the Pacific. Gomez, who visited the coast at an early day, con-
vinced the Spaniards that there was no such passage. As we now
know the geography of the continent, it seems very amusing to think
that Smith ascended the Chickahominy River to see whether it was
a short cut to China.
Leaving his boat in charge of two men he struck inland. But
his men disobeyed his instructions, and the crafty red men waylaid
and slew them.
Smith was soon a prisoner in the hands of hostile Indians. Full
of resources, he drew out his pocket-compass, and its wonders made
them regard him with awe. He was allowed to send a note to the
new fort, but was led in triumph from the villages on the Chickahominy
to the Indian villages on the Rappahannock and Potomac, and soon
through other towns.
A very pretty story is told by Smith in his later books, that
people now begin to doubt very much. Smith was at last brought
before Powhatan at Pamunkey. Seated on his mat-bed, with a
favorite wife on each side, surrounded by his gravest Sachems, this
Indian monarch received Smith as a distinguished prisoner. Water
was brought to him, and a feather fan to wipe his face and hands
upon, but the council held, doomed to death the stranger who came
spying into their land. The warriors, ready to avenge on him their
repulse at Jamestown, panted for his blood. He was led forth to
a stone, and a stalwart brave swung aloft the heavy stone hatchet
that was to crush his head. At this moment, Pocahontas, the daughter
of this Indian monarch, who had been watching breathlessly the pro-
ceedings, hoping that her father would relent, and spare one for
172 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
whom she felt all the childish attachment that a girl of twelve would
entertain for one who had always shown her a kindly interest, sprang
forward and threw her arms around the neck of the doomed white pri-
soner, shielding him by her own body. The executioner paused, the
chieftain looked sternly at the group, but his daughter's words of appeal
changed his decision. Smith was saved, and sent back in safety to
Jamestown. d
Such is the tale that is told in all lands, and shown in picture
and statue.
Smith found the colony reduced to forty men : he attempted to
introduce order, and then, in a voyage of three months, sailed all
around Chesapeake Bay, thoroughly exploring it, ascending many
of the rivers flowing into it, meeting Indians of various tribes, and
struck most of all by the gigantic Conestogas, who came down the
: Susquehanna. His map is one of the best monuments to his fame.
On his return he became President of the Council, and as new
emigrants came in, including two women, the first seen in the colony,
he enforced industry and established order. Like Melendez at St.
Augustine, he required six hours' labor from all. Virginia was not.
however, long to enjoy his services. An explosion of gunpowder burnt
his hand so seriously as to defy the skill of the colony physician:
he sailed to Europe to secure better treatment for his wound, and
never returned, although he continued to take a deep interest in the
welfare of the colony, and did more by his writings than any other
to make it known.
He had no influence at court, no noble friends. Eminently fitted t
as he was to explore a new country and to manage a new settlement,
much as he had done for Virginia, he received no royal grant he
oR, our count RY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 173.
did not even obtain the deed of the lands he cleared or the house he
built
Before Smith sailed, great changes had been made in England in
regard to Virginia affairs. The London Company solicited and
obtained a new Charter from the King. By this document, issued
June 2, 1609, the monarch granted to them all the coast for two
hundred miles north and south of James River, with power to appoint
a governor. They induced a good and upright nobleman, Thomas,
Lord De la Ware, to accept for life the office of Governor and
Captain-General of Virginia. *
A fresh impulse was given. Nine ships, under Newport, carrying
more than five hundred emigrants, sailed from England, bearing Sir
Thomas Gates as deputy of the Governor. But only seven ships
ran through the hurricane, and reached the James River. Gates'
vessel stranded on the rocks of Bermuda, so that the new-comers,
with little respect for the authorities in Virginia, caused much
trouble.
With Smith's departure almost all semblance of government ceased.
Labor was neglected, provisions were wastefully consumed, the Indians
were provoked so that they refused all aid. Then came the famous
“Starving Time” of Virginia annals. Famine, disease, and war
ravaged the settlement. Some took to the sea as pirates. Of the
five hundred left by Smith there remained in six months only sixty.
When Gates anchored before Jamestown with two rude vessels
built in Bermuda, these spectral men, worn by famine, sickness, and
anxiety, came out to implore him to take them from the fated
place, looking like the ruins of some ancient town—houses pulled down
for firewood ; the blockhouse the sole refuge of the wretched remnant
I 74 TILE STORY OF A G REAT NATION :
of the hundreds who had settled there. All their stock, horses, swine,
poultry, had long since been devoured.
Gates was appalled. There was but one voice, and that was to
leave the spot. But he would not burn it, as some desired. Firing
a parting salute, they all sailed down the river on the 7th of June.
Jamestown was abandoned.
In Hampton Roads they saw in the horizon the gleam of sails.
Lord De la Ware had come with another band of emigrants and
Supplies. He restored their hopes, and that night Jamestown was
again a busy settlement.
Lord De la Ware showed great ability, and the settlement began
to prosper. Emigrants poured in with abundant supplies, cattle and
live stock; agriculture was encouraged. Jamestown was no longer a
mere garrison. Each settler received an allowance of land in fee
to improve for his own benefit, and a new settlement was begun at
Henrico in 1611.
Ill health soon compelled the good Governor to retire, but Vir-
ginia prospered under the strict rule of Sir Thomas Gates and Sir
Thomas Dale.
Samuel Argall, an unprincipled man, who plays an important part
in Virginia history, well-nigh involved the colony in an Indian war.
Pocahontas had on many occasions shown her friendship for the
English, but Argall used a treacherous Indian woman to entice
Powhatan's daughter into his vessel, and then detained her as a
prisoner. This captivity of Pocahontas had a romantic issue. She
was received at Jamestown with respect, and while negotiations were
in progress with her father, a young gentleman, John Rolfe, already
remarkable as the first planter of tobacco in Virginia, was greatly
oR, OUR count RY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 175
struck by the amiable qualities of the Indian girl. He soon after
yroposed marriage, and she accepted. After instruction by the clergy.
• man of the colony, she was baptized and married with her father's
consent, her uncle, Opechancanough, attending to give the bride away.
The colony gathered into the little church to witness the spectacle ;
the planter, still young, full of energy, high-minded and graceful,
attired in the picturesque dress of gentlemen of that day; the bride,
beautiful as the wild deer of her forests, arrayed by the hands of the
English women in their dress, full of wonder at the strange ceremonial,
full of trust in her chosen husband. It was a day of joy to both
white and red man throughout the land of Virginia, and is handed
down as one of the great events of history in the paintings on the
walls of the Capitol.
It is sad to think that her life was so brief. She sailed to England
with her husband, and was received with all honor; but sickening
there, died before she could return to America.
There was now at last an English settlement on the American coast
that was destined to succeed. We can picture to ourselves what
Jamestown was. Not a city of marble palaces and well-paved and
lighted streets.
In the woods that covered the beautiful and fertile island, for island
it was at times, a good space had been cleared by the vigorous arms
of the settlers, and amid the fields, where corn and tobacco were
growing beside wheat and other European grains, stood the little
town. Two fair rows of houses lined its street, all of framed timbers,
two stories high, with a good garret. The public buildings were
three large and substantial store-houses, and the meat wooden church.
Around all was a good stout palisade, and at the west, on a platform.
176 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
cannon were planted to prevent any sudden invasion by hostile
Indians. Outside of this palisade farm-houses and some finer dwell-
ings were scattered in attractive spots, and for their protection there
were two block-houses, where sentinels kept watch that no Indian
War party Swam over to the island, to steal unawares on the settlers
while at work in the fields or straying in the woods. -
We cannot follow all the course of history : how Virginia flourished
under good Governor Yeardley, and how it suffered under such men
as Argall, who, after his treachery to Pocahontas, destroyed and robbed
French settlements in Maine and Nova Scotia, and then became Deputy
Governor of Virginia, to crush the colony by his tyranny and vexation.
The worst of such bad men in colonial times was that they were
unjust to the Indians, and provoked them to war, in which the
innocent settlers suffered.
Hitherto the colony had been governed in England, and the people
had no voice in making the laws under which they lived. This
could not last. A chance came. Friday, the 30th day of July,
1619, was a memorable day for America. On that day, in the chancel
of the church at Jamestown, gathered twenty-two burgesses, repre-
senting the different settlements. The minister, Mr. Buck, opened
the proceedings with prayer, and all retired to the body of the church.
Then each advanced, was sworn in by Governor Yeardley, and took
his seat. They elected John Pory Speaker, and he took his place
in front of the Governor. The laws of this first Legislature were
wise, seeking to restrain evil, to advance education, and to encourage
industry and piety.
Powhatan had remained constantly friendly to the English, but he
died in 1618, and his influence over the Indian tribes fell to Ope-
3
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS, 177
£hancanough. This Sachem was a dark, resentful man ; he never
forgot a wrong, and was insensible to kindness. The English, to
honor him, had built him a house in the European style, with doors
and windows, locks and keys. He was as delighted with it as a child
with a toy, and kept locking and unlocking the doors for hours with
evident delight. He professed the warmest friendship. A turbulent
and troublesome Indian was killed in Some affray, and the authorities
at once sent to Opechancanough to explain the matter. He was
satisfied that the Indian was in fault, and declared that he was glad
to be rid of him. He said that the sky would fall sooner than he
would break the peace with the white people. Yet he was plotting
a general massacre. The Indians came and went into the houses
of the settlers, without arms or anything to excite suspicion. They
brought in game, deer, turkeys, fish, and furs to sell. On the night
of the 21st of March there were Indians at many houses, and the
planters urged them to stay, giving them food and lodging.
A man named Pace had an Indian living with him, and another
Indian came in. He soon disclosed to the other the projected mas-
sacre. Watching his opportunity, this true-hearted fellow crept
silently away. Pace, roused from his sleep, saw the dusky form
beside him. A whisper of caution, and the whole plot was revealed
to him. He sprang to his feet, and dressing in haste, stole down to
the river, and sped away in the darkness in his boat to Jamestown.
The little town soon turned night into day. All was stir and excite-
ment as messengers darted off to give alarm.
Day broke before the distant plantations could be warned. Men
sat down to breakfast with their Indian guests, who were watching
the moment. Then they sprang for the planters' arms and began
178 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
cutting down young and old. Some rushed from their houses to
escape, but the savages were on their track with ferocious yells and
blood-stained weapons, and in every direction they saw similar sights,
till they at last sank down, tomahawked or shot. In a few hours
on that sad spring Friday, three hundred and forty-seven men,
women, and children were slain by their firesides with their own
weapons, and their mutilated bodies left on the ground.
For a moment all was terror and alarm in Virginia. The enemy
had fled, but the settlers crowded to Jamestown and the other forts;
some hastened to embark for England. But as soon as the panic
was over, they prepared for a war of extermination on the Indians.
There was no chance of bringing them to battle, so the settlers
adopted the Indian plan. The Indians of Virginia were all of the
Algonquin race, cultivating little ground, living chiefly by fishing
and hunting, and they were accordingly much scattered. They had
no large palisaded towns, but occupied little hamlets in parties of
ſiſty or more. On these the settlers would steal as silently as Indians.
With a ringing hurrah they would dash in on them, cutting down some,
and if the rest escaped, it was only to behold from their lurking-
place their houses, nets, canoes, crops, given to the flames. Blood-
hounds were imported to track the fugitives through the woods, and
it became a part of Virginia law that no peace should be made with
the Indians. The red man soon had reason to curse the treacherous
course of Opechancanough.
King James I. made this massacre a pretext for dissolving the
Company under which Virginia had been settled and governed down
to this time. He laid all misfortunes at their door. He deprived
them of their Charter, and made Virginia a royal colony. Governors
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 179
were now to be appointed by the Crown. The planters took alarm.
At every settlement meetings were held, and by general agreement
agents were sent to England to claim that under the new arrange-
ment the people should retain their Assemblies and make their own
laws. The State that was to produce a Washington, a Jefferson,
and a Patrick Henry, was thus early jealous of its rights.
James yielded reluctantly; but his Governors were carefully watched
by the Virginians, and one of them, Governor Harvey, falling under
suspicion, was forced to leave the country.
In the reign of Charles I., Virginia was administered by Sir William
Berkeley, an able Governor, who restored peace and harmony, and
so won Virginia to the royal cause, that it was the last English
possession that submitted to Parliament. When it did yield, it did
so almost as an independent power. The Virginians would not allow
Cromwell to appoint a Governor; they elected their own Governors
during the whole period of the Protectorate, and enjoyed free trade
with the world.
Thus was Virginia settled and thus it grew—men attached to the
Crown and Church of England, but still more attached to their
liberty.
We have thus seen Spain and England succeed in planting colonies
on our coast. Spain had penetrated to New Mexico, and John de
Oñate finally succeeded in founding San Gabriel, and soon after
Santa Fé, and missionaries began to convert to Christianity the half-
civilized natives who are known now as Pueblo Indians.
But in 1644 a general revolt of the red men took place. They
killed the Governor and missionaries, with many of the Spaniards,
only one town escaping. The Spaniards, however, soon recovered
I80 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
the country, and held it till Mexico became free. It formed part
of that Republic till it was ceded to the United States by the Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
But while Spain and England were thus gaining a foothold in our
territory, another European power succeeded in planting a colony
at the north, which was long to contend with the English colonies
for the mastery in North America. This was France. We have
seen how Cartier explored the St. Lawrence; how Coligny, during
the wars of religion, attempted to settle Florida.
Though France failed in her first efforts to plant a settlement in
North America, she did not abandon the project. Her sons were
hardy, bold, adventurous, and at last they succeeded in laying the
foundation of a colony which for many years disputed with those
of England the control of our continent.
Under the name of New France it extended from the Kennebec
to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and west to Lake Superior and the
Walley of the Mississippi.
Roberval obtained a Patent of vast extent. This passed through
several hands, and occasional attempts were made to settle, all of
which proved unsuccessful.
In 1603, a man of clear head and great energy, Peter du Guast, Sieur
de Monts, became Lieutenant-General and Vice-Admiral of all the
country between the fortieth and forty-sixth degrees of latitude. This
Huguenot gentleman is the real father of French colonization. During
the stormy month of March he put to sea in two vessels, accompanied
by Samuel de Champlain, an experienced naval man, who had just,
following Cartier's route, ascended the St. Lawrence to the rapids.
After coasting along Nova Scotia, they entered Passamaquoddy Bay,
oR, our Cotº NTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTs.
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stine, they endured all the trials of the severe
ter, which promised to be severe.
and began their settlement on a little island to which they gave the
name of Sainte Croix.
willing industry began to clear away the cedars and pines from the
sandy soil, and erect dwellings.
MADAME DE LA PELTRIE WASHING AND DRESSING INDIAN CHILDREN.
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but disease thinned them sadly,
Season,

182 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Champlain explored the coast as far as Cape Cod, de Monts sought
a new site for his colony. He at last decided upon Port Royal, and
to it transferred his settlement, and Maine was abandoned.
Port Royal did not thrive, however; it was a mere trading-post in
the hands of French nobles and gentlemen. But Champlain, in 1608,
carried out a wiser plan, and began a settlement at Quebec. Below
the cliff he landed, July 3, 1608, and laid out a fort. Cape Diamond,
tali and bare, and the green heights of Point Levi echo to the wood-
men's axes as they level the trees which lined the shore. Champlain
is there, directing and guiding, himself an example to the rest, ſn
a few weeks a strong wooden wall enclosed three buildings and a
garden spot, while cannon bristled from a platform looking Out On
the river. Over this floated the flag of France, sometimes to droop,
but soon to recover and hold its own here for more than a hundred
and fifty years. - - -
Thus were the two colonies of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, and Canada
begun. -
Jesuit missionaries began to labor among the Indians near Port
Royal, but a new proprietor of the place was unfriendly to them.
By the aid of a French lady of rank, Madame de Guercheville, they
began in 1613 a missionary settlement at Mount Desert Island, on
the coast of Maine. They had scarcely landed and commenced
building, when Argall, from V irginia, escorting some fishing vessels
near there, heard of it, and without any authority attacked and broke
up the settlement, killing one of the missionaries, and plundering all.
Hearing of the establishment at Port Royal, he visited and plundered
that also.
Port Royal was soon restored, and in time Acadia was possessed
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 1S3
by two proprietors, d'Aulnay and La Tour. Of the latter we may
here relate an interesting incident. His father joined the English,
and receiving many honors, offered to go over and persuade his son
to yield his post or join the English. With a considerable force he
approached his son's fort, but that gentleman, true to his flag,
spurned his father's base offers in a truly noble letter, and prepared
to defend himself. He held his own so manfully that the elder
La Tour, defeated and remorseful, became the suppliant. To return
to England after his failure he durst not do, so he threw himself on
the mercy of his son, who assigned him a house outside of his fort,
and there maintained him.
Subsequent to this La Tour became involved in difficulties with
d’Aulnay. Both sought aid from New England to carry on the
war against his own countrymen, whose little posts were dotted along
the deeply indented shores of Maine and Nova Scotia. Had they
worked in harmony, they might have built up a flourishing colony?
Once, during their struggle, in 1645, d'Aulnay learning that La Tour
had left his fort on the St. John's with a slight garrison, marched to
attack it with all the force he could muster. But he did not find it an
easy task to reduce it. Madame La Tour, with only a handful of men. *
determined to defend the place to the last. To the summons of
d’Aulnay she returned a bold, defiant answer. The fire of her cannon
and musketry was such as to drive her assailants off; but on the
fourth day one of her men deserted, and d’Aulnay learned how small
a force opposed him. But she would not yield. As d’Aulnay was
scaling the wall she rushed forward at the head of her little garrison to
repel his assault. D'Aulnay, amazed at such courage, proposed terms.
and having obtained. Such as she deemed honorable, the brave lady
| S-4 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
surrendered, but the treacherous d’Aulnay on entering seized and
hanged all her men but one, compelling the brave lady to witness
their execution with a rope around her own neck. The shock was
such that three weeks after this gallant lady and devoted wife breathed
her last.
With these few incidents in Acadian history we return to Champlain
and his colony.
The Indians whom Cartier had found on the St. Lawrence had
disappeared. Its banks were lined by roving bands of the Montagnais,
called by the New Yorkers in olden time Adirondacks. These
brought in furs to the French posts to trade. Other tribes heard
of it, and the Algonquins on the Ottawa came down in fleets of birch
canoes, loaded with skins of beaver, moose, and deer, to trade with
the bearded men who came in mighty ships from over the sea.
Other Indians, still of a totally different race, living in palisaded
tºwns, and raising corn and tobacco, beans and Squashes, in great
plenty on the shores of Lake Huron, and called Hurons by the French,
also made their way to Quebec. Champlain made all these wild
and savage tribes friends to his little colony. But to be their friend
he had to help them against their great enemy. This was a nation
occupying what is now New York, from the Hudson almost to Niagara.
The French called them Iroquois; the English, when they came to
know them, termed them Five Nations, for they comprised the
Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas.
Against these the allies required Champlain to join them in war.
So, in the early summer of 1609, he ascended the St. Lawrence with
a few Frenchmen in a shallop and a large force of Indians. He
entered the Sorel River and ascended till the rapids prevented his
or, our country’s ACIIIEVEMENTs.
T
Ş
j
further progress. Then, sending back his boat, he went on with the
Indians and entered the lake which bears his name. On the 30th
of July, as the sun was sinking behind the Adirondacks, they came in
sight of a fleet of Iroquois canoes on the lake. The hills around
echoed back the yells and cries of the foemen. Both parties made
for the shore and prepared for battle on the morn. With the dawn
the Iroquois Sallied forth from their hastily made fort, led by chiefs
with tall plumes. As they came on, Champlain stepped forth from
the midst of his allies, in his helmet and cuirass, his arquebuse in his
hand. The Iroquois gazed in wonder at this new warrior, but his
fire-arms soon laid one chief low and another beside him. Then his
allies poured on the astonished Iroquois a shower of arrows. They
stood their ground, sending volley after volley at the allies, till
Champlain's two comrades, who had approached under cover of
bushes, opened fire. Then the Iroquois broke and fled in terror,
pursued by Montagnais and Huron and Algonquin along the banks
of the lake.
Such was the first Indian battle in Canadian history, fought on the
shore of Lake Champlain.
Quebec was slowly growing, with its profitable trade, each ear
beholding the wide river before it swarm with canoes from the remote
west, bearing to the French post skins of animals hunted eved as
far west as Lake Superior. Champlain was the soul of all. Year
ºfter year he was on the Atlantic, hastening to France to engage
Some high noble to obtain the title of Viceroy and give his influence
to Canada; or sailing back with well-chosen men and needed supplies.
In 1615 he brought out several priests of the Franciscan Order to
minister in his colony and convert the Indians. These simple-minded,
1 S6 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
devoted men, with the Jesuits who soon joined them, gave a religious
tone to the colony. With one of them, the adventurous Father
Caron, Champlain set out for the country of the Huron Indians, and
while the priest reared his altar in a rude cabin, amid the dusky
denizens of the wild Canadian forest, Champlain prepared to march
with a Huron force to attack some allies of the Iroquois in New York
State. With a large Huron force they left the palisaded towns of
that mation as the Indian summer deluded the French by its sudden
warmth. They threaded in their canoes the long line of lakes and
rivers leading to Lake Ontario. No human habitation met their eye.
It was all wilderness, tenanted only by the wild beast and fowl.
Hunting and fishing, the army leisurely made its way till it reached
the broad expanse to which these tribes gave the name we still
retain, Ontario, beautiful lake. Across its surface, now ploughed
by steamers, these light bark canoes bore the host of warriors, and
were then hidden in the woods on the southern shore. A march
into the interior of the beautiful western part of New York, brought
them to the large palisaded town of their enemies. Champlain pre-
pared huge machines to overtop the rude wall, but his allies were
rash and ungovernable, and their attacks failed.
Disregarding the protections he devised, they rushed up to the
foot of the paisade to ſire it; but from the gallery abov; the defendors
hurled stones and poured down water from their large bark reservoirs.
Their arrows darkened the air, and Huron after Huron fell dead or
wounded. Champlain, ſighting gallantly, received two wounds, and
at last found the Hurons bent on abandoning the siege. They re-
treated to their canoes, galled all the way through the forest-paths
by the arrows of their foe. At last they reached their canoes, and
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 187
were once more on Lake Ontario. Such was the second battle fought
by the French to secure the territory of New York.
Warious trading-companies from time to time controlled Canada,
but Cardinal Richelieu at last formed one known as The New France
Company. Under this, Canada had already begun to increase, when
an English fleet in 1628 ascended the river and destroyed a French
post. A summons came to Champlain to surrender Quebec : but
though Kirk, the English commander, had just intercepted his supplies
from France, he answered boldly, “I will hold Quebec to the last.’
Kirk looked up at the rocky height of Quebec, and at the little fort,
and feared to attack. The next year he returned. Champlain and
his little colony had almost perished during that dreary winter.
He surrendered, and the flag of England waved over Cape Diamond.
‘Champlain was almost recaptured on the St. Lawrence by a French
vessel, but was taken to England.
In 1632, Canada was restored to France, and Champlain returned
as Governor. A new impulse was given to colonization, and Cham-
plain directed the little colony with great wisdom, till this Father
of New France died peacefully on the 25th of December, 1635.
He left a name unsullied and unimpeached. He was a skillful navi.
galor, a brave commander, a prudent Governor, and a sincere.
upright, practical Christian.
At this time posts existed at Quebec, Tadoussac, Three Rivers,
and near Montreal, while the Jesuit missions extended from the
mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Huron country, and a college was
opened by them at Quebec, the earliest seat of learning in Northern
America.
Soon after the death of Champlain the Iroquois renewed their war
188 TILE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
wn the Hurons, and prevented the French from carrying out a
projected Settlement in that part. But the missionaries stood their
ground, and though exposed to all the horrors of Indian cruelty,
did not ſalter.
Meanwhile a religious fervor was excited in France, and pious
people were eager to aid the growth of Canada. In 1639 a ship
arrived at Quebec, and from it came Ursuline nuns to open schools
for French and Indian girls, and Hospital nuns to tend the sick. As
they landed they knelt to kiss the soil of the New World. With the
Ursulines came a young widow, Magdalen de la Peltrie, who fled from
the gayeties of France to give her fortune and her assistance to the
Ursulines. Without becoming a nun she ſounded their convent and
shared their labors. A venerable ash-tree still stands within the
enclosure of the Ursuline convent at Quebec, beneath whose leafy
shade this devoted lady, two hundred years ago, washed with her
own hands and dressed in civilized garments the first little red pupils
sent to the Ursulines to instruct. Her zeal was not momentary , she
spent her whole life in Canada, aiding in every good work, and
when she died, in 1671, was mourned by the whole colony.
In the general movement in favor of Canada, Sillery, a Knight
of Malta, sent means to found a settlement for Christian Indians, and a
pious association in 1642 founded the city of Montreal. This city
became the bulwark of Canada, for almost immediately a new Iroquois
war broke out, and the Five Nations attacked alike the French and
their allies. Father Jogues, a Jesuit missionary, was captured and
carried off a prisoner to the Mohawk, where one of his companions was
put to death, and he himself, after undergoing fearful tortures, was at last
with difficulty rescued by the kind-hearted Dutch colonists at Albany.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 13 *
To defend Canada and check the inroads of the Mohawks, Mont-
magny, the Governor of Canada, whom these Indians called Onontid,
built a fort at the mouth of the Sorel.
One day, while the Governor's bark lay in the rapid Sorel, and the
soldiers were busy on the fortification, the yell of the Indian brºke
the stillness of the forest, and a volley from Dutch muskets in their
dusky hands rattled among them. Corporal du Rocher rallied his
men, and the Mohawks, losing several of their braves, fled in confusiº.
The annals of Canada abound in heroic achievements,
Ahasistari, a Huron chief, when Father Jogues was taken, refused tº
abandon him. “I vowed to share thy fortunes, whether death or {{{...
Lo, brother, here I am to keep my vow !” He had been the terrºr
of the Mohawks. Once, on Lake Ontario, he was surprised by a
large force of Iroquois war canoes. “We are dead ' " cried his
braves, “let us fly l’’ ‘‘No no " he exclaimed, “ let us meet theº
rather,” and seizing his paddle, made his canoe skim over the water
towards them. Then, with a bound, he sprang into the forentost
canoe, tomahawked one man, dashed two others into the Water 0:1
either side, and upset the canoe. Before they could realize their
position, he was swimming around with one hand and dealing with
the right deadly blows with his terrible hatchet at every Mohawk
head struggling in the water. With loud cries the other Mohawk
canoes took flight, pursued by the Hurons, who picked up their
gallant chief.
Montreal could boast of a great Indian fighter in the town major.
Lambert Closse, whose skill and bravery often saved that frontier
town from the Indians. One day in July, 1651, when the broiling
sun poured down on the little town beneath the mountain of Montreal.
* {}{} . THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
;
and all seemed to languish under the influence, the Sisters of the
Hospital were startled by an Indian yell. Mohawks had glided
into the town and crept up a ditch to their very door. Closse, with
sixteen men, had been stationed there, and though the enemy were
two hundred, he fought them steadily, almost hand to hand, from
sunrise till the sun sank again in the west. Every sally told, for
where Closse charged the Indians gave way, knowing his deadly
aim and the weight of his arm. At one time they swarmed over
the wall in such force that he could not drive them back, when his
only cannon, loaded to its utmost, suddenly burst, killing one French-
man, but hurling a number of the Indians into the air in fragments
and filling the rest with terror.
On another occasion the watch-dogs warned the Governor of
Montreal that Indians were prowling around. Closse was sent out
to reconnoitre. His scouts discovered the enemy ; but he was in-
stantly surrounded by several hundred Indians, who came on with
fierce yells from the forest around, whose reddening autumn leaves
were a banner of war. Closse saw at a glance his danger, and
knowing an abandoned house near, made a bold push and cut his
way through the enemy. They reached it with little loss, and, once
inside, barricaded it well and cut loop-holes. Taken aback by his
bold dash, the Mohawks had paused ; now, convinced of their error,
they dashed on, but his deadly rifles carried death through their
ranks. He kept up the fight till all his powder was gone, then a
gallant fellow named Baston, under cover of their last volley, dashed
out and reached Montreal at a run. With panting words he told the
situation. Ten men started out with him, carrying ammunition and a
small cannon. While some reached the house, the rest attacked
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 194
the enemy in the rear, and then Closse, Sallying out, routed them
with terrible slaughter.
The war was not constant. There were occasional lulls. • Peace
was made with great ceremony at Three Rivers, in July, 1645, and
the Mohawks promised to bury the hatchet forever. Yet, when
Father Jogues went as a missionary to their towns, he was seized
and cruelly butchered.
Then the war was renewed. One of their first acts was to surprise
and kill by treachery Pieskaret, a great Montagnais chief, a friend
of the French, who, unsuspicious of hostilities, welcomed a party as
friends and was killed on the spot. -
This Pieskaret was one of the bravest and most crafty of Indians on
record. Once, with four comrades, he set out from Three Rivers,
resolved to make the Iroquois pay dearly in atonement for the slaughter
of his countrymen. Each of his party had three muskets loaded with
two bullets chained together.
Grim and silent, they paddled steadily up the Sorel. An Iroquois
war party of fifty braves, in ten canoes, at last emerges in their sight,
and loud yells arise at the prize so near their grasp. Pieskaret
and his men raise their death chant, standing erect, ready for their
inevitable doom. But as the enemy are about to seize them, their
chant dies away, each stoops to seize a weapon, and fifteen bullets
are sent through the frail elm-bark canoes of the Mohawk braves.
In a moment the whole war party was floundering in the rapid river,
while Pieskaret paddled on, shooting and tomahawking, sparing only a
few to lead off as prisoners to grace his triumph.
Another time, as the snows began to disappear beneath the genial
warmth of spring, and all travel was suspended, he set out alone.
j92 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
With infinite toil he threaded the intricacies of the woods, with their
deep ravines and swelling torrents, till he came near the Mohawk
country. Then he reversed his snow-shoes, putting the point behind.
At last the smoke curling from the bark lodges showed him that a
town was reached. Concealing himself till night, he stole under
cover of darkness into a cabin, cut down all there, and bore off their
scalps to his lurking-place. With the dawn came the wild yells,
the death cry, and the Mohawks swarmed out to find the assailant.
They found tracks entering the village, none going out. Three nights
in succession he did the same. The Mohawks durst not sleep. Still
Pieskaret watched, and stole warily around till he caught a Mohawk
nodding at his post. He struck him down ; but his victim gave his
death cry. The whole village rushed out. Pieskaret, the fleetest
runner known, soon distanced them, and hid himself. A party in
pursuit stopped near by to rest. Pieskaret, ever on the alert, returned,
tomahawked them, and then made his way to the St. Lawrence with
the bloody trophies of his campaign.
The Iroquois cantons poured an immense force into the Huron
country, taking town after town, slaying many, carrying off soute
as prisoners, and putting others to death with the most fearful
tortures. The Jesuit missionaries stood fearlessly by their flocks.
Fathers John Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalemant were tortured for hours,
enclosed in resiny bark, which was set on ſire, burned from head
to foot with heated stones and iron, scalped, their flesh cut away and
devoured before their eyes, till death put an end to their sufferings
and crowned their triumph. Nor were they the only ones : in the
Huron towns, on their pious journeys among peaceful tribes, the
missionaries were slain amid their pious labors.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 193
In a short time Upper Canada was a desert, and the French posts
on the St. Lawrence were in a state of siege.
At a moment when all seemed lost, the Iroquois of their own
accord appeared, bearing the white flag. Men could scarce believe
their senses when these fierce warriors offered peace and invited the
French to begin a settlement at Onondaga, and establish missions
there.
On the northern shore of Lake Onondaga the French settlement
of St. Mary's, with its Christian mission, was begun in 1656, and the
truths of the gospel were proclaimed from the Mohawk to the Niagara.
Everything betokened success, when signs which there was no mis-
taking, warned them that the treacherous savages were planning their
massacre. The nearest post was Montreal, and to reach it seemed
impossible.
A plan was formed. Silently and cautiously they made several
large boats within their houses, and collected there all canoes that
could be obtained. When all was ready, a young man, who had been
adopted by the Onondagas, met the chiefs.
“I must give a feast to my red brothers, a bounteous feast, where
all must be eaten.”
“It is Well.”
The little bundles of sticks denoting the number of days to the feast
were distributed. All the live-stock were killed, and the feast began.
By the rules of the Indians each brave is compelled to eat all set
before him, and the French heaped the bark platters. Music and
dances varied the entertainment, and they ate away till it was far
into the night. Then the gorged and weary savages crawled to their
lodges, and were soon lost in a heavy slumber. When all had become
194 TIME STORY or A G REAT NATION.
still in the Indian village, the French got down their last boats, and
loading them, embarked. All night long they plied the paddle and
the oar, and day saw them beyond pursuit. The wide, open lake,
Ontario, is reached at last, and keeping well off shore, they threaded
the Thousand Islands and darted down the St. Lawrence to Montreal.
Meanwhile, their guests, after sleeping far into the day, roused up,
and by degrees strolled to the French settlement. All was still.
“They sleep heavy,” said the Indians. But when the Sun began ty
descend towards the west their curiosity became excited. There was
no answer to their knock. At last, some bolder than the rest, climbed
and reached a window and entered. From room to room they wan-
dered. The Frenchmen had gone. Then they were perplexed. “The
Frenchman had no boats,” said they. “He has gone by magic, he has
walked through the air, for he has left no trail on land.” *.
Again the French colony was scourged by a desolating Indian war,
interrupted by occasional gleams of peace, due, especially, to Garakon-
thie, an Onondaga chief, who became a Christian and sought to bring
his tribe to the arts of Christianity and peace.
In 1662 a change took place in the government, by which the
Company ceased to control Canada, and it became a royal pro-
vince.
CHAPTER VII.
New Netherland—Hudson's Discovery—Christiaensen–Valentine and Orson—Block builds:
the “Onrust,” the first New York vessel—New York and Albany Settled—Treaty of Tawa-
sentha-Dutch West India Company—Purchase of New York Island—The New Nether.
land—Indian Troubles—Captain Underhill and the Battle of Strickland's Plain—The
Swedes on the Delaware—They are reduced by Stuyvesant—Troubles with New England—
New Netherland taken by the English.
ON the 3d of September, 1609, a little two-masted yacht of not
more than eighty tons, such as gentlemen now use for pleasure,
cautiously sailed in between Coney Island and Sandy Hook, and
anchored in a bay that seemed alive with fish. From the masthead
floated the orange-white-blue banner of Holland, but the commander
was an English navigator of long experience, who had sailed to find
here what Smith sought up the Chickahominy, a passage to India.
All around was beautiful. A white sandy beach, with its plum-
bushes, then towering oaks, pine, and cedar, meadows of rich green
grass, enamelled with the flowers of early autumn, the iron-weed with
its purple masses, the thistle and deep, dark, Sumach berries, with
snowy masses of aster. Around him was a noble harbor, a capa-
cious basin which received the waters of large rivers. Ere long the
Half Moon was approached by canoes, dug-outs of wood, with natives
wondering at his little craft, as though it were some Ark of the
*. earliest, or Great Eastern of latest date. In mantles of feathers and
robes of fur, with rude copper necklaces, they at first gazed in won-
der ; when at last they saw that the new-comers were men, they ap-
proached with beans and clams to offer. Cautiously did Henry Hudson
enter Newark Bay, and sailed up the river that still bears his name,
till he anchored beneath the shadow of the majestic Catskills. Further
196 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
on he landed in an Indian canoe. A feast was spread for him
by a chief: pigeons were shot for their guest, and a dog prepared ;
lout Hudson did not stay to enjoy it, though the Indians, to dispel
all fear, broke their bows and arrows and threw them into the fire.
Near where Albany stands he traded for several days, and gave
jquor to the Indians so freely, that the tribes long retained the memory
of this first revel and use of drinks that were to prove their ruin.
On his way down he had a collision with the natives, and killed
several of them near Fort Washington. Then, hoisting sail, he glided
into the bay and was soon once more on the open sea. Reaching
England first, he sent a report to Holland, but was detained by the
government, and not allowed to return in person to his Dutch em-
ployers. *
But the way was opened to the emergetic sons of Holland. Dutch
ships at once began to run over and carry on trade with the natives
for furs. Henry Christiaensen, of Cleves, the real father of the Dutch
colony of New Netherland, led the way, and on his second voyage, in
1611, with Adrian Block, who has left his name to an island which
you will find near Narragansett Bay, took back a good ship-load
of furs and two young men, sons of Indian chiefs on the Hudson.
In allusion to the old fairy tale, and probably from their different dispo-
sitions, the Dutch called these two young men Valentine and Orson.
They were educated in Holland, and subsequently returned to the
Hudson, but were of little service to the Dutch. Orson was an Orson
indeed : not long after he caused Christiaensen's death, and was shot
down on the spot.
in 1613 Block met with a misfortune. His little vessel, while in
the waters near Manhattan Island, took fire and was destroyed.
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. † 97
So he wintered on the island, dreaming, perhaps, of the great city One
day to cover it. Block's log-cabins were the first white dwellings
in the State. With stout heart he and his men set to work to repair
their loss, and the yacht Onrust, which they built, was the first vessel
ever launched in New York waters. So began the settlement and
industry of New York.
The next year Christiaensen threw up a little block-house on
Castle Island, just below Albany. It was called Fort Nassau, and
our readers can readily picture it to their own minds. As you
approached the island you saw a stockade of stout timbers, fifty-eight
feet square. If you landed and made your way up the low island,
you found that the fort was surrounded by a ditch eighteen feet wide.
Crossing this, you entered the palisade to find a substantial Dutch
trading-house, twenty-six feet wide by thirty-six long. To this came
in canoes, Mohegans from the east, Mohawks and River Indians from
the west, to sell the furs taken in their winter hunts.
It was soon after this that Christiaensen, who had made ten voyages
from Holland to the Hudson, met his death as we have mentioned,
a sad end to his active career.
The States-General, as the Government of Holland was called,
now began to notice the new acquisition. They named the country
New Netherland, authorized a trading company, and in 1614 issued
a charter. Thus the Dutch colony took its place. Manhattan, which
is the Indian word for island, became a well-known place.
The little Dutch colony now sought the alliance of the most powerful
Indian tribe in the land, the Iroquois, or Five Nations, and in 1617
concluded a treaty with them at Tawasentha, or Norman's Kill.
This treaty, held with delegates from various tribes, and especially
198 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
with the powerful Mohawks, became the great bulwark of the colony.
From that day the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas, and
Senecas looked upon the colonists as friends, and by the influence
they exercised over the other tribes, prevented many hostilities. In
fact, they never wavered, even when the English took the colony,
but continued friendly down to the time of our Revolution, when the
British Government used them to desolate our frontier settlements.
The Dutch, centering at Manhattan, explored the coast as far as
Narragansett Bay and the Delaware ; but the Connecticut and Dela-
ware were claimed as the limits of the colony. - -
In 1621 a great company of merchants was formed, called the
Dutch West India Company, and to it New Netherland was conveyed.
The colony remained in the control of this Company till the time of
the English conquest. It set to work with activity to increase the
settlement and extend trade. Colonists came over and settled where
Albany now stands, and in 1622 Fort Orange was erected there.
Another fort grew up near Gloucester, New Jersey, on the banks of
the Delaware, while the rocky island of Manhattan began to be dotted
with houses. Around these posts ground was cleared, grain planted,
and an industrious, simple, thriving population was formed.
Under Cornelis Jacobsen May, the first Director or Governor of New
Netherland, live-stock in considerable quantities was sent over in
1624, and the Indians saw for the first time horses, cattle, sheep,
and swine, domestic animals of which they had no idea.
The next Director, Peter Minuit, is famous for a purchase which
he made. He bought Manhattan Island of the natives for sixty
guilders, equal to about twenty-four dollars, and this paid in trinkets,
and what was Worse, in liquor.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 199:
We have seen what Jamestown, the first English town, was. What
New York was in those days we can also tell pretty well. Below
what is now the Bowling Green, negro slaves who had been brought
in, were building Fort Amsterdam ; near its rising walls were the
bark houses of the Dutch settlers, made at first much like those of
the natives; each man lived on his own little farm, and all were busy,
some building more substantial houses, some trading with the Indians,
the mechanics plying their different trades, while cattle browsed in the
rich meadows. There was no church or minister; the settlers met for
worship in a large room in a horse mill, to which a bell, captured
from a Spanish vessel, called them to the services, which were directed
by two men, called Consolers of the Sick.
They were good-hearted, cheerful, industrious, practical people,
without the reckless misgovernment of the early settlers at James-
to Wn.
In 1626, Wan Krieckebeeck, Commandant at Fort Orange, foolishly
intermeddled in an Indian war, and with six men joined a Mohegan
war party against the Mohawks; but they had not gone many miles
before they were suddenly attacked. A shower of flint-headed arrows
swept through their ranks. The Dutch commander and three of his
men were killed, the rest fled; two of them, Portuguese soldiers, barely
escaped, one of them being severely wounded in the back while
swimming a river. Fortunately for the Dutch the Mohawks did not
follow up this victory, but became friendly again, and the Dutch,
taught by this lesson, never again attacked them.
A great event took place in 1631. The Dutch West India Com-
pany, to show the importance of the colony, built at New Amsterdam,
as New York was then called, a ship called the New Netherland, of
200 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
six hundred tons. It was the largest vessel yet built in America,
and probably one of the greatest merchant vessels of its time in the
World. The little town must have watched its progress, and grown
wild with enthusiasm, when it at last glided down into the water,
and was duly named, with a bottle of wine broken over the bow.
And when, fully rigged, she took in her cargo of furs and other New
Netherland commodities, how all followed her with their eyes as she
moved grandly down to the Narrows, beyond Sandy Hook, to the
open sea! Every man felt a personal pride in the noble ship, every
timber of which grew in the colony, and which bore out a cargo of
: purely colonial productions.
But while all were thus prospering, a terrible massacre occurred on
the Delaware, caused by a trifling thing. At Swanendael, near where
Lewiston is now, the Dutch had planted a post with the arms of
Holland painted on a tin plate. An Indian chief took this down to
make pipes of it. Hossett, the Dutch commander, made great com-
plaints at this insult to his country. The Indians, not understanding
this, but supposing it to be what they call some big medicine, killed
the chief and brought his scalp to the Dutch. His family, to avenge
his death, planned a general massacre of the Dutch, and while they
were all scattered in the fields at work, three of the boldest entered
Hossett's house, pretending they had come to buy some articles, and
as he came down the ladder, killed him. A large dog kept at the
little fort caused them some alarm, but they killed it with twenty-five
arrows, and then stole out and cut down all the settlers one by one.
Then the silence of the grave hung over the desolate valley.
The Dutch were more successful on the Connecticut, where, in 1633,
Arendt Wan Curler bought of the Pequods and Mohegans ſand for a
oR, our countEY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 201
meadow south of Little River, near the present city of Hartford
Here the little fort Good Hope was erected, and with its cannor
tried to hold the river. But the people of New England had also
learned to trade in furs, and they, in spite of the Dutch, ran past
Fort Good Hope and settled at Windsor. In a few years they took
possession of the mouth of the river, and the Dutch were driven back
towards the Hudson.
New Dutch settlements grew up on the Delaware, but in 1638 a
Swedish colony came over under Peter Minuits, and established
Fort Christina, near Wilmington. The Dutch protested, but the
Swedes held on ; emigrants came over, and a little Swedish settlement
was formed, with its Lutheran church. They cultivated friendship with
the Indian tribes, and showed more zeal than the Dutch or Virginians
did to convert them to Christianity.
The Dutch colony advanced steadily. The fruits of Europe were
planted and throve, and all was prosperous, when Indian troubles
arose in 1640, and Governor Kieft sent an expedition against the Rari-
tans which ravaged their fields and killed many. The Raritans, who –,
had really done the Dutch no wrong, retaliated by attacking the Dutch
settlements on Staten Island.
Then a Westchester Indian murdered a man on Manhattan Island, and
as his tribe refused to give him up, on the ground that he did it to retal-
iate the murder of his uncle by the Dutch, Kieft sent an expedition
against them, and they made peace, promising to give up the murderer.
Other hostilities followed; the whole colony was alarmed, and
from the Mohawk came tidings that that fierce tribe were at war with
the French, and actually had a French missionary in their hands, on
whom they had inflicted terrible cruelties.
202 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Kieft massacred Indian parties at Jersey City, Corlaer's Hook, and
on Long Island. Then the war became general ; the Dutch were
attacked in the fields and on rivers, and at last found it necessary
to raise an army. They gave command to Captain John Underhill, an
old Indian fighter from New England. Anne Hutchinson's settlement
was, however, destroyed by the Westchester Indians, and Lady
Moody's plantation at Gravesend was saved only by the bravery
of the colonists, who were attacked by a host of Indians ; but a settle-
ment at Maspeth was broken up. W
Fort Amsterdam was a scene of confusion : from all parts the
settlers came crowding in with all they could save from their burning
bouses and fields, and while famine threatened the land, Kieft, the
author of all the mischief, coolly sent off to the West Indies two
shiploads of grain. 3.
It was while the little town on Manhattan Island was in such a
state of distress. that the missionary Isaac Jogues, whom the Dutch
at Albany had rescued, visited it, and gives us a description which is
very interesting. It was then, as it has always since been, a place
for men of all languages and religions. *
As the war went on, Underhill destroyed two Indian villages near
Hempstead, Long Island, killing more than a hundred.
In another expedition, marching over rocks and Snow from Green-
wich, he came up to an Indian village, standing out in the strong
moonlight from the mountain behind. It was full of Indians, who
yelled defiance. On charged the Dutch ; but the Indians sallied
bravely out, fighting till a hundred and eighty lay dead on the snow,
and many Dutch fell under the Indian arrows. Then Underhill
managed to fire the village, and of the seven hundred Indians only
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACI11 EvKMENTs. 303
eight escaped ; all the rest were slain or perished in the flames. Such
was the battle of Strickland's Plain, the most terrible Indian battle in
early New York annals.
At last, in 1645, a great council of the Indian tribes convened at
Fort Amsterdam. And in front of it, under the open sky, in view
of the noble harbor, Sachems of all the tribes seated themselves in
grave silence in presence of the Governor and Council, and solemnly
smoking the pipe of peace, bound themselves to eternal friendship
with the Dutch.
Under Peter Stuyvesant, who became Governor in 1647 a more
vigorous government was established, and order introduced. But
the English kept encroaching from the Connecticut, and the Swedes
were troublesome on the Delaware. At last the Swedes, under
Rising, seized Fort Casimir.
Then, one Sunday in September, 1655, the largest armament that
had ever yet sailed out of New York Bay, started for the Delaware
There were seven vessels, led by the flag-ship the Balance, Captain
Frederick De Koninck, and carrying in all nearly seven hundred
IſlGI].
Stuyvesant himself was in command. Fort Casimir was soon re-
taken, and the Dutch fleet anchored in the mouth of the Brandywine,
and invested Fort Christina on all sides. Finding it useless to attempt
a defence, Rising, the Swedish Governor, capitulated, Sept. 25, 1655.
and the Swedish colony in America ceased to exist.
But meanwhile New Amsterdam was in danger. Provoked by
the murder of a squaw, Indians from Stamford to Esopus, and from
the banks of the Hudson, gathered, nearly two thousand in number.
$3efore daybreak their fleet of canoes reached the lower end of the
204 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
island, and scattered through the streets of the sleeping town. They
did not at once commence hostilities, though they robbed several
houses. When day came, the authorities in the fort called the Sachems
to a conference, and made them promise to leave the town before
sunset; but towards evening they killed two men ; then the people
rallied and drove the Indians to the canoes. Why they hesitated to
destroy the town in the morning is not known ; but now roused, they
ravaged Hoboken, Pavonia, now Jersey City, and Staten Island,
killing a hundred settlers, and carrying off a hundred and fifty more,
leaving naught but ruins and ashes where all had been thriving
farms.
Stuyvesant's return restored confidence: many of the captives were
recovered, but he was not strong enough to punish them for the
l]] 3.SS3,CI’é.
When, however, the Esopus Indians attacked the settlement there,
killing many and burning several of their prisoners at the stake,
Stuyvesant led an expedition against them in September, 1659, but
was unable to follow them in their forest retreats. The next year he
took some prisoners and sent them to the West Indies as slaves.
This and the capture and death of their chief Preummaker forced the
Esopus Indians to ask peace, and a treaty was solemnly concluded
by Stuyvesant in the presence of delegates of tribes from the Mohawk
to the Susquehanna.
But they did not forget their comrades sold into slavery, and in
1663 again attacked the Dutch, killing twenty-one and carrying off
nearly fifty prisoners. An expedition under Kregier started in pur-
suit over rocks and mountains, and at last, in September, overtook
them at Shawangunk Kill. Here a desperate fight took place, but
oR, our countRY's Achi EVEMENTS. 205
*
Papequanaehen, the Esopus chief, and fourteen warriors fell; the rest
fled, and Kregier took many prisoners, recovered most of the Dutch
captives, and returned in triumph.
But the colony was doomed. The English Government had de-
termined to seize it. Charles II. granted New Netherland to his
brother James, Duke of York, and in August, 1664, an English fleet
anchored within the bay and summoned Stuyvesant to surrender.
The Dutch Governor hesitated. Nicolls, the English commander.
occupied Brooklyn, and anchored two ships before the wretched fort.
Even then Stuyvesant would have resisted, but he yielded to the voice
of the people, and on the 6th of September, 1664, a capitulation was
agreed to, and New Netherland became New York.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Settlement of New England—The Pilgrim Fathers—Landing at Plymouth Rock—Miles
Standish—Massachusetts Bay—New Hampshire—Roger Williams and Mrs. Hutchinson—
Providence Plantations and Rhode Island Founded—Settlement of Hartford and New
Haven—The United Colonies—The Pequod War—John Eliot, the Apostle of the Indians—
Persecution of the Quakers—Settlement of Maryland—Toleration—Indian Relations—Civil
War.
THE colonies thus far settled on the coast, were formed by the
spirit of adventure or commerce. Religious affairs were attended
to in Virginia, New Sweden, New Netherland, but other colonies
were now to be formed in which religion was the motive and the
absorbing idea.
England had, at the Reformation, separated from the Church of
Rome. During the reign of Edward VI. a new church organization
206 *
THE STOIRY OF A GREAT NATION.
was established, which, under Elizabeth, consolidated into the Church
of England. Many of the people, however, and especially those who
in Queen Mary's reign had been in Geneva, wished many things
altered which were retained by the Church of England. These were
known as Separatists, Independents, and Puritans.
Elizabeth and her successor, James I., wished to compel all to join
the Church of England, and severe laws were passed against Catholics
who clung to Rome, and the Puritans, who deemed the Church of
England not sufficiently reformed. They could worship God according
to the dictates of their conscience only in concealment and by stealth.
Among the Puritan congregations thus formed, was one guided by
John Robinson, at Scrooby, in Yorkshire. After suffering for more
than a year, they resolved to seek refuge in Holland, where the
Church of the land was in harmony with their views, and where some
of their fellow-believers were already settled.
A Dutch captain was approached, and passage secured in his ship
for a large party. But he was a traitor. The Pilgrims, long used to
caution, stole down by night, and reached the ship with such of their
household goods as they could carry without exciting suspicion. They
trod the deck, and rejoiced in their escape from pursuivants.
But the anchors were not hoisted, no preparation made to sail, and
ere long the vessel was boarded by the minions of the law, and the
whole party hurried to the shore and confined in prison. Yet they
did not lose heart.
The next spring an unfrequented heath in Lincolnshire, where the
wide Humber seeks the ocean, silent, serious men gathered with their
families, modest, shrinking women, fearful children. All felt the im-
portance of the moment, and its danger. The boats from the ship at
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. * 207
last came through the curing waves, and Some embarked. All was
yet safe, but, as a boat sped onward to the ship, the cries of women
and children, still left behind, thrilled them to the heart. The soldiery
were upon them ; shots came rattling towards the boat; the helpless
ones on the shore were surrounded and dragged off. Agony filled
the hearts of those on the ship and those on shore; but the magistrates,
unable to send to their homes those who no longer had a home, soon
allowed them to follow their husbands and fathers.
In Holland they found welcome from their countrymen and from the
Dutch at Amsterdam, but as some dissensions grew up, Robinson
removed to Leyden, and he and his flock, by severe industry, man-
aged to live. But there was much around that was new and strange.
They thought of America. Their first idea was to settle in New
Netherland, but the Dutch authorities declined. Then they applied
to the Virginia Company, and after great difficulty obtained a Patent
which was in reality never used. But it decided their action.
Then all was activity in the little colony of exiles at Leyden. Every
preparation that their poverty permitted was made for the long and
venturesome voyage to an unknown land.
All did not go : Robinson and many more were to remain at
Leyden. These accompanied the Pilgrims to Delft Haven, where
they were to embark on the Speedwell. There they feasted together.
Robinson, their pastor, performed prayer, and with floods of tears the
Pilgrims were escorted to the ship in silence, each heart being too full
for words.
At Southampton they met the Mayflower, and the emigrants were
divided between the two vessels. There they bore away for the
American coast. The Speedwell did not do justice to her name. In
208 * THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION "
a few days she proved unseaworthy. They put back to Plymouth.
Some remained in England : all who could find room embarked in the
Mayflower, one of the famous ships in American history, that many
families look back to as the noble ark that bore their ancestors to our
shores.
Sailing on the 6th of September, the little vessel bore one hundred
and two souls, men, women, and children. The equinoctial storms
swept the ocean, and their voyage was long and dangerous. At last
the first glimpse of land cheered their sinking hearts. They were neaſ
Cape Cod, and ran South, but soon turned back and anchored withip
the cape.
Within the cabin they now drew up a covenant, or agreement, for
their future government, as they had no Charter, not being in the limits
of the Virginia Company. It was the first self-governing community
in America.
Bleak as was the coast, and appalling as was the idea of wintering
there, all were eager to land. Boats set out to explore the coast and
seek a suitable harbor. These parties suffered greatly in their ex-
amination of the Sandy, Snow-clad shore. At last they decided upon
Plymouth Harbor, as it has henceforth been called. Here, on the 21st
of December, 1620, they landed on a rock that is as famous as the
Mayflower that anchored before it.
There was no time for rest. At once the axe rung in the sharp
winter air. On a bold hill overlooking the bay a rude fort was thrown
up and their few cannon planted on it. At its foot two rows of huts
were laid out and staked, to accommodate nineteen families. Leyden
Street still marks the path on which these first white houses stood.
This was not done in a day. For weeks they toiled incessantly in
or, ou R couſ N ri:Y's A GIII Ev EY ENTs. 209
snow, and sleet, and rain. But there was cessation. No necessity
seemed to dispense with the sacred day of rest. The first Sunday
of the Pilgrims, when they met for solemn worship, not in grand
cathedral or plainest room, but under the winter sky, with no pro-
tection but the rude tent beside them, is a picture of their earnest faith
and sincerity.
But the severities of the winter on the bleak coast, with such shelter
as they could form, prostrated many. Death entered the little com-
munity, and before the spring came to cheer them with hope, one-half
the little colony lay buried on the bank.
But none were disheartened. They had found some Indian corn
buried by the natives, and had used it, intending, when required, to
make compensation. With the spring they would plant and be able to
do for themselves.
Then Providence sent them Squando. He was an Indian who had
been taken to London, where he had learned English and been well
treated. He joined the Pilgrims, and was useful in a thousand ways.
He showed them how and when to catch fish ; to use the bony fish that
came in shoals, as a manure for the sandy sail, planting the corn, so to
say, in fish ; he was their interpreter with his countrymen. He was
their faithful friend till they closed his eyes in death.
Early in the spring an Indian of commanding presence stalked into
the little village, and said in English, well enough to be understood :
“Welcome, Englishmen ” It was Samoset, a neighboring chief, and
never did friendly words come sweeter to human ears.
They had seen few Indians, and now learned that sickness had
nearly left the land a desert. Plymouth Colony had begun. In
England, meanwhile, King James had, in 1620, incorporated a new
210 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Company, called the Council of Plymouth, consisting of forty members
and had bestowed upon them all the territory of North America
between the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees, with the fisheries, and a
heavy duty on the tonnage.
The little colony, falling within the jurisdiction of this Company,
solicited a Charter, and obtained one in 1621. John Carver, chosen
the first Governor, on board the Mayflower, died from the hardships
of the first winter, and William Bradford was chosen. Their military
leader, should occasion require his services, was Miles Standish.
Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, who dwelt north of Narragan-
sett Bay, came soon to visit the Pilgrims, and was received with all the
ceremonies their poverty permitted. A treaty of friendship was soon
formed, and Massasoit was always true to his pledge. Canonicus, the
chief of the Narragansetts, was not so amicable. One day an Indian
stalked in, bearing a bundle of arrows tied in a rattlesnake's skin, from
this chieftain, his challenge and defiance. Governor Bradford replied
in the same language of signs. He stuffed the serpent's skin with
powder and ball, and sent it back. This awed the chieftain and
prevented a war.
The first Indian troubles arose from no fault of the Plymouth
settlers. They had come to America by the help of a kind of stock
Company, in which some English merchants had advanced money.
One of these, a man named Weston, thinking that his money would
not repay him soon enough, sent over a set of settlers on his own
account. Like most of those who came to other settlements, these
were idle, thriftless men. They intruded themselves on the people
of Plymouth for some months, consuming their scanty provisions, but
doing nothing to help the colony. At last they began their own settle-
oR, OUR Coux'ſ RY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 2 : 1
ment at Wissagusseſ, now Weymouth, on the south shore of Massa-
chusetts Bay. As such men always did, they soon began to feel a
want of provisions, and attempted to obtain a supply from the Indians
by violence. The natives formed a plot to destroy all the English on
the coast. A terrible fate thus menaced the little band at Plymouth.
Their friend Massasoit lay dying, but hearing, as he lay stretched on
the mat in his wigwam, the danger of his allies, he sent to warn them.
Standish was authorized by the colony to act. With a promptness.
that has made his name famous among Indian fighters, this brave man
marched at once upon Wetawamot, the head of the conspiracy, sur-
prised and killed him with several of his men. The reckless band who,
had brought about these troubles, broke up their settlement, and
Plymouth remained the only white post in what is now Massachusetts.
Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who had befriended the Pilgrims, and was
gratified by their success, obtained for himself and John Mason a grant
for a tract which he styled Laconia, extending from Salem to the
Kennebec. They began the work of colonization lavishly, and sent
out men who on the whole proved worthy settlers, though few in
number. Portsmouth and Dover in New Hampshire, settled by these
pioneers, rank next to Plymouth as the oldest New England towns.
Other settlements were started at various points along the shore,
most of which failed. Among these was one begun by Wollaston and
conducted for a time by Morton, a rollicking fellow, who called the place.
Merry Mount, set free the indentured servants, erected a maypole,
and kept up a wild career, till the people of Plymouth, shocked at his
*Ondu et, sent an armed party which arrested Morton and sent him out
of the country.
The founders of Plymouth were Separatists. The Puritans did not
212 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
wish to separate from the Church of England, but to remain in it and
reform it. These, now still more stern and severe, founded Massa-
chusetts Bay. The originator of the project was Mr. White, a Puritan
clergyman of Dorchester, England, who, after rousing the interest of
his fellow-believers, obtained from the Plymouth Company the grant
of a large tract from the Charles to the Merrimac, and three miles
beyond each of those rivers. To carry out the new settlement, John
Endicott, a stern, courageous man, was chosen as Governor.
In June, 1628, he was sent out with a small party, including his
own family. More fortunate than the Pilgrims, they arrived in Sep-
tember, and gathering the scattered settlers on the coast founded
Salem. Charles I. incorporated the adventurers under whom the
colony was founded as “The Governor and Company of Massachusetts
Bay in New England.” Colonists soon poured in, chiefly from Boston
in Lincolnshire, and clergymen of Puritan views were sent as guides
for the new settlers; some, who came full of attachment to the Church
of England, were promptly sent back. At first the government of the
colony was managed in England, but as soon as it was transferred to
America, there was a great increase in the number and rank of the
emigrants, many being persons of high character, wealth, and learning.
In 1630 fifteen ships sailed from England for Massachusetts Bay,
bearing about a thousand emigrants, carrying all that was needed for
a permanent and successful settlement. It was the most important
expedition that had yet sailed from England for the New World.
John Winthrop, the new Governor, with Dudley and others, em.
barked on the Arbella, so called in compliment to Lady Arbella
Johnson, one of the emigrants. They arrived in June, and settled
Boston. From the time they said their last “Farewell, England ° to
oR, our country’s ACHIEVEMENTS. 2 3
the receding shores of their native land, till they reached that of their
hopes, religious services were maintained daily on the ships. The
same spirit prevailed when they landed, and in all the little settlements
formed as at Plymouth, a religious tone prevailed. They disregarded
King and Bishop, they formed their own church discipline, elected their
pastors, and made their Geneva Bible their sole guide and law.
Thus were Boston, Dorchester, and Watertown added to the list of
settlements.
Although the new colonists were not subjected to the terrible priva-
tions and hardships which the Pilgrims at Plymouth experienced, still
they had much to suffer. Those sent out under Endicott to prepare the
way had done little, and had no provisions laid up. The sea voyage
had brought sickness and debility ; delays in forming suitable shelter,
and a severe winter told sadly on the community, so that before
December two hundred died. Some lost heart in the spring, and
returned to England, but the great majority remained.
In a General Court held in 1631, they carried their religious views
So far as to allow no man to become a freeman, or vote, who was not a
church member ; and as the number of these was small, not one-fourth
the men were ever allowed to vote.
Driven from England by harsh measures, they had little idea them-
selves of religious freedom. In their zeal they wished to force all to
embrace their views or depart. Genuine religious freedom, the right
of every one to hold his own religious views without dictation from the
State, or loss of his civil rights, is one of the happy doctrines of our
times.
Massachusetts grew. Settlers came over year by year; ferries were
established ; water-mills and wind-mills brought the elements to roll the
214 THE STOl?Y OF A GREAT NATION.
wheels for man's use, and the coasting vessels of the thriving colonists
ran along the coast, to the Dutch at New Amsterdam, and their fellow-
Englishmen in Virginia.
The Indian tribes respected their energy and activity. The Sachem
of the Mohegans came from the Connecticut with glowing accounts of
that valley, to invite the Puritans to settle there as a protection
against the Pequods ; the Nipmucks sought their protection against the
Mohawks ; Miantonomoh, the Narragansett warrior, became the guest
of Winthrop.
So strong did the settlers feel, that when the English Government
appointed a Royal Colonial Commission, to revise the laws, regulate the
Church, and revoke Charters, Massachusetts prepared to resist, and
appointed men to manage the threatened war.
Troubles were, however, to begin at home. Among the emigrants
who came over to Boston in the Lion, in 1631, was Roger Williams, a
young and enthusiastic clergyman. He claimed a larger freedom of
opinion than the Puritans relished, and yet had himself many strangely
fanatical ideas. He did not join the Church at Boston, but was re-
ceived at Plymouth, and after a time welcomed by Endicott at Salem.
There, by declaiming against the cross in the English flag, he induced
Endicott to cut it out. The General Court of Massachusetts condemned
Salem for receiving him, and when Williams remonstrated, they passed
sentence of banishment against him, though, as winter was high, they
allowed him to remain at Salem till spring. His friends increased day
by day. The Boston clergy sent to seize him in mid-winter, and ship
him off to England. Three days before the officers reached Salem,
Williams, bidding adieu to his family, left that settlement during a
storm, plunging into the wintry woods. Fourteen weeks he wandered
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 215
on, often with no house but a hollow tree, Suffering from hunger, cold,
and hardship. The lodges of Massassoit at Mount Hope and of Canon-
icus at last offered him a shelter. The country on the Narragansett
Bay was now the object of his future plans. Here, beyond the limits
of previous Patents, the high-minded Williams already prepared to found
a new colony, which should be a home of religious and civil freedom.
A beautiful bend on the Seekonk River, now known as Manton's
Cove, invited him. Massassoit granted him lands, and here in the
spring Williams began to build and plant. But his friend Winthrop
warned him that he was within the limits of Plymouth, so he left his
cleared fields and his half-built house. In June, 1636, a frail Indian
canoe bore him with five companions to the spot now called Slate Rock.
As they glided to the shore some Indians from the heights welcomed
them with the friendly salutation, “What cheer, Netop, what cheer . "
Keeping on to the mouth of the Mooshausic River, he landed, and
upon the beautiful hillside rising from the river's edge, he descried a
spring, and around it commenced the settlement which in a spirit of
thankfulness he named Providence. A beautiful city now covers the
spot, but Roger Williams' spring is not forgotten or neglected. One
doctrine of his had given offence in Massachusetts. He maintained
that even under a Patent from the King, men should buy the lands
of the Indians. True to this, he purchased of Canonicus and Mianto-
momoh the lands he required, jealous as those chiefs were of English
intrusion. He paid for the lands out of his own scanty means, but
gave lands to settlers who came in as a free gift. -
The little community throve under this kindly spirit, binding them-
selves to obey all orders made for the public good by the majority of
the settlers. -
916 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
The severity shown towards Roger Williams did not crush all free-
dom of thought at Massachusetts Bay. A gifted and brilliant woman,
Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, began to express religious views that did not
harmonize with what was already firmly established. The meetings at
her house were attended by many persons of superior intelligence and
worth. Among those who embraced her opinions was a clergyman of
the name of Wheelwright, who became her firm supporter. There had
come over, about these times, a brilliant public man of high rank and
influence in England, Sir Henry Vane. The people of Massachusetts
were so taken with him, that in spite of his youth and his ignorance of
their systems, they chose him Governor. His ideas could not be
cramped by the narrow system of Massachusetts, and he lost his
popularity by advocating the cause of Mrs. Hutchinson. At last he
resolved to leave a place so uncongenial, and sailed back to England.
There he took an active part in the Puritan movement that overthrew
Charles I., and finally died on the scaffold. , *.*
Mrs. Hutchinson, Wheelwright, and Aspinwall, who had threatened
to appeal to the King, were then put on trial as heretics, and all their
adherents were deprived of arms.
A large number of the people thus proscribed by the General Court
determined to seek another home. A party under John Clarke and
William Coddington set out for the Delaware. But Williams, who
entertained them kindly, advised them to settle on Narragansett Bay.
They visited the spot he suggested, a charming island in the bay, and
decided to abandon their journey southward. By the influence of
Williams they obtained from the chiefs of the Narragansetts a grant of
Rhode island, paying forty fathoms of white warmpum for it; and each
settler also paid the Indians for his lands.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 217
As the last signs of winter were wearing away, and spring flowers
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at Pocasset, or Portsmouth, the settlement of Rhode Island, to be
governed by the laws of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings.
These two little communities prospered in the kindly simple govern-

218 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
ment, and, though Massachusetts continued to show hostility by
carrying off Baptist settlers, and punishing them for not obeying
Massachusetts laws, Williams more than once, by his influence with the
Indians, saved Massachusetts from bloodshed. These two little colonies
continued separate for some years, till, in 1663, Clarke obtained from
Charles II, a Patent uniting them under one government.
We have seen how some English settled on the Connecticut in spite
of the Dutch and their Fort Good Hope. Others followed : Windsor,
Hartford, and Wethersfield were founded ; but the settlement was
unimportant, till June, 1636, when the Rev. Mr. Hooker set Out
with an emigrant party of one hundred men, women, and children, and
after a two weeks' slow journey through the almost pathless woods,
driving their cattle over mountain and stream, warned of danger by the
howling of the wolf and other wild beasts, cautious and prudent, they
at last reached Hartford. The new Colony of Connecticut took form.
Quinnipiack, on Long Island Sound, invited another band of emi-
grants, led by the pious merchant Theophilus Eaton and the Rev. John
Davenport, who, in April, 1638, founded the colony of New Haven,
which rivalled Massachusetts in the strictness of its religious views,
allowing none but church-members to become freemen, and admitting
members very sparingly. On the first Sunday after their arrival,
April 18th, Mr. Davenport preached to his flock beneath a spreading
oak, and for nearly thirty years continued to minister to them. For
nearly as many years Eaton was elected Governor at every annual
election. w
There were thus scattered along the New England shore a series of
little colonies, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, New Haven, and Hartford, each independent of the others,
OR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 219
and following out its own ideas: all formed by industrious, steady men,
and thriving, growing, from day to day. !
The New England settlements on the Atlantic coast occupied a part
where the natives were too few and scattered to cause alarm. Those
in Connecticut were, however, near the large and unfriendly tribe of
Pequods. Lawless men provoked trouble. The crew of a small
trading vessel were killed on the Connecticut in 1633, and soon after a
settler was murdered on Block Island. The Pequods then prepared
for a general war, and urged the Narragansetts and Mohegans to join
them and exterminate the English. Roger Williams set out in a
wretched canoe. Through storms, wind, and high seas, he made his way
to the house of the Sachem of Narragansett. The Pequod was there
already with his fresh scalps, and unawed by their fierce looks,
Williams, at the risk of life, stayed till he had won the Narragansetts,
and saw the Pequods depart smothering their disappointment.
Connecticut prepared to meet the coming war. A force under John
Mason, aided by Uncas, and sixty Mohegan braves, sailed down the
Connecticut, and met at its mouth a reinforcement from Massachusetts
Bay under Underhill. Their allies, the Narragansetts, looked at the
little force of white men doubtfully.
“Your design is good,” said Miantonomoh ; “but your numbers are
too weak to brave the Pequods, who have mighty chieftains and are
skillful in battle.” They little knew the power of the white men in
War, and were now to see it.
The Pequods lay east of the river Thames, and Mason marched
westward. Two hours before dawn the New England army advanced
to assault a Pequod fort that crowned a hill by the Mistic. Each felt
that he must conquer now or there was no safety for their new homes.
s Q
220 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
The barking of their dogs roused the Indians, and with loud cries of
“Owannux, Owannux " they prepared to resist. Their weapons
were no match for the muskets and swords, but they were brave and
numerous : as one fell, another took his place. “We must burn
them " shouted Mason, as he applied a blazing brand to a cabin.
The English drew off from the burning town. The palisades now pre-
vented all escape of the doomed tribe. As they attempted to climb,
they were shot down ; if they attempted a Sally they were cut down.
Six hundred Indians, men, women, and children, perished. The sun
rose on the ruins of the town and the half-consumed bodies of its
population.
The Pequods rallied and attacked the New England troops as they
retired, but were again defeated. The rest of the tribe then fled,
and were hunted down without mercy ; every wigwam was burnt,
every cornfield laid waste. Sassacus, the last chief of the Pequods,
fled to the Mohawks, who slew him and sent his bloody scalp to
Boston.
Emigration to the New England colonies increased under the severe
measures of Charles I. against all who did not conform to the Estab-
lished Church. When the Long Parliament met in England, two
hundred and ninety-eight ships had borne to the shores of New England
twenty-one thousand two hundred souls. The wigwams and sheds that
first sheltered the settlers, had been succeeded by well-built houses;
fifty towns and villages had been formed, there were nearly as many
churches, and these orderly communities drew abundant crops from
their generally poor soil; their flocks and herds multiplied, while
trade in fish, and lumber, and grain, and furs, increased. A public
School was established at Cambridge in 1636, which soon took the name
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 22 ſ
of Harvard College, from a generous clergyman who gave it his library
and half his fortune. In 1639 the first printing-press north of the Gulf
of Mexico was set up, and Stephen Daye, the pioneer American
printer, struck off “The Freeman's Oath,” and the next year printed
the Bay Psalm-Book.
In 1642, New Hampshire, by the will of its people, who were
harassed by disputes of proprietors, was annexed to Massachusetts
Bay, under separate laws, church-membership not being required for
the privilege of freeman. Massachusetts then attempted to annex the
colonies on Narragansett Bay.
There was soon felt a necessity for a union among the scattered
colonies: Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven,
formed the United Colonies of New England. The object of the eon-
federacy was mutual protection against Dutch, French, and Indians.
The general affairs, especially the making of peace or war, and all
negotiations with the Indians, were confided to two Commissioners from
each colony. This union lasted for fifty years, and did much to
strengthen New England, and paved the way for a more general
union of all the Colonies, and eventually for the United States of
America.
The short war between Miantonomoh, the Narragansett chief, and
the Mohegans, did not disturb the white settlements. Uncas and his
Mohegans defeated Miantonomoh, who had attacked them with a thou-
sand braves. They took the haughty chief prisoner, and left his fate to
the Commissioners of New England. These would not interfere, and
Uncas put him to death.
During the war between England and Holland, in 1654, New
England for the first time was drawn into European quarrels, and the
222 THE STORY, of A GREAT NATION
wars of the Old World then began to be fought in the New Canada
had, a few years before, proposed that neutrality should always exist
in America, whatever wars might take place in Europe, but the Com-
missioners declined the offer. Had it been accepted, some of the
bloodiest pages in American History would have been unwritten.
A New England expedition under Sedgwick, in 1654, prepared to
attack New Netherland, but as peace was made in Europe, the expedi-
tion turned northward and conquered Acadia, as the French called
Nova Scotia, although there was no war between England and France.
There was not, at first, much zeal among the New England settlers
for the moral improvement of the Indians. They did not make any
attempt to raise them from their savage, heathenish ways; but some
of their friends in England wrote, reminding them of what the French
and Spaniards were doing. Among those who then devoted them-
selves to this good work, the most renowned was the Rev. John Eliot,
minister of Roxbury, usually called the Apostle of the Indians. There
were at the time nearly twenty tribes of Indians in New England, but
they were all of the same great Algonquin nation, and their . languages
were much alike. Mr. Eliot set to work to study the language of the
tribe nearest to him. There was no grammar or dictionary ; he had to
make these for himself. But at last he mastered it so far that he could
preach in it, and on the 28th of October, 1646, he preached to the
Indians at Nonantum, now Newton, the first sermon in their own
tongue. And it is 3, curious fact that just about the same time a
French missionary from Canada began to preach to the Indians on the
Kennebec.
These two good men met a few years later in friendly intercourse,
each able to appreciate the labors of the other.
*
or, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 223
Eliot's sermon led to much inquiry, and the medicine men took
alarm and tried in every way to stop his labors, but Eliot was un-
daunted; he visited all the Indians in Massachusetts and Plymouth
Colonies as they then extended. Five years' labors bore their fruit.
On a pleasant spot on Charles River a little town of Christian Indians
had grown up, with its neat church amid the clustering wigwams. It
was a wild village, for it was hard to civilize them, and they never
took readily to the white man's way of working. Still Eliot labored
on, the church was regularly organized, he printed the New Testament,
and then the Bible, in their language, and trained up several Indian
ministers. His Bible was the first copy of the Scriptures printed in
A merica, and was a work of immense difficulty, as the Indian languages
are very different from those of Europe, and some of the words in it are
so fearfully long that the very sight of them raises a laugh
Firin, zealous, benevolent, he was the father of the Indians, exercis-
ing an influence over them that no other missionary or other white man
obtained ; and he was their constant protector. His delight was to be
among his red children, instructing them, telling of Christ and a better
world. -
While this picture of Massachusetts history cannot but please us,
there is another that is sad. Among the sects that arose in England
was one founded by George Fox, the Society of Friends, commonly
cailed Quakers. In England they met great opposition from the
Established Church and the Puritans. When two of them arrived at
Boston in 1656, the whole colony took fire. The trunks of the two
Quakeresses were searched, their books were burned, they were
examined as witches, imprisoned, and finally sent back to England,
as several others were who came afterwards. A severe law was then
224 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
passed against them, and Quakers coming in were fined and flogged;
the law even directed an ear to be cut off and the tongue to be bored
if they were convicted a second and third time. Growing more in-
tolerant, they next made the penalty banishment, and if a banished
Quaker set foot on the soil of the United Colonies, he was to die.
Late in October, 1659, while the woods were a picture of beauty, in
all the rich tints of autumn, a crowd gathered around a gallows erected
at Boston, and Mary Dyar, an old adherent of Mrs. Hutchinson, with
three other Quakers, was led out to die. The ropes were fastened
around their necks, and they had prepared to die, when Mary was
reprieved. “Let me suffer as my brethren,” she cried, “unless you
will annul your wicked law.” But as her companions swung in the
sight of heaven, they carried her beyond the limits of the colony.
The resolute woman returned, and this time they hung her. -
Two others were condemned to die ; but the bold Wenlock Christison
awed his very judges: “I demand to be tried by the laws of England,
and there is no law there to hang Quakers' " They sentenced him,
but shrunk from hanging him. They expelled the staunch Christison
and his companions. -
The Puritans were not the only sufferers in England : the penal laws
passed against the Catholics, or adherents of the old Church, were
of fearful severity and they were enforced with rigor. At last Sir
George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, a member of the Virginia Company,
and highly esteemed by James I., having become a Catholic, resolved
to found a colony where those who shared his opinions might freely
worship God. An attempted settlement in Newfoundland ſailed. He
then wished to colonize part of Virginia, but they would not admit him.
Returning to England, he solicited from Charles I. a Patent for ter-
oR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 22:5
ritory in America. He died while the affair was in progress, but on
the 20th of June, 1632, a Charter of Terra Maria, or Maryland, was
issued to his son, the new Lord Baltimore. This nobleman fitted out
two vessels, The Ark and The Dove, in which two hundred emigrants,
nearly all gentlemen of respectability, embarked with two clergymen, to
found in the New World a colony, where they might freely worship God.
They sailed in November. After a long and stormy winter passage,
in which the Ark was for a time at the mercy of the Winds and waves,
they, late in February, came in sight of Point Comfort in Virginia.
On the banks of the Potomac they found mighty forests, stretching
as far as the eye could reach, a rich and fertile soil, a Sweet and balthy
air. The natives came down with every mark of hostility, but con-
fidence was soon established.
On Blackstone Island they landed and threw up a little fort, March
25th, 1634, divine service being devoutly offered up by Father
Andrew White, to consecrate their new colony to the Lord. The
Governor, Leonard Calvert, then planted a cross, as the emblem of
Christianity and civilization.
The priests at once opened intercourse with the native chiefs, and
Maryland so gained their good will, that the colonists never had any
trouble with the Indian tribes within its borders, to whom these good
men could announce the gospel.
As their permanent settlement, Governor Calvert finally selected
the village of the Yaocomico Indians, and, like Roger Williams,
believing it necessary to purchase lands of the natives, he bought from
them their village and the country around. The Governor then took
possession of the place, and named the town St. Mary's. The settlers
at first occupied the Indian wigwams till they had erected houses.
226 THE STORY OF A G REAT NATION ;
Soon all was bustle and activity, building the guard-house and stores,
into which all their goods were carried. While this work was pushed
rapidly on, a small craft bore into their river the Governor of Vir-
ginia. Calvert received him on his ship, and invited all the neigh-
boring Indian chiefs to dine with them, seating the friendly King
of Patuxent between himself and Governor Harvey. When the
buildings were ready, the colonists landed with much pomp, with
cannon firing and banners waving. A large Indian wigwam was the
first church, and Maryland was from the first a religious colony, but
one that offered to all who came, freedom to worship God according as
their conscience directed.
The Charter of Maryland gave the power to make laws to the free-
men and the Lord Proprietor. The first Assembly met early in 1635,
and another in 1638. In these some contention arose as to the right
to propose the laws, but it was finally conceded to the colonists.
The new settlement grew steadily, being formed of earnest, indus-
|rious men ; the Indians continued friendly. Tayac, King of the
Piscatoways, having been won to civilization and Christianity, was
solemnly baptized in a bark chapel at his town, in 1640; and Ana-
coston, a neighboring Sachem, came to live among the whites as one
of them.
The Susquehannas and the Indians on the eastern shore were
enemies of the Christian Indians, whom the Marylanders had occasion-
ally to protect ; but the great trouble in the early annals of Mary-
land was given by a man named Clayborne, who claimed as a prior
settler under the Virginia Charter. During the civil war in England,
Clayborne sided with the Parliament, and for a time got the upper
^.
hand in Maryland.
OR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 227
Governor Calvert was obliged to fly; the clergy were seized and
sent to England ; many of the settlers were robbed and banished ; but
the Governor having raised a force in Virginia, crossed the Potomac,
surprised the enemy, and re-entered St. Mary's in triumph. He died a
few years after, and was buried at St. Mary's, regarded as a great and
good man by the colony which he had founded.
Under Governor Stone, in 1649, was held a famous Assembly, which
established liberty of conscience " for all professing to believe in Jesus
Christ.” This is one of the greatest glories of Maryland, that men of
all denominations of Christians there joined hands together, worship-
ing God each according to the dictates of his own heart, none seeking
to force another to change his views.
Clayborne, for a time, overthrew Governor Stone, and in an Assembly
passed severe and cruel laws, totally unlike the mild and gentle spirit
that had actuated the early settlers. Stone took up arms, but in a
hard-fought battle, March 25th, 1655, was defeated, wounded, and
taken prisoner by the Puritans, who put several of the prisoners to
death in cold blood.
Cromwell, to whom Lord Baltimore appealed, condemned the whole
proceedings against Stone, and Fendall wºs appointed Governor.
For a time progress was made towards restoring peace and harmony,
but then Fendall began to plot against Lord Baltimore, and had
obtained an appointment as Governor from the Assembly, when Crom.
well died, and the authority of the Commonwealth came to an end.
CHAPTER IX.
The Indian Tribes—Their Divisions—Their Complexion—Habits—Dress—Houses and Mode
of Life—Their Wars—Religion—No Domestic Animals—Their Care of the Dead—Hiero-
glyphics—The Mound-Builders. *
WE have seen how different the various colonies were in their origin.
The Atlantic coast was settled by men of various nations, of various
religious views, so that each colony had a peculiar character of its own.
In the designs of Providence these were steps preparing for the blend-
ing of all into one nation, in another century to take its place among
the proudest of the world.
In tracing the rise of each little community, Indian tribes have been
mentioned. A few words as to these people, whom our ancestors found
possessing the land, are here required ; for every one should know
something of those who went before us.
The Indians on the coast, from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to
North Carolina, were all of one family, which is now called the Algon-
quín The tribes belonging to this family extended inland far beyond
the Rtmost limits to which the English colonies then reached. The
French, who were more daring, had by their missionaries and traders
pushed by way of the St. Lawrence and the Lakes westward to Lake
Superior. All along the way to the Lakes and the Mississippi they
found tribes speaking dialects of the Algonquin, and none who did not,
except one set of nations, who were completely surrounded by these
Algonquins. The Algonquins and Adirondacks in Canada, the Chip-
pewas, Ottawas, Pottowatomies, Illinois, and Miamis, at the West,
the Narragansetts, Mohegans, and Pequods, of New England, the
oUR count Ry's ACHIEVEMENTS. 229
\
Mohegans of New York, the Delawares of Pennsylvania, the Pow-
hatans, and most of the Virginia and Maryland tribes were Algonquins,
and resembled each other in their mode of life and the language they
spoke. Surrounded by them were the Hurons, near the lake that,
bears that name, the Five Nations in New York, the powerful Susque-
hannas, the Nottoways in Virginia, with some smaller tribes, and the
Tuscaroras in Carolina. Near them lay the Cherokees, and South
again were the Creeks, or Muscogees, and the Choctaw tribes, with
whom the Spaniards had most to do.
These Indians were all much alike in color and habits, with differ-
ences, of course; some being a little more industrious, others more
debased. Their color was nearly that of copper. Their only clothing
at first was skins, and this was very scanty : men in some parts wore
only a breech-cloth, and women a short petticoat, sometimes only of
moss. The men looked with disdain on all work except war, hunting,
or fishing; everything else was left to the women. The Algonquins
depended almost entirely on hunting, and had no permanent villages;
moving about, pitching their tent-like wigwams of bark, or skins, or
mats, as they chose, often suffering greatly in the severe winters.
The Five Nations, Hurons, and other tribes of that family, were more
industrious ; they built pretty substantial bark houses, each to hold
Several families, and surrounded them all by a strong palisade, some-
times two or three, one within the other. Around the top of the
palisade, inside, they had stones to throw down on any enemy, and
large bark vessels of water to prevent their setting fire to the palisade.
Outside were their fields, where they raised Indian corn, tobacco,
Squashes, and beans.
They made their canoes, like their houses, of the bark of trees, and
230 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
in some parts of the trunk of a tree, hollowed out. The Algon-
quins made the best canoes, using birch bark, while the Iroquois used
elm bark. The Algonquins also made very useful and curious snow-
shoes, an oval frame of Wood, held together by a network of sinews.
With these they traveled easily on the surface of the snow, without
sinking, and in this way hunted in winter, overtaking the deer, whose
sharp hoof cut through the frozen surface of the snow.
The Indians knew nothing of the use of metals; native copper found
at the West was rudely fashioned into ornaments, but never into a
cutting instrument. Their arrow and spear heads were made of stone,
and these are still often dug up in Some parts of the country. Their
hatchets, or tomahawks, were made also of stone, with a groove on
each side, by which they were tied fast to the handle. Of course their
houses were nearly destitute of what we would call furniture ; they
had no chairs, no tables, no bedsteads, and the young Indian girl had
no looking-glass but the water of the nearest stream. They made bark
vessels to hold water, or hollowed them out of a piece of wood ; in
many parts they made rude pottery, but they had nothing that they
could put over the fire. They boiled water by heating stones red-
hot, and dropping them into the vessel of water. The flesh of the
animals they killed was broiled or roasted over the fire, or baked
in a sort of oven made in the ground, a hole lined with stones. In
this they built a fire, and when the stones were hot, they took out the
fire, put the meat in, and covered it up close till it was cooked. In
dressing the skins of animals they were quite expert, rendering them
Very Soft and durable.
Although so poorly off, both men and women were fond of finery,
tattooing and painting their faces and bodies with the most glaring
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 23|
colors, made from plants or earths. Porcupine quills, feathers, the
claws of birds and animals, all served to adorn their persons; but
what was the most precious thing to them, and served as decoration,
and almost as money, was Wampum, a kind of beads made of the claim-
shell. Belts of this constituted wealth ; they were given at all treatics
to confirm the different articles, and were the only thing that passed as
money. After the whites came and began to buy furs, beaver skins
were also in many colonies a kind of money, in transactions with the
Indians and among the whites.
In war the natives were very cruel; they did not fight pitched
battles, but tried generally in small bands to surprise their enemy, or
take them unawares. They killed men, women, and children, without
distinction : if they took any prisoners they either adopted them into
the tribe to take the place of some whom they had lost, or they tor-
tured them, tying them to a stake, burning them from head to foot,
cutting off and devouring their flesh before their eyes, and continuing
these tortures till the poor victim expired. The prisoner never asked
mercy ; he sang his death-song, taunted his enemies, boasted how
many he had killed and tortured, called them squaws or women—in a
word, did all he could to provoke them.
Their great trophy was the scalp of their enemies. As soon as an
enemy fell they ran up, and cutting the skin around just below the
hair, tore off the skin and hair together, with loud yells. In their
warlike expeditions they carried very little provisions, generally only
parched Indian corn, and they endured hunger and hardship with
great courage.
Their ideas of religion were very strange. The Algonquin nations
believed in spirits called Manitoo, so that they easily got the idea of
232 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
God as the Kitchemanitoo, or Great Spirit. The Five Nations believed
in a god called Agreskoy. They worshiped him by sacrifices of
animals and of prisoners taken in war. They all believed in evil spirits,
and were more anxious to appease them than to worship the good.
They had no temples or priesthood, at least among these Northern
tribes. The only class that approached that of priests, were those
whom white people called Medicine Men. * ~~
They were the great propagators of all the superstitions; they pre-
tended to be in league with the evil spirits, and to be able to tell the
future and cure diseases. They pretended that diseases were caused
by evil spirits, and went through a series of horrible ceremonies and
noises to drive them out. They attached great importance to dreams,
and believed that if a person did not obtain what he dreamed of, it
would cause sickness, and perhaps his death.
An Indian chief once came to Sir William Johnson and told him that
he had dreamed that Sir William had given him his fine red coat
with gold-lace trimmings. Sir William found that he had to give it to
him or the man's death might be laid to his charge. But he determined
to be even with him. So, some time after, he met the old chief and
told him that he had dreamed that their tribe had given him a large
tract of fine land that he had set his eye on. This made the Indian
groan, but dreams were dreams; the tribe gave the land, but asked
that they should all now stop dreaming.
The Indians had no domestic animals, no horses or cows, goats,
sheep, or swine; the only animal around their houses was the dog
They had, therefore, no carriages or wagons of any kind; they had
no roads but footpaths, or trails, leading from village to village, or to
their fishing stations. Along these all had to be carried on the backs
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 233
of their women and prisoners. They were very expert with their
canoes, and would run them down very dangerous rapids; when they
ascended the rivers, and came to falls and rapids, they took their light
canoes out of the water and carried them on their shoulders above the
difficult part. These places the French called Portages, and the word
has come into common use, although our ancestors always called them
Carrying Places.
The Indians took great care of their dead. Some tribes buried
infants under the trail leading out of the village; Some bent down a
young tree and bound the child, wrapped up in skins, to the highest
branch, and let it fly back again, so that the little one was far up from
the wild beasts, among the birds and blossoms. Generally each body,
wrapped up, was buried in the ground or placed on a Scaffolding near
the village. When this was done, after some years, there was a Feast
of the Dead. The bones of their dead were taken down by each
family, wrapped up in furs, and these, with some of their most valuable
articles, were all buried together in a long trench. Games and -
curious ceremonies continued for several days at these Feasts of the
Dead. Occasionally, farmers and others, in digging, come on these
Bone Pits, or Indian graves.
What we have said of these tribes is true for all those who occupied
any part of what is now embraced in our happy Republic, except a
Small portion on the Rio Grande, that is now called New Mexico.
Our readers will remember their strange houses of several stories,
and their more extensive cultivation, as well as the advance they had
made in civilization, weaving the wool of the Rocky Mountain sheep.
None of the Indian tribes in our Northern parts had any system of
Writing ; nothing but the rudest hieroglyphics on bark or skin, or
234 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
occasionally on stone, were ever attempted, and these told only of
some hunting exploits or success in War. They had no monuments of
any kind to preserve the memory of past events, no literature, and few
tales or legends even of great Warriors and their deeds.
Some strange traditions intermingled with wild dreams, as to the
origin of men, and the life to come, or of the way in which the tribe
reached the place where the whites found it—this was all. J
The Micmac Indians, near the Gulf of St. Lawrence, were the only
tribe who had anything like a general system of hieroglyphics; and
theirs has been preserved, and is still in use, missionaries finding it
such a help, that books have been printed in it.
In Mexico the system of hieroglyphics was very full, and much of
their history is preserved in monuments that can still be read. The
Peruvians preserved a knowledge of events by knotted cords, called.
quipos, but this plan was far inferior to the Mexican.
The languages of the Indian tribes were very different from any
known to Europeans, and the construction of their sentences was so
different, that it was found almost impossible to give anything like a
close translation. The missionaries who, for the love of God, set to
work to learn these languages, in order to preach Christ to these poor
benighted people, had terrible work at first. They had to go to the
cabins and learn the names of things, and so keep on, day by day, till
they had a good stock of words, and could try to talk some, writing
down all they could to help others. Of these missionaries, Pareja, in
Florida ; Sagard, Brebeuf, Chaumonot, Bruyas, Rale, in Canada; Eliot,
Roger Williams, Edwards, in New England; Campanius, in New
Sweden, and White, in Maryland, were in the earliest times those who
succeeded best in mastering these languages.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs.
2
3
5
This will give some idea of these tribes as they were first found.
The whites supplied them with iron articles, and cloth, which they
used instead of furs; they also, unfortunately, Sold them liquor, and
this the Indians never could use in moderation. It led them into great
crimes, drunkenness and murder, often causing the death of white
settlers and so bringing on Wars. {\
If one Indian killed another, they always made it up by presents of
wampum. When they killed a white man they wished to do the sance,
“cover the body,” as they said, with presents. But the whites would
insist on punishing the man. The Indians did not understand this,
and would refuse to give him up. They thought it hard that if liquor
given by white men set an Indian so crazy that he killed a white man,
they must have their warrior killed ; they thought their plan of pres-
ents best. The French generally adapted themselves better to the
Indian style, and in such cases took presents and maintained peace,
while the Dutch and English drew on themselves disastrous wars.
All the Indian tribes had traditions that they had come from a
distance, generally from the West or Northwest, towards the Atlantic
coast. As the country became more settled, white people discovered
mounds in various parts, some of them very curious in shape, like
birds, animals, or men, in Wisconsin ; in rings and lines in other parts;
in the South like pyramids of steps. These seem to be the work of
tribes who were in the country before the Indians. Some of them con-
tained remains of the dead, with articles curiously carved, showing
much more skill than any ſndians we know, and sometimes very good
figures of birds and animals of the tropics. As we do not know any-
thing more about these people than what the mounds tell us, they are
generally called ºn Mound-Builders.
P A R T II.
/
THE COLONIES FROM THE REIGN OF CHARLES II. TO THE
REIGN OF GEORGE III.
CHAPTER I.
The English Kings and Parliament begin to take part in American Affairs—General View of
the Country—Reign of Charles II.-Connectict and Rhode Island receive Charters—Philip's.
Indian War—New York—Penn founds Pennsylvania—Carolina founded—Virginia and
Maryland.
ALL the colonies established on the Atlantic shore had been settled
under Patents granted by European Governments, but the English
monarchs, from the days of Queen Elizabeth to those of Charles, had
not concerned themselves much about America after signing the
Patents and affixing their great seal. People whom nobody missed
had gone over there to settle in a wild country among savage men, and
that was all about it. Cromwell tried to get the Puritans to leave
New England, and settle in the West Indies and in Ireland. Under
him, too, the Puritans attempted to obtain the mastery in Maryland,
and he shipped many thousands from England, and especially from
Ireland, who were sold as slaves in the colonies.
When Charles II. came to the throne, the colonies of New England,
Maryland, and Virginia had so increased, that their importance could
not be overlooked. Maryland and Virginia hailed with joy the Res-
toration of the royal power, but Massachusetts lamented the fall of the
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(Page 267)
XO N N ECTICUT.
(
HARTFORD,
THE ['A MOUS CHARTER, OAK AT

oUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 237
Puritan Commonwealth, and looked forward with anxiety to the course
of the new King. It was known that the Quakers and others had
made great complaints in England of their severity and strictness.
They sought to avert the storm by an address to the King, but they
did not comply with the recommendations contained in his letter of reply.
Winthrop, Governor of Hartford, a man of learning, polished and
adroit, went to England, and was so favorably received by Charles II.,
that he obtained a very favorable Charter, establishing the new colony
of Connecticut, embracing not only Hartford but New Haven also.
The colonists of New Haven were highly indignant at this step, but,
though supported by Massachusetts, were at last forced to submit to
the new arrangement.
Less obstinate in his views, Winthrop had seen the wisdom of
making their system agree more with that of England, by giving the
right to vote more freely, and not confining it to their own church-
members.
The famous Charter issued May 10th, 1662, established “The Gov-
ernor and Company of the English Colony of Connecticut in New
2ngland in America.” The Governor and House of Deputies were to
be elected every year. .."
Clarke had been no less prompt to secure favorable terms for the
colony of Roger Williams, and on the 8th of July, in the same year,
Charles II. issued another Charter, creating the “English Colony of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.”
These Charters gave the first tokens of a new era of liberality.
They provided that no person within the said colonies should be
moldsted or called in question for any difference in matters of religion
which did not actually disturb the civil peace.
238 TIME STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
While these colonies were organized tºlder their new Charters,
Massachusetts and Plymouth remained firm. They gave fair words,
but did not comply with the King's wishes, or adapt their forms to the
English laws.
Charles did not act precipitately. He was a man of pleasure, but
flis brother James, Duke of York, was a man of system, as well as
great industry, and had displayed bravery on Sea and land. He took
a lively interest in American affairs, and the commerce of England.
He seems to have been the first who had any enlarged views of the
English interests in America.
New England and Maryland were separated by the Dutch colony,
and the French in Canada were very active and energetic. Their
missionaries and traders were already busy south of Lake Ontario, and
they had made one attempt to settle there. If these pushing French-
men got possession of the Dutch colony, it would give the English no
end of trouble. So James hunted up English claims for New Nether-
land, and obtained from Charles II., on the 12th of March, 1664, a
Charter granting him all the territory between the Connecticut and the
Delaware, and also of the tract between the Rivers Pemaquid and
St. Croix, in what is now the State of Maine. The Dutch had settled
the larger tract, and had occupied it for many years; England and
Holland were at peace, but this did not weigh much.
Commissioners were appointed and sent over, with several ships of
war and a body of soldiers. They were to land first at Boston and
present a letter from the King, asking, among other things, the aid of
the colonies to reduce the Dutch.
At the close of a long summer day, as the Sabbath stillness in
Boston was beginning, two ships of war, the Guinea and Elias, came to
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 239
anchor off the Long Wharf at Boston. They were the first vessels of
the English navy that had ever seen that harbor.
A General Court was called. After some delay an order was issued
for two hundred volunteers against the Dutch. They also modified
Somewhat their laws, allowing men not church-members to vote under
certain conditions, but these were such that few could benefit by
them.
The expedition sailed for New Netherland, and, as we have already
seen, reduced that colony, which became New York. The flag of
England soon floated from the Kennebec to the Chesapeake, and the
English King could look with pride on the new country rising beyond
the Atlantic, where the laws, the language, and the spirit of England
were to be perpetuated.
There was even for a moment the project of conquering Canada, and
thus making England supreme in the northern portion of America.
Life in these colonies differed greatly. New England was strict
and Sombre. Amusements were almost unknown. Christmas and
other holidays, kept up in England, and on this side in Virginia and
Maryland, with great merriment, were forbidden. Dancing, and all
games of cards or dice, even bowling and other games of exercise,
were prohibited as well, while in Virginia the richer planters lived the
life of the English gentry, and sports were freely indulged in. Vir-
ginia raised tobacco and smoked it freely, but in New England it was
a serious matter, especially on Sunday. The strict observance of that
day was the great point of New England life. It began on Saturday
at Sunset, and lasted till the sunset again. During that time no child
could play in the streets, no travelling was permitted. All had to attend
the meeting-house in the place. But though religion was thus ob-
240 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
served, there were some points in which their customs seem strange.
now. They had, at first, nothing like Sabbath-Schools for catechising
the young ; and the children of church-members only were baptized.
The marriage and the funeral took place without the presence of a
clergyman, which is now SO general.
We have seen how they broke up Morton's settlement at Merry
Mount, and one of his great offences in their eyes was his planting a
Maypole and keeping up Mayday.
In Virginia the Church of England prevailed, and its services were
performed regularly, without question or dispute. Maryland had
Episcopalians, Puritans, and Catholics. In New York, with its Dutch
population, into which some English had already crept, the people were
strict Calvinists, adhering to the Church in Holland, and under the
Dutch rule no other worship was allowed by law; but the people were
good-natured, and seldom troubled their neighbors about religious
matters. They loved enjoyment in a quiet way, and dancing and
merry-making never came amiss. They kept up the holidays of the old.
country, with some sports that occasionally brought laws to check them;
such as goose-pulling and pail-tipping. Paas, or Easter, Christmas,
and New Years, were the great holidays. The last was devoted to
visits to each other, and in every house a table was spread with good
things for the guests. Christmas was the holiday of little ones, who
expected from St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus, a visit with presents if they
had been good, or, if they had been naughty, a rod from Ruprecht.
The colonists had always found a difficulty in the want of money,
and tobacco, beaver-skins, warmpum, or peague, were at times used as
substitutes. Lord Baltimore struck in England coins for Maryland,
which are now very rare, and prized by collectors. Massachusetts.
or, our countRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 241
struck the first coins issued in America. These are known as Pine
Tree money, as they bear on one side a rude figure of a pine-tree.
The first pieces struck were plain pieces of silver, with NE and XII
or VI stamped on them, but in October, 1652, the General Court of
Massachusetts directed the establishment of a mint, and authorized the
striking of shilling, six-penny, and three-penny pieces. They bore a
double ring, enclosing a tree with the word MASATHVSETs around, and
on the other side, NEW ENGLAND, 1652.
The striking of these coins gave offence in England, as only Sover-
eigns are considered as entitled to coin money, and in this country now
only the United States Government, by the Constitution, has this
right.
Mr. Hull was the mint-master of Massachusetts, and received a
certain percentage for all the money he struck. This gave rise to a
curious story that is told about him and the Pine Tree shillings.
When his daughter was married to Mr. Sewell, the father said nothing
about any portion for her. But the marriage went on, and while all
the guests were congratulating the married couple, in the way that
Puritan fashions permitted, in came two serving-men lugging huge
scales, such as are used in warehouses. Old Mr. Hull made his
daughter get into one scale, which she did with open eyes and mouth;
wondering whether she was to be sold by the pound ; but the servants
came back, lugging an iron-bound chest, which, at his direction, they
emptied on the floor, and out came the fresh, flashing Pine Tree
shillings. Then the chest was put in the scale, and the shillings filled
in till the young lady rose gradually from the floor, and swung easily,
just balancing her weight in silver. “There, son Sewell,” cried the
good mint-master, “take these shillings as my daughter's portion,
242 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Use her kindly, and thank Heaven for her, for it is not every wife that
is worth her weight in silver.”
Another story relating to these pieces is also told. After the Res-
toration, the coining of this Pine Tree money was made one of the
charges against Massachusetts. The agent of the colony took one of
the later issues, in which the rude tree was rather bushy, and pre-
sented it to the King, telling him that his faithful subjects in Massa-
chusetts had put the oak-tree on their coin to commemorate his escape
from his enemy by hiding in an oak-tree. “Jolly dogs,” said the
Merry King, “jolly dogs ’’ and he made no further trouble about the
matter. You may recognize these coins by the illustrations we give.
When Stuyvesant, on the 29th of August, 1664, at the head of his
Dutch garrison, marched out of the little earthen Fort Amsterdam with
colors flying, drums beating, and matches lighted, he led his sullen
troops down Beaver Street, to the North River, to embark on the
West India Company's ship Gideon. Then, while the people, whose
houses clustered around the fort, looked on, the red flag of England,
with the cross of St. George, was run up the flagstaff of Fort James.
and Saluted by the guns of the English fleet, and the Lord High
Admiral was the Proprietor of New York.
Colonel Richard Nicolls, as Governor, established the Duke's laws for
the government of the colony. When Sunday came, after the Dutch
had ended their service in the church within the fort, the chaplain of the
English forces performed the services of the Church of England, and
for many years this one edifice served for both ; nor has the kindly
feeling then established ever been disturbed. \
Fort Orange surrendered to Colonel Cartwright, who immediately
formed a treaty with the Mohawks and Senecas, and the change of pos-
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 243
session throughout was effected so promptly that a French expedition
against the Mohawks were thunderstruck, as they approached Fort
Orange, to find floating over it the red flag of England. It had become
Albany, a name given in honor of the Duke's Scotch title.
One of the first things that marked the change of ideas was the
establishment of a race-course on Hempstead Plains, Long Island. It
continued for many years to be the favorite annual resort of the
Governors of New York and of the Long Island farmers.
The Duke of York wished to extend colonization, and readily
granted, June 23d, 1664, to John, Lord Berkeley, and Sir George Car-
teret a part of his newly-acquired territory, giving it the name of New
Jersey, in compliment to Carteret, who had gallantly defended the
Island of Jersey against Cromwell.
Under this grant, Captain Philip Carteret came out with a small
wbody of settlers in the Philip, in 1665, and in August landed at the
head of his colonists on the soil of New Jersey, with a hoe on his
shoulder, to show that he was to become a planter himself. The spot
chosen as the capital of the new colony was a spot on the Kills, where
four families had already planted themselves under authority from
Nicolls. Carteret named the spot Elizabethtown, in honor of the wife
of Sir George.
But the Dutch were not going to let the English have their American
colony without a struggle. They prepared to meet England on the sea,
but the Duke of York, with a fleet which included some of the ships
and officers who reduccd New York, defeated the Dutch Admiral
Opdam at Lowestoff. Then France joined Holland, and the war
became general.
The Duke of York at once sent over to Nicolls to try, with the aid
244 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
of New England, to reduce Canada, with which the Mohawks were
already at War.
This was the first English project against Canada. But Massachu-
setts and Connecticut declined to act in the matter. Canada was so far
away, beyond rocky mountains and howling deserts, that it would be
impossible to march there. Some mounted men were sent out from
Hartford, who went a hundred and twenty miles to find the way to
Canada, but came back disheartened.
The French made an alliance with the Onondagas, and built forts on
the Richelieu, and Fort St. Anne on La Motte Island, in Lake Cham-
plain. This last post, begun in July, 1666, was the first white settle-
ment in what was one day to be the State of Vermont.
Soon after, the French, to reduce the Mohawks to peace, invaded
their canton and burned their towns. There was little chance of the
English reducing Canada.
Nicolls even began to feel uneasy for New York. The Dutch, after
defeating an English fleet in the Thames, were scouring the Atlantic.
A Dutch fleet under Krynssen captured an English man-of-war and
twenty-five other vessels on James River, and filled Virginia with con-
sternation. -
But the war came to an end, and, at the treaty of Breda, Holland
gave up all claim to New York.
Still the peace did not last long. Again the English and Dutch fleets
meet in battle at Solebay, off the English coast, and the Duke of
York fought with courage, Colonel Nicolls, his first New York Gov-
ernor, being killed by his side in the action.
In 1673, two Dutch admirals, Evertsen and Binckes, entered the
Chesapeake, and captured a tobacco fleet in spite of the frigates that
oR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 245
protected it. Then they sailed for New York, and in August anchored
near Staten Island.
Lovelace, the new English Governor, was in Connecticut, and Man-
ning, the commander of Fort James, was too weak to cope with Such a
force; but though the fleet was within musket-shot of the fort, he refused
to surrender. The fleet then opened fire, and Fort James replied ; but
six hundred Dutch soldiers landed, back of where Trinity Church now
stands, and, encouraged by the Dutch settlers, advanced to storm the
fort, which, seeing no hope of resistance, surrendered, and the Dutch
flag floated again over the place.
New Jersey became again part of New Netherland. The eastern
end of Long Island alone resisted the Dutch, with aid from Connec-
ticut, but the Dutch captured many New England coasting vessels, and
excited alarm all along the coast. The Treaty of Westminster came at
last, in 1674, by which England recovered a province of such immense
importance to her.
But during this time France had not been idle. She not only by
her missionaries had won the Onondagas and other western cantons,
but had built Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario, and extended her
missions and explorations to the country around the great Lakes. All
the tribes learned to look with respect to the Governor of Canada,
Ononthio, and the King of France, the Great Ononthio, as the Iroquois
called him.
In 1673, Joliet, a young French Canadian, accompanied by Father
Marquette, a pious missionary, descended the Wisconsin to the Mis-
sissippi, and glided down that river in their bark canoe, till they came
to the towns of the friendly Arkansas. Then, seeing that this great
river must empty into the Gulf of Mexico, and afraid that they might
246 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
fall into the hands of the Spaniards, they slowly paddled their way up
against the strong current, and ascending the Illinois River, reached
Lake Michigan. f
The illustrious Marquette set out later to winter among the Illinois,
and plant a mission ; but his health failed. He planted his rude cabin
at Chicago, the first white habitation at the place, but though he
recovered sufficiently to go on to the town of the Kaskaskias, he died
by the shore of Lake Michigan, as he was striving to reach Mackinaw.
Robert Cavelier, better known as the Sieur de la Salle, followed up
Marquette and Joliet. He was commandant of Fort Frontenac at
Toronto ; he threw up a fort at Niagara, and there built the Griffin,
the first vessel that ever navigated the waters of Lake Erie, intending
to carry on a great trade in furs, of which he had the monopoly.
He reached Illinois, and there built Fort Crevecoeur, or Broken
Heart, for his troubles began. The Griffin, sent back from Mackinaw,
was never seen again—lost in a storm or destroyed by Indians. He
made his way back to Fort Frontenac almost alone, and led out a new
party, only to find his ſort abandoned and his men scattered. He
finally, however, descended the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico in
1682. Hennepin, a Franciscan friar connected with his expedition,
had already, in 1680, ascended the Mississippi to the Falls of St.
Anthony, which owes its name to him.
La Salle then returned to France and fitted out an expedition to
found a settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi, but he missed it,
and was landed on the coast of Texas. While trying to reach the
Mississippi overland, he was killed by his own men.
By these discoveries France claimed all the north and interior of
North America, and was hemming England close in to the Atlantic
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 24'ſ
coast. Long after this, French maps showed the English colonies as a
little strip on the shore, while half of North America was New France.
New England, on religious grounds, did not like the French as
neighbors in what is now Maine and Nova Scotia, but did not see her
great danger. Virginia was too far from the frontier, but the Duke of
York saw the necessity of action. On recovering New York, his
instructions to his Governors, Andros and Dongan, were to keep the
French north of the lakes, to win the Five Nations to the English side,
and to occupy Maine.
This began the great struggle between France and England for the
control of North America.
While New York was again rapidly becoming more like the neigh-
boring English colonies, New Jersey began to grow. Berkeley, one
of the owners, sold his share to two Quakers, one of whom, Fenwick, in
July, 1675, founded Salem, on the Delaware, and, as this part was set
off as a separate colony, called West Jersey, many of their fellow-
believers settled there. Carteret then grew tired of his American
interests, and sold out to a number of Quakers, of whom William Penn
was the chief one. They obtained a new grant from the Duke of York,
and founded Perth Amboy. All these things brought out settlers.
Baptists from New England settled at Middletown Point; Presby-
terians at Newark and Elizabethtown ; so that New Jersey presented
a greater variety in its settlers than any other colony, and what is best
of all, they lived in peace.
But while New York and New Jersey were thus gaining, New
England was suddenly plunged into a terrible war. The labors of the
missionaries to convert the Indians had not met with any success
among the great Southern tribes, the Pokanokets, or Wampanoag, the
9.48 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
Niantics, the Narragansetts, and Mohegans. Massasoit, chief of the
Pokanokets, left two sons, Wamsutta and Metacom, who, wishing
JEnglish names, received from the Court at Plymouth the names ol
Alexander and Philip. The latter was soon sole chief, and for some
years maintained a friendly attitude : but he was gloomy, and looked
with no favor on the rapid increase of the English. Gradually sus-
picions and rumors of Indian plots came.
One day John Sausman, an Indian preacher at Natick, who had
long lived with Philip, came hastening in to Plymouth. He had just
paid a visit to his old friend the chief, and what he saw told him that
Philip meant mischief. The chief of the Pokanokets was summoned.
He obeyed, but in a few days Sausman was found murdered. Three
Indians were arrested for the crime, tried, and executed, to the great
indignation of the red men. In their eyes Sausman was a traitor,
deserving death. The three men had obeyed the orders of their chief,
and the Indians demanded vengeance.
On the 20th of June, 1675, while the little village of Swanzey lay in
all the stillness and quiet of a New England Sabbath, the wild yell of
the native braves proclaimed that a deadly war had begun. Two
houses in flames showed the alarmed people that all was in danger.
Men gathered together in the strongest houses; watches were set ; but
the Indians clustered around the town, house after house was pillaged,
and every incautious man cut down and scalped.
The Indians were armed with good muskets, and were as expert in
handling them as any white. They were, then, no mean foe. As the
news came in, a force was raised and marched under Captain Moseley,
an old West Indian buccaneer, to punish the Indians. Philip attacked
them on the march and even advanced on them in force, but was
OR, ou R couxTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 249
driven off. Then that chief left Mount Hope, and with his flying army
began ravaging the Plymouth territory. Fires blazed from Dartmouth,
Taunton, and Middleborough. The roadsides were dotted with the
bodies of settlers slain in their fields or tomahawked by the Indians as
they hurried them along. Savage, entering Mount Hope, found eight
heads of settlers set up on poles.
Meanwhile the settlers were endeavoring to win over the Narragan-
setts, hoping to keep that important tribe from joining the hostile
Indians; but, though they gave fair words, other tribes unexpectedly
flew to arms. Captain Hutchinson, sent to Brookfield to induce the
Nipmuck Indians to be peaceful, fell into an ambush. The Nipmucks
had already taken up the hatchet, and Philip was soon in their midst,
fierce for slaughter, and desperate in his plans.
Brookfield was besieged. A large house had been fortified, and the
survivors of Hutchinson's party and the settlers were all huddled
together there. The messengers for aid who were sent out perished,
and all around the house seemed alive with the furious foe. All
night long the blazing arrows came down on the devoted house,
and it required every eye and every hand to prevent a conflagra-
tion.
The Indians pushed up combustibles to the house, and sought to fire
it, but by brave Sallies the garrison drove them off and extinguished
the flames. Then, to the joy of all their thankful hearts, the rain came
pouring down, and they could rest and hope.
Just after Sunset, on that fifth August day, their hearts bounded :
they heard afar the clatter of many hoofs, and amid a rattling fire from
the Indians, in rode old Major Willard, a gray-haired veteran, with
forty-seven heavy-armed men. Brookfield was saved, and the Indians,
250 TIL E STORY OF A G REAT N ATI () N.
who had lost nearly eighty in killed and wounded, retired to their
swamps and fastnesses.
Every town in New England was now in alarm, and prepared to
meet a sudden attack.
The wily enemy stole cautiously about, never attacking where they
saw preparations. Thus the summer wore away. On the 1st of Sep-
tember the people of Hadley were gathered in their meeting-house for
a solemn fast, and their good fire-locks were stacked along the aisle,
when a yell showed that they were surrounded. Out they rushed to
meet the enemy, but the affair was so sudden that all was confusion,
and they would have been shot down like sheep, had not a white-haired
man of old-fashioned dress suddenly appeared. Like Some veteran
commander he gave the word in a clear, ringing voice. Order was
restored ; one good volley into the Indian foe, and a headlong charge
with pike and sword sent them flying from the town. The men of
Hadley looked around for their champion and deliverer, but he had
vanished as mysteriously as he had come.
Long after, the mystery was solved. Colonel Goffe, one of the three
judges of Charles I., who fled to New England, was then concealed in
Mr. Russel's house in Hadley. As all were in the meeting-house, he did
not fear observation, and went to a window to enjoy a look at the beauties
of creation, which he so seldom gazed upon. He had seen the Savages
come stealing in Indian file over the hill and down upon them. Full of
his old military ardor he rushed to the spot in time to form the startled
colonists, and lead them to victory. Then he fled to his concealment.
There was another desperate fight at Bloody Brook. So little of the
crops planted in New England could be gathered, that after Hadley
was abandoned, a party was sent to finish threshing the grain already
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 251
in the barns. As the well-loaded wagons were slowly fording Bloody
Brook on their return, the men stopped to gather wild grapes that
hung from the vines festooning the dense trees. From every side
poured out a stream of fire. The forest was alive with Indians.
Down, down, went the brave fellows | Scarce a man escaped. Old
Moseley at Hadley heard the firing, hastened up, and attacked the
Indians in their work of Scalping and plundering ; but though, as usual
in battle, his wig was hung on a bush and got many a bullet intended
for his head, Moseley could not drive them off. They seemed countless.
Towards night, when his men were ready to drop with weariness, they
heard the roll of the drum. Major Treat had come down the river
with a hundred sturdy men and fifty faithful Mohegans. Then, at last,
they drove the enemy from Bloody Brook.
Scarcely a Massachusetts settlement was left on the Connecticut.
Springfield was saved with difficulty, after seeing many fine dwellings
in flames.
The Narragansetts had, at first, promised peace, but they protected
Philip's men, and the danger was that at an unguarded moment they
might dash down on the settlements. The colonies resolved to take
the first step. The Narragansetts were called upon to renew the peace.
They held aloof in sullen silence. All through New England troops
gathered for the attack on this powerful tribe, and the Narragansetts
concentrated the warriors of their tribe and allies from far and near,
at the swamp-fort in South Kingston. Here, on an island reached only
by a frail bridge, stood their wigwams, enclosed in well-planted rows
of palisades.
Through the dreary snow-covered land and leafless forests, the army
of the colonists marched, with no shelter at night, wading through the
252 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
drifts by day. At noon, on the 19th of December, they came in sight
of the fort, and without delay formed to attack it. On in the van went
the men of Massachusetts, Plymouth and Connecticut supporting.
A general yell burst from the enclosed Narragansetts; it was answered
by the hearty cheers of the New England men. The marksmen,
picking their antagonists, opened fire on both sides. Down in the
storm of flame and bullet went many a brave leader, but the colonists
dashed into the fort; the Narragansetts, nerved to despair, crowded
down upon them. Foot by foot, with gallant men falling, the New
Englanders were forced back out of the fort that had cost so much.
They gathered in set determination. Another rush, and they are in
again, never to be dislodged. The wigwams were fired, and ere long
they held the ruined fort, strewn with the dead bodies of hundreds of
the foe, and of seventy of their own brave men, while a hundred and
fifty more lay writhing in pain. -
With the Snow falling fast around them, the army took up its home-
ward march, bearing on rude litters their wounded.
The power of the Narragansetts was forever broken.
The War continued all along the frontier. Lancaster was taken while
the minister, Rowlandson, was seeking relief, and his wife's sufferings
form a pathetic story. Captain Pierce, of Plymouth, lured into
ambush by Canonchet, perished with most of his force. Town after
town had to be abandoned. But the Indians began to suffer for food,
and had to Scatter more widely. In the spring they received a ter-
rible blow from Denison of Connecticut, who defeated several Narra!
gansett parties, and captured the great Canonchet and two other
Sachems. The haughty chief refused to submit, and was put to death.
by the Mohegans.
or, our country's ACHIEVEMENTs.
2
5
3.
In May, Captain Turner, forgetting all he had suffered as a Baptist,
gallantly led a force from Boston. A long night-march brought them
at daybreak to an Indian camp at the falls that have ever since borne
his name. Dismounting, they secured their horses, and, as stealthily
as Indians themselves, glided up to the camp of their Savage enemy,
who became aware of their presence only by the volley that poured in
among them. The scene that followed is one not easily described. It
was one in which wild confusion, despair, and frenzied efforts were
blended. The surprise was complete. The resistance was short and
irregular. The Indians taken at a disadvantage, the rapid stream
before them made escape hopeless; the white men almost encircled
them. Man, woman, and child eagerly sought the covers ; most
were cut down, while some, seeking to escape by swimming the
river, were hurried over the falls or shot in the water. Three
hundred Indians fell, and the largest supply of provisions and am-
munition that the hostile tribes possessed was destroyed. But while
the New Englanders were exulting over this victory, the woods again
re-echoed the fierce yell of the red man, and a fresh body of Indians
dashed upon them, surprising them as completely as they had sur-
prised. Fortunately, Turner was able to keep his men in good order;
they steadily fought their way through, and, recovering their horses,
began their retreat. The whole country swarmed with Indians. Their
march was under constant fire, and brave Captain Holyoke, covering
the retreat, suffered terribly, though he fought like a hero, and charged
the Indians repeatedly, driving them to their coverts. Turner was
killed while crossing Green River, and Holyoke led the survivors
of his gallant band to Hatfield, which the Indians soon after at-
tacked.
254 THIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Major Talcot, of Connecticut, also showed himself a good Indian
fighter, in his defense of Hadley, and in his glorious battle-week in
June, when he defeated the Indians in four different engagements,
leaving two hundred and fifty of their braves stark on the soil. So
heavy were his blows that for the first time Indians came in and sub-
mitted to the mercy of the whites.
In all these battles and fights, Philip, the prime mover of all, was
never seen by the New Englanders, and it was not certainly known
where he was ; but in the second year, when the spirit of the Indians
was broken, he appeared and was nearly captured in a fight in which
several of his family were killed or taken, and he himself escaped only
by flinging away even his ammunition. Captain Church, a famous
Indian fighter, was close on his track, and Philip's band, almost all
relatives of his own, was daily thinned. The Sachem seems to have
come back to die at his ancient home. His wife and son were soon
captured, to be sold into West Indian slavery. His comrades began
to despair. One talked of submission. Philip slew him. The brother
of his victim fled to Church, and guided his troops to Mount Hope.
They reached the spot at midnight, and lay down in the bushes.
When day broke the Indians perceived that they were surrounded,
and attempted to cut their way through. At one point an Englishman,
and Alderman, a friendly Indian, were posted. Philip, half dressed,
dashed past them ; both fired the Englishman's gun missed, but Alder-
man's sent a bullet through the heart of the chief. He fell upon his
face in the mud and water, with his gun under him.
The great Philip, last of the Pokanokets, or Wampanoags, was no
more. With a cruelty learned from the Indians, they mangled the
remains of the once haughty Sachem. His hands were carried as
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 255
trophies to Boston, and his head to Plymouth, where it was exposed
upon a pole on Thanksgiving Day. Many Indians, especially Praying
Indians, who had joined the enemy, were then hanged, and for months
the gibbet was never without a victim. Others were shipped off to the
West Indies and sold as slaves, to toil away their lives beneath the
sun of the tropics.
This ended the war in that part of New England; but along the
coast of Maine, where the Indians had many private wrongs to complain
of the war still raged furiously, till not an English settlement remained
from Casco Bay to the Penobscot. A little fort on Arrowsick Island
was taken by a bold stratagem. The Indians stole up to the sentinel,
and as he turned to enter the fort before his successor came out, they
rushed into the fort with him, and cut down nearly all the garrison in
a few moments.
During one of the lulls of the war in this section, a party of four
hundred Indians came to York and proposed peace to Major Waldron.
the commander there. He got up a sham fight the next day, near the
fort. When the Indians had fired their muskets, he surrounded them
with his men and took the whole party prisoners. Half of them he
allowed to go, the rest were sent to Boston, thence to the West Indies,
to be sold as slaves. This cruel act of treachery the Indians never
forgave ; it rendered them more furious. York, Wells, Black Point,
were destroyed, and the midnight sky was lighted up with blazing
houses and barns. They even ventured out in boats and captured
twenty fishing vessels, killing all on board.
At last, peace was made at Casco, in April, 1678, with Madocka-
wando and other Eastern chiefs, and New England could breathe freely.
Sad was the change in the happy Smiling landscape, where industry
256 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
and thrift had built up so fair a colony. Ten or twelve towns had
been utterly destroyed ; forty others, more or less burned down; five or
six hundred stalwart men had fallen in battle or been cut down un-
awares, or, worst of all, had perished amid all the refinements of
Indian torture. As you rode along, you met everywhere scenes of
desolation, ruin, and distress. Every family was in mourning, thou-
sands were destitute, the public debts of the colonies were more than all
the personal property.
While Massachusetts was in this distress, she began to reap the
reward of her refusal to modify her institutions and laws so as to con-
form to those of England. Charles II, began to follow the matter up.
Maine, west of the Kennebec, was now, by a decision of the Courts,
adjudged to the heir of Gorges, and though Massachusetts purchased
his rights, this did not help them. In 1678, Charles established New
Hampshire as a royal province, and restored Mason, the old patentee,
to his rights; but the people there were of the same mind as those of
Massachusetts, and royal Governors, collectors, and other officers,
for some time had a sorry time of it.
Massachusetts did not take warning ; the King's letters were met by
long, evasive responses, and the agents of the colony were instructed
to make all possible delay. But the King acted promptly; proceedings
were begun in the Court of King's Bench, to set aside the Charter of
Massachusetts, on the ground that they had violated it; and, as tech-
nical objections arose, new proceedings were begun in the Court of
Chancery, under which the Charter was declared void in 1684, and
Massachusetts became a royal province. *
New York was gradually assuming the form of an English colony,
and the people becoming accustomed to English rule. Under Thomas
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. . 257
Dongan, who came out as Governor in 1683, an Assembly was called,
and New York began to make laws for self-government. Dongan was
one of the ablest colonial Governors ever intrusted with power in
America, and labored earnestly to build up the colony, and to extend
its limits to the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario. Of the French power
he was the steady antagonist.
The Assembly, convened under this able man, passed a Charter of
Liberties, establishing freedom of conscience, and guaranteeing all the
liberties held dear by Englishmen. -
The Five Nations formally submitted as subjects to the King of Eng-
land, and Dongan restrained them from annoying other colonies, allow-
ing none to treat with them except through the Governor of New York.
To the southward another colony was now begun. William Penn
had become interested in New Jersey, and thus learned the fitness of
the New World as a home for emigrants. The English Government
owed him a large sum, which had been due to his father, Admiral
Penn. The Duke of York had esteemed the father and liked the son.
Charles had no money to pay old debts, but Penn offered to take as
compensation a grant of land in America, and James recommended his
brother to grant him all the land north of Newcastle, and between the
fortieth and forty-third degrees.
On the 6th of March, 1681, the charter was issued under the Great
Seal. Penn proposed to call the land New Wales; but as this was not
liked, he suggested Sylvania, from its abounding in forests, but Charles
insisted on putting Penn before this, to honor the Admiral, and so it
became Pennsylvania.
Penn was made absolute proprietor, with power to ordain laws,
appoint officers, and enjoy general authority ; but the laws were to be
258 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION,
assented to by the freemen of the province, and be approved by the
King, and no taxes were to be raised except by the Provincial
Assembly. To provide for any such case as had arisen in New
England, it was provided that Episcopal clergymen, approved by the
Bishop of London, were to reside in the province without molesta-
tion.
Thus the old colony of New Netherland had grown into New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the counties on the Delaware, which
now form the little State of Delaware. These were claimed by the
Duke of York as part of New York, and by Lord Baltimore as part of
Maryland. Penn bought from the Duke all his rights to them. He
sent out William Markham as Deputy Governor in 1681, with three
ship-loads of emigrants, and full instructions. In September of the
following year, Penn prepared to go himself to take possession of his
new province. In a beautiful letter he took leave of his wife and
family, then, with six hundred of his fellow-believers, he set sail in
September, 1682, for the new abode of peace, where they were to
begin what they called the Holy Experiment.
The passage was long, and the frequent deaths among the passengers
cast a gloom over them all. At last, on the 27th day of October,
William Penn landed at Newcastle. Swedes, Dutch, and English
were already settled in the new province, and they numbered between
two and three thousand, plain, strong, and industrious people, living
in peace with each other and the native tribes. The disposal of the
territory to Penn was regarded favorably. The news of his landing
was soon spread far and wide, and on the next day, in the presence of
a crowd of the settlers of the various tongues, his deeds were produced;
the agent of the Duke surrendered the territory by solemnly delivering
or, our country's ACIIIEVEMENTS 259.
earth and water, and Penn, as proprietor, pledged himself to grant
liberty of conscience and civil freedom.
He visited the various settlements, finding the land good, the air
clear and sweet, the springs plentiful, and provisions good and easy to
come at, an innumerable quantity of wild fowl and fish ; in fine, he
says, “What an Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be well contented
With.” -
Before leaving England he had addressed a letter to the Indians,
and as soon as he had seen the position of his province, he held his
first grand treaty with them. Beneath the great elm-tree at Shacka-
maxon, on the northern edge of his future city of Philadelphia, William
Penn, surrounded by a few friends in the peaceful garb of his sect,
with no military parade or arms, met the assembled delegates of the
Indian tribes. From the tribes on the waters of the Delaware came
the clans of that name ; Shawnees from the interior, and the stately
Conestogas from the Susquehanna, all met beneath the wintry sky and
the leafless branches of the elm. Distinguished simply by his blue
silk sash, Penn addressed them, not to purchase lands, but to form the
covenant of friendship which he had offered.
“We meet,” he said, “on the broad pathway of good works and
good will ; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be
openness and love. I will not call you children, for parents sometimes
chide their children too severely ; nor brothers only, for brothers
differ. The friendship between me and you I will not compare to a
chain ; for that the rains might rust, or the falling tree might break.
We are the same as if one man's body were to be divided in two parts;
We are all one flesh and blood.”
The children of the forest were touched by these words of peace
260 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
and from that day to this, the Indian has recognized in the Quaker a
friend indeed. They received the presents of Penn with sincerity, and
with hearty friendship they gave the highest and most Solemn guar-
antee known to the eastern tribes, the belt of wampum
Thus was the foundation of Pennsylvania laid : peace with the
Indians, liberty and toleration for all. A General Convention met at
Chester in December, and framed the laws for the province. All were
free, all were equal ; no taxes were to be laid but by law ; every man
could vote, and, without regard to religion, could be elected to office.
Sunday was to be a day of rest, and stage-plays, bull-baits, and cock-
fights were prohibited.
Having selected a site for his city, Penn bought the land of the
Swedish settlers who occupied it, and on a neck of land between the
Schuylkill and Delaware, well suited for a town by the convenience of
the rivers, the firmness of the land, the pure springs and healthy air, he
in January, 1683, laid out his city, to which he gave the name of
Philadelphia, meaning Brotherly Love.
Vast were the hopes of Penn, but he little dreamed of its future
greatness; that in less than a century it was to be the cradle of a great
Republic, soon to bear its starry flag from ocean to ocean.
In two years Philadelphia had grown from four little cottages to six
hundred houses, and the schoolmaster and the printing-press had
begun their work. -
Having given his colony the form and impulse his amiable heart
desired, and erected a modest brick house for himself, Penn returned
to England in 1684, bidding a touching farewell to the colonists and to
the virgin city Philadelphia.
In Virginia, after the restoration of the royal power under Charles
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 261
II., the aristocratic feelings recovered, and the Church of England
was established, and maintained by laws almost as Severe as those
which upheld Congregationalism in New England. The Governor,
Sir William Berkeley, bore himself very haughtily, and much discon-
tent prevailed. At last Indian troubles gave it an occasion to show
itself.
The Conestogas, or Susquehannas, as they are sometimes called,
from the river on which they dwelt, had, after a long war, been
disastrously defeated by the Senecas and other Iroquois tribes, and
driven down into Maryland and Virginia. In the confusion of their
hasty entrance into these colonies, several outrages were committed,
which were charged upon them, but were more probably the work of
the Senecas.
Some of the Conestoga chiefs met a party of settlers to justify them-
selves and make terms of peace, but the settlers, in the heat of passion,
murdered them. Old Berkeley rebuked this sternly. “If they had
killed my father and my mother, and all my friends, yet if they had
come to treat of peace, they ought to have gone in peace.”
The crime brought terrible consequences. The wretched Conesto-
gas, finding those among whom they sought a refuge to be as great
enemies as the Senecas, commenced a war in earnest, and from Mount
Vernon to the falls of the James they roamed, slaying and devastating,
till they deemed their dead chiefs avenged. Then they offered peace,
but the colonists rejected it. Other Indian tribes who had wrongs to
complain of now followed the example of the Conestogas, and Virginia
was plunged into the horrors of Indian war. tº
The Governor and his aristocratic associates did nothing to allay the
Storm ; but the people rose. Choosing as a leader Nathaniel Bacon a
262 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
brave and eloquent young planter, they demanded leave to rise and
protect themselves. Berkeley haughtily refused.
Where the James River leaps into the low-lands, lay the plantation
of the enthusiastic popular leader. The Savage enemy made a dash
here, and killed several of his men. He had declared that if another
white man fell he would raise troops without authority. Five hundred
men soon rallied to his standard, and he marched against the Indian.
foe. Berkeley proclaimed them rebels, and raised troops to pursue
them, but the people, tired of the tyranny of the Governor and
Assembly, rose and compelled the Governor to dissolve the Assembly.
Bacon, having driven off the Indians, returned in triumph, was elected
to the Assembly, and made Commander-in-Chief. This legislature
passed many acts to secure the liberties of the people, but Berkeley
refused to sign Bacon's commission. That young leader, fearing
treachery, withdrew, and returned at the head of an armed force.
The old Cavalier met them undaunted. Baring his breast, he cried,
“A fair mark, shoot | * “I will not,” replied Bacon, “hurt a hair of
your head, or of any man's ; we are coming for the commission to save
our lives from the Indians.”
Berkeley finally yielded, and Bacon, after rebuking the Council for
the exorbitant taxes, abuses of Government, and the misery of the
country, obtained a regular commission. At the head of his eager
soldiers he drove the Indians from their lurking-places in forests and
swamps, and was about to bring the war to a close by a vigorous cam-
paign, when Berkeley proclaimed him a traitor. Bacon appealed to
the people, and a general rising answered his call. Berkeley fled, but,
raising some troops and Indians, by aid of the English ships then in
Virginia waters, he returned to Jamestown, and again, proclaimed
or, ou R Coung RY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 263
Bacon a traitor. That popular leader was soon before the place with
his forces. Under the mild light of a September moon, a rude in-
trenchment was thrown up. Berkeley's motley horde lost heart, many
fled to the ships, the rest deserted the town, and Bacon entered. Fear-
ful that he could not hold it against the reinforcements that Berkeley
might receive from England, Bacon set fire to the village, two of his
chief adherents applying the torch to their own houses. The little
church, the new State House, soon caught, and the cradle of Virginia,
with all its recollections, was soon a mass of flames. To Berkeley's fleet,
anchored twenty miles below the town, it proclaimed the determination
of Virginians to be free, even at the sacrifice of all they possessed.
The ruins of the church-tower that survived, still stand as a monu-
ment to mark the spot connected with the names of Gosnold, Smith,
Powhatan, Pocahontas, and Bacon.
When Bacon came up to the opposing army, there was no battle.
The Governor's troops joined him. In the midst of his triumph,
Bacon fell sick and died. The people were left without a leader.
Berkeley, securing some capable men, defeated parties of the popular
troops, and hanged Hansford, a gallant young planter, who fell into his
hands. Others followed to the gallows, till twenty-two of the best and
purest men in Virginia had perished. Others died in prison. Every-
where estates were confiscated and people driven from their homes.
Virginia was filled with wretchedness, misery, and tears. When
tidings of this vindictive cruelty reached England, the kind-hearted
Charles II. exclaimed : “The old fool has taken away more lives in
that naked country, than I for the murder of my father.”
A squadron took out English troops to Virginia, the first who ever
entered an American province. Sir William Berkeley returned to
964. THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
England, but Bacon's movement left Virginia with less freedom than it
had before.
Maryland enjoyed comparative quiet during the reign of Charles II.,
and though one of its officers was concerned in the killing of the Sus-
quehanna chiefs, the colony condemned him, and avoided war.
Pennsylvania was not the only new colony which dates from this
reign. A number of English noblemen, anxious to be lord proprietors
in America, obtained, on the 24th of March, 1663, a grant for the
Province of Carolina, extending from the thirty-sixth degree of north
latitude to the river San Matheo, since called the St. John. Lord
Clarendon, the Duke of Albemarle, Lord Ashley Cooper, Sir William
Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret, whose names we have met already
with Lord Berkeley, and Sir John Colleton formed this body of pro-
prietors.
The land was not wholly unoccupied. Settlers from New England
had planted themselves there, and from time to time Virginians had
explored it and attempted settlements. These new colonists purchased
lands from the Indians, and were framing a simple government for
themselves. Berkeley, acting as Governor of Virginia, and one of the
proprietors of Carolina, appointed as Governor of the Virginia pioneers
William Drummond, who convened the first Assembly of northern
Carolina, and organized the Government in 1666.
The year before, Sir John Yeamans was appointed by the proprietors
Governor of a party of settlers from Barbadoes, who purchased a tract
on Cape Fear River, near the New England settlers.
Elated by the progress of colonization, the proprietors obtained a -
new Charter, giving them a vast territory extending to the Pacific
Ocean. Then the philosopher Locke drew up a Constitution and laws
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 265
2"
for this great territory, in which there were to be nobles of different
ranks, proprietaries, landgraves, and caciques. William Sayle was
appointed the first Governor, but it was found impossible to put in
force the laws that seemed so wise to philosophers and statesmen in
England. At last the proprietaries wrote to the colonists, “Settle
order among yourselves.”
Sayle's party of emigrants touched at Port Royal, and then settled,
in 1670, on the Ashley River, at the first high land. This was the
commencement of South Carolina. But the spot was not favorable for
commerce, and on the neck of land between the Ashley and Cooper
Rivers soon grew up a town, called, in honor of the King, Charleston.
Embowered in evergreen trees, with flowers of rich perfume, it was
long a spot that attracted settlers in spite of its unhealthy air.
If the proprietaries did not establish their elaborate laws, they did
encourage emigration, and settlers poured in from New England and
New York, from Barbadoes, and from England, Ireland, Scotland, and
Holland. Then came the Huguenots, expelled from France by Louis
XIV. -
To mould all these different classes into one community was not
easy, but it was finally accomplished, and perhaps the pretensions of
the proprietaries hastened it, for in a little while all the settlers agreed
to oppose them and their authority.
CHAPTER II.
Reign of James II.-James projects a Union of the Colonies—New York invaded—Connec
ticut and the Charter Oak—Indian Troubles in Maine—Fall of James—Reign of William III.
—Andros seized—Old Governments resumed in New England—William neglects America
—Sad Condition of New York–Leisler—Indian Wars—Waldron—Lachine—Schenectady— '
Salmon Falls—Casco—Phips fails to take Quebec—William sends a Governor to New York
—-Leisler refuses to submit—Taken—Hanged—New Charter for Massachusetts—The Witch
Trials—Captain Kidd.
JAMES II., Duke of York, came to the throne of England on the
death of his brother, Charles II., in 1684. As a Catholic he was
distasteful to the people of England, and it was evident that his reign
would be short. Under other auspices he might have been one of the
best English rulers. He was a brave and capable commander, well
acquainted with the commerce of England, and one of the few Kings
who took a real interest in American affairs.
One of his projects was to unite the colonies together. When he
became King he was proprietor of New York; Massachusetts was a
royal province ; Connecticut and Rhode Island had just been organized
under charters. He united Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and
the Narragansett country under Joseph Dudley as Governor; and he
prepared to annex other colonies to this new government. Then, for
the first time, the service of the church established by law in England,
was performed in Boston.
Dongan, the Governor of New York, was busy checking the French,
who, provoked by the raids of the Five Nations, invaded the Seneca
country with a considerable force, led by the Marquis de Denonville,
Governor of Canada.
The Senecas met him on his way inland, and for a time a fierce battle
raged. Soldiers from the battlefields of Europe, Canada militia, fron-
oUR Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 207
Tº jºy
tiersmen, Indian allies of the French, representing tribes from the
shores of Maine to the shores of Lake Superior, all met to do battle
with the Iroquois on the soil of New York. The action was sharp, and
many noted braves fell, but the Iroquois drew off, and the French
entered their ruined towns. Denonville then restored La Salle's fort
on the Niagara, and claimed all western New York. Dongan supported
his allies with arms and ammunition, and endeavored to win the
western tribes to England.
James, a more patriotic Englishman than his careless brother,
Charles II., supported Dongan, and when the French King complained,
insisted that the Iroquois were his subjects, and that as such he would
protect them. The French proposed, and James agreed to, a perfect
neutrality in America in case of future war.
Following up his plan of forming the colonies into one powerful gov-
ernment, James had sent out the active and capable Sir Edmund Andros,
as Governor General of the Territory and Dominion of New England.
He landed in Boston in December, 1686, with an imposing force of
British troops. One of his first steps was to induce Connecticut to sur-
render her Charter into his hands, so that he could make that province
part of his territory. He soon after, in pursuance of instructions based
on erroneous reports that Connecticut had submitted, left Boston with
several of his council, and some sixty grenadiers as his guard. For
the first time such a retinue dashed in its pomp and glitter through the
New England woods.
At Hartford the General Court was in session, and Andros called
for the surrender of the Charter, which the people prized so dearly.
A pleasing tradition was long kept alive by the reverence paid
to the famous tree at Hartford, called the Charter Oak, which braved
268 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
the winds till it was blown down in a great storm in August, 1856.
The story is that after Andros had secured one copy of the Charter,
and all were looking on in Sadness and gloom, the lights were suddenly
extinguished as Andros stretched out his hand to grasp the other.
There was delay in relighting the hall, and then the Charter had van-
ished. Lieutenant Joseph Wadsworth had secretly carried it off and
hidden it in the hollow of this old oak. But there are doubts as to
this story, and though the Charter was probably concealed in the tree,
Wadsworth had apparently secured it previous to the coming of
Andros.
Dongan's experience and his warnings now induced James to con-
Solidate, if possible, all the English colonies into one, so as to give the
Indians a greater idea of English power, and more easily check the
French. New Jersey was also placed under Andros, and then New
York, so that all the colonies from the fortieth degree, except Penn-
sylvania, were incorporated into one vast province as the Dominion of
New England. Sir Edmund Andros was the Viceroy, and Captain
Francis Nicholson, Lieutenant Governor.
Like Dongan, Andros eagerly watched the French, and sent the
Rose frigate to Penobscot to break up a French settlement and trading-
post of the Baron de St. Castin. The property of that nobleman was
seized and carried off, and the act cost New England dearly. St.
Castin, or Castine, as the English settlers called him, had come over to
Canada as a young ensign in a French regiment. When it was dis-
banded he had grown to like the New World, so he wandered off to
the coast of Maine, and planted his tent among the Indians on the
Penobscot. He liked them so well that he married a daughter of
Madockawando, and exerted immense influence over the Indians all
on, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 269
along the coast, and thus carried on a very large and profitable trade.
The Indians considered him as one of their great chiefs, and looked
upon the injury done him as a wrong against them, which they resolved
to retaliate.
While Andros was at Albany, looking after the Indian affairs of
New York, tidings came that troubles had arisen at Penobscot. The
Indians had risen, and Massachusetts sent a force to put them down.
Andros, anxious to avoid a war, hastened across the country to Boston,
and raising a force of eight hundred men, went to Maine in the depth
of winter, sharing all the hardships of the troops, though many perished
on the march.
The Indians fled to the woods, and the troops were unable, after all
their hardships, to bring them to action. Andros was now reaping the
harvest he had sown. The whole coast of Maine was in danger, and
to secure the scattered settlements, he planted a number of garrisons
along the coast.
James was no longer on the English throne. His nephew and son-
in-law, William, Prince of Orange, had invaded England and been
acknowledged as King, with Mary as Queen.
Utterly unlike James, William seems to have taken no interest in
American affairs, and he was not, like James, a man to busy himself
with them. Instead of dispatching definite instructions at once to all
the American colonies, he acted with hesitation, and showed no care or
promptness. He left everything in confusion.
This was the cause of terrible troubles and border-Wars on this side
of the Atlantic.
When the Revolution took place in England, Andros was still in
Maine. He returned to Boston. There a revolution also took place.
270 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Seeing it hopeless to attempt to maintain his authority, Andros was on
his way to embark on the Rose frigate, when he was induced to meet
Bradstreet and others at the council chamber. There he was arrested
and thrown into prison. f
A Council of Safety assumed the Government in Massachusetts.
Plymouth reinstated its old Governor and its old Administration.
Connecticut brought out her hidden Charter, and Governor Treat
resumed his duties.
Opening the dispatches addressed by William to Andros, the Council
of Safety proclaimed William and Mary
No colony, indeed, made any resistance, but troubles took place in
New York and Maryland. In the last, as no instructions arrived, the
deputies of Lord Baltimore hesitated to proclaim William and Mary.
But an association was formed, headed by a disreputable man named
John Coode, who was soon after indicted and fled. A revolution took
place, a Government was formed which William Sanctioned, and
finally, in 1691, he made Maryland a royal province, appointing Sir
Lionel Copley Governor.
In New York matters were even more serious. Nicholson, the
Lieutenant Governor, finding that Andros was a prisoner, sought in
vain to obtain his release. He convened the Common Council of the
city, and, to quiet the people, proposed that part of the city militia
should mount guard in the fort. One of the seven militia captains,
Jacob Leisler, saw an opportunity to raise himself. Ignorant, fanatical,
ambitious, he began by letters and speaking to excite distrust and
trouble. In a little while half the people of New York believed that
Nicholson had threatened to burn New York and massacre the
people
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 271
A slight quarrel about a sentinel Soon brought things to a point.
Never had New York been so excited. The drums were beat, and the
citizens appeared in arms. Leisler's company entered the fort and
took possession. It was at first agreed that the various captains should
command in turn, but Leisler soon had all in his own hands, proclaimed
the Prince of Orange, and the people supposed that it was to be again
a Dutch colony.
Nicholson, finding himself stripped of all power, sailed for England.
Bayard and other members of the Council retired to Albany, and
attempted to organize Government there. Leisler then had himself
appointed by his men Commander-in-Chief of the province, and
addressed a letter to William and Mary.
England and France were now at war, and both parties claiming
rule in New York were full of fight. At Albany the Five Nations
were encouraged to war on the French. The treaty of neutrality
effected at the wish of Louis XIV. was disregarded, and the colonists
sought a war with Canada, and were ready to use the Indians against
that province.
This was one of the most unfortunate steps in our history. All the
horrors which for many years desolated our frontiers, might have been
avoided.
The French wished peace and wished to avoid Indian hostilities.
Finding that they must have war, they went to work with a will.
The garrisons established by Andros in Maine had been withdrawn.
The Indians, siding with the French, chanted the war-song from the
Connecticut to the St. John's. Waldron's treachery had never been
forgotten, and was now to be avenged.
One stormy night some squaws came to the garrison houses at
272 THE STORY OF A GREAT INATION.
Cocheco, asking shelter till morning. No tidings of the coming war
had reached Waldron, so they were carelessly admitted.
At midnight they threw open the doors, and the Pennacook braves
rushed in, shrieking and yelling. Many were cut down at once ; but
every Indian thirsted to reach Waldron. The old man, wakened by
the noise, leaped out of bed. “What now what now 7" he cried, as
he rushed on the Indians, sword in hand. So fierce was his rush that
they gave way before him, but as he turned to get other arms, they
sprang on him, struck him down senseless, and then dragged him to the
hall.
There they seated him in a chair on top of a table, and exclaimed,
“Who shall judge Indians now 7" After a time they surrounded him
again, brought out his books, and laid them on the table before him;
hen, in mockery of his way of trading, each Indian stepped up and
crying, “I cross out my account ” with his knife drew a deep gash
across the old man's breast ; and so they went on, till the veteran,
fainting from loss of blood, and murmuring “Oh Lord! oh Lord l’ fell
forward on a sword.
Cocheco was soon a mass of fire; house and mill alike sent up their
volumes of flame, lighting up the scene; twenty-two settlers lay dead,
and by the gleams of firelight the dusky warriors were seen hurrying
away nearly as many more prisoners.
A little girl, seven years old, a grand-daughter of Major Waldron,
during the attack was sent by the Indians to an inner room to tell the
people to come out. She hid, but was found and dragged off, half
clothed and barefooted. Her sufferings were terrible : her Indian
master once was going to kill her, and actually set her up against a
tree and aimed at her ; another time an Indian girl pushed her off a
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 273
high rock into the river, and she nearly drowned, but she dared not
tell for fear of worse treatment. Once they stole off in the morning
and left her, covered with the snow, alone in the woods. The poor
little thing went crying after them through the wilderness, tracing them
by their trail on the snow. Another time they made a great fire, and
threatened to roast her alive, but she ran to her master, and clasping
her little arms round his tawny neck, promised to be good, and
touched his heart.
Such were the horrors which the colonies brought on themselves,
when all might have been avoided.
The Five Nations, instigated by the people of New York, dealt a
still heavier blow on Canada. Fifteen hundred braves of the League,
with some English, all well armed, set out to invade Canada. Never
had such a force of red men taken the field. Through the forests they
marched to Lake Champlain, where they built their fleet of canoes.
No scouts warned the French of their approach. They glided down
with noiseless stroke into the St. Lawrence, and passed Lake St. Louis
during the fierce hailstorm that came on during the night of the fifth
of August. Their canoes soon ran silently on the shore at La Chine,
a few miles above Montreal. The little French village lay buried in
slumber. The war-whoop roused them to fall beneath the balls of the
Indians or their murderous hatchets. Men, women, and children per-
ished, and, firing the town, the Indians added to the horrors of the
scene, and prevented all escape. Here and there a brave man would
attempt to defend himself and those dear to him. Few escaped. Those
who fell into the hands of the Indians alive underwent every torture
that savage fury could invent. Children were put alive on spits, and
their mothers forced to turn them before a fire. All night long the
274 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
hideous Orgies and cruelties of the Indians continued. The sun rose on
a scene of indescribable horror. Only two houses in the whole village.
remained, and not a living inhabitant ; all else was blood and ashes:
Two hundred people had perished ; a hundred and fifty more were
hurried off as captives.
Denonville, Governor of Canada, sent out Lieutenant Robeyre with
a detachment to hold Fort Roland. The Indians attacked it with such
fury that the little garrison were soon surrounded by dead. But it
was all in vain. The foe were countless, and the little band was thinned
till the brave Robeyre, ſaint and wounded, stood alone.
Du Luht, whose name has been given to a new town on Lake
Superior, was more successful, when encountering two canoes of Iroquois,
on the Lake of the Two Mountains. Plying their paddles with hot
haste, the Iroquois rushed upon him. Du Luht forbade a man to
fire, and the Iroquois bullets, fired in haste, rattled harmlessly by.
Quick struck the paddles till the range was sure ; then, at his word, his
deadly volley poured into the Iroquois canoes. Every bullet told.
Eighteen braves lay writhing in their riddled canoes; four plunged
into the water to seek safety by swimming, but of the whole band only
one escaped.
But all was alarm in Canada. Fort Frontenac was abandoned
and fired, and a mine with a slow match lit to blow it up. The
Indians, going to attack it, found ammunition and plunder to reward
them.
Four days after the attack on Lachine, a hundred Christian Indians
from a French mission on the Penobscot, appeared before Fort Pema-
quid, on the coast of Maine. Coming partly by Sea, and partly by
land, they found the people utterly unprepared. They rushed furiously
oR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 275
through the village, breaking into the houses, and slaughtering all
before them.
Captain Weems in the fort opened fire with his cannon, but the
Indians took to some stone houses and behind a rock that jutted out.
A regular frontier fight began. Each watched his antagonists keenly,
and every exposed body was instantly a mark for a ball. At last the
sun began to decline, and wishing to close the matter at once, an
Indian summoned Weems to surrender.
“I am tired,” replied the undaunted man ; “I am tired, and must
go to sleep.”
All night long the rattle of musketry was kept up, and with daylight
the fire into the fort was terrible. Weems, finding it hopeless, agreed
to capitulate, and the Indians allowed all who survived to march out
and embark. The Indians, with a self-restraint not often seen, stove
in a cask of rum which they found in the fort.
All was now confusion at New York. King William, after Nichol-
son's return to England, sent out a letter addressed to him at New
York. Leisler opened it, and declared that it made him Lieutenant
Governor, and imprisoned all who opposed him. He harassed the
people of Albany in order to make them submit to his rule.
Amid all this confusion, Count Frontenac, the new Governor of
Canada, was preparing to avenge the bloody massacre of Lachine. In
the very heart of a Canadian winter, three expeditions of French and
Indians started out over the snow and ice. One from Montreal aimed
at Schenectady ; another, from Three Rivers, at Salmon Falls, and a
third, from Quebec, at the settlement on Casco Bay.
Schenectady was the frontier town, and, in spite of the dangers of a
time of war, was merry as winter could make it. One Saturday after-
276 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
noon, Talmage, who commanded the little garrison in the fort, urged
the people to be cautious, as warnings had come. The people laughed
at his fears, and gayly spent the afternoon in their warm houses. The
gates of the palisades, even, were left open, and they set up Snow men
there as mock sentinels.
While all this foolery was going on, the French and Indian force,
under Saint Helene and Manteht, were almost within gunshot. N.
Weary, hungry, and numbed with cold, they waited till every light
disappeared in the doomed village. At midnight they charged, through
both gates at once into the place, and attacked Talmage's fort. The
war-whoop rang through the village ; houses were fired, and a general
slaughter ensued.
Stout Adam Vrooman defended his house like a hero, and the
French gave him quarter; they spared a widow's house, and endeav-
ored to save the minister, who was, however, killed. Sixty persons
were slain in that bloody night. Twenty-five escaped from the place,
and lighted by the glare of their burning houses, hastened almost naked
through the deep snows to Albany ; one of the wounded, Simon
Schemerhorn, who had succeeded in finding a lame horse, reaching that
city early on Sunday morning, to terrify all with his fearful tidings.
The other expeditions of the French were equally successful. Her-
tel, with the men of Three Rivers, pushed on till his scouts recon-
noitred Salmon Falls, now Berwick, in New Hampshire. In three
parties they attacked three garrisoned houses, one supplied with
cannon. The yell of the Indian was met by a bold cheer ; but one by
one the defenders fell, and the survivors surrendered. Then the in-
vaders applied the torch. The settlement was in flames, and the In-
dians slaughtered on all sides the herds of cattle in the burning stables.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 277
The people of Portsmouth heard of the disaster, and gave chase to
*ne enemy. Hertel halted at the narrow bridge over Wooster River.
The brave New Englanders dashed over it, firing rapidly. Hertel,
trained to border fighting, let them approach and rushed upon them.
With terrible loss the men of Portsmouth Were hurled back, and
Hertel continued his retreat.
The fort at Casco Bay was invested by Portneuf's party. Some of
them by night stole up almost to the gate, and lay in ambush. At
daybreak Robert Greason fell into the trap and was slain. The scalp-
halloo told the garrison of their danger ; fifty men boldly Sallied forth
to meet them. A desperate hand to hand fight followed. Only four
men out of fifty ever lived to re-enter the fort. Still the place held out,
but as Hertel joined him, Portneuf pushed the siege quickly, and at
last Casco surrendered.
All the northern colonies were now in consternation. The French
might rouse every Indian against them.
Leisler urged all the colonies to join in a union for the reduction of
Canada ; and, as their authority was no better than his, they agreed,
and the first North American Colonial Congress met at New York in
1690. They agreed to raise an army of eight hundred and fifty-five
maen to conquer Canada. This seems a very insignificant force indeed;
and when Fitz-John Winthrop, the commander, reached Lake Cham-
plain and found the Indians dying of small-pox, and discontented, he
returned to Albany, and the whole expedition came to nothing, though
Daptain John Schuyler, with some whites and Indians, made a bold
dash into Canada, and ravaged La Prairie, destroying houses, barns,
and cattle, killing and carrying off many of the French settlers.
Massachusetts fitted out a fleet under Phips to attack Port Royal,
278 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
a French post, now replaced by Annapolis, in Nova Scotia, intending.
if successful, to sail round into the St. JLawrence, and take Quebec.
No such fleet had ever sailed out of an American port, and the
greatest hopes were built on its success. Port Royal had before baffled
English attacks; but when, on the 19th of May, 1690, the French
guards on the coast saw the fleet, they started in all haste to warn the
commander of the fort. Despairing of being able to make any defense.
he capitulated, but Phips pillaged the place, demolished the chapel, and
treated the people harshly. They were never again to be long under
French rule, and their history is a very sad and pitiable one. War
had put them under a government that they could not love, and which
looked on them with dislike.
Phips, flushed with victory, determined to attack Quebec. Storms
delayed him, and it was not till October 14th that he anchored with
thirty-four sail near that city. Frontenac, the Governor of Canada,
finding Montreal safe from Leisler's army, had hastened back to
Quebec, and had fortified it with great skill.
He was ready for the fight. In a little while a boat came rowing
from the New England fleet, the white flag flying at the bow. Before
it reached land a French boat met it, and received Phips' messenger,
who was blindfolded and led into the Castle of Quebec. The cunning
French led him by a roundabout way, so that he heard plenty of
soldiers marching, and rattling of guns, to make him think the place
was full of troops. When his bandage was taken off he stood in the
presence of the haughty old Count, who was surrounded by his officers
and the great dignitaries of the colony. He handed to Frontenac the
summons of Phips, and an insolent one it was, and taking out his
watch, said that he could not wait for his answer more than an hour.
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS, 27 ºf
The French officers were furious ; but Frontenac sternly told him, “I
will not keep you waiting that long for my answer. Here it is. I
know no King William. . . I will answer your master by the mouth
of my cannon. Let him learn that this is not the way to summon a
man like me!”
As soon as the boat with its white flag had carried the messenger
back to the New England fleet, the batteries of Quebec opened. One
of the first balls carried away Phips' flag, and it floated so near the
shore that a French boat ran out and Secured it, and for many a day
it hung as a trophy in the old Cathedral.
Phips replied with the cannons of his ships, and landed his a.my
to attack the city, but the shore swarmed with Canadians and Indians,
who seemed innumerable. Every tree seemed to shelter an Indian
marksman. They bounded around the army, dodging from rock to
rock, from tree to tree. At last Frontenac ordered up a battalion of
his regular troops, old French veterans, and Phips' army was forced
back to the water's edge.
So it went on for several days, fighting on land, while the ships and
fortifications cannonaded each other furiously. At last, baffled on
shore, Phips withdrew his men, leaving his cannon to the French,
and with his shattered ships fell down the St. Lawrence.
Canada, wild with exultation and joy, reared a church to Our Lady
of Victory, but Massachusetts heard the tidings with dismay. The
expense of the expedition had been enormous, and the expected plunder
did not come to pay it. For the first time paper money was issued.
Massachusetts, having no money, printed promises to pay.
In New York the people tried to escape the cost by denying
Leisler's power to impose taxes.
4Drter of 3Lieut. (50p, 3Leiſler, Suitb 2ſutograph and Écai.
By The Liev Governr &c.
HESE are in his Majties name to Will & Require you to forwarne & forbid all
T #ſons in yo' Bayliwick to go on board ye Ship Jacob Win Maſſon Comandr &
that you forthwº Cauſe good & true Watch to be kept that no #ſon goes aboard of him
weh may pilote him through helgate & if any #ſon refuſe to obey you that him or them
you ſeize & bring before me to anſwer for their Contempt. Given under my hand &
ſeale this 30 8ber in ye Second Year of their Majº Reigne 1690.
To ye Conſtables of harlem & bouwery Cºcºa
LEISLER’s PROCLAMATION

OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 2S1.
Amid all these troubles, King William had sent over no Governors,
mo instructions. The American colonies were all acting for themselves.
It seems as if he cunningly wished them to be weakened and ruined.
At last he appointed Colonel Sloughter Governor of New York, with
Major Richard Ingoldsby as Lieutenant Governor, but they did not
sail from England till December, and then Sloughter went to Bermuda,
so that Ingoldsby arrived first at New York. He demanded possession
of the fort for the King's forces and their stores. Leisler was very
angry at the demand, and, provoked to find that some of the old
Council were reappointed, refused to give up the fort.
Ingoldsby then landed his troops with great caution, and quartered
them in the Stadt House, or City Hall. The Council appointed by
King William, except two whom Leisler kept in prison, met, but the
Governor did not arrive.
Leisler, however, was gathering men in his fort, and had his cannon
trained to bear on the city, so the Council summoned militia from the
other counties. Leisler then summoned the Lieutenant Governor to
disband his forces, and on his refusal opened fire upon them, himself
discharging the first cannon in this mad and desperate attempt. The
fire of the fort was returned, and several were killed in this civil war.
The next day the firing went on till news came that the frigate
Archangel was at the Narrows with Governor Sloughter on board.
Word was at once sent to him, and he came up in all haste. He read
his commission, took the oaths, swore in the Council, and then sent to
demand the fort. Leisler still refused.
The next day Ingoldsby, by the Governor's command, advanced
and required all in the fort to ground their arms and march out, prom-
ising pardon to all but Leisler and his Council. Now, full of alarm as
>as'
282 TIIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
the difficult position into which they had got, they all submitted.
Leisler and his chief adherents were imprisoned, and brought to trial.
Leisler and his son-in-law, Milborne, refused to plead, but they were
convicted of holding the King's fort against the King's Governor, and
sentenced to death.
The whole colony was now greatly excited, some praying for the
prisoners' pardon, others clamoring for their punishment. The Indians
ascribed all the disasters to Leisler, and showed great hostility to him.
So Sloughter at last, by the advice of his Council, ordered their execu-
tion. It is said by some that he signed the death-warrant after being
well plied with wine at a dinner-party.
Amid a driving rain on Saturday, May 16, 1691, Leisler and Mil-
borne were conveyed from their prison to a gallows erected near the
present Sun Office. There, receiving the last consolations from
Domine Selyns, the Dutch minister, Leisler, whose word had for nearly
three years been law in New York, made his dying speech, and was
swung off as a felon. He and Milborne were buried at the foot of the
gallows.
For years after this, New York was distracted by the violent oppo-
sition of the Leisler and anti-Leisler parties.
William at last began to consider American affairs. After much
endeavor on the part of the New England agents, a new Charter was
drawn up for Massachusetts, but it was not altogether to the liking
of the people. The ideas of King James were to Some extent shared
by William ; he, too, wished to consolidate the colonies and increase
the royal power. So Massachusetts under the new Charter was a pretty
large colony, as you will see on any map. It included the old Massa-
chusetts Bay and Plymouth, Maine, Nova Scotia, and all between them.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTs. 283
The people were no longer to elect their Governor, or appoint their
judges; the Governor was to be named by the King, and the Governor
and Council appointed the Judges. If any man felt dissatisfied with
the decisions of the highest court in Massachusetts, he could now appeal
to the Privy Council in England.
Every form of Christianity, except the Roman Catholic, obtained
freedom of worship, and in this point the Charter agreed with all others
issued at this time. Catholics were not admitted to the rights of their
fellow-Christians as long as the British rule lasted, nor were Jews more
than barely tolerated.
The new Government in Massachusetts was no longer in the hands
of the Church, and from this time ceased to direct Ecclesiastical
matters; each church managed its own affairs. w
To please the people of the colony, William allowed the agents of
Massachusetts, the chief of whom was a famous minister, the Reverend
Increase Mather, to suggest names for the officers to be appointed by
the crown ; William Phips, who had been so unsuccessful at Quebec,
was accordingly appointed, and he came out in 1692 with the new
Charter.
The people were not very well pleased, but the new Government was
organized, with Phips as Governor.
Then commenced one of the strangest and most terrible affairs that
ever occurred in the country, the Witchcraft Delusion in New England,
in which many innocent persons perished ; and after all, some little
Scamps of deceitful children were at the bottom of it all.
The first important case in which a person was tried for witchcraft,
was that of a woman named Glover, in 1688. She was one of the
dhousands of poor Irish people who had been torn from their own homes
284 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
and sold as slaves in America. She had defended her daughter
against a charge of stealing made by the daughter of John Goodwin, a
girl of thirteen. This girl, to secure revenge, pretended to be be-
witched by Glover. Three others of the family joined her. Instructed
apparently in tricks taught them by Indian nurses, they pretended to
be deaf, then dumb, then blind, then they would all purr like so many
cats. Ministers were called in, and poor old Mrs. Glover, “the wild
Irishwoman,” was arrested. One way of trying the witches was to
make them say the Lord's Prayer. The poor creature said it in Irish ;
but they could not tell whether she said it right or not ; she said it in
Latin, but, being a poor ignorant creature, made a few mistakes; but
in English she could not say it, for the simple reason that it was
not her language; she had learned it after a fashion in New England,
but no one had taught her English prayers. So, says our great histo-
rian Bancroft, the ministers and Goodwin's family had the satisfaction
of getting her condemned as a witch and executed, for she was only a
friendless emigrant.
It is horrible to think that children could have played such pranks
as brought this poor woman to such a terrible death.
For a time, political affairs kept this witchcraft business back, but in
1692 it began again, and again children were at the bottom of it. The
family of the Reverend Samuel Parris, minister in Salem village, was
the next field. They had an Indian slave named Tituba, with whom
the children were a great deal. She taught them a number of tricks—to
imitate fits, frothing at the mouth, ventriloquism, and many of the arts
of the Indian medicine-men, and filled their minds with all manner of
superstitions. When they began to do their pranks before their
parents, a doctor was called in ; as he could make nothing of it, he
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 28 J
said they were bewitched. Mr. Parris had been at variance with some
of his people, and the cry was raised that his children were bewitched.
Immediately people around were accused as witches, and conviction
and death came much quicker after accusation than they do in our days.
Martha Corey did not believe there were any witches, so she was
accused and hung ; the Nurses, Cloyses, and Mr. Putnam left the
church in disgust, Rebecca Nurse was hung, Sarah Cloyse imprisoned,
and Putnam escaped only by making his house a fortress, and standing
ready to fight for his life. A poor old woman, Sarah Good, was
pointed out by the children as a witch, arrested, tried, and sentenced
to die. Even her little child, five years old, was also arrested as a
witch, and put in prison, loaded with heavy chains ! While they were
dragging Sarah Good off, the cruel minister, Nicholas Noyes, told her
she was a witch, and she knew she was a witch. “You are a liar,”
cried the doomed woman, “and God shall give you blood to drink.”
Twenty-five years after, Noyes was seized with a bleeding from the
lungs, and died actually drinking blood!
Once the girls began they had to keep up, they went through all
their contortions, accused one and another, twisting into all possible
attitudes, stiffened as in death, crying out at intervals charges such as:
“There is the black man whispering in Cloyse's ear! There's a yellow
bird flying round her head.”
Every one present was moved with sympathy for these poor
children, some ten in all ; and all eagerly clamored for the punishment
of the accused. Rebecca Nurse was a lady universally esteemed, the
jury acquitted her, but the Chief Justice kept them confined till they
found her guilty, so perfectly mad had people become.
Then the greatest victim came : George Burroughs, minister of
286 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Salem before Mr. Parris, and, in fact, his rival. He was a man of
herculean strength, and had often amused his friends by feats showing
his immense power. He is said to have put his finger into the barrel
of a gun, and held the weapon out at arm's length. All this was now
brought out as proof of diabolical power. He was tried, hung, and
buried beneath the gallows.
Old Giles Corey would not plead, that is, would not answer “Guilty "
or “Not Guilty.” For refusing to plead, the punishment in those days
was fearful. It was to be pressed to death. And Giles Corey was
pressed to death. A large board was placed on his breast as he lay
flat on the ground, and weights laid on, increasing till he died, three
mouthfuls of bread being given him the first day, and three sups of
water from the nearest stagnant pool the next, and so on to the end.
The horrors of these scenes roused protests in New England and
abroad. People began to think. They shuddered at what they had
done. The girls soon showed by their lives what they really were.
One, Ann Putnam, repented and confessed.
Such was the great witchcraft delusion of New England, in which a
lot of good-for-nothing children led the most learned and shrewdest
men of New England to murder innocent people.
Before this horrid work stopped, twenty people were executed, fifty-
five more were sentenced to death, and the prisons contained a
hundred and fifty more awaiting trial.
King William sought to control the colonies by a new method. He
made Fletcher, the royal Governor of New York, Commander-in-Chief
of the militia of Connecticut. The people opposed this as a violation
of their Charter, and were not disposed to submit.
One pleasant day in October, 1693, Fletcher appeared in Hartford
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 287
to read his commission and assume authority. William Wadsworth,
the senior captain, was drilling the train-bands on the village green,
when Fletcher advanced and bade Bayard of New York read his com-
mission. Before the first word could reach the ears of the militia,
Wadsworth ordered the drums to beat. Fletcher commanded silence,
and once more Bayard began to read. Once more the drums beat.
“Silence l’ exclaimed Fletcher. “Drum, drum ! I say,” shouted
Wadsworth, adding, as he turned to the Governor of New York, “If
I am interrupted again I will make the sun shine through you in a
moment ' " The cowardly Fletcher, awed by a gasconading threat of
an old country militia captain, retired fuming and storming, and his
royal master explained his orders so as to leave Connecticut in peace.
New England had suffered so severely in the campaigns against
Canada, that they made no further attempt to wrest that province from
the French. But the New Yorkers were bolder. A small force of
colonists and Indians, under Peter Schuyler, marched stealthily up
through the woods of northern New York, and entering Canada,
approached La Prairie, a little village opposite Montreal. A consider-
able French force was stationed in a fort here, and a body of Indians
lay near it. Schuyler, however, resolved to strike a blow. Favored
by the darkness, his men stole silently along, and were almost up to
the fort just as the first light of day began to appear in the east, when
a French sentinel caught sight of them. He fired his piece and called
“To Arms.” The soldiers had had a merry-making, deeming their
enemies in New York. Confusion reigned supreme.
The sentinel's alarm roused them all. He was a brave man, and
firing again, killed a Mohawk Indian, but was himself cut down. On
dashed Schuyler and his men into the quarters of the Canadian militia.
988 TIIE STORY OF A G REAT NATION ;
An irregular fire met them, but the militia and Ottawas soon broke.
St. Cyrque, the French commander, brought up his regulars, but
Schuyler formed his men and poured in a deadly volley that made the
valley echo. St. Cyrque was mortally wounded, and several gallant
officers beside him ; but he would not leave the field. Other troops
coming up, at last forced Schuyler from his position, and he drew off,
fighting those sent in pursuit. But a brave French party got between
him and his boats, and, well covered by trees, kept up a desperate
fight. It was frontiersman and Indian against frontiersman and Indian.
Every tree was a cover, and every man, on either side, that was
exposed for a moment became a mark. It was at last a hand to hand
fight, and a deadly one. Paul, a celebrated Huron, and young Le
Bert were killed on the French side, and Schuyler reached his boats
only after terrible loss, and without flag or baggage.
The Mohawks soon after defeated a French party at the Long
Rapid, on the Ottawa; so that Frontenac resolved to punish their
aggressions. In January, 1693, a French force on snow-shoes marched
down through the desolate land, and destroyed the three Mohawk
villages, meeting a desperate resistance at one of them, and being hotly
pursued on their homeward march. It was a terrible undertaking to
attempt to carry on warfare in such a season. There was no hope for
the wounded or weary.
Then there was a series of Indian raids, and proposals of peace, but
finding them all come to nothing, Frontenac marched with a large force
of French regulars, militia, artillery, and Indians of a host of different
tribes, to attack Onondaga. Fort Frontenac had been restored, and from
it this great army set out. It landed at the mouth of the Oswego, and
Umarched up, dragging the cannon by hand, and the boats too at the falls.
CR, our Country's ACIIIEVEMENTs. 289
Night came on before they reached Onondaga, but a bright light
reflected from sky and woodland told that the Onondagas had fired
their town and fort, and retired. When the French reached it there
was nothing but smouldering ruins. The vast expedition was useless;
there was no enemy to fight. One old man, found in the Woods, was
tortured by them with fearful cruelty.
Vandreuil, leading a detachment to Oneida, burned the fort and
villages of that tribe, rescued many French prisoners, and cut down all
their corn.
This was the last French invasion of what is now New York. They
had at different times ravaged all the cantons but one, but had not done
the Five Nations any great injury, or broken their spirit. Had France
been able to hold the territory of these fierce Indians, the struggle Of
the colonists against them would have been a doubtful one. The
Canadians were good fighters, and their frontiersmen took readily to
Indian ways, and in the border fights were dreaded by the English
colonists and Indians. At New York the people and the Indians
began to think they would do better to avoid fighting.
New England, however, suffered most in this war. The Abenaqui
tribes had received so much injustice at the hands of the colonists, that
they were implacable. Led by a French officer named Willieu, they
swept like a torrent through the country. Oyster River, now Durham,
New Hampshire, was first attacked, and the stout garrison-houses were
surrounded by the whooping, yelling foe. In spite of the stubborn
defense every place was carried and destroyed.
Taxus, one of the chiefs, even dashed into Massachusetts with a band
of fifty braves, and came like a whirlwind on Groton. Lieutenant
Lakin's house was the first attacked. A sheet of flame and a volley
290 THE STORY OF A GREAT INATION.
repulsed them, but on they came with fierce yells and stubborn deter-
mination. They carried it at last, and hurried off with a dozen
prisoners, leaving twenty Scalped and weltering in their blood. ~-
The colonists burned to avenge these raids, but having seized some
Indians who came to Fort Pemaquod with a flag of truce, the Indians,
and French invested that fort in 1696. Chubb, the commander, when
summoned to surrender, replied that if the sea were covered with
French vessels, and the land with Indians, he would not surrender.
But Iberville's ships and St. Castin's skill were too much for him ; just
before the enemy were ready to storm the place, Chubb surrendered.
Fort Pemaquod was then utterly destroyed. -
Three Massachusetts ships, proceeding to attack St. John, had
already been met by Iberville, who, with his French and Micmacs,
engaged them and captured the Newport, of twenty-four guns, to the
great dismay and indignation of Massachusetts, who had always con-
trolled the sea. - .”
The war between England and France, known in this country as
King William's War, lasted till 1697, when a treaty of peace was,
made at Ryswick. -
Ring William's war did not affect the more southerly colonies, but
they did not find that monarch more favorable to their liberties than
James. In a most arbitrary fashion William deprived Penn of Penn-
sylvania, and Lord Baltimore of Maryland, making them, like almost
all other provinces, royal colonies. Penn was even arrested in Eng-
land, and imprisoned more than once, but the noble old man trusted
to the justice of his cause. The royal Governor sent to Pennsylvania.
had a sorry time of it, and Penn was at last allowed to return. Penn
was ready to meet the wishes of the people. He invited them “to:
oR, our country's ACHIEVE:ENTs. 291.
keep what was good in the Charter, to lay aside what was burdensome,
and to add what may best suit the common good.”
Gradually a new government was formed that was acceptable. But
the three counties on the Delaware had organized a separate govern-
ment under William Markham in 1691, and they were jealous of their
independence. They did not wish to be annexed to Pennsylvania
again, and they succeeded.
The new government of these colonies was full of liberty and tolera-
tion.
Maryland, under the royal sway, underwent many changes. The
seat of government was removed from St. Mary's to Annapolis. The
Episcopal Church was established by law, and, though some toleration
was gradually given, the Catholics who had founded the colony were,
down to the time of our own glorious Revolution, deprived of all rights
as citizens, and their religion proscribed. Lord Baltimore finally, to
regain his power in Maryland, became a member of the Church of
England.
But while William encouraged intolerance in the provinces, and
apparently liked to see the colonists adverse to each other on religious
grounds, he did not like them to claim their liberties.
Whenever the Maryland Legislature wished to claim the privileges
of the Great Charter of England—the Magna Charta extorted from
King John—or passed any Bill of Rights and Liberties, William
vetoed it. -
Virginia, under Nicholson and Andros, who were so unpopular in
New England, prospered. Andros first collected the records of the
colony, and thus saved materials for its history, and established a Post-
office to diffuse more readily information through the province.
292 TIIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Nicholson, in 1691, conferred a lasting benefit on Virginia by found-
ing William and Mary College, which, next to Harvard, is the oldest
in the country. It became the great seat of learning for the Southern
colonies, and from its walls came forth the noblest patriots of the next
century.
During the reign of William and Mary the Carolinas were in a
constant turmoil of dissension, but it all turned to toleration and free-
dom. It had a season of happiness while the honest Quaker Archdale
was Governor ; he brought all to his own peaceful and just ideas, and
won the friendship of the Spaniards by restoring to Florida Christian
Indians who had been torn from that province to be sold as slaves.
So, if we look at what was gained in America during the reign of
William and Mary, there is little to cheer us. At the North, bloody
and desolating border wars; civil strife in New York, Maryland, and
Carolina ; a steady increase of royal power, with Governors established
under it; Admiralty Courts were established, the English laws of
trade were enforced, the Church of England established by law. It
did not look as if the people were working their way to freedom, but
they were.
As soon as the peace left France free to carry on her plans in
America, Iberville, who had been so energetic at Fort Pemaquid, and
who, though a Canadian, was deemed one of the ablest commanders in
the French navy, was sent out to complete La Salle's last undertaking.
He reached the mouth of the Mississippi in 1700, with two frigates and
Some other vessels, and explored the great river for some distance,
planting the French arms at the mouth. In May he began the first
French settlement on the Gulf of Mexico, at Biloxi, in the present
State of Mississippi. A fort was erected, and the colonists began to
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 293
clear and cultivate the soil. The colony did not prosper, the settle-
ment was moved to Mobile, and finally New Orleans was founded.
As in all other French colonies, missionaries at once began to labor
among the Indians, but their success was not great. The Indians of
the South showed little inclination. Missionaries were killed at dif-
ſerent times, still they did some good; and Louisiana, though feebly,
grew at last to be a comparatively thriving colony.
Every few years some man is reported to be wasting time and
money hunting along the coasts of the Northern States for treasures
hidden away by Captain Kidd. If all the money spent in looking for
Kidd's money were put together, it would make an enormous fortune.
Captain Kidd was a real person, and he flourished at the time of
which we are writing. England had for many years encouraged men
who were little better than pirates–Hawkins, Drake, and others—to
plunder Spanish ships. The English colonies, as they grew up, found
it profitable to trade with pirate ships, who ran into their harbors to
obtain provisions and dispose of their plunder. Sometimes they had
letters of marque as privateers, from some European Sovereign then at
war, as a mask for their real object. Other expeditions were fitted
out directly from the colonies, and many wealthy families owe their
origin and importance to such shameful work.
At last, however, such complaints were made, that William III.
ordered the Earl of Bellomont, whom he had made Governor of New
York, to suppress piracy. It was resolved to get up an expedition,
and a ship was purchased by Bellomont, Robert Livingston, of New
York, and several Englishmen of rank. The object was about as bad
as piracy, for the King was to have one-tenth of the profits. Of this
ship, Kidd, who had distinguished himself in the West Indies, was
2.74 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
made captain, and he had two commissions, one to cruise against the
French, the other to proceed against the pirates in the American seas.
He sailed from England in the Adventure galley, and capturing a
French ship on the passage, brought her into New York. There he
gathered a larger crew, and sailed to the East Indies. Here he began
a series of indiscriminate attacks on any vessels that seemed worth
capture, and even attacked the Mocha fleet, though convoyed by two
men-of-war, one English and one Dutch.
Falling in with the ship Royal Captain, his crew wished to capture
it, but Kidd struck the leading mutineer, Moore, on the head with a
bucket, so that he died. •
Soon after, however, he captured some Moorish vessels, and a very
rich Armenian ship, The Quedagh Merchant.
But news had now reached England of his career, and he was pro-
claimed a pirate. So he ran over to the West Indies, and leaving the
Quedagh Merchant, came to New York in the sloop Antonia, setting a
returned pirate with his plunder ashore in Delaware Bay. He landed
some treasure on Long Island, and sent more to New York. Lord
Bellomont was in Boston, and Kidd wrote to him, offering to justify his
course. Bellomont induced him to come to that city, as Kidd, in fact,
did, with his wife and children, who had come from New York to join
him. There he was suddenly arrested, though not till he had made a
desperate fight, continued to the very presence of Bellomont, into
* whose lodgings he rushed. All his property was seized, embracing
one thousand one hundred and eleven ounces of gold, two thousand
three hundred and fifty-three ounces of silver, with many jewels and
goods as valuable as the precious metals.
A ship of war soon bore him off to England ; and as William made
or, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS.
S
9
5
\
a grant to the Earl of Bellomont and others of all the treasure taken
from Kidd, all concerned were anxious to have him put out of the way.
He was tried for killing Moore, and soon convicted, for he had no
witnesses or counsel. He was hanged, and the Odium attached to the
whole affair checked all piracy in America, as no one any longer
ventured to have anything to do with it.
How far Kidd was false to his instructions will never be known ; but
he was evidently carrying out the views of the men of rank, who really
profited by his evil deeds.
CHAPTER III.
Reign of Queen Anne—She involves the American Colonies in the War of the Spanish Suc-
cession.
THE Treaty of Ryswick had enabled the English colonies in America
to repair their losses, and once again turn their attention to the peace-
ful arts of trade, agriculture, and manufactures. This happy time did
not last long.
On the death of William III., Anne, the second daughter of James
II., became Queen of England. She at once found herself involved in
a war that convulsed all Europe ; a war to divide Spain, or at least to
prevent a French prince from ascending the throne of that country.
This war again plunged the American colonies into the most terrible
distress. England sent her fleets out on the Ocean, and her armies to
the Continent, but English homes were as happy as ever. To the
colonist in America war was a very different thing, it left his home, the
296 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
fruit of long years of toil, it left his life, and the lives of his wife and
children, at the mercy of the Savages.
In King William's War France was alone engaged ; in Queen Anne's,
Spain and France were united, so that there was danger from Florida
on the south, and Canada on the north.
South Carolina began the operations in America. James Moore, the
Governor, raised a considerable land and naval force to reduce
Florida. His land forces of militia and Indians under Colonel Daniel
attacked first the Spanish missions in Guale, now Amelia, and other
islands on the Georgia coast. The Indians here had been converted,
and in no small degree civilized, by the Franciscan missionaries. A
Quaker, wrecked on the coast, was taken from one village to another
till he got to Carolina, his whole party being kindly treated in all,
received in the large building in the centre of each town, used for
storing goods, holding their Indian councils, and entertaining travelers.
All these peaceful villages were ravaged by Moore, who killed many
of the people, and carried off great numbers as slaves, and three of the
missionaries as prisoners.
The Spaniards in St. Augustine, warned by tidings of this hostile
inroad, soon behell this force at their gates, while a fleet of fourteen or
fifteen vessels prepared to attack them from the sea.
That ancient citv, which had already suffered severely in olden time,
was again ravaged in November, 1702, the church and Franciscan
convent burned, and the little town almost completely laid in ashes.
But the Governor, Don Joseph de la Cerda, was a sturdy old
Spaniard, he threw himself into the castle, and bade defiance to the
enemy.
Moore had not guns heavy enough to reduce it. He sent to Jamaica
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 297
for aid, but the Spanish Viceroy of New Spain had been warned, and
as Spaniard and Carolinian looked eagerly to the Sea, one fair morning
in 1703, they saw the tapering masts of ships. Every heart throbbed
with anxious expectation. Slowly the vessels rise to view—two
Spanish men-of-war. All was dismay in the camp of Moore. To be
caught between the garrison, fierce to revenge their desolated city, and
the formidable force arriving, would be ruin. Abandoning his ships,
ammunitions, and stores, Moore began to retreat along the road
traversed years before by Menendez. With thinned ranks he re-
entered his own colony. Carolina was in dismay. The failure of the
expedition plunged them in debt, and, unable to pay it, South Carolina
issued paper money.
Burning to wipe away the disgrace, Moore prepared to strike at a
weaker point. On the Bay of Apalache were numerous towns of
Indians, converted and partially civilized by the Spanish missionaries.
The chiefs had learned to read and write. They were peaceful, con-
tented, and happy with their flocks and herds. Towards the close
of December, 1705, Moore, with fifty white men and a thousand
heathen Indians, burst like a furious torrent on this happy Christian
community.
Ayavalla was first attacked, the church fired, the missionary killed,
and numbers of the Indians slain or hurried off to endure savage
tortures. Some few attempted to withstand the enemy, but they were
defeated. The Spanish commander with his little garrison hastened up
with such Indians as he could gather, but was repulsed. The whole
land was filled with blood and slaughter, and the trail of the retiring
army was marked by the corpses of the missionaries and their converts.
The Apalache nation was forever scattered.
29S THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
The next year a French fleet menaced Charleston ; but where the
French effected a landing they met a desperate resistance.
While Carolina was thus suffering from her unwisely rushing into a
European war, she had received a gift that was to be of great value.
A vessel from Madagascar, touching at Charleston, presented to the
Governor a bag of seed-rice. This does not seem as great an event in
history as a battle ; but from it grew one of the great staples of
Carolina—its valuable rice-fields.
When it became evident that another war was at hand, the northern
colonies acted differently. New York, although it had in the Five
Nations, or Iroquois, a powerful body of friendly Indians, who liked
war better than peace, felt little inclination to cope again with the
active French Canadians, who made up for lack of numbers by energy
and daring. The French were always disposed to remain neutral, and
let the mother countries fight out their own battles in Europe, so New
York and Canada agreed to keep quiet, and thus avoided all the
horrors of war.
Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts, hesitated and finally refused, so
New England chose to fight the French alone. The Indians in Maine
were already in arms to avenge the plundering and injury done to
their chief, the young Baron de St. Castin.
When the French ſound that they must carry on the war, they went
to work as Moore did in the South ; they raised bodies of militia and
Indians to attack New England.
Lieutenant Beaubassin, with a flying corps, dashed through New
England like a meteor, ravaging and destroying. All the country
from Casco to Wells was in a conflagration. One wintry night in
March, Hertel de Rouville, with two hundred and fifty men, while the
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 299
sentinels at the little village of Deerfield, on the banks of the Connecticut,
were away from their posts, walked in snow-shoes over the drifted snow
to the very top of the palisades intended to protect the little village.
Suddenly the fierce war-whoop rung out on the cold night air. The
danger against which they had been warned was upon them in all its
terror. Strong men seized their weapons and prepared to fight to the
last. The shrieking children were gathered by their mothers to avoid
the first rush of the savage foe, and gain time to appeal for mercy.
Each family must prepare for captivity or death.
Thirty-five of the people were killed, and numbers hurried off as
captives to Canada; a long weary march through snow and ice. Their
sufferings were terrible, and early accounts give a touching picture of
all they underwent.
Such cruelties are terrible, but New Englanders might have avoided
them, as New York did, and can blame only their own rulers. The
French did not consider it wrong for them to act as the English did in
Carolina. g
The minister of Deerfield, the Rev. Mr. Williams, with his family.
were hurried away among the prisoners, and when Mrs. Williams'
strength failed she was tomahawked. When peace came he returned
to New England, but his youngest child, Eunice, remained with the
Indians, and finally married a chief. Long years after, in the dress of
an Indian squaw, she came to visit her relatives at Deerfield, but they
eould not prevail upon her to stay ; she returned to her new home.
One of her descendants, Eleazar Williams, some few years ago made
quite a sensation by claiming to be really Louis XVII., the boy King
of France, who is said to have died in prison in France soon after the
execution of his father, King Louis XVI.
300 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
“In the following years Indians, singly or in bands, stealthity
approached towns in the heart of Massachusetts, as well as along the
coast, and on the southern and western frontiers.” Every forest seemed
known to them in all its intricacies, and not a spot in New England
was safe. “Children, as they gamboled on the beach ; reapers, as
they gathered the harvest ; mowers, as they rested from using the
scythe ; mothers, as they busied themselves about their household
duties, or sat singing to their innocent babes in the cradle beside them,
were victims to an enemy who disappeared the moment a blow was
struck,” and who was sure to be present the moment vigilance l'é-
Haxed.
In vain did the colonial government offer bounties for scalps. So
few were actually taken, that it has been estimated that every scalp
taken by New England in this war cost them three thousand dollars.
As the war went on, a council of Indian delegates was held at
Montreal in 1708, and a formidable expedition planned against New
England. But the plan was not carried out. i
A small party under des Chaillons and Rouville, not finding the
other parties at the rendezvous at Lake Winnipiseogee, resolved to
strike a blow at Haverhill. This place was then a cluster of cottages
and log cabins round the meeting-house, almost hidden in the woods
that lined the banks of the gentle Merrimac. In a feeling of perfect
security all gave themselves to sleep one August night, little dreaming
that the neighboring wood concealed the dreaded foe. At daybreak,
after prayers, Rouville gave the signal of attack, and they rushed into
the village, slaying all before them. Few escaped the first fire and
charge. The escape of Mary Wainwright was strange indeed. Her
husband was slain at the first fire ; but she fearlessly unbarred the door,
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THE BOSTON TEA PARTY-DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA IN BOSTON HARBOR. (Page 40°)

oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. . * }
and with a cheerful countenance invited the Indians to enter. She pro-
cured readily all they asked for, and when they demanded her money,
she went to another room as if to get it, and gathering up all her
children but one, succeeded in escaping.
Two Indians approached Swan's house. With his wife he endeavored
to keep them from entering the door, which had no bar. But the two
stalwart Indians were too much for their strength ; the door yielded,
and Swan bade his wife fly, as he could hold out no longer. She was
not one to fly. Seizing a sharp-pointed spit from the wide fire-place, she
drove it into the exposed body of the foremost Indian, who was crowd-
ing through the half-open door. With a yell he bounded off, and his
comrade, equally dissatisfied, supported him with many expressive
Indian grunts, giving the Swans time to make their escape.
But Rouville was in a critical position: the noise of battle had
aroused the villages far and near, and from every town and hamlet
came hurrying bands of armed men, mounted and on foot. The Freuch
party struck into the woods, but soon found their retreat intercepted.
Then a desperate fight ensued. Dashing down everything they bore
except their arms, the French and Indians dashed into the ambuscade.
The rifle rang out for a moment, but then it was a deadly fight, hand
to hand and man to man. With the loss of several of his officers,
Hertel at last cut his way through and succeeded in reaching Canada,
though hotly pursued.
The colonies now implored Queen Anne to deliver them from see:
scenes by sending a force sufficient to conquer Canada. They had
tried to reduce Port Royal, and failed before the vigorous defense of
Subercase.
Vetch prepared the plan of a campaign, and a large force was raised
302 THE STORY OF A G REAT NATION.
in the colonies. The Five Nations threw aside their neutrality, and
reluctantly agreed to join the English.
The army of the colonies gathered at Albany, and, under Nicholson,
once Lieutenant-Governor of New York, marched as far as Lake
(hamplain. A fleet of fifteen ships of war, under Sir Hovenden
Walker, was sent out from England with forty transports and five regi-
ments of Marlborough's veteran troops. It came over to Boston, and
taking on board New England troops, sailed for Quebec. In that city
all was anxiety and alarm, for news came in that Port Royal had finally
yielded to a New England force and British ships. Taken for the last
tiºne by England, who was now to retain it, this place became An-
Hapolis.
Vaudreuil, the Governor-General of Canada, set to work to put his
capital in a state of defense. Engineers threw up new works, and
every one, women as well as men, labored to make the city im-
pregnable. Time wore on, and Canada, all anxiety, saw no enemy.
Montreal was not attacked by the large army reported by French
scouts on Lake Champlain ; and the fleet that had left Boston did
not appear. At last a vessel came with tidings that the English
fleet had been wrecked near the mouth of the St. Lawrence. French
vessels hastened down. The shore was strewn with dead, and with
the remains of eight transports and their cargoes, which had been
driven on the rocks and dashed to pieces by Admiral Walker's
obstimacy. Nearly a thousand persons perished ; Walker saved several
hundred others, and sailed away, his only achievement being the con-
Quest of Cape Breton as he sailed back.
Nicholson, hearing of the disaster, and finding his Indians hostile to
him—for they were dying of small-pox, and insisted that the English
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 303
had given them clothes infected with that disease—broke up his camp
and retired.
Thus, for a second time, Canada saw herself saved as if by the hand
of heaven. To commemorate this, the new church at Quebec was
styled Our Lady of Victories.
But the war had now come to an end. Louis XIV., exhausted and
broken, was ready to secure peace at the sacrifice of his American
possessions. By the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, France gave up to
England Nová Scotia, Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay, with all the
fur trade in those northern parts.
The American colonies gained nothing directly, and those at the
north now found themselves overwhelmed with the debts they had
been forced to contract in this long war.
Notwithstanding the constant military and naval operations that
engrossed so much of her reign, Queen Anne took an interest in the
religious affairs of the colonies beyond that shown by any other
English sovereign. She was ardently attached to the Church of Eng-
land, and through her Governors did all she could to have it estab-
lished in the American colonies. It got a foothold in New York, and
made some progress even in Quaker Pennsylvania, though the Governors
she sent out were not always a credit to the Church they so stren-
mously upheld. Queen Anne made many presents of altar silver to the
American churches, some of which are preserved to this day, and those
who can show Queen Anne's plate feel a pardonable pride.
Perhaps the worst Governor sent out by Anne was Lord Cornbury,
whom she appointed Governor of New York and New Jersey. He
was a near relative of the Queen, but a most worthless scamp. His great
amusement was to dress himself in a lady's clothes and in that guise
304 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
promenade up and down on the ramparts of the fort. He attempted
to make the Established Church the only one in the colony, and
excited great discontent by his prosecution of the Rev. Mr. Mackemie,
a Presbyterian clergyman ; for, although people talked of religious
freedom, it generally meant only that one party was to have it all its
own way, and the rest submit.
The foreign wars were not the only troubles of the American colonies
during the reign of Queen Anne. North Carolina had received a
number of emigrants from the German provinces on the Rhine, to
whom lands were assigned in the district still occupied by the Tusca-
roras, a tribe of the same origin as the Five Nations in New York,
warlike, haughty, and suspicious. Instead of purchasing what lands
they wanted from the native chieftains, as Roger Williams, Lord
Baltimore, and William Penn had done, the authorities of North
Carolina sent their Surveyor-General Lawson to lay off the territory
for settlement. When he appeared on their lands with Graffenried,
the leader of the German emigrants, the wrath of the Tuscaroras was
roused to fury. .
Ignorant of the Indian character, or unsuspicious of danger, perhaps
despising the Savage inhabitants, Lawson and Graffenried kept on with
their work, selecting spots for settlement. While on the upper waters
of the Neuse, they were suddenly seized by sixty Tuscaroras, arrayed
in their war-paint and armed to the teeth. They were forced to travel
all night long, as the silent braves hurried in Indian file through the
woods. When morning broke they came to a Tuscarora village, and
were delivered to a chief. In a short time a council of the Sachems of
the nation gathered, and after a debate of two days, they decreed that
Lawson, who came to sell their lands, and the stranger who came to
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 305
occupy them, should die. The large fire was kindled, the ring was
drawn around the victims, and strewn with flowers. Round the white
men sat the chiefs in two rows ; behind them were three hundred of
the tribe, going through the wild dances with which they keep up
every important occasion. Then the moment came, and though Graf.
fenried, as less guilty in their eyes, was then spared, Lawson perished
amid the flames and the tortures which the yelling braves inflicted as
they gathered around him.
Graffenried, horrorstruck, with the yells of the Indians and the dying
moans of Lawson ringing in his ears, awaited the same fate. But his
life was spared ; and when, a month later, he was allowed to depart
and make his way to the settlements, he traveled on in vain. Where
thriving little villages had, with all their busy life, dotted the country,
he found only blackened logs, ashes, and the remains of the dead.
German and Huguenot settlers had been swept away. The Indians
had planned a general attack ; bands were sent out in all directions,
every village was surrounded, and the lighting of some house or barn
gave the signal of attack. Then the furious red man, full of one idea
that he must exterminate the whites, or be driven from the lands of
his fathers, rushed upon the unsuspecting whites. Night was made
hideous with the scenes of slaughter, as the braves, with a pine-torch
in one hand, and a tomahawk in the other, pursued the flying settlers,
cutting them down without mercy, tracking them into the woods and
wherever they sought refuge. For three days the massacre continued
along Albemarle Sound, till the savages stopped from sheer exhaustion
in their bloody work.
North Carolina, in alarm, called on the neighboring colonies. Spots-
wood, of Virginia, tried to aid them by securing the fidelity of part of
306 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
f
"LONG SAULT RAPIDS ON THE OTTAWA, SCENE OF MANY INDIAN FIGHTS.
the Tuscaroras, who had not taken part in the massacre, but the
Virginia Assembly began to quarrel with the Governor, and nothing
was done.
Gallant South Carolina was prompt at the call of humanity. She
had managed her Indians better, and Barnwell, calling out the militia,
'allied around him friendly Indians whom their wise policy had
secured. Cherokees and Creeks, Catawbas and Yamassees, marched
with Barnwell on that long expedition through the unbroken forest.
As they approached the scene of war, the Indian Scouts brought word
that the Tuscaroras were intrenched in a rude fort on the Neuse. On
the map you can almost mark it in the upper part of Craven County.
But there were no cravens on either side. Although a few North

oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 3G
Carolina militia joined Barnwell, he could not storm the Indian fo:
The Tuscaroras fought better than the New England Indians ; wit:
all the superior tactics of the white man, Barnwell ſailed to dislodge
them. Surrounded by difficulties, he at last brought them to terias
of peace.
But as the army returned it wantonly attacked and carried off
friendly Indians, and again North Carolina was desolated by midnight
raids and slaughters. The government of the colony was in a wretched
condition. All was disorder, there was no head, no capacity to lead.
Amid it all came the yellow fever sweeping through the land. North
Carolina lay helpless. But Spottswood, the Governor of Virginia, at
last succeeded in winning part of the Tuscaroras, while the South
Carolina army under Moore attacked one of their forts on the Neuse
with such fury that he took it, capturing eight hundred of the enemy,
Then the remainder were hunted down to sell as slaves, or if they re-
sisted, to cut down and scalp, so as to receive the bounty now offered
by government for these bloody trophies.
At last the hostile part of the Tuscaroras, finding it impossible to
hold the ground against the Carolinians, resolved to abandon their
native soil for which they had fought so bravely ; they moved north-
ward through the wilderness to their kindred, the Five Nations in New
York, and settled near Oneida Lake.
While the English were thus undergoing in the South all the horrors
of Indian warfare, which Virginia and New England had so often
experienced, the French, for the first time, were at war with one of the
nations in their own territory. The Foxes, a turbulent western tribe.
promised the Iroquois and English to burn Detroit, massacre all the
French, and place the English in possession of that important point.
3{}S THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
- W
They gathered in force around the little western town, and drew the
Kickapoos and other Indians into the plot.
Joseph, a Christian of the Fox Nation, warned the French com-
mandant of the coming attack. That officer acted promptly : he threw
his little garrison and the settlers into the fort, and destroyed all
the houses that could aid the enemy in attacking him.
The Indians on whom he could depend were off on their hunt.
Fleet sped his messenger through the woods and by the rivers to
summon all to his aid. Prompt at his call came Huron, Pottawatami,
Sae, Menomonee, Illinois, Osage, and Missouri. The Foxes were not
dismayed. Twenty braves in all their war-paint came yelling up to
the fort, defying the French.
When the allies moved, the Foxes withdrew to their own fort, and
to escape the terrible fire kept up, dug rifle-pits in the ground. Then
the besiegers raised scaffolds so as to fire down into the fort. The
Foxes were cut off from water, and suffered terribly from thirst, but
they raised the red flag and declared they had no Father but the Eng-
lish. Every now and then proposals would be made, but were refused,
and the Foxes kept up the fight, shooting fiery arrows into the French
fort, till their own fort was full of dead bodies, and many had deserted.
Then they managed to escape to a peninsula running out into Lake
St. Clare, and still called Presque Isle. Here, after a desperate fight
which lasted four days, they surrendered. The men in arms were
nearly all put to the sword ; the rest of the men, with the women and
children, were divided as slaves among the allies of the French.
Thus dearly did the first Indian allies of the English pay for their
{jevotion to the cause.
England failed to gain a foothold in the West, but the Treaty of
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 309
Utrecht, signed April 11, 1713, gave to England Supremacy in the
fisheries, the entire possession of Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and
Nova Scotia ; and France agreed not to molest the Five Nations, who
were recognized as subject to the dominion of Great Britain.
The next year Queen Anne died.
CHAPTER IV.
Reign of George I.-His Neglect of America—The Yamassee War in South Carolina—War
with the Abenakis in Maine—Death of Father Rale—Lovewell's Fight.
WITH the death of Queen Anne ended the house of Stuart, and
George, Elector of Hanover, a German prince, ascended the throne of
England—a dissolute man, ignorant of the language, and indifferent to
the interests of the people over whom he was called to reign.
For the American colonies he cared still less. They prospered by
the neglect of the house of Hanover, and when their prosperity
tempted the third George to oppress them, he lost them forever to
England.
Of this reign the great feature is the steady struggle of the people
against the royal Governors, by which the feelings of liberty grew
deeper and stronger in all minds. And as the same trials produced
sympathy between the different colonies, it tended to unite them more
closely together.
The first great event of this reign was ushered in on the 15th of
April, 1715,600d Friday in that year. The Yamassees, who had em-
igrated from Florida to South Carolina, and done good service in the
310 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Tuscarora war. Now they were bent on mischief English traders
were at Pocotaligo, and Nairne, an English agent, had come to treat
of a firmer peace, ignorant of the vast Indian conspiracy. Suddenly
the slaughter began. One boy escaped to the Woods, running like a
deer for life. To avoid the Indian trails was his only safety ; the
thickest woods were his course. After nine weary days he reached a
garrison. Seaman Burroughs, a man of great strength and courage,
broke through the Indians who encircled him, and trusting to his fleet-
ness of foot, struck out for the settlements. The red furies were on his
trail, arrow and tomahawk and ball whizzing past him ; twice they
came truer to the savage aim, and tore through his flesh ; but he kept
manfully on, the blood streaming from his wounds. Running ten miles
and swimming one, he reached Port Royal with his tale of terror and
dismay. That town was at once abandoned, and in ships and canoes
the inhabitants fled to Charleston. Around that city the Indian bands
narrowed in, halting only to torment with all their savage fury the
planters, with their wives and children, who had fallen into their hands.
Governor Craven raised a force and met the confederated warriors on
the banks of the Salkehachie, in April, 1715. The battle was a bloody
one, and though it lulled for a time, was again furiously renewed,
neither side showing any inclination to yield. The air resounded with
savage yells ; every tree covered a warrior, and arrows and bullets in
showers met the steady onset of the Carolinians. At last they routed
the savage foe, and pursued them beyond the limits of Carolina. The
Yamassees returned to Florida, the Uchees and Appalaches retired
southward. South Carolina was delivered from its savage foe, but not
till four hundred of the colonists had perished by midnight assassina-
tion, in torture, or in battle.
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 311
Then came trouble at the North. The Treaty of Utrecht left Maine
free from all claim of France, but the native tribes were friendly to the
French, and were converts of the French missionaries. The New
Englanders they disliked as intruders on their lands. Chiefs were
seized and sent to Boston, and, though ransomed, were detained.
Hostilities began, the English seizing the young Baron de St. Castin,
and a force under Westbrooke ravaging their villages and pillaging the
house and chapel of the missionary Rale at Norridgewalk, on the Ken-
nebec, and another on the Penobscot.
In a second attack on Norridgewalk the New England troops sur-
prised the place, and killed many of the tribe, bearing away, too, in
triumph the scalp of Father Rale, whom they slew at the foot of his
mission cross. -
The Abnakis were broken by these heavy blows, but the war still
continued between small parties. Among those raised on the English
side, the most famous is that of John Lovewell, who, meeting the
Indians with their own tactics, did much to check them. His fights
were numerous, but the most deadly was that at the pond that now
bears his name, near Fryeburg, in which he fell.
After the most desperate of the conflict was over, Chamberlain, one
of the bravest Indian fighters of his time, spent with the exertion and
the heat, made his way to the water's edge to get a drink of water and
to wash out his gun, which was foul from constant firing. Just as he
emerged from a copse of willows and set foot on the pebbly shore, he
saw opposite him the stalwart form of Paugus, the most famous of the
Indian braves. Both had come for the same objects. All now de-
pended on celerity; each begun to clean his rifle, and they seemed to
keep time with each other. Both rifles were ready to the moment.
312 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
“Now, Paugus,” said Chamberlain, “I’ll have you,” and he began to
load with care. “Na, na, me have you,” replied Paugus, loading
as rapidly. At the same moment each poured in the powder, rammed -
in the wad, dropped in the bullet, and sent it home. Paugus began to
prime his rifle ; Chamberlain struck his gunstock a sharp blow on the
ground, his rifle primed itself. Before Paugus could cover him with
his deadly rifle, Chamberlain aimed coolly and true, his bullet passed
through the heart of Paugus, as the chieftain's ball, uncertainly aimed,
cut through Chamberlain's hair. The hunter gathered up the trophies
of his victory, and hurrying back to where the fight was going
on in all its fury, shouted that Paugus was slain. Paugus! Paugus!
was echoed from tree to tree ; the Indians looked in vain for the form
of their chief, and, convinced that he had fallen, abandoned the struggle
and stole away into the depth of the forest.
In this bloody fight fell, too, the Rev. Mr. Frye, whose name is
preserved in the neighboring town. He, too, had slain a chief, and •
had just raised aloft his bleeding scalp, when he fell, pierced by an
avenging bullet. -
While the English colonies were thus struggling with Indians within
their borders, France was making gigantic efforts to build up a great
empire in America. She built Mobile to check the Spaniards, and in
a brief war twice took Pensacola. She claimed the whole valley of
the Mississippi, on the ground that as she held the mouth of the river
all land up to the source of every stream emptying into it belonged to
her. And this, in fact, was a generally received principle. But this
view left the English colonies only the coast. Streams that rose in
Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, ran into the Mississippi; they
could not give up all this to France, but the French gained the Indians,
or, our country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 313
even those who had long known the English : she founded Natchez in
1716; New Orleans in 1718; Fort Niagara in 1721, and soon after
Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, while the Delawares and Shawnees
on the Ohio hoisted the white flag of France. All the great routes to
the Mississippi by the Ohio, Wabash, Illinois, and Wisconsin rivers
were in the hands of the French ; they were commencing the planting
of sugar in Louisiana, opening trade with Mexico, mining on Lake
Superior and in Minnesota. Had the French government applied
itself to increase Louisiana, it would have become formidable to the
English colonies, but its affairs were left to companies and individuals,
and Law used it to found a gigantic system of fraud, known as the
South Sea Bubble. So completely was the sway of France established,
that a Canadian in Louisiana, du Tisnet, purchasing a compass, set out
overland through the wilderness, and fearlessly made his way to Que-
bec, and gathering his family, returned by the same route to the banks
of the Mississippi.
England did little to enlarge the bounds of her colonies, though by
erecting Fort Dummer, in 1724, she secured what is now Vermont.
During the reign of George I., the Baltimore family regained control
of Maryland, the Earl of Baltimore having, in 1715, abjured the
Catholic religion, and conformed to the Church of England.
But if a Lord Proprietor thus regained power, the Proprietaries of
South Carolina, in 1719, completely lost all power, the Assembly
having in that year renounced all dependence on the Proprietaries,
and declared themselves a royal province. Johnson, the last Gover-
nor for the Proprietaries, endeavored to check the popular movement.
But the militia were called out, and from every ship and fort floated
the flags to cheer them on. In the King's name Johnson commanded
314 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Parris to disperse his men. Parris answered : “I obey the Conven-
tion,” and the King, before whom the people laid their claims, appointed
as first Royal Governor, Nicholson, a man thoroughly familiar with
American affairs, having held rule in New York, Maryland, and Vir.
ginia, and led the Canada and Port Royal expeditions. His first act
was a firm treaty of peace with the Cherokees. t
#
CHAPTER V.
Reign of George II.-The English Government prevents American Manufactures and Com-
merce—Good Effect produced—Oglethorpe and the Settlement of Georgia—Tomochichi—
The Cherokee's Answer—Position of the English Colonies—The French—Law's Projects—
The Natchez—Massacre of the French—Escape of Doutreleau–The Choctaws attack the
Natchez—Louboi's Operations—The War with Spain—Oglethorpe's Campaign against St.
Augustine–Monteano invades Georgia—The War with France—The New England Troops”
take Louisburg—It is restored to France—The French on the Ohio–George Washington
—He is sent to occupy the Ohio—Defeats Jumonville—Capitulates at Fort Necessity—The
War begins. )
GEORGE II., who came to the throne of England, 1727, was as much
unused to the affairs of that kingdom as his father had been ; but he
was active and warlike, and his reign was not destined to be one of
peace ; and before its close the American colonies were called upon to
pour forth in the cause of England the blood of their brave sons, and
the fruits of their honest labor. \
And yet the hostility to the colonies which began with William III.
continued. Under George II., the King and Parliament, jealous of
American prosperity, sought to cripple them. Various branches of indus.
try were prohibited by laws passed in this reign. Hats manufactured
in one colony could not be sent into another ; no colony was allowed
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 3} .5
to manufacture any iron-ware, or enter largely into the manufacture of
har-iron ; they were not permitted to carry on any trade with the colo-
nies of other nations. So the colonies were cut off from manufac-
tures and from a market. England kept all in her own hands; what
America raised must go to England at England's price, and what goods
America needed she had to buy in England at England's prices.
The consequence was that all the specie was drawn out of the colo-
nies, and paper money had to be issued. As things grew worse this
could not be redeemed, and sank rapidly in value.
As this distress became general, a spirit of resistance spread through
the colonies, and intercourse increased. Each colony began to take
more interest in the others, and they were drawn more closely to each
other.
Another evil was the slave-trade, which England encouraged, as it en-
abled her to draw money from the colonies, for she had the monopoly
of taking slaves from Africa, and supplying America with this class,
who were eventually in our days to be the cause of a terrible war.
England wished, by introducing negro slaves, who could never mix
with the settlers and claim the rights of British subjects, to prevent
the colonies from becoming too strong.
Yet in spite of all obstacles raised by the English Government the
American colonies increased in population, extent, and wealth. The
tendency of settlement was along the Atlantic coast, and some at-
tempts were made to form a new colony south of Carolina.
General James Oglethorpe, a kind-hearted but often visionary man.
was the successful planter of Georgia. His benevolent heart had been
touched by the suffering of poor debtors in England, of whom hun-
dreds languished in prison under the cruel laws of that day, with no
316 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
means to pay their debts, and cut off from any work by which they
could ever hope to do so.
For them and for Protestants driven by war from their German
homes, he resolved to found a colony in America, and in June, 1732,
he obtained from George II. a patent for Georgia.
England caught up his enthusiasm ; money was voted by Parlia-
ment, and contributed by the wealthy, and in November Oglethorpe
sailed, with a hundred and twenty emigrants. While the settlers were
landing at Beaufort, Oglethorpe ascended the Savannah river. A high
bluff, about half a mile from the village of the Yamacraws, seemed
to him the spot for his capital. On the site of Savannah he was wel-
comed by Tomochichi, the Yamacraw chief, who offered him a bison-
skin with a head and feathers of an eagle painted on the well-dressed
inside surface. “The feathers of the eagle are soft, and signify love,”
said the chief; “the buffalo skin is warm, and signifies protection.
Therefore, love and protect our little families.” Four beautiful pine-
trees protected the tent of Oglethorpe where he thus made his cove-
nant of friendship with the red man. And here, on the 12th day of
February, 1733, he received the little flotilla, the sloop and periaguas
that bore to Savannah the settlers, who soon laid out the plain, rough
houses on its regular streets.
Delegates of the various Indian tribes came, all friendly to the new
colony. A treaty was soon signed with the Creeks, by which Georgia
claimed all the territory from the Savannah to the St. John's.
A Cherokee came. “Fear nothing,” said Oglethorpe, “but speak
freely.” “I always speak freely,” replied the haughty warrior, “why
should I fear 2 I am now among friends; I never feared even among
my enemies.” Even the Choctaws came, declaring that they preferred
oR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 317
the English to the French, who had just been building forts in their ter-
ritory.
For while the new colony had on the south the feeble Spanish colony
of Florida, the French were endeavoring to control the Indians up to
the very coast. If you look on the map of the United States, you can
see the thirteen English colonies as they were at last formed, New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia. These were gradually extending further
into the interior, but had scarcely gone beyond the first ranges of
mountains, or the main rivers. Maine depended on Massachusetts, and
was confined to settlements on the coast. Fort Dummer, erected on
the site of the city of Brattleboro’, in 1724, was the frontier post of New
England, and became the cradle of Vermont. New York was pro-
tected by the Five Nations, and had a fort at Oswego, but the settle-
ments, had not gone beyond the banks of the Hudson and Mohawk.
The French were scattered all through the interior, and the English
settlers knew that part of the country only from French books. The
French had a fort. at Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, erected in 1724,
and another at Niagara, and were preparing to occupy the head waters. §
of the Ohio. They held Michigan with forts and trading settlements.
at Detroit, Mackinaw, and Sault St. Marys; they had a fort at Vin-
cennes in Indiana; Fort Chartres, in Illinois, with settlements at Kas-
kaskia and Cahokia ; a settlement at Green Bay. By these forts and
settlements they controlled all the Indians of the northwest, and of
the various tribes none were hostile to them except the Foxes.
At the mouth of the Mississippi Louisiana had grown ; New Orleans
was settled, Mobile was solidly planted; there were posts at Natchito-
318 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
ches, on the Arkansas, and among the Natchez and Choctaws, planta-
tions were dotted all along the river. Slaves had been introduced
there also, and the cultivation of Sugar begun.
During a brief war with Spain, the French took Pensacola from the
Spaniards, who afterwards retook but could not hold it, though the
French restored it again when peace was made, in 1721.
A strange attempt to aid the settlement of Louisiana was made
about this time. A Scotchman, named Law, started, in France, a gigan-
tic company for colonizing Louisiana. Such exaggerated accounts
were given that all the people were crazy for shares in the company;
every one was going to make a fortune in a few days. Settlers and
slaves were sent out, cities and towns were planned on paper ; but at
last the bubble burst, and in the ruin and disaster into which France
was plunged, the colony of Louisiana was forgotten. Many Sºttlers re-
turned, but the colony was too firmly planted to perish.
A terrible blow was now to fall upon it.
The Natchez were a peculiar tribe of Indians, differing from most of
those east of the Mississippi. They had a rude oval temple in which
a perpetual fire was kept burning, and they worshiped the sun. Their
chief, as descended from that god of day, was called the Great Sun, and
his cabin stood on a knoll near the temple. There were two classes
in the tribe, one consisting of nobles, the other apparently a Choctaw
tribe which had been reduced to captivity and bondage.
The French had from the first had trading posts among this tribe,
and Iberville had planned a city there named Rosalie. Gradually, set-
tlers planted their cabins there, and under wise commandants all went
well. In 1729, however, an overbearing, brutal officer named Chopart
was sent to Natchez. Full of avarice, he wished to become an exten-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACE, LVEMENTs. 3.19
sive planter, and as no spot seemed to him richer or better than that
where the chief village of the Natchez stood, he ordered them to re-
move from it. At this outrage the Natchez were roused to fury, and
ſhey determined to defeat the plans of the unscrupulous man.
They sent to the neighboring tribes to tell their grievances. The
Choctaws had long wished the destruction of the Natchez, who were
old enemies of theirs. They now pretended great sympathy, and pro-
posed a general massacre of the French. Runners went from tribe to tribe,
and many nations joined in the conspiracy. The Arkansas and Illinois
were known to be devoted to the French, but except them, almost all
the tribes near the Mississippi were engaged in it, while English trad-
ers, who hoped to secure the whole Indian commerce of the southwest,
urged them on.
On the morning of the 28th of November, 1729, the Natchez, induced
by the arrival of boats from New Orleans with rich cargoes, began the
work of blood. They were well armed, and the French were taken
unawares ; almost every man was slain before the sun had reached
noon. Brave officers who had ever been their friends, the pious mis-
sionary, whose life and words had ever been devoted to the Indians, the
mechanics who had so often given them a welcome, and done them sers
vice, all were butchered ; and the Great Sun sat in the shed of the store-
house of the company smoking his pipe, while his braves piled around
him the heads of the French. The settlement at Natchez was swept
away. Nowhere had any resistance been made except at the house
of La Loire, one of the officers. He was surprised near his house and
attempted to cut his way through, but though he killed four Natchez,
he was finally dispatched, overborne by numbers. The people in his
house made a brave defense ; the Natchez rushing up were received
320 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
with a deadly volley ; six fell dead before they carried the house, and
then to find only some dead bodies; the rest of the brave defenders had
escaped.
Two hundred of the French perished ; their wives and children
were in the hands of the Natchez as slaves.
The Yazoos and other tribes slew the French among them ; a mis-
sionary, Father Souel, missionary to the Yazoos, being slain with the rest.
Another missionary had a most extraordinary adventure. This was
Father Doutreleau, a missionary in Illinois. He was on his way to New
Orleans, and had proposed to stop at the Yazoo post on New Year's,
and perform divine service with the missionary there. Finding that he
could not reach there in time, he landed at a pleasant spot, and pre-
pared his little altar to say mass. His boatmen meanwhile, seeing a
flock of water-fowl, fired their guns into it, and then, as the priest was
all ready, returned to join in the service of the day. Just at this mo-
ment some Indians came up from a canoe, and hailing the French as
friends, all knelt down, the Indians behind. The clergyman had pro-
ceeded with the service only a few moments when the Indians, who
were Yazoos in the plot, fired on the French. One of the men fell
dead, the others sprang to their feet and rushed to the boat. The
priest, wounded in the arm, knelt to receive the death-blow, but as the
Indians, firing hastily, again missed him, he too, in his vestments, as
he was, started for the boat, and had to wade into the water to reach it,
for his men, supposing him dead, were already pushing off. The Indians
were close upon him, and their last fire sent a charge of small-shot into
his mouth. Provisions, arms, all were left ashore, and the little party
could escape only by speed, and to distance the fleet canoes of the In-
dians seemed impossible.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 321
There was an old gun in the boat, with a broken lock, which they
were taking to New Orleans. As the Indians gained on them they
would aim this at them, and the red men, dodging to avoid the shot, lost
headway. In this way the fugitives eluded them, and after narrowly
escaping at Natchez, where the Indians tried to lure them ashore,
reached the French camp.
When the first terrible news came to New Orleans, all was con-
sternation and dismay. They knew not whom to trust. Every Indian
seemed an enemy. The only hope seemed to be in securing the aid of
the Choctaws, and the brave Swiss, de Lusser, started at the risk of his
life for that tribe, to sound their feelings, and, if possible, secure their
aid and friendship.
Le Sueur, one of the great early explorers of the northwest, who had
begun to work the rich mines of Minnesota, gained the Choctaws com-
pletely, for the crafty tribe now hoped rich pay from the French, and
plunder in abundance from the Natchez, when that nation was de-
stroyed.
While the French army was slowly advancing from New Orleans to
punish the Natchez, Le Sueur and his Choctaws reached the scene of
blood, and suddenly attacked the enemy, on the 27th of January, with
such fury that he killed eighty, took many prisoners, and delivered
fifty-three of the French from their terrible captivity, as well as a hun-
dred and fifty negroes.
Some days after, Loubois came up with the French force and be-
sieged the Natchez in their forts, but the Indians made a brave re-
sistance. Loubois' regular soldiers were miserable fellows picked up in
France, and were of little service, but the colonists, and negroes
fought bravely ; the Choctaws were eager for plunder. At last, on the
322 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
25th of February, 1730, the Natchez gave up the French prisoners in
their hands to the Choctaws, and then stole away by night.
Some took refuge among the Chickasaws ; a part kept up the war,
attacking every French boat. The largest of these bodies took post On
the Washita, where they were invested by the French in January,
1731, and compelled to surrender. The Great Sun, with other chiefs,
fell into the hands of the French, who sold all their prisoners, some
four hundred, as slaves in the West Indies.
Another party pretended to submit, and asked to be received among
the Tonicas, a tribe faithful to the French, and led by a brave Christian
chief. But the Natchez only sought revenge : they suddenly rose on
the Tonicas, and slew the chief and many of his people before they
were driven out. Another party attacked the French post at Natchi- *
toches, but the gallant St. Denys called to his aid friendly Indians, and
even his Spanish neighbors, and the Natchez were utterly defeated.
By this time Louisiana again became a royal province, and Bienville,
the founder of the colony, was once more Governor. He undertook
to chastise the Chickasaws. An expedition from Louisiana was to as-
cend the Tombigbee, and attack their towns, while another from Illi-
nois invaded them on the north.
The expeditions moved in May, 1736. The Louisiana force made its
way with great difficulty up the Tombigbee, and marched to attack the
first Chickasaw fort. But they found it a strong place, with the Eng-
lish flag floating over it, for English traders had helped to fortify it.
After several brave attempts to storm the fort, Bienville, who had suf-
fered considerable loss, abandoned the siege and retreated.
The Illinois force, under Vincennes and d'Artaguette, reached the
Yalabusha, and seeing nothing of the Louisiana army attacked the
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 323.
Chickasaws. They carried two forts, but, in the third, the little force
of brave northwestern pioneers was nearly cut to pieces. Vincennes and
d'Artagnette fell into the hands of the enemy, with many others
wounded ; their brave chaplain, Father Senat, remained to share their
fate. Voisin, a brave boy of sixteen, commanded the retreat, and
through a thousand dangers led the survivors back to Illinois. When
all danger was past the Chickasaws burnt all their prisoners at the
stake, only a few escaping to the English in Carolina.
Another expedition against the Chickasaws, in 1739, was equally
fruitless. These Indians were the barrier of the English colonies, and,
in the struggle now coming on, they, with the Six Nations, helped in no
small degree to turn the scale of victory.
The English colonies were now advancing to freedom. Newspapers
became a great help, diffusing knowledge and discussions of public mat-
ters among the people. On the 24th day of April, 1704, the Boston
News-Letter, the first newspaper ever issued on the continent, appeared
in Boston. Others grew up in other colonies, and some gave great dis-
pleasure to government by their boldness and freedom. John Peter
Zenger, the proprietor of a New York paper, was put on trial. To en-
sure his conviction, the judges struck off the list of lawyers all who took
up his case. But a brave old lawyer from Philadelphia, Andrew
Hamilton, came on to defend him. So eloquent was his defense that the
jury brought in a verdict of “Not guilty,” and the freedom of the
press was established.
Meanwhile the youngest of the colonies was involved in a border
war. Georgia had grown with a rapidity seen in no other British prov-
ince. The disinterestedness and zeal of Oglethorpe brought in num-
bers of industrious settlers, all eager to improve the country and ad-
324 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
vance their own fortunes by honest toil. Some Jews were sent out by
merchants of that faith in London ; German Protestants, from Salz-
burg, founded Ebenezer; Scotch Highlanders settled New Inverness,
other villages arose, and Oglethorpe built Frederica, a strong fort on
St. Simon's Island, and, claiming the St. John as his boundary, planted
Fort St. George on an island at its mouth. Spain protested against
this, but affairs were almost all arranged between the two countries,
when George II., in 1739, declared war against Spain, and prepared
to attack the Spanish colonies in America. Admiral Vernon, victori-
ous at Porto Bello, was ordered to prepare for a new expedition. All
the American colonies north of Carolina were called upon to fur-
nish men, and they did, Vernon sailed to attack Carthagena, but was
utterly defeated, losing in all nearly twenty thousand men. Few of
the colonists who went on that fatal expedition ever lived to see their
native land. Vernon would be justly forgotten had not a spot on the
Potomac been named in his honor, which, as the residence of the illus-
trious Washington, was to be forever a spot revered by every. Ameri-
can heart.
The Carolinas and Georgia had not been called upon to join in Wer-
non's expedition, as they were under Oglethorpe to conquer Florida.
With the forces of Georgia and South Carolina, he invaded the Span-
ish province, and took Fort Picolata, and awaited only for his Indian
allies and tardy Carolina militia to advance upon St. Augustine.
At last, in June, 1740, with six hundred English regulars, four hun-
dred militia, and a body of Creek Indians, he advanced to the walls of
St. Augustine. The Spanish commander, Monteano, had prepared to
meet them ; his garrison was strong and brave; in frequent Sallies he
broke through the English lines, causing great loss, so that at last Ogle-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 3.25
thorpe saw his naval support sail off, and his militia and Indians de-
part. He then retreated.
The Spaniards, in their turn, sent a fleet to attack the Georgia posts.
Fort William, on Cumberland Island, was attacked by Monteano, and
with difficulty relieved by Oglethorpe.
Monteano then landed to attack Frederica; but Oglethorpe, with the
eye of a soldier, had placed it so that its defense was easy ; a road be-
tween a wood and a marsh led to it. Here, his Highlanders, from the
wood, covered by the trees, attacked Monteano's advance, and a des-
perate fight ensued. The Spaniards fought gallantly, and did not give
up the attempt to cut their way through till after losing two hundred of
their men, their dead strewing the ground that has ever since been
called the Bloody Marsh.
Oglethorpe was so full of his Spanish affairs that he wrote letters to
the other colonies warning them against Spanish agents in disguise.
One of his letters came at an unfortunate time at New York. In 1741,
some tinners at work on the roof of the church in the fort set it on fire,
and all the buildings there were destroyed. In a few days it was gen-
erally believed that it was set on fire by negroes, and that there was a
negro plot to burn the city. Many negroes were arrested, tried, and
executed. Oglethorpe's letter gave people a new idea. They were
already half crazy with fear, and now began to arrest white people.
A poor non-juring clergyman, who lived by teaching, was tried under
a law against Catholic priests, passed in Bellomont's time, and also as
the prime mover of the whole plot. He too was hanged, with several
others, and many negroes burned at the stake. For a time no man was
safe, but at last the delusion passed over, and few cared to admit that
they had any hand in it.
3.26 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
But the northern colonies were now to feel all the horrors of war.
Almost all the countries of Europe had become involved in the difficul-
ties, and France was also at war with England, in 1744. News reached
the strong French fort at Louisburg, and they at once prepared for ac-
tion. A force under Duvivier surprised the little English garrison at
Canseau, destroyed the fishery, the fort, and the other buildings, and
carried off eighty men as prisoners of war to Louisburg. An Indian
force also besieged Annapolis.
New England burned to reduce Louisburg, and an expedition was
soon fitted out. New York sent artillery, and Pennsylvania provis-
ions; New England furnished all the men, Massachusetts alone send-
ing three thousand men. The expedition, intended to overthrow the
power of France and the Catholic religion, set out headed by a chap-
lain bearing an axe to hew down the crucifixes on the churches. The
fleet of a hundred vessels bore the army, under Colonel William Pep-
perell, to Canseau. There, fortunately, Commodore Warren, with a
British squadron, joined him, and on the 30th of April, 1745, they
came in sight of Louisburg. It was a strong place for fishermen, and
farmers, and mechanics to take. Its walls, forty feet thick, and from
twenty to thirty in height, were surrounded by a ditch eighty feet wide,
and were mounted by nearly two hundred cannon, while the garrison of
sixteen hundred men, six hundred of them regular troops, seemed to
make it madness to think of reducing it.
But the sturdy men of New England did not give up. With stub-
born perseverance they set to work in their own way to take the stout
fortress on which France had spent millions under the direction of her
best military engineers. They knew nothing about zigzags and paral-
lels; but they resolved to plant their batteries and make a breach in
oR, our countRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 327
the stout walls. A large morass prevented their reaching a suitable spot,
so they built sledges, and the sturdy lumbermen dragged the cannon Over
the marsh on these. Waldo's and Tidcomb's batteries were soon play-
ing on the stout walls of the French fortress, which returned the
fire vigorously ; and the French, by their Canadians and Indians in the
woods, galled the New England troops. Day after day the firing went
on, but there seemed no hope of reducing the place. The wise naval
officers pooh-poohed the idea, and laughed at provincial militia taking
such a fortress. Even the cool New England men began to tire, and four
hundred attempted to take the island battery, but the French met them.
desperately, and the colonial troops drew off, leaving sixty dead, and
more than a hundred prisoners. But the Shirley frigate, under brave
Captain Rous, enabled Commodore Warren's fleet to capture the Vigi-
lant, a French man-of-war coming with ammunition and supplies to the
relief of the fort.
When Duchambon, the French commander, saw this, he lost heart
and began to despond. Soon after, from his ramparts, he beheld all in
activity on Sea and land. The fleet and the provincial army were pre-
paring for a joint attack on the fort.
Then, on the 17th of June, 1745, Duchambon surrendered the
strongest fortress on the American continent to an army of undisci-
plined New England men, who had just laid down their tools in their
workshops, or their ploughs in the fields. The colonies in America
showed their power, and had achieved the greatest success won by
English arms in this war. The city of Louisburg was a perfect wreck,
Scarcely a house had escaped during the bombardment.
For his achievement, Colonel Pepperell was knighted, and made a
colonel in the British army; as was also Governor Shirley.
328 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
New England was wild with joy and exultation, and France, burning
with anger, sent fleets to recover Louisburg, but disaster after disaster
thwarted all her plans, although these naval forces created great aların
all along the New England coast.
There were no important operations in this war between Canada and
the colonies, although the Indians in the French service, and Small par-
ties, ravaged the New England frontiers. The Six Nations took no part
in the war. They sent an embassy to ask the French to keep the war
parties out of their cantons and hunting grounds. The French desired
nothing better, and as the English authorities no longer asked neutrality,
the colonies were exposed to the old border ravages.
At Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, the French had their Fort St.
Frederic, commanding the entrance to Canada. From this the French
officer posted there, De Croisilles, sent out the war parties in all direc-
tions. Besides their old missions in Canada, the French had established
a new one at the mouth of the Oswegatchie, to which they attracted num-
bers of the braves of the Six Nations, who were discontented with the
English.
The most important blow struck was the capture of Saratoga, by
a French force under Marin, in November, 1745. That spot, since
the seat of so much fashion and gayety, the very home of luxury and
enjoyment, was then a straggling frontier village, made up, like most of
those in New York, of various elements, Dutch, English, and German.
It was soon taken, and the flourishing place, with its mills and block-
house, and farm-houses, far and near, given to the flames, while the
cattle were slaughtered in the fields. Thirty of the people were killed
in the attack, and sixty hurried off as prisoners, with a large number of
negro slaves.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 329
Fort Massachusetts, on Hoosac river, in what is now the town of
Adams, was the frontier post on the New England side, and this was
constantly beset by prowling bands of Indians. One day, as Sergeant
Hawks and John Miles were riding on a horse, they were fired at by
two skulking Indians, and both wounded. Miles escaped to the fort, but
Hawks fell from his horse. The Indians rushed upon him to scalp him.
Desperation gave him courage, he rallied his strength, and seizing his
gun covered one of them. This turned the tables. One Indian jumped
down the bank, the other took to a tree and cried for quarter. Hawks,
dizzy and confused, kept calling for help, and when it came the Indians
had fled, one leaving his gun, which he durst not return to pick up.
In August, 1746, a force of French and Indians under Rigaud de
Vaudreuil invested Fort Massachusetts. The little fort had a garrison
of only twenty-two men, and the French force numbered several hun-
dred, but Sergeant Hawks resolved to show fight, and though he had
only a few pounds of powder, kept up the fight for twenty-four hours,
and then surrendered on favorable terms.
This war came to a close by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in Octo--
ber, 1748, but the spring of the following year had opened before it
was known in New England, or relieved the farmers on the frontiers
from the danger of skulking Indians.
Then all was peace again, treaties were made with the tribes in
Maine, and hopes entertained of a long season of peace.
New England was doomed to see Louisburg, which had cost her so.
much blood, and time, and treasure, restored to France by this treaty,
without any compensation being made to the colonies whose conquest
was thus disposed of.
At the South, Oglethorpe, who had begun the war to establish his.
330 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
claim as far south as the St. John's, saw the line between Georgia and
Florida fixed where it now is, at the St. Mary's. |
The treaty, hastily concluded, did not settle the important northern
boundary with the French, and in consequence, the bold Canadian par-
tisan officer, La Corne, took Beaubassin, which Cornwallis retook after a
bloody assault and built Fort Lawrence. On the other side, Captain
Rous, in the Albany, attacked and took, off Cape Sable, a brigantine
from Quebec. On both sides the feeling was bitter, and a new war
seemed threatening.
The statesmen of Europe were, however, cooler and less disposed
to renew hostilities. These matters were all arranged, and by degrees
the war spirit in America calmed down.
Before the close of the war a Congress of Governors met delegates
of the Indian nations at Albany, with a view of strengthening all the
tribes in the English interest, so as to aid in the reduction of Canada.
Though their assistance was not immediately needed, the conference
was continued, as the colonies had at last awaked to the necessity of
imeeting the French in the west.
The colonists had in the last war fought side by side with the Eng-
lish by land and sea, and had met French regulars as well as Canadian
militia. They began to think that they were pretty good soldiers them-
selves, and English governors found that the spirit of independence
was growing.
In spite of the odious restrictions put by England on American
manufactures and trade, the colonies grew rapidly. Industry, intelli-
gence, Schools, and papers were doing their work.
New England had relaxed somewhat, but still maintained a high
moral tone. Boston was the wealthiest and most thriving town, and
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 331
the houses of the merchants showed its prosperity. In the principal
houses of Boston, there was a great hall ornamented with pictures, and
a great lantern, and a velvet cushion on the window-seat that looked
into the garden. A large bowl of punch was often placed in the hall,
from which visitors might help themselves as they entered. On either
side was a great parlor, and a little parlor or study. These were fur-
mished with great looking-glasses, Turkey carpets, window-curtains, and
valances, pictures and a map, a brass clock, red leathern-back chairs,
and a great pair of brass andirons. The chambers were well supplied
with feather-beds, warming-pans, and every other article that would
now be thought necessary for comfort or display. The pantry was well
filled with substantial fare. Silver tankards, wine-cups and other ar-
ticles of plate were not uncommon, and the kitchen was completely
choked with pewter, iron, and copper utensils.
The wealthier Virginians also made much display, while New York
presented a more homely and simple life. They breakfasted on tea
without milk, and sweetened with a small piece of sugar passed around.
The dinner was light, meat not being always served up.
Our young readers will wonder that many things familiar to them
were then unknown. To kindle the fire in the morning, they had to
get a spark in the tinder-box by striking a flint on a steel, and then
they lighted, at this spark, a match of shaving tipped with brimstone.
A candle or whale-oil lamp was then lighted. There were no lucifer
matches, and no gas. The immense chimneys had their wood fires
kept in place by andirons; there was no coal mined then or used ; and
stoves were unknown.
No canals or railroads facilitated travel or the conveyance of goods;
no steamboats puffed along the rivers and Sounds. Steam was unknown
332 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
in the factory or the mine. News traveled slowly. Affairs in Maine
would be heard of in Georgia in perhaps a month's time.
After the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, a new spirit of activity awoke
and all felt that something must be done to keep the French off the
Ohio. Both countries aimed at one point, so as to control that river
and the West. This point was the junction of the Alleghany and Mo-
nongahela rivers. None of the English colonies wished to go to the
expense of establishing a fort there ; and the geography of the coun-
try was so little known that it was supposed to be in Virginia, and
Pennsylvania paid little attention to it. At last a company was formed
called the Ohio Company; but France was preparing to occupy it. She
had forts at Niagara, Presqu'ile, now Erie, and at Venango. The French
attacked Piqua, killing and capturing the English traders, with many
Indians, including the king of the Piankeshaws, who was put to death.
Then they prepared to occupy the valley with a large force.
Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, had been urgent in his letters to
the dissolute king, George II., and now at last obtained leave to re-
monstrate with the French.
For the perilous task he selected a young Virginian officer, a good
Son of a widowed mother, clear-headed, active, energetic, brave, and
adventurous—George Washington, then just twenty-one, a surveyor, ac-
customed to the woods and mountains. Following the Indian trail,
with Christopher Gist, an old frontiersman, as his guide, they struck the
Indian trails, and reached the forks of the Ohio, for which the struggle
had begun. Here he saw as in a vision the future city of Pittsburg.
Pushing on he met Tanacharison, the Half-king, as he was called, a
steady friend of the English colonies. At Venango, he found the French,
posted. The French officer in command was sanguine that his country
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 333
would hold the Ohio. “The English can raise two men to our one,”
said he, “but they are too dilatory to prevent any enterprise of ours.”
They had some reason to say So, for the Canadians were prompt, active,
and accustomed to discipline. They marched at once on receiving or-
ders. In the English colonies, there was always disputing and debat-
ing, and a regiment was not put into the field till after a long wrangle
between Governor and Assembly.
Where Waterford now stands Washington found Fort le Boeuf,
commanded by le Gardeur de St. Pierre, a veteran Canadian officer,
whose long career had enabled him to obtain a complete mastery over
the Indians, who both feared and loved him.
Washington presented his letters, but got a soldier's reply. “I am
here by the orders of my general, to which I shall conform with exact-
ness and resolution.”
The young envoy of Virginia then retraced his way through the
wilderness, to report to the Governor at Williamsburg the defiant atti-
tude of the French.
This was the first public act of Washington, then only twenty-two
years of age. His journal was made public, and drew attention to him as
one well fitted to undertake any perilous expedition, to command men,
and cope with experienced European officers. Thus early did Wash-
ington impress men with his singular ability for public affairs. Near
Bridge's Creek, Virginia, where the pilgrim can no longer discern any sign
of the homestead that once opened its hospitable doors, is a slab recording
the fact that here, on what is now reckoned the 22d of February, 1732,
George Washington was born. He was the oldest son of Augustine
Washington, by Mary Ball, his second wife; but his boyhood was not
spent at his birth-place. His father removed to an estate in Stafford
334 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
County, and here young George grew up. His elder brothers, fruits
of a former marriage, were sent to England for education, but George
enjoyed only the common advantages of planters' Sons, few of whom
pursued studies beyond the ordinary branches of an English education.
He was but eleven years old when his father died, and his future train-
ing, as well as the care of his property, devolved on Mary Washington.
Most great men owe their greatness in no small degree to a mother,
and this is eminently so with George Washington. She possessed solid
sense and decision, was strict in her discipline, and deeply religious, in-
spiring her children with a love for all that related to God's service,
not by harshness, but by counsel and example.
Washington ever felt the deepest love and reverence for his mother,
and never failed to show it.
As he advanced, he was fond of adventure, of sports in the open air,
of riding, and of life in the woods. He grew up hardy and vigorous
in mind and body. His first choice was the sea, and through the influ-
ence of his brother Lawrence, and Lord Fairfax, an English nobleman,
£hen residing in Virginia, he obtained a midshipman's warrant in the
English navy. His luggage had actually gone on board, when his moth-
er's heart failed, and he abandoned his scheme of a naval career.
Resuming his studies at school, George, now with his mind attracted
towards the army and navy, resolved to improve in all the branches
that would be of service to him, and especially cultivated mathematics.
He had several good qualities; he was very methodical, accurate, and
persevering. He had that magic of method which of itself works won-
ders. He was soon a leader. His school-fellows appealed to him to
decide the disputes which arose among them, and in every project he
was looked up to as a chief. He delighted in athletic sports, and by
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs.
3
3
5
his readiness in them, as in his studies, commanded the respect and af-
fection of his young associates.
Even after leaving school he continued his mathematical studies, and
eagerly went through all works within his reach that treated of military
affairs, from the mere drill of the private soldier to the management of
armies or fortification of posts.
At the age of sixteen, he set out with the surveyor's chain and com-
pass, to lay out estates possessed by Lord Fairfax, beyond the Blue
Ridge. This practice in woodland life was of great service to him. Lines
were to be run through wood and morass, over mountain and stream, in a
district far from any settlement. He had to work hard and fare hard,
cook his own meals, and often hunt for them, and for months he was a
stranger to bed or roof.
The hardship did not discourage the boy, whom heaven was thus
training for a great work. The position of public Surveyor was be-
stowed upon him, and, as it was evident that his abilities fitted him for
the post, George Washington was, at the age of nineteen, chosen to
command one of the military districts into which Virginia was divided ;
this gave him the rank of Major, and pay amounting to a hundred and
fifty pounds a year. Major Washington immediately set to work to
organize and equip the militia in his district. But he was called from
his duties to accompany his brother Lawrence to the West Indies; yet
the voyage did not restore his failing health ; and before he was twenty-
one, George was the head of the family, intrusted with the manage-
ment of Lawrence's estate at Mount Vernon, for the widow and infant
daughter.
His next public duty was momentous indeed. Adjutant General
of the Virginia forces, well acquainted with the frontiers, he was dis-
336 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
patched on that first mission, which has led us into this sketch of his
life.
So alarming did the French position seem to Governor Dinwiddie,
that he urged the Assembly of Virginia to raise men and money to
keep the disputed lands for the English race. But the Legislature was
less far-sighted than the Governor. They hesitated, they doubted, but
at last raised £10,000 for the protection of “the settlers on the Mis-
sissippi.” Several additional companies were raised, and of the regi-
ment Washington was appointed Lieutenant Colonel. His practised
eye had marked the spot where Pittsburg now stands, darkening the
sky with the smoke of its thousand furnaces. By his advice, Captain
Trent was sent on with forty-one men, to build a fort at this point, and
raise the English flag. He was sent on himself with his companies to
occupy the new work, but at Wills' Creek heard that it was too late.
The French, while the Assembly were debating with Dinwiddie, had
acted promptly. Already the energetic Marin had led a considerable
force towards the Ohio, and had built one fort, and was erecting an-
other, when he died, to the great regret of the French. Contrecour, who
succeeded him, pushed forward with six or seven hundred men, and fall-
ing suddenly on Trent's party, dispersed them, and seizing the fort, com-
pleted it, the Chevalier le Mercier, a French engineer, directing the
works. A
On hearing these tidings, Washington began to intrench himself at
Great Meadows; but learning that a French detachment was ap-
proaching him, resolved to meet it ; and early on the morning of May
28th, pushed on, with the Half-king, and a force of Virginians and In-
dians. They came upon the French, under Jumonville, in a rocky
wood, where they had thrown up some huts to protect them from the
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 337
rain. On seeing the English approach, the French flew to arms. Ju-
monville attempted to act in his character as envoy, and began to read
.3, summons requiring the English to withdraw, but Washington gave
the order to fire, and after a brief skirmish, Jumonville and ten of
his Canadians were killed and scalped, and twenty-one taken prisoners.
This began a new and terrible war, that changed the whole future of
North America.
The French heard these tidings with indignation. In their eyes it was
a base assassination, and in Canada and France, all clamored for redress.
Contrecour, at Fort Duquesne, acted promptly. Dispatching couriers
to Quebec, to inform the Governor of the commencement of hostilities,
he sent out de Williers, with a force, to attack Washington. The young
Virginian officer, now colonel by the death of Fry, seeing his critical
position, had sent for reinforcements; and had fallen back to Great
Meadows, where he threw up Fort Necessity, a little work which he
hoped to hold till relief came. But the only reinforcement was a com-
pany from South Carolina, under Captain Mackay. As daring and ad-
venturous as the French, Washington, leaving Mackay at the fort,
again advanced to meet the enemy, but, as Indian Scouts soon warned him
of the approach of a formidable French and Indian army, he fell back.
Fort Necessity was at once invested. It was in a clearing between
two wooded hills, and was garrisoned by five hundred men, with ten
pieces of artillery. De Williers had six hundred Canadians, and a hun-
dred Indians. Taking advantage of the position of the fort, the French
and Indian sharp-shooters, posted in the trees on the hillside, kept
up a deadly fire into the interior of the fort, silencing the guns, as it
was death to approach them. When more than fifty of his men lay
dead and wounded in the little fort, Washington, finding it impossible to
338 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
use his cannons, or even his rifles, against a foe whom he could not See,
capitulated, the French allowing them to return to Virginia with every-
thing except their artillery, retaining only two, Robert Stobo and Van
Braam, as hostages for the restoration of the French taken prisoners at
Jumonville's defeat. This capitulation took place July 4, 1754; and
Washington, leaving his fort in the hands of the French, returned to
Wills' Creek, where Fort Cumberland was erected to protect the now
exposed frontier.
The hostages were taken to Fort Duquesne, and treated with great
courtesy; but Stobo, violating his parole, sent a plan of the fort and
details of the French forces to Washington. When this was discovered
he was arrested, tried, and condemned to death. His life was, how-
ever, spared, though he had to undergo a long and very severe impris-
onment. He failed in one effort to escape, but at last, winning the fa-
vor of the jailer's daughter, he got away from Quebec, with several
other prisoners. Their adventures are almost incredible.
Finding a bark canoe, they started in it, and finally reached the
southern bank of the St. Lawrence. Here they lay hid in the woods
watching the parties in pursuit of them. At night they started down
the river in their canoe, and for ten nights kept on their way, lying
hid by day, and keeping alive by means of some provisions which they
took from two Indians. Coming in sight of a French sloop, they sur-
prised it, just as their canoe had become useless. Eluding a French
frigate, they kept on more boldly, but were nearly wrecked. Just
then they fell in with a French schooner, well armed and supplied,
which they also took, and in it, after a thirty-eight days' voyage from
Quebec, reached Louisburg.
Dinwiddie had urged so strongly a general action on the part of the
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 339
colonies, that a Convention of Committees of the Assemblies of New
York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the New England colonies met at
Albany, in June, 1754.
Twenty-five delegates from all the colonies, from New Hampshire to
Virginia, were thus brought together, to form a plan for closer union,
and though Virginia sent none, de Lancey of New York acted in her
name, with full instructions from Dinwiddie, the projector of the scheme.
The Sachems of the Six Nations had also been summoned to a great
council at Albany, and sent their wisest chieftains. Every voice de-
clared that America could prosper only by a union of all the colonies.
Governors appointed from England, patriots born and nurtured on
American soil, all agreed in this. The irregular action of the separate
colonies led only to disaster. Even the Indians taught them that they
must unite or perish. “Look at the French,” said an Iroquois chief,
“they are men ; they are fortifying everywhere. But, we are ashamed
to say it, you are like women, without any fortifications. It is but
one step from Canada hither, and the French may easily come and
turn you out of doors.”
A committee was accordingly appointed to draw up a plan of union.
They were all eminent men ; Benjamin Franklin, with Hutchinson of
Massachusetts, Hopkins of Rhode Island, Pitkin of Connecticut, Tas-
ker of Maryland, and Smith of New York. But Franklin had already
conceived and matured a plan which he presented and which was
adopted.
It was a remarkable plan, foreshadowing the Republican Union
which was to be formed in a few years. Philadelphia was to be the
seat of the proposed Federal Government ; at its head was to be a
Governor General appointed by the King. Then there was a grand
340 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
council of members elected by the Legislatures of the different colonies,
according to the amount of contributions raised by them, no colony,
however, to have less than two nor more than seven. The Governor
General was to nominate all military officers, and the council all civil
officers; no money was to be issued except by the order of the Gov-
ernor and council.
Each colony was still to manage its own concerns, but this new gov-
ernment was to establish new settlements, raise an army and navy,
and apportion taxes among the colonies.
This plan was adopted after considerable debate, but did not meev
with general favor. In England it was looked upon with distrust; and
the colonies feared that it would deprive them of liberties.
But Franklin lived to see it carried out on even a grander scale
than he dreamed of.
Benjamin Franklin, who thus came prominently before the people of
England and America, is one of the most illustrious of our country-
men. Men have been esteemed great for a time, but gradually sink
out of sight. This is not the case with Franklin. His fame still
abides.
Son of Josiah Franklin, one of a race of sturdy blacksmiths at Ec-
ton, England, who, in the reign of James II., emigrated to New Eng-
land, Benjamin was born at Boston, January 17, 1706. His mother
was the daughter of Peter Folger, the old Nantucket poet. On the
stone which covers their remains at Boston, their son inscribed, “He
was a pious and prudent man ; she a discreet and virtuous woman.”
At the age of eight, Benjamin was sent to the public grammar School,
where he learned to read, and write a clear, bold hand. In figures he
did not excel. His School time was short. At the age of ten he was
ok, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 341
taken into his father's tallow chandlery, but his brother James arrived
from England two years after this, with material to set up a printing
office. Benjamin was apprenticed to him. He was a great reader, but
he stuck to some good books as his favorites, among them the Specta-
tor, Cotton Mather’s “Essays to do Good,” and De Foe’s “Essay on
Projects.”
When his brother started the “New England Courant,” he became a
contributor, but not daring to offer them openly, for fear of having
them rejected contemptuously, he slipped them by night under the
door, and then listened with satisfaction to the praise bestowed on
them.
The paper was a spicy one, and soon got into trouble in those strict
lays, so that before long, Benjamin found himself free from his appren-
tice's indentures. Quarreling with his brother, he raised money by
selling his books, and made his way in a sloop to New York, and so on
to Philadelphia, rowing part of the way on the Delaware.
He entered Philadelphia tired, hungry, and almost penniless, one
Sunday morning in the Fall of the year 1723. His person and his
clothes were dirty ; his pockets stuffed with shirts and stockings; for
those were days of immense coats, and waistcoats, and cavernous pock-
ets. Topped off with a broad-brimmed hat, he was an odd figure in-
deed. He made his way to a baker's and bought three penny rolls, and
was amazed to find them so much larger than in Boston. As he had no
room in his pockets, he walked on with a roll under each arm, munch-
ing the other. In this comical guise, he passed the house of Mr. Read,
on Market Street, and excited the merriment of Miss Deborah, who, in
all her Sunday finery, stood laughing at the uncouth young man, little
dreaming that she was laughing at her future husband. He strolled on
342 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
eating, and as one good Philadelphia roll satisfied him, he gave the other
two to a poor woman and her child. He then entered the great Meet-
ing-house of the Quakers, and as it was a silent meeting, the
weary traveler soon fell asleep, and rested quietly till the service
ended.
He soon found employment as a printer, and found a friend in Sir
William Keith, Governor of Pennsylvania, who urged him to set up in
business for himself. His father declining to advance the money, Keith
sent Franklin to London to purchase material, promising to send him.
a draft for the necessary amount. But great men sometimes have very
short memories, and young Franklin found he had gone on a fool's er-
rand. He was not one to be disheartened, but went to work at his
trade, and, after a stay of nearly two years in London, finding an op-
portunity to go into business in Philadelphia, returned. But death
soon broke up the concern, and Franklin went back to Keimig, his old
employer. He was soon proprietor, editor, and printer of the Ga-
zette, married Deborah Read, and became a prominent and active man.
His paper abounded in short essays, in pointed sayings, and patriotic hints.
His “Poor Richard's Almanac * became very popular from the max-
ims which it contained, and was subsequently published under the
title of “The Way to Wealth.”
In 1736, he began public life, as clerk of the General Assembly.
He was soon after made Deputy Postmaster, established the first mag-
azine published in America, and projected the American Philosophi-
tal Society, and the Pennsylvania Hospital.
He had just received his appointment from London, as Postmaster
General for the colonies, when he was sent to the Congress at Albany,
which has led us into this sketch of his life.
CHAPTER WI.
Reign of George II. Continued—Commencement of the Reign of George III.--War witn
France renewed—General Braddock sent over with English Regulars—His Plans—He at-
tempts to take Fort Du Quesne—Defeated and killed—The unfortunate Acadians—Baron
Dieskau sent out by France—Defeated and taken on Lake George—Montcalm takes Oswe-
go—Louisburg taken by Boscawen and Amherst—Abercrombie defeated by Montcalm at
Ticonderoga—Bradstreet takes Fort Frontenac—William Pitt—Forbes advances on Fort
Du Quesne—Sustains a Defeat—French evacuate Pittsburg—Johnson defeats d’Aubry and
takes Niagara—Amherst drives the French from Lake Champlain–Wolfe at Quebec—Bat-
tle of the Heights of Abraham—Wolfe and Montcalm—De Levi defeats Murray and be-
sieges Quebec—Canada surrenders—Close of the War.
ENGLAND and France were still at peace, and the English govern-
ment gave the French King every assurance of their wish to maintain
friendly relations, but at the same time prepared to send over to Amer-
ica a formidable force of regular troops to conquer Canada. While the
French government was instructing du Quesne, the Governor General
of Canada, to act only on the defensive, to avoid bloodshed, and to
strengthen Canada by Indian alliances, Edward Braddock, Major Gen-
eral and Commander-in-Chief of the English forces, was on his way
with a regiment of British regulars across the Atlantic, and soon arrived
in the Chesapeake. He was a harsh, brutal man, strict in discipline,
and brave.
He met the Governors of several colonies at Williamsburg; but
found no revenue raised, and no likelihood that any would be. His in-
structions had increased the general suspicion of the colonists, for it
was laid down that the colonial officers were to have no rank when
serving with the King's officers. Eager as Washington was to fight in
the cause of the colonies, he resigned in disgust.
While matters were in this unpromising condition, France, at last
344 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
convinced of the bad faith of England, sent reinforcements to Canada,
under the veteran Dieskau. The English Government sent Admiral Bos-
cawen in pursuit of the French fleet; he overtook it, and without any
declaration of war, captured two of the French ships off Cape Race.
Thus the war began on the Ocean.
The rest of the French fleet, with Dieskau and Vaudreuil, the new
Governor General of Canada, himself a Canadian by birth, reached
Quebec.
Braddock, at Alexandria, proposed four expeditions against the
French. Lieutenant Governor Lawrence, of Nova Scotia, was to drive
the French from all that district; Sir William Johnson, who had great
influence with the Six Nations, was to lead a force of militia and Indi-
ans to reduce Fort St. Frederic at Crown Point; Governor Shirley, of
Massachusetts, was to take Niagara, unless Braddock himself captured
it after taking Fort Du Quesne, which he said could detain him only three
or four days.
At last, after great difficulties, Braddock got his army in motion, and
at Cumberland two thousand effective men were assembled. Washington
attended Braddock as one of his aids. Daniel Morgan, famous in his
Jersey village as a wrestler and a deadly marksman, was a wagoner.
On the 19th of June, Braddock, by Washington's advice, left Dun-
bar behind, and pushed on more rapidly with twelve hundred picked
men. Washington knew something of the frontier life, and knew that
the French were prompt and active.
On the 8th of July, they were within twelve miles of Fort Du Quesne.
The French authorities had given up all hopes of saving it; the Indians,
whose runners had brought in tidings of the great English force, looked
upon resistance as hopeless. One man felt too proud to yield without a
i.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS, 345
blow. Daniel Lienard de Beaujeu had just been made commandant of
Fort Du Quesne and the French troops on the Ohio. He called on the In-
dians to go out with his small force and meet the enemy. They treated
him as a madman. Then he resolved to go with his handful of Cana-
dians. As he filed out with his petty force, after attending divine ser-
vice in the chapel of the fort, he tauntingly told the Indians to go to
Quebec, and report that they had seen him go to die, and had not dared
follow him. Stung at this, they took up their arms, and marched with
his little band.
Beaujeu's intention was to ambuscade the ford of the Monongahela.
but the refusal of the Indians had made him lose precious moments.
As that glorious summer day dawned on the river and the woods that
lined it, Beaujeu, a tall, slight man, in his frontier-dress, with only his
officer's gorget or crescent at his neck to mark his rank, himself, at the
very head of his men, came full in sight of the British and American
force moving up from the river-bank. The burnished arms gleamed in
the summer sun ; the regular tread of the infantry, the gay uniforms
and lines of cannon, all were before him. He did not recoil. Waving
his carbine over his head, he ran on towards the English, leaping and
cheering on his men. On rushed Canadian and Indian, with yell and
cries. The English advance, under Gage, was swept back; before they
could recover their senses, their artillery was captured, and they were
driven back on the vanguard, while the Canadians and Indians, taking
to the trees on the flanks, by their deadly volleys increased the confli-
sion and dismay. Braddock hurried on, and drew up his remaining guns,
but there was no enemy in view. The forests echoed with the thunder
of cannon, as the balls tore through the ancient trees, but still the fight
went on ; the French pressing steadily on them. At last Beaujeu,
346 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
their commander, fell, but Dumas took command. For two hours the
English kept up the battle, few of them getting a glimpse even of their,
enemy. The regulars, at last, terrified by the yells and by the strange
kind of warfare, lost all control, fired at random, even killing their offi-
cers, and at last broke and ran. Sir Peter Halket and twenty-six offi-
cers were killed, and seven hundred and fourteen men killed or
wounded; of Braddock's aids, Washington alone was alive; two horses
were killed under him ; his clothes torn by bullets, for an Indian chief
aimed repeatedly at one in whom he saw a dangerous enemy. “Some
potent Manitou guards his life,” said the Indian. “By the all power-
ful dispensations of Providence I have been protected.” Braddock
had mounted his sixth horse, when a bullet entered his side and he
fell mortally wounded. Then all was confusion. The Virginia troops
under Washington covered the flight, and were nearly cut to pieces.
Qf three companies scarcely twenty men were left alive. º
As this disorderly horde rushed panting into Dunbar's camp, that
officer caught the panic. He destroyed his cannon, stores, and baggage
to the value of £100,000, and evacuated Fort Cumberland, to retreat
to Philadelphia, burying Braddock by the way-side, near Fort Necessity.
The ground, still known as Braddock's field, was in the hands of the
French. The forest glade was strewn with dead and wounded, with
artillery, arms, equipments. Never had such a victory been achieved,
and at So slight a cost, for the French lost only three officers and thirty
IſlCll.
Beaujeu, who died in the arms of victory, was borne to Fort du
Quesne through the woods. It was a strange funeral, as chiefs, in the
Spoils of English officers, with their faces and bodies in all their war-
paint, with Scalp, yell, and rattle of firearms, stalked beside the bier
oR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 347
of one who had shown such skill and valor. The old friar in the fort
chanted a requiem mass and consigned the body of Beaujeu to earth
in the little cemetery of the fort. ,’
Such was the battle of the Monongahela, as the French call it, or,
Braddock's Defeat, as it is generally known in our annals.
Unexpected as a victory to the French, it filled them with enthusi-
asm ; unexpected as a defeat to the colonies, and to England, it did
precisely what was required at the moment. All were now ready to
vote money and raise men to carry on the war. This fighting the
French was a serious business.
The British general selected by the crown, full of pride in the supe-
rior military skill of the Old World, was shamefully defeated, and killed
at the very first step by a handful of provincials, and all his great
plans of conquest were scattered to the winds, his best army lost, with
all its artillery and munitions.
Of all the plan of Braddock, but one part had succeeded, and that
was one of the greatest crimes in American history; this was the
seizure of the Acadians.
After the conquest of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, the French Govern-
ment invited the French settlers in that colony to remove to Cape Breton ;
but as the English Government, unwilling to have the country depopu-
lated, offered them inducements to stay, they unfortunately remained.
Their position was one of great difficulty, then and ever after. Many
would have emigrated, if they could have sold their farms, but there
was no one to buy. They naturally sympathized with the French and
did not wish to fight against them. From time to time they were subject-
cd to many hardships and oppressive acts, but always lived in hope of
better times, endeavoring to keep peacefully in their quiet settlements.
348 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
They were now called upon to take a new oath of allegiance, in
which they would swear to fight against their countrymen, and as
it was known that they would refuse, preparations were made to de-
stroy their settlements and carry them off. Had they been enemies, such
an attack on them, when unarmed and defenseless, and the ravaging
of their country, would have been a horrible deed ; but they were act-
ually under the protection of the laws of the Government which thus
treated them. sf
On the 2d of September, Winslow arrived with a fleet, and sum-
moned all the men to meet in the church at Grandpré, on Friday the
5th. When they had entered, he read a proclamation declaring all
their property forfeited and themselves prisoners.
They were then marched down to the shore, and in squads sent on
board the ships; their families sent separately, no regard being paid to
family ties or affection. Seldom has such a scene been witnessed, of
cold-blooded malignity on the one hand, or of such sudden and unex-
pected calamity. And while they were huddled on the bleak shore, or
proceeding to the ships, they saw the Savage soldiery firing their vil-
lages, burning church, and house, and barns, so that the whole country
was in flames; at least a thousand buildings were thus destroyed, and
fifteen thousand unfortunate people torn from their homes, and hurried
away to a strange land. Had they been taken to France, they would
have found sympathy and relief, but, with a cruelty that was fiendish,
they were scattered all along the coast, from New Hampshire to Geor-
gia. They were cast ashore without any means of support ; with no
place before them but the poor-house. Many, by unheard-of hardships,
reached their countrymen in Louisiana or Canada; many on their
way were arrested and taken off again.
OR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 349.
Five of their leading men, who had been put ashore in Pennsylvania,
petitioned the brutal and ignorant Lord Loudun, the British Com-
mander-in-Chief, for some relief, but he seized them and sent them to
England, asking that they should be impressed into the navy as common
sailors, although all men of dignity and wealth in their own land.
Bancroft says of these unfortunate people : “I know not if the an-
nals of the human race keep the record of sorrows so wantonly inflict-
ed, so bitter, and so perennial as fell upon the French inhabitants of
Acadia.”
The army intended to attack Fort St. Frederic, at Crown Point, con-
sisted of New England militia, and was commanded by William John-
son. Fort Edward was erected, and Johnson, at the end of August,
advanced to the shore of Lake George, and encamped with his force of
three thousand four hundred men.
Dieskau, the French commander, seeing him so dilatory and care-
less, resolved to attack Fort Edward. He advanced along Wood Creek,
but his guides led him astray, and being nearer to Johnson's camp, he
determined to attack it.
Johnson, startled to hear that the French were actually in his rear,
sent a force under Colonel Williams of Massachusetts, and Hendricks,
the old Mohawk chief, to relieve Fort Edward. His first intention was
to send out only a scouting party, but Hendrick, the old Mohawk chief,
said : “If they are to fight, they are too few ; if they are to be killed,
they are too many.” Accordingly, a detachment of twelve hun-
dred marched out. The Frenck and Indians posted themselves in
ambush at Rocky Brook, four miles from Lake George, in a
semicircle on both sides of the route, concealed on the left by the
thickets in the swamps, and on the right by rocks and trees.
350 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
The French Mohawks let their New York countrymen pass, then from
every rock and tree came the deadly ball, as the rocks echoed back the
rattle of musketry. Williams and Hendrick fell, the former near a large
boulder still shown as Williams' rock; Nathan Whiting, of New Haven,
restored order, and by rallying from time to time, and keeping up a
fire, managed to save part of the force.
At the camp all was confusion. A few cannon were brought up
from the lake, and the axe flashed as the sturdy arms hewed down
trees to form some kind of intrenchment. Dieskau came in view of
the enemy about eleven o'clock in the morning, having reached an em-
inence overlooking Johnson's camp, and the American troops, from
their position, saw the polished arms of the French on the hill-top, glit-
tering through the trees, as platoon after platoon passed down. Die-
skau's army was discontented and weary. The Indians and Canadians
asked time to rest before attacking the enemy ; the French Mohawks
actually halted ; then the Abnakis did the same, and the Canadians,
seeing something wrong, hesitated. Without waiting to form a plan of
action, or giving his men time to rest and recover, Dieskau charged with
his regulars according to European ideas of war. They came down
the hill into the clearing in splendid style, and under a terrible fire
from the New England troops, who lay flat down behind their intrench-
ment of trees, the gallant French endeavored to push their way into
the camp. For five hours the fight was maintained, till nearly all the
French regulars perished; the Indians and Canadians, galled by the
English artillery, and utterly demoralized, giving them but feeble sup-
port. At last the regulars gave way. Dieskau had received three
wounds, and finding that he could not be carried from the field, calmly
sat down on a stump to meet his fate. Then the English troops charged
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 351
from their camp; a renegade Frenchman shot the unfortunate general,
giving him a wound from which he never recovered.
The French rallied at their battle-field of the morning, and were rest-
ing there when they were suddenly attacked and routed by some New
Hampshire troops, under the brave Captain McGinnis, who fell in the
arms of victory.
So ended the third engagement fought on that bloody 8th of Sep-
tember, 1755, in which nearly a thousand men were killed and
wounded.
In this battle Johnson was wounded early in the action, and the bat-
tle was really fought and gained by General Lyman of Connecticut,
but the merit of the American was overlooked, while Johnson obtained
all the credit, a large grant of money from Parliament, and was created
% baronet.
He neglected to take advantage of his victory, and building Fort
William Henry on the site of his camp, allowed the French to occupy
and fortify Ticonderoga, while he returned to Albany.
Shirley was to have met Braddock at Niagara, but he got no further
than Oswego, where he built a new fort, which he left in command of
Mercer and returned.
During the Winter, Shirley, in a Congress of Governors, planned the
campaign for 1756; but war had been declared at last in Europe, and
England sent over Lord Loudun, as Commander-in-Chief, with Aber-
crombie as next in command, and a large force of soldiers with tents,
ammunition, and artillery for a long campaign, and German officers to
drill the American militia.
Abercrombie reached Albany, and quartered his troops on the citi-
zens. News came in that a French army was advancing on Oswego,
352 TITE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
which had just been supplied with provisions by Bradstreet, but Aber-
crombie and Loudoun, with ten or twelve thousand men at their or-
ders, lay inactive.
The Six Nations, disgusted at such conduct, sent to the French to
propose neutrality.
The French were not inactive. They were, indeed, preparing to at-
tack Oswego, and on the 27th of March, 1756, a convoy of provisions
and supplies for Oswego was surprised near Fort Bull by a French party
from Fort Presentation, now Ogdensburg, under the command of Lieu-
tenant de Lery. But this attack warned the little garrison of Fort
Bull, and they prepared to hold the post. De Lery attacked it, and
after a stubborn fight the French entered the fort. But the cry of
alarm rose, the desperate garrison had fired the powder-magazine, and
the French had barely time to draw off when, with a roar like thunder,
an explosion sent in all directions the material of the fort, and the
valuable munitions stored there. Thus, by the inaction of the English
generals, the line of forts carefully prepared by the provincial authori-
ties was broken and Oswego isolated. Then the energetic de Williers
posted himself at the mouth of Sandy Creek, and by his vigilance and
activity completely cut Oswego off from all relief.
France had seen the English armaments cross the Atlantic. She,
too, sent her well-trained regulars, with abundant supplies, and at their
head one of the knightliest of men, the Marquis de Montcalm, whose
brother is remembered in history as one of the infant prodigies. This
capable Soldier, a man able to understand what war in America was to
be, hastened at once to Ticonderoga, examined all the country around
it, and took measures for its defense. Then he resolved by Secrecy
and celerity to take Oswego. Some of his troops were already at Fort
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 353
Frontenac; he led others in person from Montreal, regiments of regulars,
and a large force of Canadians and Indians. On the morning of the 4th
of August he reviewed his troops at Fort Frontenac ; before midnight,
on the 6th, he was at anchor in Sackett's Harbor.
The English had for years been fortifying Oswego. The main fort
was on the right bank of the river, a large stone building surrounded
by a wall flanked by bastions. On the other bank of the river frown-
ed Fort Ontario, erected more recently. This outpost was at once in-
vested, and though the garrison held out for a day, they at last, at night-
fall, spiked their guns and retreated to Fort Oswego, under cover of
the darkness.
Montcalm occupied the fort at once, and turned the cannons on Fort
Oswego, while Rigaud, with a detachment, crossed the river under fire.
and gained a wooded height beyond the fort, cutting it off from another
little work called Fort George. The next morning a furious fire was
opened upon the fort, and at eight o'clock, Colonel Mercer was killed,
and the wall was soon breached. Just as Montcalm was preparing to
storm the place, Littlehales, at ten o'clock, hoisted the white flag.
Montcalm gave them no time, but insisted on an immediate surrender,
for he had intercepted a letter announcing that General Webb was on
his way to relieve the fort, General Loudoun having at last concluded
that there was some danger. By eleven o'clock the capitulation was
signed, and Shirley's and Pepperell's regiments, sixteen hundred strong.
marched out as prisoners of war, to be sent down the St. Lawrence.
More than a hundred cannon, six vessels of war, a large number of
boats, and great quantities of ammunition and provisions remained with
the forts in the hands of the prompt and emergetic Montcalm. He
planted the cross and the arms of France, then demolished the forts
354. THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
almost in sight of Webb, who, learning the full extent of the dis-,
aster, retreated with the haste he should have shown in coming.
Loudoun quartered his useless army on New York and Philadelphia,
leaving the French in possession of the frontiers, and the Indians
ravaging all the distant Settlements.
But while the English commanders were thus losing valuable time,
and the Governors of the colonies were planning the next campaign,
there was hot work going on. Lake Champlain, even in mid-winter,
was a battle-ground. Among the American rangers at Fort William
Henry were men who were one day to occupy no inconsiderable place.
in their country's history, John Stark and Israel Putnam.
Many were the exploits of the rangers. Soon after the opening of
the year 1757, Stark, with seventy-four men, started down the frozen
surface of the lake on a scout. Between Ticonderoga and Crown
Point they saw a French party of ten or eleven sledges come dashing
on, gay and merry. A sudden dash, a brisk fire, three sledges are
captured, with seven prisoners. The rest give the alarm, and out
swarm a party of French and Indians, more than double the number
of Stark's force. He gained a rising ground, and a covert of trees.
There he kept up the fight all day long. At night he effected a
retreat, with a loss of twenty killed and missing. This exploit won
Stark his first promotion.
Israel Putnam had been fond of adventure from his boyhood in
Connecticut; and many stories are told showing his fearless courage
and persistent daring. One of our historical scholars has worked hard
to show that they are all only stories, but we shall tell some, and if
the reader believes them, we cannot help it. -
One day, he, with a party of boys, espied a fine bird's nest on a very
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 355.
high tree. “I’ll wager,” said young Israel, “that there is not a boy
for ten miles around that can get that nest,” and when all agreed, still
turning their longing looks at the unattainable prize, he cried out, “I’ll
try.” Up he swarmed, and reached the limb, but it was too slender to
bear his weight ; still he attempted to climb out on it ; a crackling
sound was heard, but though his young comrades, full of terror, cried
out to him not to venture, on he went. “I’ve got it,” he shouted, but
his cry was premature, the limb broke and he fell. Fortunately his
trowsers caught in one of the lower limbs, and there he hung head
downward.
“Put, are you hurt?” they asked. “No,” he replied, “but I can't
get down unless some one can get up here and cut me clear.” There
was no knife among them, and seeing their hesitation, he called out to
one who had a rifle, *-
“Jim Randall, fire at the little branch that holds me, and if you are
a good shot save me.”
“But you'll fall!”
“Jim Randall, will you fire | " and fire he did ; the ball struck, the
splinters flew, and Putnam fell to the ground, escaping with a few
bruises. When they had picked him up, and he could breathe, he
stuck his hand into his pocket and drew out the nest : “I said I
would get that nest, and I was bound to have it.”
His adventure with the wolf some years later was a famous one,
and was repeated in various forms in schoolbooks for years.
An old she-wolf had ravaged the sheepfolds of all the Pomfret far-
mers, and was finally tracked to a cave on the Connecticut. All at-
tempts to worry and smoke her out failed. Then Putnam ventured in
with a torch in one hand, and a rope attached to his leg, that he might
356 TEIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
be drawn out if necessary. He found the cavern slope down for some
fifteen feet, then, after a level of ten, ascend for about sixteen feet. He
kept steadily on till his torchlight flashed in the eyes of the savage
brute. Jerking the rope he was drawn out, and entering with his rifle,
killed her as she was springing on him. As Soon as he fired they
drew him out, but he went back to drag her out.
Early in the war he had enlisted a number of his neighbors, and re-
ported himself at Fort William Henry.
As March, 1757, wore on, Peter Francis de Rigaud, a brother of
the Governor of Canada, set out on a winter expedition against Fort
William Henry, a march of a hundred and eighty miles, in snow-shoes,
dragging their provisions on sledges, using dogs to draw them over the
smooth ice. Such was the service to which the hardy Canadians
were inured. On the night of the 16th, the eve of St. Patrick's day, they
came in sight of the fort, as they had planned ; for knowing that there
were many Irishmen in the British regulars, they counted on a general
merrymaking in the fort, and very little watchfulness for any enemy.
They had reckoned well. The liquor flowed free and fast, but Stark,
who was temporarily in command of the Rangers, many of whom were
Irish, fearful of mischief, forbade the sutler to issue any spirits to the
men without a written order, and then pretended to have such a lame
hand that he could not write one. While all is merry within, a French
pioneer tries the ice without with his axe, then a rush is made with
Scaling-ladders to surprise the fort. Stark's foresight saved it. The
Rangers held them at bay, and after a sharp struggle, brave Rigaud drew
off, finding his force too small; but he burned three vessels, three hun-
dred batteaux, large boats for carrying troops, and the huts of the Ran-
gers within their pickets, and the store-houses. If he failed to carry
oR, our Count RY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 357
William Henry, at leas the prevented any English movement against
Fort Carillon at Ticonderoga.
Loudoun now formed a new plan. Leaving Bouquet to watch the
Carolina frontier, Stanwix the West, and Webb at Lake George, he pre-
pared, with the New England and Nova Scotia forces, to take Louisburg.
The slow English general impressed four hundred men at New York, and
seized vessels, and, with his army, including five thousand regulars who
had just come over under Lord Howe, he sailed to Halifax. There he
heard what he should have learned before, that Louisburg was
held by a very strong garrison, and covered by a large French fleet.
His whole work was useless, and he sailed back to New York without
striking a blow.
The French had been wide awake. “Now is our time,” said they.
Montcalm, with fresh troops from France, and Indians from the West,
was preparing to move on Fort George ; and the French forts on the
lake were all strong, with intrenched camps between them. Montcalm
was soon on the spot, showing officers and men an example of endurance
and watchfulness. The French parties swarmed around the English
posts. No one could venture out. Marin in one expedition returned
with forty-two scalps. But the American boatmen boldly held the
lake. The Ottawas resolved to teach them a lesson. On the 24th
of July, they ambuscaded Colonel Palmer's barges. The Indians
rushed on his party suddenly, terrified them by their yells, so that only
two barges escaped, all the rest were taken or sunk ; a hundred and
sixty of the Americans perished, nearly as many, including eight offi-
cers, were taken prisoners.
Then on the plain above the portage of Lake George, Montcalm held
a general council of all his Indian allies, tribes from the banks of Lake
358 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Superior and Lake Michigan, to tribes on the sea-coast of Maine. To
the Iroquois, as the most numerous, he gave the great Wampum belt
of six thousand beads, which was to bind them all together. The Iro-
Quois gave it in turn to the Ottawas, and other western tribes.
Then, slowly and cautiously, he moved up the lake to attack the
fort. On the morning of the 2d of August, the Indians launched
boldly out into the lake, and in a long line of canoes stretched across
its beautiful bosom, making the shores echo with their furious war-cry.
The English garrison under Colonel Monro were taken by surprise.
They were surrounded on all sides. La Corne with his Canadians cut
them off from the Hudson, Montcalm with his main body occupied the
skirt of the wood on the west side of the lake, and detachments burned
all the English barracks, and cut off the stragglers.
Webb lay at Fort Edward with four thousand men, and could have
called out the militia, but he did nothing, leaving the gallant Monro and
his garrison of five hundred, and the seventeen hundred in the camp to
their fate. On the 4th of August, Montcalm summoned him to surren-
der, but Monro's answer was a defiance. Then the siege began, and
the artillery soon opened on the fort, and the French lines narrowed
in. At last, when half his guns had been dismounted and his ammuni-
tion was almost spent, Monro hung out a flag of truce.
The siege had cost the English one hundred and eight killed, one
hundred and fifty wounded ; while that of the French, though the attack-
ing party, had not been half that number.
Lieutenant Colonel Young met Montcalm in the French trench.
The French general at once summoned the Indian chiefs, that they
might concur in the terms granted, and adhere to them. At noon, the
capitulation was signed. The English, pledging themselves not to
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIſ VEMENTS. 3.59.
serve against the French for eighteen months, were to be sent to Fort
Edward under an escort, with their private effects, leaving all the arms
and munitions of war; all the French and Indian prisoners were to be
liberated. Montcalm had kept all intoxicating drinks from his Indi-
ans, and urged the English to destroy everything of the kind in the fort.
At night, the English garrison retired to the camp under French guard,
and Montcalm occupied the fort. By a fatal imprudence, the English
neglected to destroy the liquor, and, what was worse, gave it freely to
the Indians. The night was a hideous debauchery. At daybreak, as
the English troops filed out, the drunken Indians began to plunder and
then to tomahawk them. Many—thirty, perhaps fifty—were slain ; others
fled to the woods. The little French escort was powerless ; Montcalm
hurried up with his officers, and a corps of troops, and many were
wounded in attempting to save the English. At last they gathered fifteen
hundred of the terror-stricken people, and in all haste guided them to
Fort Edward. Others, in the midst of the French, reached Fort Wil-
liam Henry again, and for days cannon were fired, and Scouting parties
sent out till five hundred more were collected, who were escorted to
Albany.
This massacre, more than the battle, filled all with terror. Webb lay
shivering at Fort Edward ; Albany, in danger, called on New England
for aid; people west of the Connecticut were ordered to destroy their
wagons and drive in their cattle. Loudoun, whose pompous plans
were to demolish French power, proposed to encamp on Long Island so
as to save the British colonies'
Montcalm demolished the fort, however, and withdrew. His Cana-
dians had their harvests to gather in, for these men alternately fought
and tilled the soil. The vast stores of the English army were a treas-
360 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION,
Fure to Canada, and were won with a loss of only fifty-three
! {{16}I).
The English were driven from Lake Champlain, now left to its solitude;
they were driven from Lake Ontario; they had been driven from the Ohio.
France seemed to predominate in North America. England and her
colonies were humiliated. Yet the power of France hung by a thread.
Canada was really exhausted, and abandoned by the unworthy King
of France, whose name and whose vile favorites' names are never ut-
tered, even now, by old Canadian-French without the expression of the
deepest contempt. “I shudder,” wrote Montcalm, in February, 1758,
“when I think of provisions. The famine is very great.” “For all our
success New France needs peace. Otherwise, Sooner or later it must
fall, such are the numbers of the English, such the difficulties of our
receiving supplies.”
Bread was dealt out by weight to soldiers and inhabitants. The
only hope was in the wonderful genius of Montcalm, and the misman-
agement of the English commanders.
But a new spirit had been infused into English affairs. Pitt was
called to the ministry by the will of the English people. His vigorous
mind gave order and system to the whole conduct of the war.
As before, three several expeditions were set on foot. A fleet, under
Admiral Boscawen, was to bear to Cape Breton an army under the
cautious Jeffrey Amherst and James Wolfe, whose singular military
ability had been already remarked. General Forbes, with another
army, was to accomplish what Braddock had failed in, the conquest of
the Ohio valley; while the army to operate against the French on Lake
Champlain, and reduce the enemy's forts, Carillon at Ticonderoga, and
St. Frederic at Crown Point, was to be commanded by Abercrombie,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 361
with whom Pitt associated Lord Howe as the real soul of the enter-
prise.
The armies were to be well officered, and to lack nothing really re-
Quired.
Boscawen's fleet of twenty-two ships of the line and fifteen frigates,
in June, 1758, was discerned from the walls of Louisburg. Under the
fire of the frigates, the army of ten thousand men landed, through the
Surf-beaten, rocky shore, Wolfe leading the first division, and jumping
into the water to form his men, and charge the French battery and
abattis of felled trees. The French were driven in and the place in-
vested. Thus one point was gained. Wolfe, heading the light infantry
and Highlanders, soon gained another, surprising the lighthouse bat-
tery on the northeast of the harbor entrance.
Then for more than a month the siege went on, the English ships and
batteries hurling their shells into the doomed place till it was but a
heap of ruins. The French ships in the harbor were burned or cap-
tured by Boscawen. -
The Chevalier de Drucour had done all that a brave man could. On
the 27th of July, 1758, he capitulated, the French forces were sent to
France, and the English commander took possession of Cape Breton and
Prince Edward's Island.
Louisburg, once a thriving city, with the strongest fortress in the
New World, was left to decay. It is now only a mass of ruins, one of
the cities of the past, like Jamestown and St. Mary's.
That same month beheld another and still more formidable English
army at Lake Champlain. Nearly ten thousand provincial troops from
New England, New York, and New Jersey, among them Roger's ex-
perienced and daring Rangers, had gathered, with their own officers and
362 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
chaplains, and beside them lay the more soldierly-looking camp, where
six thousand regulars, trained in battle-fields and campaigns of the Old
World, prepared for action. It was by far the largest body of white,
troops ever assembled in North America. This host embarked on the
beautiful waters of Lake George, in more than a thousand batteaux and
boats, with their artillery on rafts, all gay with flags, while the martial
strains from the bands woke the echoes. All day long, under a cloud-
less sky, the fleet moved on undisturbed by the appearance of a foe-
man. Landing at Sunset, at Sabbath Day Point, they began to talk
over the fight of the coming day.
Montcalm, in himself a host, vigilant, active, farsighted, had been
long aware of the force approaching him. His Fort Carillon was
strongly placed. He improved its advantages by destroying bridges
and encumbering roads. His own position, on a height, he fortified by
felling trees, and using every natural impediment. He called in all
his outposts but one under de Trepezec, and every man plied the axe
to strengthen and defend the lines.
Early the next morning, the English, under Howe, landed on the
west side of the lake, about a mile above the rapids. Bourlamaque,
sent out to watch their movements, fell back slowly. De Trepezec,
misled by guides, suddenly came upon the English advance near Trout
Brook. Without regarding the disparity of numbers, de Trepezec
charged ; the contest was short and desperate ; half the French per-
ished, half remained prisoners, but the cause of English supremacy
lost Lord Howe, who fell at the head of his men. Abercrombie with-
drew his troops to their landing-place. The next day he prepared to
attack Montcalm in form. A triple line was formed, out of cannon-
shot ; rangers, boatmen, and light infantry in the van ; then the pro-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 363
Vincial troops ; the regulars forming the third line. Johnson, who came
up with his Indians, took no part.
Montcalm's little force were still laboring at their intrenchments,
When the cannon Sounded to bid them drop axe, and spade, and pick,
and seize their muskets. De Levi had come in the night before with
four hundred men, and they were all sanguine. Montcalm, at a point
where his keen eye could sweep the line, threw off his coat for a hot day's
work. The English regulars were to pass through the provincials, and
carry the French line with a charge of bayonets. The French were to
keep motionless till the order to fire. Thus, without a shot on either
side, the English line moved on. Up and up the rocky hill-side, it
moved in splendid style, till it became disordered amid the rocks, and
trees, and rubbish. Then, from the whole French line, came a well-de-
livered and continuous fire of cannon and musketry. Officers and men
went down by hundreds, but, though Abercrombie was far in the rear,
the officers in the field fought like heroes ; again and again, they led
up their men to assail the less complete parts of the French lines, and
endeavoring to turn their left, where Bourlamaque repulsed them till
he was dangerously wounded, and was hard pressed. The fate of the day
seemed to waver, when Montcalm sent reinforcements that saved his
line.
For three hours the attacks were incessant, and the whole forgº was
thrown on the French centre and left. Again Montcalm and de Levi
were at hand, and the English line repulsed. One last desperate
charge on the centre, and the battle was over ; the English line fell
back in such disorder that they fired into each other. The battle of
Ticonderoga was lost. Two thousand English lay dead or wounded on
the bloody slope.
& J4. THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Abercrombie, in fright and consternation, with an army four times
that of Montcalm, fled to his boats in disorder, and did not feel safe till
he had the lake between him and the French.
To keep up the panic, Montcalm sent out daring parties. One of
these seized a convoy between two of Abercrombie's forts. Rogers
with his rangers attempted to surprise them. A brisk action occurred,
in which Putnam, commanding the rear, was captured with twelve or
fourteen rangers. His men were cut down at once. Himself, too noble
a prize, was bound to a tree, and a tomahawk, hurled in wantonness,
laid open his cheek. The stake would have been surely his fate had
not Marin, a French officer, rescued him, and finally, after many hard-
ships at the hands of the Indians, enabled him to reach Montreal.
Bradstreet, a provincial officer, had early in the campaign asked
leave to operate against Fort Frontenac, now Kingston. At last Aber-
crombie listened to him. Bradstreet, with twenty-seven hundred men
of New York and Massachusetts, and a few Indians, pushed on to Os-
wego, whence he passed in boats across Lake Ontario, and on the 25th
of August landed within a mile of the fortress by which France con-
trolled the lake.
The French garrison, astounded at the unexpected appearance of an
English force, ſled, leaving a few to surrender to Bradstreet the fort,
with the armed vessels under its guns, and all the supplies intended
for Fort du Quesne, and the other frontier posts, which were thus
doomed. Bradstreet's success thus secured that of Forbes, who, with
an army of Highlanders from South Carolina, Royal Americans, two
fine Virginia regiments under Washington, prepared to reduce Fort du
Quesne. Wayne was here as a boy to see what war was like, and the ſu-
ture painter, West, was able here to see subjects for his pencil in later days.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 3C5
Bouquet, who was in the advance, detached eight hundred High-
landers and Virginians under Grant to reconnoitre. Grant, unaware
that Aubry had reached the French fort with a reinforcement, con-
ceived the plan of taking it. He advanced in sight, and posted his
men so as to cut off a party Sallying out. But Aubry rushed out with
his whole force, attacking Grant with such fury along his whole line,
that he gave him no time to get his men together, but routed his whole
command so completely that Grant fled, leaving nearly three hundred
killed or prisoners. Grant, a few moments before elated with the idea
of victory, was himself taken.
Forbes, who was dying with a fatal malady, came slowly on ; so
slowly, that Washington at last obtained leave to push on more rapidly
with a part of the force. On the 24th of November, 1758, the general
encamped within ten miles of the fort. Then de Lignery, the French
commander, who had long been out of provisions, and of goods to win
the Indians, set fire to the fort which had begun the war; lighted by
the flames, his boats pushed off, some for Fort Machault, some for the
Mississippi. The next day, the English army took possession of the
spot, which at the suggestion of Forbes, was named in honor of the
statesman who had planned the conduct of the war. Pittsburg is still
a monument of his ability, and of the gratitude felt towards him in
America.
One of their first cares was to visit Braddock's field, and inter the
bones of their countrymen who fell in that disastrous day.
Both parties prepared for the campaign of 1759. Pitt planned
again three expeditions, and sent from England men and supplies to
ensure their success. France did nothing to save Canada, and that
colony was left in its hour of supreme danger to battle for its own ex-
366 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
istence, and for the honor of France. Wolfe, with an army of eleven
thousand men, was to be conveyed by Admiral Saunders' fleet up the
St. Lawrence, where he was to reduce Quebec. Amherst, who was
made Governor of Virginia, and commander-in-chief of the English
armies in America, was to sweep through Lake Champlain, and occupy
Montreal, while an army under Prideaux was to capture Fort Niagara,
now almost isolated.
To save, if possible, this last post, Montcalm sent, in April, Captain
Pouchot, a skillful engineer, with three hundred regulars and Cana-
dians, all he could spare. It was not in hopes of holding Niagara, but
solely to divert the English forces from Canada. Pouchot at once
strengthened his fortifications, and tried to gain the Senecas, who knew
him well. He also called on Lignery, at the Ohio, and Aubry, in Illi-
nois, for aid.
Meanwhile General Prideaux, with two battalions from New York,
a battalion of Royal Americans, two English regiments, and artillery,
with a large Indian force under Sir William Johnson, advanced to re-
duce the fort, of which the ruins are still visible on the flat, narrow
promontory jutting out into the rapid Niagara. They embarked on
Lake Ontario, at Oswego, and soon landed near the fort, which was
at once invested in form. Pouchot was summoned to surrender, but re-
turned a decided refusal. Then the siege began, Pouchot returning
Prideaux's fire with effect; shortly after the English general was killed
by the bursting of one of his own mortars, and the command devolved
on Johnson, who followed up his plans with skill and judgment. Pou-
chot's only hope was in the forces that d’Aubry and Lignery might
collect. At last an Indian brought in letters announcing their approach.
De Lignery had gathered the French on the Ohio, with all friendly In-
oR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 367
dians; d’Aubry came at the head of Illinois settlers and Indians,
amounting in all to about twelve hundred men.
Johnson prepared to receive them, and check any sally from the
fort. He threw his light infantry, supported by grenadiers and troops
of the line, between the fort and the falls, with his Indians on the
flanks, and in ambush.
Aubry and Lignery charged impetuously, but failed to move the
British line, while the English Indians galled their flanks so, that when
the English advanced, they were thrown into disorder and broken. An
utter rout ensued, de Lignery, Aubry, with many officers, were wound-
ed and taken, others were cut down in the pursuit, in which the Indians
and English slaughtered without mercy. Among the rest, the Rev. Mr.
Virot, the chaplain of the French force, was taken and hewed to pieces.
Pouchot, from his fort, saw what seemed a mere skirmish ; when he
learned the full extent of the disaster, and the retreat, towards Detroit,
of the survivors, he looked at the ruined walls of his fort, and capitu-
lated with his brave handful of men, which had held in check the well-
appointed force of Johnson.
De Levi then took post at Ogdensburg, to prevent Prideaux descend-
ing at once on Montreal. Amherst sent Gage to drive him from that
position, but Gage, like Amherst, loitered, and Montreal, menaced by
two armies, and almost defenseless, still remained in the hands of the
French. Conscious of their inability to resist the British artillery and
army, the French troops under Bourlamaque abandoned their lines at
Fort Carillon, Ticonderoga, and retreated, leaving only a small garri-
son in the place. A few days later, these and the garrison of Fort
Frederic fell back to Isle aux Noix, and the flag of France ceased to
float over the Soil of New York.
368 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
Amherst might then have occupied Montreal, and co-operated with
Wolfe before Quebec, but he merely sent a detachment to destroy the
Abenaki town of St. Francis, and then prepared to go into winter
quarters.
Wolfe's army had meanwhile, in Juné, been borne within sight of
Quebec, by Saunders' fleet of forty-four men-of-war, frigates, and
armed vessels. On the 26th of June, the whole armament arrived of
Isle Orleans, on which they disembarked the next day.
Wolfe could now, on the spot, see the magnitude of the task assigned
to him. Louisburg was fortified by science, but there, nature aided
Science to make the place nearly impregnable. Every point for miles
above and below the city, was fortified and defended, and Montcalm,
directing, animating all, was no unworthy antagonist.
The English fleet lay anchored in the river, controlling it. Thé
French first attempted to destroy or cripple the fleet, by sending down
fireships, but these were grappled by the sailors and towed away from
the shipping.
The English army lay encamped across Isle Orleans, and soon occu-
pied Point Levi, planting batteries of mortars and heavy artillery to
bombard the city at the narrowest part of the river. Red-hot balls
and shells poured into the ill-fated city. The night was lighted up by
the glare of these rocket-like engines of destruction, as they curved
over the river, and fell into Quebec. Flames shot up in all directions,
ſighting up the scene far and near. Fifty houses were set on fire in a
single night, the lower town was demolished, the upper town greatly
injured.
This was kept up for a month, but no impression was made, and the
French seemed to have no idea of surrender.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 369
Wolfe resolved to force Montcalm to an action. He tried the line of
the Montmorency, but could not discover a place through which he
could force his way. Then he explored above the city, but in vain.
Almost desperate, he selected a landing-place at Montmorency. The
grenadiers and Royal Americans landed, and without waiting for sup-
port, ran hastily towards the French entrenchments, from which they
were hurled back in disorder. Other troops came up, but Wolfe saw
it would be useless to sacrifice his men in a vain attempt. He re-em-
barked, having lost four hundred men. º
Murray, sent above Quebec, dispersed some invalids and women
at Deschambault, and heard of the fall of Niagara, and of the French
retreat from Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Wolfe looked now for
Amherst, but no messenger even came from that general.
Wolfe then laid before his three brigadiers three plans for attacking
Montcalm. All were rejected, and it was determined to convey four
or five thousand men above the town, and draw Montcalm from his im-
pregnable position to an open action, Wolfe, himself, began to examine
the shore almost inch by inch. He himself discovered the cove
which now bears his name. He saw the narrow path winding up, and
the petty force that held its termination on the summit. Here he
resolved to land his troops by surprise.
Montcalm, believing the worst danger past, had sent de Levi with a
detachment to Montreal. Bougainville was watching the English along
the shore.
Admiral Holmes was at once sent with some ships to hold Bougain-
ville. Saunders set the active James Cook, soon, like Bougainville, to be
known by his voyage around the world, to sound near Beaupré as if
for a landing. Then Wolfe, on the 13th of September, with Monckton
370 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
and Murray, and about half the force, set off in boats, and glided
down. They soon reached the cove, hidden by the over-hanging rock,
and were taken for a French party expected with provisions. Wolfe
and the troops leaped ashore; the light infantry and Highlanders
clambered up the steep hill-side, aided by the stunted trees and shrubs,
and after a brief skirmish, dispersed the picket and guard under de
Vergor at the summit. The heights gained, the rest followed, and at day-
break, Wolfe, with a small army of veterans, and four cannon from an
abandoned battery, was drawn up on the Plains of Abraham, so called
from Abraham Martin, one of the earliest settlers of Quebec. Mont-
calm believed it only a small party. When the truth was made clear,
he saw that the decisive moment was come. “They have at last got to
the weak side of this wretched garrison,” he cried ; “we must crush
them before noon.” -
He at once ordered the Guyenne regiment to the heights to watch
the enemy, and leaving only fourteen hundred at Beauport, in the in-
trenched camp, moved with the rest. He sent off to call in Bougain-
ville, but the messengers lost precious time. De Levi too was sum-
moned, though too far distant to arrive in time.
The French troops had more than three miles to march, a hill-side to
climb, and heavy grain-fields to cross. They came almost at a run,
and reached the battle-field exhausted, while Wolfe's men had enjoyed
four hours' rest. :
The two armies were about equal in numbers, but Wolfe's was com-
posed of well-disciplined regulars, while half of Montcalm's were mili-
tia and Indians.
Separated by a little rising ground, the two forces cannonaded each
other for about an hour, while the skirmishers kept up a fire of musketry.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 3.71
Montcalm's army, with the regulars and artillery as the centre, had
its right, of the Quebec and Montreal militia, resting on the Sainte
Foye road, the left, composed of Montreal and Three River militia,
stretching to the hill overlooking the river. Wolfe was drawn up be-
fore a series of knolls which shielded him from the guns of Quebec.
Monckton was on his right, at the Samos wood, and Townshend on his
left.
Montcalm led the army impetuously to the attack; the English, by
Wolfe's orders, held their fire till the French were within forty yards,
then poured in a steady, well-directed fire. It was fearfully destruc-
tive. Montcalm's two brigadiers, de Sennezergues and Fontbrune, were
killed, and the whole French thrown into confusion. Wolfe, who had
been cheering on his men, in spite of two slight wounds, now led a
charge at the head of his grenadiers upon the French left. It gave
way, and only a part, covered by trees, kept up the fight, galling the
English flank. In the midst of this success, a third ball struck Wolfe
in the breast, inflicting a mortal wound. “Support me,” he cried, to an
officer near him ; “let not my brave fellows see me drop.” He was
carried to the rear, and an officer supported him, as they raised him to
take a drink. “They run, they run,” said the officer, looking over the
field. “Who run ?” asked the dying hero. “The French,” replied the
officer, “are giving way everywhere.” “Now, God be praised, I die
happy!” said Wolfe, as he expired.
Montcalm did all that he could to rally his men, and retrieve the
day. While covering the retreat of his force, he too was mortally
wounded near the St. John's gate. Two grenadiers ran to his support,
and by their aid he entered the city, replying with his usual courteous
grace to the expressions of commiseration from some ladies. A sur-
37.2 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
geon pronounced his wound fatal. He gave the last directions, and
said: “I leave the affairs of the King, my dear master, in good
hands. I have always entertained great esteem for the talents and
ability of General de Levi.” With his dying hand he wrote to
Townshend, commending the prisoners, both French and Canadians, to
his humanity. Then he gave himself entirely to preparation for a
Christian death.
Bougainville arrived in time to see the rout of the French army.
Townshend feared to engage him, and he himself, not venturing to re-
new the battle, drew off.
The defeat of Montcalm left Quebec at the mercy of the English.
Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, wrote to de Ramsay, who was in
command at Quebec, not to wait for an assault, but to raise the white
flag as soon as his supplies were exhausted.
There were, indeed, only a few days’ provisions in the place, so that
Ramsay, seeing no hope of relief, capitulated on the 18th September.
The campaign of Wolfe and Saunders on the St. Lawrence had thus
been brilliant and successful, and we can only regret that Wolfe tar-
nished his name by fearful cruelties on the Canadian villagers, many of
whom were butchered in cold blood, amid their blazing homes.
Amherst lay inactive, and in the spring moved his army of ten
thousand men to Oswego, although the French had abandoned all their
Works between Lake Champlain and Montreal, and, as we shall see fur-
ther on, it was not till nearly a year after Wolfe's glorious victory and
death that Amherst entered Montreal.
The American colonies had been induced to look upon some infringe-
ments on their liberties as military necessities growing out of the war
with Canada, and like many nations in history, they were deluded by
or, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS 373
this ; but they awoke in time. They already began to fear that their
freedom was menaced. In its exultation, the English Government
threw off the mask, and by resorting to odious and illegal Writs of As-
sistance to enforce the British Acts of Trade, drew on itself the hos-
tility of almost all the colonists.
•
CHAPTER VII.
Reign of George III.-The Cherokee War—The Treaty of Peace with France—Florida taken
in exchange for Havana—Pontiac's Conspiracy—England resolved to tax America—Stamp
Act Riots in America—Battle of Golden Hill–Boston Massacre—The Tax on Tea—Resist-
ance of America—The Boston Tea Party—North Carolina Regulators—New Indian War.
WHILE his American affairs were in this position, George II. Suddenly
died of apoplexy, and on the 25th of October, 1760, his grandson,
George III., ascended the throne, inheriting in Europe the kingdom of
England and the Electorate of Hanover, and possessing half the north-
ern continent of America, in itself a realm whose government required
the utmost justice and wisdom. While the northern colonies were en-
gaging the French, Carolina was involved in an Indian war, by the mere
wantonness of an English Governor, self-sufficient and ignorant like most
of his class. The Cherokees had ever been friends of the English, as the
neighboring colonies had often recognized. In the wars, their braves had
served faithfully, but no notice was taken of them, and although they
had left their fields untilled to serve in the army, no provision was
made for their wives and children, or for themselves on returning to
their untilled fields. Half starving, these braves, on their way home,
here and there, took the food they needed to reach their villages. The
colonists pursued them and killed several.
A spirit of revenge was excited. Two soldiers were killed at Telli-
374 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
quo, in revenge. This was the act of a few. The nation disavowed
them, and sought to renew the former alliance and friendship.
But Governor Lyttleton demanded the murderers; and when they
hesitated, stopped all ammunition and goods on their way to the In-
dian towns. All was excitement in the Cherokee towns, and they saw
no Way to peace except by taking up arms.
Lyttleton called on the neighboring colonies, and friendly tribes, for aid.
Oconostata, the great warrior of the Cherokees, came to Charleston,
Lyttleton repulsed him rudely. “I love the white people,” said the
chief; “they and the Indians shall not hurt one another; I reckon my-
self as one with you.”
But Lyttleton was bent on an Indian war: “I am now going with a
great many of my warriors to your nation,” was his fierce reply,
“in order to demand satisfaction of them. If you will not give it when
, I come to your nation, I shall take it.”
He set out from Charleston with the Indian envoys under guard, and,
by his display of force, compelled the Cherokees to sign a treaty of
peace in December, retaining hostages for its fulfillment.
His exultation at this was unbounded, but he little knew the Indian
character. They were brooding over the matter, with hearts full of
fury. Oconostata resolved to rescue the hostages, and the very treaty
was a declaration of war. The commandant at Fort Prince George
was lured out into an ambuscade and shot. It was the death-knell of
the hostages, who were all butchered. As this became known, the
mountains echoed with the war-song, and, obtaining ammunition from
Louisiana, the Cherokees burst like a destroying hurricane along the
frontier. The Muskogees, or Creeks, seemed ready to join them, and
Carolina was in imminent peril.
OR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs.
g
7
j
Amherst was called upon for aid. He ordered Montgomery and
Grant from the Ohio, with Highlanders and Royal Americans. At
Ninety-six these regulars joined a body of Carolina rangers. They
moved rapidly into the Cherokee country, and, using Indian tactics
against the red men, came by surprise on the village of Little Keowee.
Though the barking of a dog gave an alarm, it was too late. The Eng-
lish burst in upon them, slaughtering nearly all, sparing only some Wo-
men and children. The other towns in the beautiful Keowee valley
were then abandoned by the Cherokees, and given to the flames by the
army. These villages were all beautifully situated ; with neat houses,
and well-filled storehouses of Indian corn. The Cherokees, taken ut-
terly by surprise, and never dreaming of so prompt an invasion, had
made no preparations. All was destroyed, and the articles left in the
houses, money and watches, Wampum and skins, enriched the sol-
diery.
Montgomery sent to offer peace before treating the other towns in
like manner. But the haughty chief made no reply. Then Mont-
gomery crossed the Alleghany. No enemy was seen till he reached
the Little Tennessee. One day, towards the end of June, 1760, as he
was pushing along the muddy bank of the river, through a broken
valley covered with dense undergrowth, the Cherokees suddenly
sprang from the bushes, and a withering volley staggered the line. The
officer leading the advance, the gallant Morrison, fell, but there was no
flight, no disorder; the Highlanders and provincials drove the enemy
from their coverts, and chasing them from height to hollow, made the
wilderness ring with their cheers and shouts. But the victory cost
Montgomery twenty killed and seventy-six wounded.
He was now sadly perplexed. To go on with his wounded was diffi-
376 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
cult indeed ; and this he must do to relieve Fort Loudoun. So, deceiv-
ing the Cherokees by kindling fires, he fell back, and on the 1st of July
reached Fort Prince George.
Fort Loudoun was left to its fate. It surrendered to Oconostata on
the 8th of August, and the garrison, two hundred men, were sent to-
wards Carolina. At Telliquo, the fugitives were surrounded ; Demeré,
the commander, and twenty-six officers and men, were killed for the
murdered hostages. The rest were taken back and divided among the
tribes. Attakullakulla, the head chief of the Cherokees, who possess-
ed little real authority, was friendly to the whites. He resolved to
rescue Stuart, an old friend of his, who was now a prisoner. To save
him from being compelled to fight against his countrymen, Attakulla-
kulla, or Little Carpenter, as the Carolinians called him, took him off,
pretending that he required his aid in hunting. Once in the woods, the
chief struck for Virginia, and for nine days and nights travelled on
through the wilderness as only an Indian could travel, till at last they
encountered a Virginia detachment.
Montgomery's campaign had but made the Cherokees resolute and
windictive. Yet he resolved to depart, and, in spite of all the entreaty
of the people, sailed for New York with part of his force.
It required another tedious expedition under Grant, in 1761, to close
the war. Another battle was fought on the banks of the Little Ten-
nessee, in which the Cherokees were again defeated. Then the new
Cherokee towns and settlements were wasted, and four thousand na-
tives left homeless. Their spirit was broken. They sought peace.
While this war, provoked by a haughty and ignorant English Gover-
nor, was desolating Carolina, England nearly lost Canada. Amherst
loitered with his army on the way to Montreal. Murray lay in Que-
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 377
bec, Bougainville had come up too late to save Montcalm’s army on
the Heights of Abraham ; but his forces joined de Levi. That able
general attempted to surprise the city in midwinter, but finding it im-
practicable, laid siege to Quebec, in the early spring, with an army of
ten thousand men. On the 28th of April, Murray marched out of the
city, and attacked the French line at Sillery wood. The French, under
Bourlamaque, met the onset, and charged in turn so furiously that
Murray, fearing to be completely surrounded, fled in disorder to the
city, leaving a thousand men on the field, and his fine train of artillery.
De Levi, who had lost only three hundred men, pushed on, and opened
trenches against the town. The English garrison, now sadly cut down,
labored earnestly to hold out till aid came. De Levi pushed on to cap-
ture Quebec before vessels could reach it. All eyes were turned to-
wards the river in fear and hope. At last vessels were seen, men-of-
war were approaching. Every eye was strained to see the first flag.
To Murray, the white flag would be a signal of ruin ; to de Levi, one
of triumph. It was the English fleet. The last hope of France was
gone. De Levi, baffled, abandoned his now useless guns.
On the 7th of September, Amherst met Murray before Montreal.
Vaudreuil, the last French Governor, had long expected the day. He
capitulated, and surrendered to England all Canada, and the North-
West.
On the 8th of September, 1760, the French rule ended.
The war in the northern part of the continent closed. The British
flag floated undisputed from Hudson Bay almost to the Gulf of Mexico,
and from the shores of Lake Superior and Michigan to the Atlantic.
But, in Europe, the war was raging more fiercely than ever ; almost all
the Continental powers being arrayed against England and Prussia. To
378 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
carry on the war with Spain, George III., who had now ascended the
throne, succeeding his grandfather, George II, in October, 1760, called
on his American subjects to aid in reducing Havana. On the 30th of
July, 1762, after a siege of twenty-nine days, in which the brave
Spanish commander, Don Luis de Velasco, was mortally wounded,
Moro castle was taken by storm, by a combined force of English regulars,
West India negroes, and sturdy militia, from New England and New
York, Putnam among them, with others who had last fought in the
chilly borders of Canada. Many of our brave soldiers perished before
Havana, in this fatal midsummer campaign in the tropics, and left their
bones to decay on that Cuban shore. Havana, and all its wealth, with
the castle, fell into the hands of the British.
When, at last, in November, peace was restored, England gave up
this conquest for Florida. She also received a cession of all Louisiana,
to the Mississippi, except the island of New Orleans; all Canada,
Acadia, Cape Breton, all the French possessions, except the two little
islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, that you can scarcely find on
your map. At the same time, France ceded Louisiana to Spain, and
the lilied flag ceased to float on the continent of North America, where,
but a few years before, her maps showed almost the whole continent as
French.
The treaty was definitively signed at Paris, February 10th, 1763.
England had taken possession of all that France claimed as Canada.
In September, 1760, Amherst had despatched Rogers, whose rangers
lad done such signal service against the French, to take possession of
T)etroit, the key to the West, as well as of Michilimackinac and other
posts.
Where Cleveland now stands, he was confronted by Pontiac, the
OR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 379
chieftain of the French Indians, who haughtily demanded his business
in that country, without his permission.
Rogers explained to him that the flag of France had fallen, and th
he went to take possession of the French posts, to live in peace with a .
the tribes. After some deliberation, he consented to their progress, and
even saved them from an ambuscade of Detroit Indians. Rogers, sending
on Vaudreuil's instructions to the French commander. landed with his
rangers opposite Detroit, and encamped. An officer was sent over, the
French garrison filed out, and laid down their arms : the militia were
then disarmed, the French flag was lowered, amid the yells of the In-
dians. Forts Miami and Ouiatenon, with Michilimackinac, were soon
after occupied.
In all the West, one French fort alone was left, that of Fort Chartres
in Illinois.
The western tribes found that a new rule had begun.
They did not like it.
From the banks of the Niagara to the shores of Lake Superior,
from Lake Erie to the Gulf of Mexico, there was a fast growing hate
of the English, and their colonists. Could France have called out this
spirit a few years before she might have saved Canada.
The discontent that pervaded all the tribes, prepared them for any
plot. All that was required was a leader, and this soon appeared in
Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawas, said by some to have been himself a
Catawba. Nature had made him a leader of men ; he was already re-
wered by all the Indian tribes of the northwest as a hero, a man of
prowess in war, of wisdom in council, a man of integrity and human-
ity, as they regarded it.
He soon formed a vast conspiracy among the tribes, for a simultane-
380 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
ous attack on the English posts. He himself was to surprise Detroit. His
preparations were crafty indeed. Announcing to Gladwin, the com-
mander, that he would in a few days pay him a visit with some of his
braves, he, in the Indian villages around the fort, prepared his men for
the work of slaughter. Securing saws and files, they cut off the bar-
rels of their guns so that they could hide them under their blankets.
And with these, and knives and tomahawks, sharpened to their keen-
est edge, the chieftain, with about three hundred of his braves, stalked
into the fort on the 7th of May. Pontiac bore a wanpum belt, white
on one side, green on the other ; when he turned this his men were to
begin the work.
But Gladwin had been warned the day before by an Ojibwa girl, and
was ready for the emergency. Pontiac rose, holding the fatal belt,
and began to address Gladwin, professing strong attachment to the
English, and desiring to smoke the pipe of peace. As he raised the
belt, Gladwin made a slight motion with his head, a sudden clang of
arms rang from the hall without, and the long roll of the drum drowned
the voice of the chief. Pontiac hesitated, and closing his address, sat
down, baffled and perplexed.
Gladwin answered in a few words. He wished the friendship of all
the tribes, but if they preferred war, stern vengeance should follow the
first hostile act. Unwisely, perhaps, he allowed the braves to depart, for
the next morning hostilities began. An English party sounding on
Lake Huron, were seized and murdered.
On the 10th, Pontiac summoned Gladwin to surrender, and, on his
refusal, massacred an old English woman and a sergeant, the only
persons of English race who lived outside the fort. Two English offi-
cers were also surprised and murdered on Lake St. Clair.
OR, ou R country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 381
For six hours, the besieging Indians, skulking behind bushes, houses
knolls, or flying rapidly past, poured their deadly shots into the embra,
sures of the fort, carrying balls in their mouths so as to lose no time
in loading. They finally drew off, to begin preparations for a regu-
lar siege, and so deceived Gladwin, that he sent out two officers to
treat with them. All the Indians in that part had joined Pontiac ex-
cept the Christian Hurons, whom the missionary Potier long restrained,
but even he, at last, failed to control them, and they were forced to
join the forces of Pontiac. s
On the 16th of May, a party of Indians appeared at the gate of
Fort Sandusky. Ensign Paulli, the commander, admitted seven as old
acquaintances and friends, and all sat down to smoke. Suddenly a sig-
nal was given, and Paulli was seized, bound, and carried out. Every.
Soldier and trader in the post was already murdered.
The old Jesuit mission on the St. Joseph's had become a British
post, under command of Ensign Schlosser. On the 25th, a party of
Pottawatamies appeared in friendly guise, and were admitted. In less.
than two minutes Schlosser was seized, and all his men but three-
butchered and scalped.
On the 13th of May, Lieutenant Cuyler had left Fort Niagara, and
embarked from Fort Schlosser, just above the Falls, with ninety-six
men, ammunition, and provisions for Detroit. Meeting no enemy, he
landed carelessly at Point Pelee, near the mouth of Detroit river, and
was preparing to encamp, when he was suddenly attacked by a body
of Hurons or Wyandots. Cuyler formed his men around the boats, and
a vigorous fire of musketry was kept up, but the Indians made a furi-
ous charge, and the English troops were thrown into confusion and fled
to their boats. Two boats, with thirty or forty men, escaped, the rest
'382 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
were taken in triumph past Detroit, where the disappointed garrison
saw this sad result with heavy hearts. The prisoners in one boat,
when nearing an English vessel off the fort, rose on their guards, and
amid the fierce volleys of the Indians, who pursued them, managed to
reach the vessel; all the rest were tortured and butchered.
At Fort Miami, near the present Fort Wayne, the commander was
enticed out to visit a pretended sick woman. He was at once shot
down, and his men were soon surprised and murdered.
At Fort Wea, in Indiana, they were captured in a similar way, but
there were kind-hearted French settlers near who purchased their
lives.
Thus, fort after fort, so recently garrisoned by English soldiers, dis-
appeared utterly. Officers and men were alike English ; had colonial
troops been employed, they would have been better fitted to deal with
the Savages.
Strange was the fall of Fort Michilimackinac. The story is that of
a terrible game of La Crosse.
On the 2d of June, the Ojibwas living near assembled near the fort
to play this game now so popular in Canada and England. They invi-
ted Major Etheridge and his garrison to witness it. All was calm and
peaceful. The gate of the stockade was open ; the officers, and some
of the little garrison, looked on from the top of the palisades.
As the game went on, the ball was driven nearer and nearer, and
there were often shouts of applause at a good hit. Suddenly, after a
close struggle, the ball came spinning from the midst of the players to-
wards the entrance to the fort. On rushed the players, and passing
their squaws, caught from under the women's blankets knives and toma-
hawks, then rushed with yells of fury into the fort. Etheridge and
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTs. 383
Leslie were seized, while every Englishman in or out of the fort, was
butchered without mercy. Only one man escaped, Alexander Henry, a
trader, who was hid away by a Pawnee Woman, a slave to one of the
French residing there. But he was finally discovered, and had long to
suffer the cruelties and privations of an Indian captive.
At Fort Presqu'ile, where Erie now stands, the brave Ensign Chris-
tie made a gallant fight for two days, but finally surrendered. He and
his men were taken as prisoners to Detroit.
The garrison at Fort Le Boeuf was attacked, but escaped by night :
that at Fort Venango fell, no man knows how, for none was ever seen
alive to tell its story.
Fort Pitt and Fort Ligonier were menaced, and finally attacked ; the
out-lying settlements were in flames; five hundred families from the
frontiers of Maryland and Virginia fled to Winchester.
Thus Detroit was left alone in the West. Again Amherst tried to
relieve it, and finally threw sixty men into it, in June. Late in July.
Dalyell arrived with two hundred and sixty men, entering under cover
of night. Full of confidence, this young officer wished at once to make
a midnight sally on the savage foe. Gladwin, who had seen enough
Indian fighting to know what it was, opposed this, but at last yielded.
Before three in the morning, Dalyell sallied out with nearly two hun-
dred and fifty picked men, keeping along shore, and protected by two
boats. After a short march, they came to an Indian intrenchment, from
which poured out such a deadly volley that the whole body was thrown
into confusion. Twenty of the English were killed, and twice as many
lay wounded on the battle-field of Bloody Run. Rash, but brave,
Dalyell fell while trying to bring off his wounded, and his gay uniform
and scalp decked the dusky forms of savages.
384 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
This triumph filled the Indians with exultation. No tribe now hesi-
tated. All gathered around Pontiac, who held Detroit besieged by a
thousand men.
The English military authorities were roused to something like en-
ergy. Bouquet, a Swiss officer of merit, was sent with a considerable
force to relieve Fort Pitt, and reinforce Detroit. As he approached
Fort Pitt, he was suddenly attacked by the Indians who had been in-
vesting that fort. Bouquet and his officers were fit for their task, and
the soldiers, chiefly Highlanders, were cool and experienced. All day
long, on the 5th of August, they fought the Savage foe, and at night
they lay on their arms at Edge Hill. The morning showed the Indians,
in force on every side. Bouquet saw but one course; an Indian one.
Posting two companies in ambush, he pretended to retreat in disorder.
With wild yells, the Indians rushed on in pursuit in wild confusion,
when suddenly, from the right, and left, and front, came the rattle of
the deadly musketry. The Indians, crowded together, were shot down
in numbers, then, panic-struck, fled, routed and defeated.
Bouquet had won the day, but his killed and wounded were one--
fourth of his force, his horses were almost all killed, and it was with,
great difficulty that in four days he reached Fort Pitt.
But the joy which filled all hearts at Bouquet's success, was damped:
by an unexpected disaster at Devil's Hole, near Niagara.
At that spot, the road winds near a fearful precipice. On the 13th,
of September, a numerous train of wagons and pack-horses proceeded,
from the lower landing to Fort Schlosser, and the next morning returned.
As they reached this dangerous spot, they were suddenly greeted by
the blaze and rattle of a hundred rifles, and before the smoke liſted, the
Indians dashed out with tomahawk and Scalping-knife. Horses and,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 385
men, in wild panic, went over into the boiling current ; many were mur.
dered and scalped in the road. In less time than it takes to record it
all was over. Stedman, who commanded the party, cut his way
through and escaped. A drummer-boy who went over the precipice
was caught by his drum-strap in the branch of a tree, and succeeding at
last in quietly getting a foothold, hid away in a hollow of the rock till all
was still. At the firing, some soldiers from a little camp rushed out to save
the train. They were ambuscaded and cut to pieces; a few only reached
Fort Niagara. The Indians who thus opened the war in New York
were the Senecas, one of the Six Nations, whom Sir William Johnson
was supposed to control so completely.
A reinforcement for Detroit, under Major Wilkins, miscarried, and
everything seemed desperate. The first effective measures towards a
general pacification proceeded from the French in Illinois. De Noyon,
a French officer, still in command at Fort Chartres, sent belts, and mes-
sages, and calumets of peace to all the tribes, declaring to them that
the King of France had given up all his territories to the King of Eng-
land, and urging all the tribes to bury the hatchet, and take the English
by the hand.
On this, the Wyandots and some other tribes made peace, and
abandoned the siege of Detroit. Then Bradstreet arrived with a con-
siderable force, large enough, indeed, to have overawed all, but he
acted feebly, and the Indians in bands still ravaged the frontiers,
burning and slaughtering. A party of rangers came on a schoolhouse
in the woods. All was suspiciously still within. They entered. There
lay the teacher dead on the floor, with his Bible in his hand, and his
nine pupils Scattered around him, all scalped, and all dead but one, who
was carefully tended and recovered.
3S6 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
But if Bradstreet acted feebly, Bouquet did not. By rapid move-
ments, by stern and unwavering decision, which no Indian wiles could
move, he compelled them to stop hostilities, and give up all their prison-
ers. The return of the prisoners led to many touching scenes. Mem-
bers of families long mourned as dead, were again clasped in loving
arms. An old woman had lost her daughter nine years before. In the
crowd of female captives, given up by the Indians, she discovered one
in whose swarthy and painted face she thought she could still trace the
likeness of her lost darling. She addressed her in all the endearing
words a mother can employ, but the girl, who had forgotten almost
every word of English, gave no sign of recognition. The poor old mo-
ther complained bitterly, that the child whom she so often fondled on
her knee had forgotten her in her old age. Colonel Bouquet watched
the scene, touched with pity. A thought struck him as she uttered
these words. “Sing her,” he exclaimed, “the song you used to sing
to her when a child.” The woman obeyed. Almost instantly a bright
look came into the girl's face, she hesitated as if trying to recall some-
thing long past, then sprang into her mother's arms. The chord had
been touched.
Pontiac retired from Detroit, and after vain endeavors to rouse
other tribes to join him, calmly awaited proposals of peace. Croghan
soon appeared ; the various tribes submitted to the English power; and
at last, British troops were enabled to reach Fort Chartres, where the
last French flag floated till late in the year 1765. It may seem strange
to our readers, but the English officers, finding it impossible to reach it
through the hostile tribes in the West, had twice attempted to go in
boats up the Mississippi, and twice been driven back by a few
Indians.
or, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 387
Pontiac was soon after killed at Cahokia, by an Illinois Indian, whom
an Englishman had hired to assassinate the great chieftain of the
West.
CHAPTER VIII.
State of the Colonies after the Conquest of Canada—England's Exertions in America—Jeal-
ousy of the Colonies—She resolves to tax them, and maintain a large Army among them—
The Stamp Act proposed—American Opposition—Its final Passage.
THE conquest of Canada and Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and New-
foundland, and the cession of Florida, and all Louisiana east of the
Mississippi, gave England a vast territory in America, with none to
dispute it. Canada had a hardy, industrious population, adapted to
its severe climate ; Florida, however, became almost a desert, as the
Spaniards retired to Cuba. The colonies, during the war, had not, in-
deed, borne the main brunt, as in former wars, but, by their aid, had
contributed to all the great operations, and there was not a colony
which had not given the wealth and blood of her people for the tri-
umph of England. But the colonies were not to share in the fruits of
the victory. No part of the conquered territory was to benefit them.
England garrisoned it with her own troops, and, as we have seen, sta-
tioned regulars in the Western forts.
The old colonies were perhaps unwise in not offering to do this ; it
would have strengthened their power wonderfully, and removed one
pretext for England's maintaining an army in America. But England,
already jealous of the growing power of America, resolved to keep an
army of ten thousand men there. To support these, and pay some of
the cost of the last war, required money, and it was found that the
388 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
f
colonies did not readily raise money for others to spend, so it was de-
termined to tax America by Act of Parliament. Many wise men op-
posed it, as one old principle of English liberty was, that there should
be no taxation without representation ; SO that for an English Parlia-
ment, where the colonies were not represented, to tax the colonies, was
against all right. But the ministry held to the plans. They discussed one
plan and another. Of all, one only seemed easily managed, and that was
a Stamp Tax. In our times, we have seen the Government of the
United States resort to this means of raising money; every check, every
receipt, every deed or mortgage, every contract, wills, and many law
documents were of no value, unless a stamp was attached. In our
times the stamp is printed separately, and fastened to the paper by
gum. In the olden time, the royal stamp was impressed upon the pa-
per or parchment, really stamped on it. Paper thus stamped had to
be bought of Government officers for the various uses, as a higher or
lower stamp was required.
The colonies were indignant at this measure, and at the severity
with which the English Government was enforcing the navigation laws,
seizing their shipping on various pretexts for trading contrary to Eng-
lish laws. They had suffered severely during the war, and had spent
their substance lavishly. For several years together, they had raised
more men, in proportion, for service than England had ; in the trading
towns, one-fourth of the profits of their commerce was annually paid
for the support of the war, and in the country the taxes were half the
rent of the farms. As for maintaining an army there was no necessity.
The Spaniards west of the Mississippi were their nearest neighbors.
For a century, they had held their own alone, against French and In-
dians, and could now easily manage the Indians.
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 3S9
Their representations, however, were unheard, though the eloquent
book of James Otis, “The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted,”
set some of the most sensible men thinking. New York and Massa-
chusetts sent over strong remonstrances, but really, people knew little,
and cared less, about America.
At last the matter came up in Parliament. Charles Townshend, the
leader of the party for taxing America, dwelt on all England had done
for America. “And now,” he concluded, “will these American chil-
dren, planted by our care, nourished up by our indulgence to a degree
of strength and optilence, and protected by our army, grudge to con-
tribute their mite to relieve us from the heavy burthen under which we
lie?”
There was in that House one who had fought under Wolfe, who knew
America and the Americans. Such an argument roused him to indig.
nant eloquence. As Townshend sat down, Barré rose, and with eyes
darting fire, and out-stretched arms, exclaimed : “ They planted by YoUR
care / No ; your oppression planted them in America. They fled from
your tyranny to a then uncultivated, inhospitable country, where they
exposed themselves to almost all the hardships to which human nature
is liable, and, among others, to the cruelties of a savage foe, the most
Subtle, and I will take upon me to say, the most formidable of any peo-
ple upon the face of God's earth ; and yet, actuated by principles of
true English liberty, they met all hardships with pleasure, compared
with those they suffered in their own country, from the hands of those
who should have been their friends. They nourished up by Your indul-
gence / They grew up by your neglect of them. As soon as you began
to care about them, that care was exercised in sending persons to rule
them, in one department and another, who were perhaps the deputies
390 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
of deputies to some members of this house, sent to spy out their liber-
ties, to misrepresent their actions, and to prey upon them ; men, whose
behavior upon many occasions has caused the blood of those SoNs of
LIBERTY to recoil within them, men promoted to the highest seats of jus-
tice, some who, to my knowledge, were glad, by going to a foreign
country, to escape being brought to he bar of a court of justice in
their own.
“They protected by YoUR arms / They have nobly taken up arms in
your defense ; have exerted a valor amidst their constant and labori-
ous industry, for the defense of a country whose frontier was drenched
in blood, while its interior parts yielded all its little savings to you,
emolument. &
“And believe me—remember, I this day told you so—the same spirº
of freedom which actuated that people at first will accompany thero
still.
“But prudence forbids me to explain myself further. God knows I do
not at this time speak from motives of party heat; what I deliver are
the genuine sentiments of my heart. However superior to me in gen-
eral knowledge and experience, the respectable body of this House may
be, yet I claim to know more of America than most of you, having
seen, and been conversant in that country. The people, I believe, are
as truly loyal as any subjects the King has ; but a people jealous of
their liberties, and who will vindicate them, if ever they should be vio-
lated. But the subject is too delicate; I will say no more.”
This speech had a thrilling effect, and was copied in all the papers in
the American colonies, beginning with New London, The name of
SoNS OF LIBERTY was caught up and echoqd through the land.
But the ministry were powerful, and on the 27th of February, 1765,
oR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 39].
the Stamp Act passed in the House of Commons by a vote of two hun-
dred and forty-five to forty-nine ; nearly five to one. In a few days,
the House of Lords agreed to the bill. The King was laboring under
an attack of insanity, and the bill was signed by commission.
By the Stamp Act and the Navigation Acts America was bound
in fetters. Her trade with all other countries except England was
crushed ; her manufactures suppressed, and a scheme begun by which
every dollar of their property could be wrung from the people.
The tidings were received with consternation. In Virginia, the legis-
lature was in session. Patrick Henry had just been elected a member
to fill a vacancy. His maiden speech was one to urge the adoption of
resolutions which he proposed, claiming for Virginians equal rights and
franchises with the people of Great Britain, and above all, the right of
being taxed only by representatives of their own choice. A stormy
debate ensued, and many threats were uttered. Many members sought
to moderate the impassioned orator, but Patrick Henry, full of the
greatness of the danger, cried out : “Tarquin and Caesar had each his
Brutus; Charles the First his Cromwell; and George the Third”—“Trea-
son,” shouted Robinson, the speaker, already a defaulter to the colony.
“Treason, treason,” shouted the adherents of English power, while
Henry, fixing his eye on Robinson, as if to wither him for his interrup-
tion, continued without faltering—“may profit by their example.”
Carried away by his eloquence, the resolutions were passed. As
rapidly as the mails of that day could bear the Virginia paper to other
colonies, these resolutions were reprinted, and all America was
aflame.
In New York, resistance was universally talked of. The odious act
was printed, and hawked about as “The Folly of England and Ruin of
392 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
America.” Associations of Sons of Liberty were organized in all the
colonies. Merchants met, and resolved to use no stamps, to stop im-
porting English goods, or buying them from any one, till this odious
law was repealed. Home manufactures were to be encouraged, and
home-spun goods were to be the mark of a true patriot.
The British officers embittered this feeling by their tyranny. Men
were impressed for the British navy, and this led to resistance and re-
taliation. Thus, at Newport, the boat of an offending English captain
was seized and burnt on the common amid the cheers of the people.
|Bverywhere the people, by processions, by burning in effigy the ob-
noxious ministers, by raising liberty-poles, showed their determination
to resist. -
At Boston, in August, Oliver, the Governor, with Bute and Gren-
ville, was hung in effigy, and a vast multitude, in great order, bearing
the images on a bier, marched directly through the old State House,
shouting, “Liberty, Property, and no Stamps,” and, demolishing a
frame building, said to have been intended for a Stamp-office, they
used the material for a bonfire, in which they consumed the effigies.
Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson ordered the colonel of the militia to
beat an alarm. “My drummers,” said he, “are in the mob.” He
then attempted to disperse the crowd by the aid of the sheriff, but was
glad to escape with his life. -
Everywhere it was declared that the Stamp Act was a violation of
Magna Charta, and of no force. All determined that no stamps should
be issued or used. Those who had accepted appointments as Stamp-offi-
cers were forced to resign. By October, not a Stamp-officer was to be
found, and on the 1st of November the Act was to go into operation.
At New York, Lieutenant Governor Colden resolved to receive the
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 393
stamps himself, and was supported by Major James, the commander of
the troops, who boasted that he would cram the Stamp Act down the
people's throats with the point of his sword, and promised, with twenty.
four men, to drive all its opponents out of New York. Yet Colden fled
to the fort, and got marines from a man-of-war to protect him. He
would have fired on the people, but was menaced with the fate of Por-
teus, at Edinburgh, who was hanged by a mob.
When the day came, a vast torchlight procession, such as New York
has always delighted in, promenaded the streets, bearing a scaffold with
effigies of the Governor and the Devil, and banners inscribed, “The
Folly of England and the Ruin of America.” They went down to the
fort, and, fearless of its cannon, knocked at the gate, then broke open Col-
den's coach-house, and placing the figures in his elegant vehicle, bore
them around the town, and finally burned them, with the fragments of
his carriage and sleigh, at the Bowling Green.
James's house was also visited, and his furniture taken for a bonfire,
as a punishment for his bravado. .
In every large town there were demonstrations showing the public
feeling. At Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, the bells were tolled as
for a funeral. Liberty was dead. Notice was given to her friends to
attend. A coffin neatly adorned, and bearing the inscription, “LIBERTY,
AGED CXLV. YEARs,” issued from the State House, to the sound of muffled
drums, while minute guns boomed as the sad procession moved along.
A funeral oration was delivered, but as the deceased revived, the in-
scription was altered, the bells rang out a merry peal, and all was joy
and exultation.
These were the acts of the populace, led by the Sons of Liberty, and
had there been only this, the ruling powers in England might have
394 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
treated it all as the freaks of a mob, that would soon be forgotten.
Many, indeed, were of this opinion, and thought that after a while the
people would get used to paying the tax, and not regard it.
The liberties of a country are always lost in this way. Some little
incroachment is suffered under a plausible pretext then another is add-
ed, and people wake up at last to find that all their liberties have
been swept from them.
It was not so with our forefathers. They were vigilant and prized
their liberties. While the people thus showed their feeling, the lead-
ing statesmen of America met in Congress at New York, on the 7th of
October, 1765. This was the first Continental Congress. Delegates
came from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and South Carolina, with informal delegations from Delaware,
New Jersey, and New York. Their object was to consider the safest
groundwork on which to rest American liberty. They elected as chair-
man Timothy Ruggles of Massachusetts, and continued in session for
fourteen days. Sterling patriots were there, James Otis, Robert and
Philip Livingston, Thomas McKean, and Caesar Rodney, with Lynch,
Gadsden, and Rutledge of South Carolina; some were less true and
decided, but they all agreed on the necessity of union and resistance to
oppression. They adopted a Declaration of Rights, written by John
Cruger, a petition to the King, drawn up by Robert R. Livingston,
with bold and eloquent memorials to both Houses of Parliament, from
the pen of the able James Otis.
These statesmen implored the King and Parliament, in calm and dig-
nified language, to pause in their illegal course, which could only bring
misery to both countries.
When tidings of all this reached England, and the acts of the Con-
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 395
gress were printed there, a general excitement ensued. Merchants saw
a profitable trade ruined. Manufactures had to stop. People were
thrown out of employment. So the merchants and manufacturers of
England turned on Parliament as the cause of their ruin, and joined
in the petitions of the colonies.
The matter came up in Parliament. Pitt was again the defender of
the rights of the Americans.
“We are told,” he cried, “that America is obstinate ; America is
almost in open rebellion. Sir, I rejoice America has resisted : three
millions of people so dead to all the feelings of liberty, as voluntarily
to submit to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves
of all the rest. . . . I know the valor of your troops, I know the skill of
your officers, I know the force of this country; but in such a cause
your success would be hazardous. America, if she fell, would fall like
a strong man ; she would embrace the pillars of the State, and pull
down the Constitution with her. Is this your boasted peace? not to
sheathe the sword in the scabbard, but to sheathe it in the bowels of
your countrymen 7 The Americans have been wronged, they have been
driven to madness by injustice.' I will beg leave to tell the House in a
few words what is really my opinion. It is that the Stamp Act be re-
pealed absolutely, totally, immediately.”
America looked to this great statesman as their friend and champion.
His statue was erected in various parts. That in New York stood in
Wall Street, till the English occupied the city during the Revolution ;
and then the soldiers, hating him as one who encouraged the colonists in
their ideas of liberty, broke off the head, and mutilated the statue.
“The broken remains of the statue of William Pitt are still preserved in
the Historical Society in New York, a monument of his integrity, of the
396 TIII: STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
respect our fathers entertained for him, and of the British hatred of
American liberty. * -
Benjamin Franklin was then in England. He was examined before
the House of Commons. His answers were, like all he said, clear,
plain, and to the point. They asked him whether the people of Amer-
ica would submit to the Stamp Act if it was moderated. He answered,
bluntly and plainly : “No, never, unless compelled by force of arms.”
General Conway brought in a bill for its repeal, and after much dis-
cussion it was repealed by a vote of two hundred and seventy-five to
one hundred and sixty-seven.
The odious act was indeed removed, but Parliament passed another
act, claiming the power to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever.
In America, the news of the repeal was received with unbounded
joy and exultation. It was the first victory won. But the wise states-
men who had grown up in the various colonies saw that it was but the
beginning. In fact, in 1767, the ministry in England proposed to lay a
duty on paint, paper, glass, and lead, and also on tea, which had be-
come a very common article in America. Pitt was stricken down with
illness; scarcely a voice was raised for. America, and the bill passed.
New York had given offense by refusing, through her Assembly, to quar-
ter soldiers on the people, so Parliament, growing bolder, by a new act,
restrained the New York Assembly from any further powers till it sub-
mitted to the will of England. -
Again, all America was in a flame. “What is it we are contending
against 7" says Washington. “Is it against paying a duty of three
pence per pound on tea, because burdensome 2 No, it is the right only
that we have all along disputed.” Public meetings were called, pamph-
lets issued full of eloquence and political wisdom. It was resolved
*
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 397
again to use no English manufactures. Massachusetts sent a petition to
the King, and a circular to the other colonies. The English ministry
called on Massachusetts to rescind the circular as rash. The answer
was defiant.
Officers were sent over to collect the custom-house duties. John
Hancock's sloop Liberty was seized, on a charge of Smuggling, in June,
1768, and placed under the guns of a man-of-war. A riot at once
broke out in Boston ; the custom-house officers barely escaped with life.
Their boat was dragged in triumph through the city, and then burned
on Boston common, while the custom-house officers, frightened out of
their senses, fled to the Romney man-of-war. As if this were not enough,
the commander of the Romney began to impress men to serve on his
ship, in direct violation of an Act of Parliament.
The indignation of the people, roused by this, was kindled to fury,
when they learned that two regiments had been summoned from Hali-
fax, and would soon land in Boston.
The people called on Governor Bernard to convene the General
Court, or Legislature. He refused. Then the people met in Conven-
tion, and again addressed the King.
The next day the troops arrived. Massachusetts refused to provide
them quarters, so they were landed under cover of the ships-of-war,
and with loaded muskets, and fixed bayonets, the hated foreign soldiery
marched into Boston. One regiment was placed in Faneuil Hall, the
other encamped on the common, and the next day, Sunday, took pos-
session of the State House, and patrolled the streets. -
The Legislature of Virginia was in session. It denounced the con-
duct of the Government so boldly that Governor Botetourt dissolved
it. They met as a Convention, and passed resolutions against im-
398 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
porting British goods. Boston, Salem, New York, and Connecticut
followed. Then the General Court of Massachusetts met : it refused to
proceed to business till the troops were removed. So the Governor at
last prorogued them and went to England.
Alarmed at the storm, yet stubborn still, the Parliament repealed
all the duties except that on tea.
Troubles had already begun in America between the red-coats, as
the soldiers were now called, and the people.
In New York, the English party succeeded in getting a majority in
the Assembly, and that body agreed to give quarters to the troops.
The soldiers lost no opportunity of showing their contempt for the peo-
ple. In January, 1770, a party of them g attempted to cut down and
blow up a liberty-pole which had been erected in the Park ; they at-
tacked some citizens who denounced them, and finally succeeded at
night in leveling it. The Sons of Liberty called a meeting, and de-
clared the soldiers enemies of the peace. The soldiers replied by scur-
rilous placards, and two of them, while posting these libels up, were ar-
rested. An attempt of the soldiers to rescue their comrades led to
what was long known in New York as the Battle of Golden Hill.
Though the soldiers were reinforced from the barracks, the citizens, un-
armed as they were, disarmed and dispersed them, though not till sev-
eral citizens were severely wounded. The soldiers were completely
overcome, when their officers appeared and ordered them to their bar-
racks. One young man, who in this struggle wrested a musket from a
British soldier, carried it through the whole Revolutionary war, and
lived to a great age, to see his country among the greatest nations on
the earth, and his descendants still cherish, as a relic, the musket won
by Michael Smith, the Liberty Boy.
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 399
In Boston a similar feeling arose. The people, abused by the soldiers,
proceeded to extremes. On the 5th of March, a mob collected around
the Soldiers, and pressed on them so that they called for assistance,
Captain Preston sent eight men with unloaded muskets to aid them.
The mob then began to pelt the Soldiers with snow-balls, and anything
they could find. The soldiers loaded their muskets, but the mob, led
by Crispus Attucks, a mulatto, rushed on, and Attucks dealt a terrible
blow at Captain Preston, which the Captain parried. It struck a bay-
Onet from a soldier, which Attucks seized. A struggle ensued, till at
last a soldier who had been struck down sprang up and shot Attucks
dead. Five other soldiers fired. Three men were killed, and five
wounded.
The tumult in Boston then became fearful. The cry was ; “The
Soldiers are risen.” The Governor endeavored to allay the excite-
ment. The soldiers were ordered to their barracks. The next day,
Preston and several of the soldiers were arrested for murder, for our
forefathers thought more of their liberties than we do in our days, and
Soldiers had no right to shoot down the people without an order from a
magistrate and certain forms of law.
This was called the Boston massacre. The victims were buried with
Solemn ceremonies, and for years an oration was delivered as the anni-
Versary of the Boston massacre came around; so deep was the feeling
against the attempt of the army to crush the liberties of the people.
The trial of Captain Preston and his soldiers was an important event.
It lasted six days. They were defended by two of the purest patriots,
John Adams and Josiah Quincy, jr. Two were convicted of man-
slaughter, the rest acquitted.
As the news of this affair spread through the continent, the feeling
400 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
grew more intense. Up to this time the people had been asking their
rights as British subjects; they asked their British liberties. Now they
became Americans. The very name of British became odious. Every-
thing that represented the British Government was odious. It required
only a trifle anywhere to bring on a collision.
At Newport, an armed revenue schooner, the Gaspee, had been very
active in enforcing the revenue laws, and annoyed all the American
vessels entering Narragansett Bay. Lieutenant Duddington, the com-
mander, an ignorant bully, made himself doubly obnoxious by compel-
ling all vessels to take down their colors in his presence, firing into
them in case of neglect. He insolently refused to show Governor
Wanton, of Rhode Island, his commission or orders. All was accord-
ingly ripe for any opportunity to give him and his masters a lesson in
good manners and common sense.
On the 9th of June, 1772, Captain Lindsay's packet, Hannah, the regu-
lar packet from New York, came in sight. Lindsay did not lower his flag,
and Duddington at once gave chase. Knowing every inch of the bay, Lind-
Say ran close in to a point near Namguit, where he knew not one pilot in
ten could go safely, and soon, looking back, he chuckled to see the Gaspee
run aground hard and fast. On he sailed, full of triumph, when a new
idea entered his head. Why not get rid of the Gaspee altogether ?
On reaching Providence, he told where she lay, and as she could not
get off before flood-tide, men's minds were soon made up. John Brown,
a leading merchant, had eight long-boats prepared, and at dusk a man
went around with a drum calling on volunteers to meet. Between ten
and eleven o'clock at night, the boats, manned by Brown, Captain
Abraham Whipple, and other brave fellows, numbering sixty-four in
all, pushed out in silence. As they closed in around the Gaspee,
or, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 401
they were hailed by a sentinel on her deck, and as no reply came from
the boats, he roused Duddington, who ran up in his shirt, and ordering
off the boats, fired a pistol at them ; with the flash of his weapon came
a flash from the boat, and he fell wounded to the deck. The assailants
then boarded the Gaspee, and after dressing Duddington's wound or-
dered the crew to leave the schooner, taking their commander and all
they or he owned. As soon as the last of them left the Gaspee, and
no great time was given, the captors set fire to the Schooner, and as the
flames licked up the masts and rigging, they pulled off through the
darkness, while far and near, the people, seeing the light, spread the
tidings that the boys had burned the Gaspee.
The next day, Governor Wanton issued a proclamation, offering a
reward for the perpetrators of the audacious act. Admiral Montague
came down, and blustered and threatened. The English Government
sent out a special commission, and offered five thousand dollars reward
for the leader, and half as much for the arrest of any other person en-
gaged in the destruction of the Gaspee; not a man, woman, or child
could be found in Rhode Island who knew anything about it. Money
did not tempt the poorest to become an informer. These cases showed
that the colonies would no longer submit. *
England, too proud to retract, was embarrassed. She made the Colo-
nial Governors and judges independent of the people, by paying their
salaries. Governors dissolved or prorogued Assemblies, but this did
not help matters. The East India Company had its storehouses in
England full of tea, that Americans liked, but refused to buy. So the
English Government resolved to send some over to America, as the
American merchants would not order any.
This caused a new excitement. Philadelphia led off by a public
*
402 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
meeting, which denounced as an enemy of his country every man who
aided or abetted in unloading, receiving, or selling the tea. Merchants
to whom the tea was consigned were required to pledge themselves not
to receive it.
In Boston, similar meetings were held, but the consignees refused.
The vessels arrived. A mass meeting was held at Faneuil Hall, which
directed the ships to be moored at a certain wharf, and set a guard to
watch them. The consignees wished to land and store it till fresh orders
came from England, but the people insisted that the ships should take it
back. -
The Governor and the custom-house officers would not yield, and re-
fused to give them a clearance, or let them go without one. An excit-
ed multitude gathered at the old South Church, still standing. Speeches
were made to confirm them in their resolutions, and at last darkness
began to cover the scene. Suddenly, in the gallery, a man disguised as
a Mohawk Indian raised a war-whoop. It was caught up and repeated
without. “Hurra for Griffin's wharf. " was now the cry, and the
meeting hastened down to where the three tea-ships lay. The disguised
men boarded the tea-ships, and, while the crowd looked on in silence,
they took out three hundred and forty-two chests of tea, broke them
open, and poured the contents into the waters of Boston harbor. Their
task did not end till every chest was emptied. When the last chest
disappeared over the side of the vessel, the word was given to retire,
for they did not touch a thing belonging to any of the ships. One
of the men, however, had noticed that one of the party, who evidently
liked a cup of tea, had filled his pockets. He caught hold of him, cry-
ing : “No, boys, here's another chest!” and made him empty it all
out. The crowd then dispersed without further noise or trouble.
oR, ou R country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 403.
As they moved away, they passed a house where Admiral Mon-
tague was. In his indignation, he raised the Window and cried out:
“Well, boys, you've had a fine night for your Indian caper, haven't
you * But mind, you've got to pay the fiddler yet." “Oh, never mind,”
shouted Pitt, one of the leaders, “never mind, Squire; just come out
here, if you please, and we'll settle the bill in two minutes' "
That very night, men who had come in from the country to attend
the meetings carried back the news and it quickly spread. Paul Re-
were was sent as an express messenger, to bear the information to New
York and Philadelphia. Every eye kindled with joy at this solution of
the great difficulty. The ships for New York were driven off by storms,
and when they did arrive, the pilots, in obedience to the Committee of
Vigilance, would not bring the vessels up, so they sailed back to Eng-
land. Those for Philadelphia, finding matters no better there, did the
same. At Charleston tea was indeed landed, but they had to store it in
damp cellars, where it was soon ruined.
The tea matter had proved as signal a failure as every other.
One colony had especial troubles of its own. This was North Caro-
lina. It had been cursed beyond all others with a needy set of office-
holders, sent there to wring money from the people under any and every
pretext. The most exorbitant taxes were levied, and yet the provin-
cial treasury was empty. The land abounded in informers, the vilest
of the vile, but there was no justice to bring to account those who were
defaulters to the treasury. Driven to desperation, a number of the
poor people formed a secret society, and, under the name of Regulators,
entered into a compact, binding themselves by oath not to pay any
taxes at all, until all exorbitant fees were abolished, and official em-
bezzlement punished and prevented. They saw no hope except in self.
404 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION,
government, and a speedy release from the unchristian and plundering
crew who had poured in on them.
The wanton seizure of the horse of One of the Regulators, as he was
riding to Hillsborough, led to a collision. The people rescued the
horse, and several shots were fired from among the crowd into the roof
of the house of Fanning, the military commander. On the 30th of
April, 1768, the Regulators held a general meeting at Rocky
River, and drew up a petition to the General Assembly. Fanning OIl
this, seized Herman Husbands and William Butler, two prominent lib-
eral men, who had not, however, joined the Regulators. They were
thrown into prison, and treated with all severity. When Husbands was
brought to trial, his innocence was so clear, that even a packed jury and
an unscrupulous judge had to acquit him. The heavy charges brought
by the Regulators against Fanning, led to his trial. The court had to
convict him on six indictments, so they fined him one penny, and fined
three poor Regulators fifty pounds apiece. At the next election, Hus-
bands was chosen to the Assembly, but was expelled. Tryon, the
Governor, then arrested the patriot, and threw him into prison, and
forced the Assembly to pass a Riot Act by which people could be tried
in any Superior Court, no matter how distant from their homes—an
atrocity unheard of in any free country.
The Regulators gathered in the woods, and resolved to use the last
resource. Honor and good faith prompted them to join for the rescue
of Husbands. Tryon was intimidated. The patriot was set free. The
Regulators remained in arms till it was agreed that the differences
should be left to an umpire.
Fanning and Tryon were bent on revenge. Sixty-one Regulators
were at once indicted, and Tryon raised troops to march into the dis-
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 405
affected counties. His progress was marked by the destruction of
wheat-fields and orchards, the burning of every house which was found
empty, and the plundering of all stock and produce. The terrified
people fled like sheep before a wolf. At the Great Alamance, the Reg-
ulators had gathered, and chosen James Hunter as their general, 8, 1118, Il
universally esteemed. He did not wish to fight the Governor, and
made proposals. The Governor required them to lay down their arms
and submit absolutely. On their refusal, he opened with his cannon on
the people. Many of the Regulators retired; the rest for two hours
stood their ground, retiring after a time behind trees, till they had
nearly expended their ammunition. Then, having lost twenty, they re-
tired, leaving nine of the King's troops dead on the field, and sixty-one
wounded. Some were taken in the pursuit, and one of these Tryon
hanged the next day on a tree, without any form of trial.
This was the first regular battle between Americans and royal
troops, led by a Royal Governor ; and James Few was the first patriot
martyr who laid down his life for the cause of self-government and
freedom in America. Twelve others were soon after hanged, having
undergone the mockery of a trial.
With this blood on his soul, Tryon confiscated the lands of the Reg-
ulators, and sailed to New York, of which he had been appointed Gov-
QI'll Ol’.
Foreign rule, extortion, fraud, and corruption had triumphed for a
time in North Carolina. The insolent extortioners and officers taunted
the Regulators, telling them that Alamance was their court of record!
Driven from their homes by such miseries, many of the people of
North Carolina crossed the mountains, and settled in the valley of the
Watauga. Here, in 1772, they founded a republic by a written associ-
406 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
ation, appointed James Robertson their Governor, and formed their own
laws. Thus British misgovernment overshot itself. It led some Ameri-
cans to set themselves up as a separate State, independent of the au-
(hority of the British King—a lesson all were soon to learn.
Thus, in the Republic of Watauga, began Tennessee. About the
same time, a trader named Finley, who had crossed the mountains from
Virginia, came back with such a glowing account of the country there
that Daniel Boone caught his enthusiasm, and set out to explore with
Finley and John Stuart. In May, 1769, they were in the valley of the
Kentucky. They were surprised by Indians, who were already hostile,
and looked with jealousy on any white intrusion. In spite of this,
Boone returned to Virginia for a band of settlers. They were driven
back, but a treaty was finally made, and, opening the first blazed-road
through the woods, he founded Boonesborough, on the Kentucky River,
in 1775. w
Daniel Boone is the type of the American pioneer. He was the
founder of Kentucky, the great hunter and Indian fighter of the early
West. His perils, his adventures with the Indians, would fill a vol-
ume. Of them we shall speak more hereafter.
The hostilities of the Indians on the frontier at this time were such
that Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, called out the militia, and
the little army moved in two divisions, one under the Governor, the
other under General Andrew Lewis. The latter division reached Point
Pleasant, on the Ohio. Here he was about to cross, when his active
scouts came in announcing that a large Indian force was drawn up quite
near them, consisting of Shawnees, Mingoes, Wyandots, and Cayugas,
led by Cornstalk, a warrior of great renown. Colonels Lewis and
Fleming were sent out to meet them. The troops advanced in two
oR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 407
lines, but had not proceeded a hundred yards before the Indians opened
on them. Both colonels fell wounded, and their men retreated. They
were rallied by the gallant Colonel Field, and a desperate battle ensued.
The Indians had thrown up a breastwork of logs and trees, and from
this they poured their deadly volleys into the Virginians, repelling their
brave and repeated charges. The day was far spent, when three com-
panies, under Captains Shelby, Matthews, and Stuart, ascended Crooked
Creek, which there entered the Kanhawa, and stealing up quietly under
cover of the high bank, suddenly opened on the Indian rear. Suppos-
ing that Colonel Christian had come up with expected reinforcements,
the red men at last fled, having fought from morning to night, with a
steadiness seldom shown by Indians. -
In this bloody and hard-fought battle, seventy-five Virginians were
killed, and a hundred and forty wounded, while the Indians lost about
the same number.
Cornstalk, soon after this, induced his confederate Indians to make
peace, and a treaty was concluded in 1774. He was an Indian pos-
sessing many noble qualities, and it is sad to have to state that he was
shortly after murdered by some white men.
P A R T I I I.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER I. .
George III. loses America—The Continental Congress—The Boston Port Bill—The Quebec
Act—The Continental Congress meets—Provincial Congress—Battle of Lexington and
Concord—Siege of Boston—Capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point—Congress organizes
an Army—George Washington Commander-in-Chief—Battle of Bunker Hill—The Invasion
of Canada—Failure to take Quebec—Death of Montgomery.
THE news of the proceedings in Boston in regard to the tea, and the
general opposition throughout the country, was received in England
with great indignation, but there was no thought of an altered policy.
The English Government has never seen any way except to put the peo-
ple down.
Boston was to be punished. They resolved to deprive her of her
trade as far as they could. A bill was brought into Parliament, and
passed almost without opposition, closing the port of Boston. All the
officers concerned in the collection of his Majesty's customs at Boston
were removed, and no goods were to be landed or discharged, laded or
shipped, from that rebellious port. -
By another act, the Governor was authorized to appoint all officers,
and these officers were to choose jurymen ; town meetings were pro-
hibited by law. Another act authorized the Governor to send any one
indicted for murder, or other capital offense, committed in aiding the
authorities, to another colony, or even to England, to be tried there ;
thus giving to Massachusetts the wicked plans pursued in North Caro-
oUR count RY's ACIIIEVEMENTS, 4.09
jina. While these acts, and a new one for quartering troops, were in-
tended to crush down the old English colonies, Parliament endeavored
to conciliate Canada. That province, after the peace, had been really
governed by the few British officials, and a few worthless men who had
accompanied the British army—sutlers, bummers, and people of the
lowest character. Every means was adopted to rob, insult, and Oppress
the Canadians in their civil and religious rights. At last, the Govern-
ment, seeing so much trouble arising in the old colonies, began a new
course, fearing lest France might step in to recover Canada. The Que-
bec Act, as it was called, left the Canadians under the French law, to
which they had been so long accustomed ; and created a legislative
council for their Government. They were also restored to the full en-
joyment of their religious rights, their clergy were left in possession of
the church property and the tithes which had previously been paid
them. At the same time, the boundaries of the province were extend-
ed to the Ohio.
While this toleration of the Canadians was just in itself, and secured
their fidelity, it was regarded in the older colonies with great suspicion
and indignation. The Catholic religion was very unpopular ; the Eng-
lish Government had itself constantly inflamed the people against it ;
the colonies had for years contributed men and money to reduce Cana-
da, with the avowed object of putting down the Catholic religion there,
and now to have it established in that very colony by the power of
England, was too much for them to bear. In this, and its extension to
the Ohio, they saw only a scheme for their destruction.
The Boston Port Bill drew out the most eloquent protests of the
statesmen of Massachusetts. The Assembly of Virginia, of which
Washington was then a member, at once passed an order deploring the
1410 THE STORY OF A GREAT' NATION.
act, and appointed a day of fasting to implore the Divine interposition to
avert the civil war which they saw threatening the land. Lord Dun-
more at once dissolved the Assembly.
The General Court of Massachusetts were as decided. The Gover-
nor, General Gage, adjourned the court to Salem, but they adopted res-
olutions encouraging the people of Boston, and when the Governor de-
clined to appoint a day for public prayer, appointed one themselves.
Their decisive act was that appointing delegates to the General Con-
gress of the Colonies, which was to meet in Philadelphia, in September.
Governor Gage, learning what was going on, sent his secretary to dis-
solve the House, but that functionary found the doors locked, so he
bawled out the Governor's proclamation on the steps leading to the
chamber in which the patriotic Assembly was in session.
It terminated their acts as a royal assembly, but they continued to
sit till all their business was completed.
The closing of the port of Boston filled that town with distress, but
none thought of yielding. From all parts, beginning with generous and
patriotic South Carolina, contributions poured in to aid unfortunate Bos-
£On.
Throughout the country assemblies were held, and delegates chosen to
the coming Continental Congress. In every village and town, men were
drilling, and preparing for military service ; those who had acquired ex-
perience in the late wars with the French and Indians, were looked
upon as leaders, and gave the influence of real soldiers. The boys and
girls were busy casting bullets and making cartridges; the men were
putting in order the firearms in their hands, or securing new ones.
The English Government was also preparing for war. Looking on Bos-
$on as the centre of the trouble, they resolved to overawe it by a large
OR, OUR COUNTRY's. ACHIEVEMENTs. 41 I
military force. Troops were ordered from Ireland, Halifax, Quebec, and
New York. As these came in, Gage seized and prepared to fortify Bostol,
Neck. When he proceeded to seize some powder in Cambridge, all New
England was aroused, and, as the report spread that the British army.
and navy were firing on Boston, no less than thirty thousand men in
arms began to march on the city. Gage was shut up in Boston. His
power as Governor of Massachusetts was at an end ; for it was not re-
spected beyond the lines of his soldiers. -
While things were in this state, the Continental Congress met in Phil-
adelphia, on the 5th of September, 1774. With the delegates of North
Carolina, who came in a few days later, they were in all fifty-three dele-
gates, representing twelve colonies, Georgia not having as yet acted.
They met at Smith's tavern, and prepared to select a place for their
permanent sessions. The carpenters of Philadelphia offered their plain
but spacious hall, and from respect for the mechanics it was accepted
by a large majority. This building became, as it were, the cradle of
the American Republic. Peyton Randolph, late speaker of the As-
sembly of Virginia, was unanimously chosen president, really, though
not in name, the first President of the United States. Among the mem.
bers were Patrick Henry, George Washington, Richard Henry Lee,
Samuel and John Adams, John Jay, Stephen Hopkins, the aged pa-
triot of Rhode Island, Gadsden, and Rutledge, of South Carolina. The
most eminent men of the various colonies were now brought together.
They were known to each other by fame, but had hitherto been stran-
gers. The meeting was awfully solemn. The object which had called
them together was the liberties of three millions of people.
Patrick Henry opened the proceedings of this important body with
one of his most eloquent and comprehensive discourses.
412 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Then the Congress proceeded to lay the groundwork of their action ,
to make the last appeal to the rectitude of the people of England.
They were no revolutionists; their earliest acts showed, that for the
sake of peace they would yield even some of their cherished rights.
But the case of Massachusetts required a distinct and plain statement.
They resolved “That this Congress approve the opposition of the inhabi-
tants of the Massachusetts Bay, to the execution of the late Acts of Par-
liament; and if the same shall be attempted to be carried into execu-
tion by force, in such case, all America ought to support them in their
opposition. -
The Quebec act, and ten others, were declared to be such infringe-
ments and violations of the rights of the colonies, that the repeal of
them was essentially necessary, in order to restore harmony between
the colonies and Great Britain. -
They bound themselves to stop almost all commerce with England,
and, while it refused to petition Parliament, the Continental Congress
addressed the King, the people of Great Britain, and the people of the
neighboring provinces who had not joined the movement, but who were
now invited to make common cause with them.
“We ask,” said this Congress to George III., “we ask but for peace,
liberty, and safety. We wish not a diminution of the prerogative, nor
the grant of any new right. Your royal authority over us, and our
connection with Great Britain, we shall always support and maintain;”
and they besought of the King, “as the loving father of his whole
people, his interposition for their relief, and a gracious answer to their
petition.”
T
hen this famous body adjourned, to meet in May.
Parliament treated with scorn the temperate demands of the Ameri-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 413
ean colonies through their Congress. On Thursday, the 9th of February,
1775, the Chancellor of England, the speaker of the House of Com-
mons, and most of the members of both Houses of Parliament, pro-
ceeded in state to the palace, and in presence of the representatives of
the great powers of Europe, presented to George III. a sanguinary
address, declaring “that a rebellion actually existed in the province of
Massachusetts Bay,” and they “besought his Majesty to adopt measures
to enforce the authority of the Supreme Legislature, and solemnly as-
sured him that it was their fixed resolution, at the hazard of their lives
and properties, to stand by him against his rebellious subjects.”
In reply, George III. pledged himself, speedily and effectually, to
enforce obedience to the laws, and the authority of the Supreme Legis-
lature.
Thus, with all the pomp of the Old World, George III., with his Par-
liament, in presence of the civilized world, threw away the scabbard,
and declared war upon his own colonies, and his own people.
While Massachusetts, left without a Government, was reorganizing
under a Provincial Congress and Committee of Safety, England was
preparing to crush her. Gage was to be superseded. William Howe
was to be sent over as Commander-in-Chief, and under him, as Major-
Generals, Henry Clinton and John Burgoyne. Admiral Howe was to.
command the fleet that was to bear to the American shores the over-
powering force, and to him were given powers as pacificator; but in
case of failure, the English authorities made no secret of their intention
to use the French Canadians, Indians, and negroes, to crush the people.
of America into submission.
When the Convention met in Virginia, some faint-hearted men look-
ed at their weakness, their utter want of means to oppose the great
414 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
and powerful mother-country. This roused Patrick Henry, who saw
that the day of conciliation was past. -
“Are fleets and armies,” he exclaimed, “necessary to a work of
love and reconciliation ? These are the implements of subjugation, sent
over to rivet upon us the chains which the British ministry have been
so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them 7 Shall we try
argument 2 We have been trying that for the last ten years; have we
anything new to offer 2 Shall we resort to entreaty and supplication ?
We have petitioned—we have remonstrated—we have supplicated—
and we have been spurned from the foot of the throne. In vain may
we indulge" the fond hope of reconciliation. There is no longer room
for hope. If we wish to be free, we must fight ! I repeat it, Sir, we
must fight ! An appeal to arms, and to the God of Hosts, is all that is
left us!
“They tell me that we are weak; but shall we gather strength by ir-
resolution ? We are not weak. Three millions of people, armed in the
holy cause of Liberty, and in such a country, are invincible by any force
which our enemy can send against us. We shall not fight alone. A
just God presides over the destinies of nations; and will raise up
friends for us. The battle is not to the strong alone ; it is to the vigi-
lant, the active, the brave. Besides, we have no election. If we were
base enough to desire it, it is too late to retire from the contest. There
is no retreat but in submission and slavery. The war is inevitable—
and let it come ! let it come !
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of
chains and slavery 2 Forbid it, Almighty God I know not what
course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me
death !” -
OR, QUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 415
These words rang through the country, and for years were on the
lips of all. They embodied the sentiments of a nation. .
Dunmore, in alarm, seized the powder of the colony, stored at Wil-
liamsburg. Virginia rose in arms, as Massachusetts had done.
It was evident that the slightest thing would now precipitate actual
hostilities.
The decisive act was not long delayed.
In the beautiful little town of Concord, near which Winthrop, the
father of Massachusetts, had given counsel, and Eliot, the Indian apos-
tle, spoken his words of Christian doctrine, the Massachusetts Provin-
cial Congress had gathered the trifling store of ammunition and arms
which they could raise to defend their soil. Gage resolved to seize and
destroy the magazine. Eight hundred picked men, grenadiers and light
infantry, were sent out stealthily from Boston, but their movements
were watched. General Warren had already sent off one messenger to
Lexington. Paul Revere, the other, rowed over Charles River, and
stood by his horse watching the steeple of the Old South. There a
friend stood, watching the movements of the troops, ready to show one
light if they were to move by land, two if by water. Suddenly the signal
flashed out—a single light. Revere read its meaning at a glance, and rode
on hard and fast. Two British officers attempted to intercept him, but
he led them into a mire, and dashed on over the flinty road. His voice
rang out at every house, the minute-men were roused, the whole line
of country, through which the British hoped to steal like thieves in the
might, was on the alert. The ringing of bells and the firing of guns,
told the troops that all their precautions were wasted. The alarm was
spreading wide and fast. It was to be no holiday excursion.
The people, roused by Revere, everywhere turned out and removed
416 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ..
the stores and ammunition, in Small quantities, to hiding-places in:
woods and thickets. At Lexington, on the village green, the militia of
the place were drawn up, and John Parker, captain of the beat,
ordered his hundred and twenty men to load with ball, but not to fire
till the enemy commenced hostilities.
As Colonel Smith, the English commander, advanced, he felt that his,
task was one of difficulty. Sending on Major Pitcairn of the marines,
to secure the bridges over Concord River, he sent back a hurried mes-
Sage to General Gage for reinforcements.
Captain Parker dismissed his men, as the enemy did not appear.
An escaped prisoner at last announced the approach of the enemy.
At the roll of the drum seventy men assembled on the green, not half
of them armed. Leading thirty-eight armed men to the north end of
the green he formed them, just as Pitcairn came up on that bright
Spring morning, April 19th, 1775.
Brandishing his sword, the British officer advanced and shouted
with an oath : “Lay down your arms, you rebels, or you are all dead.
men; ” but as the patriots did not flinch he gave the word to fire. A
rattle of musketry followed ; Parker, seeing it useless to attempt to:
resist, ordered his men to disperse. In their retreat a second volley
killed and wounded several.
Colonel Smith came up as the life-blood of these patriots dyed the
green turf and cried to Heaven for vengeance.
He pushed on with his whole force to Concord, where the militia,
seeing his numbers, retired. Smith cut down the Liberty-pole, and
began to destroy the flour, cannon, and such other stores as they could
find. - -
While they were scattered in this work, the Massachusetts minute-
} . * -T-Y - ~~~Y \, , }-y
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 417
men and militia were gathering around them. When these were in
sufficient force, Colonel Barrett formed them and marched upon Con-
cord bridge, Major Buttrick in the van. The English posted at the
bridge opened fire; several of the Americans fell, but a volley from
the whole of Buttrick's line cut up the English, three lieutenants
being seen to fall. The English fell back till the grenadiers came up
to their support. Colonel Smith was now alarmed. He had not accom-
plished his work, and if he attempted to remain would probably soon be
a prisoner with his whole command. He collected his scattered parties
and prepared for a hasty retreat. About noon he moved out of Con-
cord ; but though he had entered it without opposition, he now found
the hills through which his road ran, held by excited patriots. A
constant rattle of musketry told on his line. Many were shot down,
others gave out exhausted, the rest hurried on, panic-stricken. Just
as they were reaching Lexington, Captain Parker's company poured
in a volley with hearty good-will. At Lexington, which he entered
after two hours' fight, Smith, to his great joy, met Lord Percy at
the head of a thousand men, with two field-pieces, sent to his rescue.
The fresh troops opened to receive in their centre the remnant of
Smith's command, who were utterly exhausted.
Then the retreat was resumed ; but the Americans, now organized
under General Heath, with troops constantly pouring in, hung on
their rear, galling them by a rapid and deadly fire. At Bunker's
|Hill Percy formed his men into line and awaited an attack ; but
General Heath did not deem it wise. He posted his guard, and held
the Neck with his little army.
The boasting British troops had become a defeated fugitive force,
cooped up in the city, with an actual army at its very doors.
418 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Such was the battle of Lexington, the first in the Revolutionary
War, for war had now began in earnest; there was no way but to fight
it out. The American loss in this series of skirmishes was eighty-five
killed, wounded, and missing. On the English side, Colonel Smith,
Captain Lawrence, and sixty-four men were killed, one hundred and
seventy-eight wounded, and twenty-six missing.
The night preceding the outrage at Lexington, there were not fifty
people in the whole colony that ever expected any blood would be
shed : the night following, the King's governor and the King's army
found themselves closely beleaguered in Boston.
All was changed. Boston was the central point to which the citizen
soldiery hastened from all parts of New England. Veterans of the
old French war led on their townsmen. Stark, from New Hampshire,
was on the march ten minutes after the news came in ; Putnam, of
Connecticut, though a man of sixty, hastened from his field to the
Camp. -
The Massachusetts Provincial Congress, while sending to England
proof that the troops were the aggressors, issued paper money, seized
forts and arsenals, raised troops, and organized the army.
Boston was besieged by a force of twenty thousand men, who form-
ed a line of encampment from Roxbury to the Mystic River. Of this
army Artemas Ward was appointed Captain General, and he proceed-
ed at once to organize and prepare it for active service.
Canada was always, in the eyes of the colonists, a point of danger,
and Benedict Arnold proposed to the Massachusetts and Connecticut
governments an expedition against it. Before he could gather a
force for the purpose, the hardy men of Vermont were in the field for
the same object, under Ethan Allen. Arnold joined them, and finding
OR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 419.
them unwilling to recognize his authority, acted as a volunteer. They
reached the lake, but for want of boats could transport over its placid
waters only eighty-three of their men. These formed silently in the
shadow of the fort, just as day was beginning to break, and, led by
Allen and Arnold, pushed boldly up the height to the sally-port. The
sentinel on duty, startled as if men had come up out of the lake, snap-
ped his musket at the advancing force ; but as it missed fire, he re-
treated through a covered way. On pushed the Americans close
upon him, and disarmed another sentinel, after he had wounded one of
the officers. Reaching the parade they formed in two lines, facing
the barracks on both sides, and gave three huzzas. The garrison.
startled from their beds, rushed to the parade, and were at once seized.
Allen and Arnold were already at the quarters of Captain Delaplaine,
the commander of the fort, demanding his surrender. The astonished
British officer, with his clothes in his hand, asked Allen, in his bewil-
derment, by what authority he demanded a surrender. “In the name
of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress,” replied Alien.
Delaplaine, half dressed, with his frightened wife looking over his
shoulder, surrendered, May 9th, 1775. The whole garrison became
prisoners of war, but what was of more importance, this exploit gave
America nearly two hundred cannon, and a large quantity of military
stores of the utmost value to them. - *
The next day Colonel Seth Warner took possession of Crown Point,
which contained more than a hundred pieces of artillery.
Arnold's troops had new come up, and capturing a small schooner
he sailed down the lake, and took Fort St. John, with the King's
sloop of war, George III., and a number of batteaux. With part of
the stores thus obtained he returned to Fort Ticonderoga.
420 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
A few undisciplined men had thus, in a moment, captured the forts
which the French had so long held against all the power of England.
The effect was tremendous. It roused enthusiasm, gave the Americans
‘War-material, and prevented English operations against New York.
On the day after the surrender of Ticonderoga, the Continental
Congress met at Philadelphia. Peyton Randolph was chosen Presi-
dent, and for Secretary they elected Charles Thomson, who held the
important office during the whole period of the Revolution. As Ran-
dolph's presence was necessary in Virginia, John Hancock, of Massa-
chusetts, a merchant who had been prominent from the first on the
side of Liberty, was chosen President. -
All felt that the time for conciliation was past, yet once more ad-
dresses were framed. It was the last effort; a justification, as it were,
of what they were now to do as a government.
Congress voted to put the colonies in a state of defense ; it ordered
the enlistment of troops, the erection of forts, the purchase of arms,
ammunition, and supplies. To meet this, it authorized the issue of
paper money to the amount of three millions of dollars, inscribed
“The United Colonies.” Massachusetts had already called upon Con-
gress to assume direction over the forces before Boston, and the Con-
tinental Congress, as the national government, did not only this, but
proceeded to select a commander-in-chief of the armies. From the
outset George Washington, of Virginia, seemed most acceptable. He
was nominated June 15th, and unanimously chosen. Never had
choice been wiser.
The next day Washington returned thanks for the signal honor
conferred upon him, and begged to decline receiving any pay for his
services. All he asked was the payment of his expenses, and of these
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 421
he kept a strict account. Four Major Generals were chosen, Arte-
mas Ward, Israel Putnam, Philip Schuyler, and Charles Lee, while
Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, David Wooster, William Heath,
Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathaniel Greene,
were chosen Brigadier Generals.
Washington hastened his preparations, and, on the 21st of June,
left Philadelphia to take command of the army in the field.
An important battle had already been fought. Gage, shut up in
Boston and unable to obtain any supplies from the country, resolved
to occupy some of the hills around. The Americans, equally vigilant,
resolved to defeat any such attempt. As the first rays of the morning
lit up the bay and the adjacent shores, a sentry, pacing the deck of the
Lively man-of-war, saw on Breed's Hill the lines of a redoubt, which
had sprung up like magic in the night; while sturdy men were still
plying pick and shovel, extending and strengthening these threatening
works. The ship was at once all excitement, and the captain, sending
a boat ashore to General Gage, opened fire.
This work had been thrown up by a small body of troops under
Colonel Prescott, the veteran Gridley acting as engineer. It was
now held by Prescott's regiment and a Connecticut detachment under
Captain Knowlton, some of the force having already withdrawn. As
the sun rose, every spot in the city from which the hill could be seen,
was filled with eager spectators. From Copp's Hill and from the men-
of-war came the occasional puffs of smoke and thunder of cannon, but
there was no answer from the hill, where the work went steadily on.
Then the English ships and batteries clustered together, and down
through the streets of Boston to the Long Wharf, went, with steady
tramp and all the glitter of burnished arms and regular equipments,
422 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
two regiments of British troops, with grenadiers and light infantry
leading the line ; similar bodies were moving down to the Battery and
North Battery.
They are at last all at the water's edge ; the barges are filled, Gene-
rals Howe and Pigot, with their brilliant staffs, at the head. Now from
the Lively, and the Somerset, and Falcon, there rained on the hill a
perfect hurricane of balls and shells ; while floating batteries, and a
transport with a man-of-war, commanded the Neck, ready to open fire.
Amid the din and roar of this artillery, the troops land on the
east side of the peninsula, near the mouth of the Mystic. Prescott.
whose tall and manly form had been seen from the city on the
breastwork during the hottest fire, understands the plan. His di-
minished force, his imperfect works, make a defense of the hill hope-
less; to his joy, the English halt at the first rising ground, and begin
to eat. His men have no food but what is in their knapsacks. The
barges move back to Boston. Howe asks more troops. Prescott throws
Gridley, with his few field-pieces and Knowlton's men, towards the
enemy, with no defense but a fence, part of rails, and part of stone.
A cheer tells his brave few that aid is at hand. Though General
Ward thinks it only a feint, Colonel John Stark comes marching to the
spot, with part of two regiments from his State. Where his practiced
eye sees the greatest need, he draws up his men. Pomeroy and War-
ren came as volunteers ; Putnam was there too. Thus stood the brave
fifteen hundred. Howe sees Pitcairn land with fresh troops, and or-
ders the Copp's Hill battery to fire on Charlestown. The shells soon set
it in a blaze, and the Somerset, ere long to lie a wreck on Cape Cod,
sends men to complete its destruction. The large and noble town is in
one huge blaze, the steeples towering as great pyramids of fire.
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 423
It is half-past two. The British line is all activity. Howe addresses
his men. The ships and batteries keep up a tremendous cannonade, and
up the hill-side, through the long grass, in the bright sunlight, move
the three thousand veterans of England. Howe pushes toward the rail.
fence, Pigot moves on the breastwork. There all is silent. The enemy
are within eight rods, when Prescott gives the word. A deadly volley
bursts on the English line ; every shot was aimed and told ; nearly the
whole front rank is down. For several minutes the irregular but dead-
ly fire poured upon them. They break in dismay, and the splendid
line rolls in disordered masses down the hill ; some to rush to the
boats, others to halt at the word of command.
Howe fares no better. From the rail fence comes a fire that sweeps
whole ranks before it. The King's troops recoil, and down, down the
slope they reel in confusion.
The British officers prepare for another assault. More cautiously,
the two bodies mount the deadly slopes. Again the silence is broken
by a musket-fire as fatal as before ; but, nerved to it, the regulars press.
on till human nature can stand no more. Howe, almost alone, reaches
the fence, with companies cut down to nine or ten men, and scarcely
an officer by him. Again the British retreat ; Clinton hurries over
from Copp's Hill; Howe plants his cannon to rake the breastwork,
and again a charge is made.
Within the American lines the exhausted heroes stand ; weary,
spent with hunger, toil, and fighting, many with not a grain of powder
left. The breastwork is abandoned. A stand is made at the redoubt.
A deadly volley from it staggers the English line, but it moves on with
fixed bayonets. Pitcairn falls as he enters the redoubt, which is now
scaled on all sides, the Americans contesting the ground with the butt-
424 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
wº
ends of their muskets, and even with stones. Prescottat last gives the or-
der to retreat, and the little band, sadly thinned, cut their way through.
Knowlton and Stark then follow. A fiery ordeal is before them. Bunk"
er's Hill and Charlestown Neck are swept by the enemy's cannon, and
as they hurry over the Neck the loss is deadly, worse than in the fight.
But at last they are in the camp, and throw themselves down to rest.
England has won one little hill on American soil, at the cost of over
a thousand killed and wounded—more than double the loss of the
Americans. But the patriots mourned the death of General Warren,
the head of the Provincial Government of Massachusetts, a man of
energy, eloquence, and power.
Joseph Warren, whose name long stood next to that of Washington
in the affections of America, was born at Roxbury in 1740, the son of
a farmer, who died when Joseph was only fifteen. After graduating
at Harvard, young Warren studied medicine and soon attained emi-
nence. He was one of the earliest Sons of Liberty, and was one of
the real leaders of the popular movement. He was President of the
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, and, four days before his death,
was appointed Major General, although he never assumed any com-
mand. He was shot in the head just as he was leaving the trenches,
and was buried on the field by the enemy.
Colonel William Prescott, the almost unnoticed hero of Bunker's
Hill, was born in Groton in 1726, his father and grandfather having
been members of the Council of Massachusetts. He served against
Touisburg, and won the battle of Bunker's Hill. At a later date, he
held General Howe in check for six days, at Throgg's Neck. His
merit was overlooked, however, and he soon after retired to private
life.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's AGHIEVEMENTS. 4.25
On the 3d of July, Washington, who had hastened forward, reached
the forces and took command of the Continental Army. His first care
was to organize and discipline it for actual Service. It was posted on
the heights around Boston, forming a line from Roxbury on the right,
to the Mystic River on the left, a distance of twelve miles.
Gage held Boston, Bunker's Hill, and Charlestown Neck, with a fine
army of eleven thousand men : but the city, cut off from all supplies
from the country in midsummer, was very unhealthy.
Neither party for a time made any movement, Washington from
want of powder and a wish to organize his army, Gage from inability
to see where he could strike an effective blow.
Congress, which had now received delegates from Georgia, was try-
ing to win the Canadians and Indians, and, but for the old religious
animosity in the colonies to the faith of the Canadians, would have
gained them. The Johnson family, who possessed great power with the
Six Nations, induced that powerful body to take up the hatchet for the
English.
Franklin, who had labored so earnestly in England for the colonies,
now returned and became Postmaster General, aiding by his counsels
the patriotic movement.
Canada was now, as in early days, a source of anxiety. The colonists
had never felt safe while it was in the hands of France, so now
they could not feel easy while it remained under the power of
Great Britain. The liberties given by England to the French Cana-
dians had excited the complaints of the older colonies, yet now they
wished to win these Canadians. An address was prepared, offering
them the same privileges they enjoyed, but this was too late ; too much
> *
hostility had been shown to them, to induce the Canadians as a body
426 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
~.
to join the American cause, although numbers actually took part with
it. Congress therefore determined, as the first great movement of the
war, to seize Canada. Two expeditions were prepared ; one, under
Generals Schuyler and Montgomery, was to move down Lake Cham-
plain; the other could not go by sea as in colonial days, for America
had no fleet to cope with the English navy. The expedition was there-
fore sent through the wilderness of Maine.
Schuyler falling sick, General Montgomery, with about two thousand
men from New York and New England, laid siege to Fort St. John, the
first British post in Canada. Fort Chambly was taken and some
slight advantages gained, though Sir Guy Carleton, the British com-
mander, captured Colonel Ethan Allen and a small party which was
boldly advancing on Montreal. . -
Carleton raised a force to relieve Fort St. John, but Montgomery held
the Sorel River, and the British commander, finding the defense hope-
less, fled from Montreal. Major Preston, commander of Fort St. John,
on hearing that no relief could be expected from Carleton, surrendered.
The British general fled down the St. Lawrence, but his party was
stopped by an American force, and though Carleton managed to escape
in the disguise of a Canadian habitant, the rest of his party Surren-
dered. &
Montgomery occupied Montreal, but his army was thinned by deser-
tion. He could not, however, hesitate. His only course was to push
on to Quebec, with a force of only three hundred men, hoping there to
be joined by the force with which General Arnold was to march through
the woods of Maine. That energetic commander took the field about the
middle of September, and with an endurance and hardihood almost
unparalleled in history, pushed on through every obstacle. By boats,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 427
where possible ; crossing no less than seventeen portages at the frequent
rapids ; marching through almost unbroken forest, Arnold pushed bravely
on. Enos, his second in command, deserted him with part of the force,
but the diminished party, enfeebled by sickness, with scanty food and
little ammunition, kept on to attack the most powerful citadel in North
America.
Though winter was fast closing around them, they went barefooted
for days together, exposed frequently by day and night to drenching
St0rms. Many sank down stiffening in cold and death. They ran out of
provisions, and were kept from absolute starvation by eating their dogs,
gnawing their leather shoes and belts. Yet, on the 8th of November, 1775,
they reached Point Levi, and crossing at Wolfe's Cove, climbed to the
Plains of Abraham. The little army, drawn up to attack that city of Que-
bec and its garrison of eighteen hundred men, was only some five hundred
effective men. A flag sent to summon the city was fired upon, and Arnold
had no alternative but to await the coming of Montgomery, to whom he
sent dispatches. On the 1st day of December, in the midst of the bitter
winter weather, the two little armies met. Through driving snow-
storms, they marched on Quebec, and began the siege, rearing batteries
of snow and ice. But their guns made no impression on the stout
walls. At last it was determined to storm the lower town.
On the last day of the year, in the thick gloom of the early morn-
ing, while the Snow was falling fast and drifting heavily, Montgomery,
at the head of his New York troops, pushed on along the shore from
Wolfe's Cove. Under Cape Diamond stood the first obstacle, a block-
house commanded by Captain Barnsfare, with a few sailors and militia.
A palisade checked Montgomery's approach. This removed, the gal-
lant general led his men to the assault, when a volley of grape-shot
428 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
swept the pass. Montgomery fell dead, and his aides-de-camp were
cut down, with many of his men. The rest retreated.
Arnold, on the other side, in assaulting the first barrier, was badly
wounded, but Morgan, taking command, led his men on. At the second
barrier a desperate fight ensued, but American valor triumphed. They
did not long enjoy the advantage, for Carleton, relieved by the repulse
of Montgomery, sent a force to take Morgan in the rear, and his whole
force of four hundred and twenty-six men were compelled to sur
render. -
Arnold drew off the remains of the two forces, and for a time kept
up a blockade of the river, but after a while, the urgent necessities of
the States made it impossible to send any force to Canada, and the
army fell back in a wretched condition to Crown Point.
Montgomery, the hero of the campaign, a noble-hearted Irish gentle-
man, was greatly regretted by the Americans, and even the enemy re-
spected him. He was honorably buried by General Carleton, but in
1818, his remains were removed to New York city, where those who
stop a moment in their busy walk along Broadway, may see his monu-
ment in the front wall of St. Paul's Church.
During the operations against Canada, Washington had held the Brit-
ish force in Boston, unable to take offensive measures for want of pow-
der, and the coming and going of his troops.
American cruisers captured supplies intended for Boston, but the
English fleet bombarded Falmouth, now Portland, Maine, reducing to
ashes that fine town, with its four hundred houses and stores. New-
port, and indeed every seaport, was threatened with a similar fate.
Some people in America still had hopes that England would now re-
lent and prefer giving the colonies their just rights to embarking in
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 429'
a long, and perhaps disastrous war. Little did they know the stubborn
character of George III., or the men around him. The Parliament at
its next session dissipated all such hopes. They resolved to send
twenty-five thousand men to crush America. As England then could
not well raise so large a force, they determined to hire them on the Con.
tinent. Russia had just been at war with Turkey, and it was proposed
to hire her brutal soldiery, but the British Government finally concluded
a bargain with the Grand Duke of Hesse Cassel, hiring nearly eighteen
thousand men, at exorbitant rates. Though gathered from all parts
these men were in America always called Hessians.
By a refined cruelty, a law was passed for seizing all American
ships at Sea, confiscating the cargoes, and forcing all on board to serve
in the British navy.
In the colonies, English rule was virtually at an end. Lord Dun-
more, Governor of Virginia, was a fugitive on board a man-of-war.
plundering and destroying the colony. Norfolk felt the full force of
his wrath, and was utterly laid in ruins.
Governor Wright, of Georgia, was also a fugitive on an English ship.
as was Governor Tryon of New York. That colony abounded, how.
ever in adherents to the British cause, who were now called Tories.
The Johnsons, with the Highlanders settled in the Mohawk Valley, and
the Six Nations were all on the English side, and soon openly took the
field to co-operate with the British forces in Canada. Sir John Johnson
raised two battalions of Royal Greens, and Brant, the famous Mohawk
chief, rallied his savage braves to destroy his old white friends and
neighbors. -
Early in 1776, Washington resolved to occupy Dorchester Heights,
and force Howe to evacuate Boston. On the night of the 4th of March,
*13 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
a furious cannonade was kept up. Bombs fell into all parts of the city,
and the British garrison were kept busy in extinguishing the flames.
When day dawned, the English, to their dismay, found Dorchester
Heights crowned by two forts, sufficiently advanced to shelter those
within from musketry. -
The English admiral scanned them, and declared that if the Ameri-
cans were not dislodged he could no longer remain in the harbor with-
out risking his whole fleet.
Howe saw no alternative but to attack the works. His recoflection of
Bunker Hill did not make him sanguine of success, yet he nerved him-
self to it. But a furious wind sprang up, and Lord Percy, who was to
land on the flats near the Point, could not embark. Violent storms set
in, which prevented Howe's operations, though they did not prevent
Washington from strengthening his new works. Colonel Mifflin pre-
pared a new weapon—hogsheads of sand and stones to roll down on the
enemy, so as to break and disorder his lines in charging up the hill.
Howe was in a terrible dilemma. He had not transports enough tº
carry off his troops at once. If he embarked only a part the rest
would be captured, so he resorted to threats of destroying the city iſ
he were not allowed to retire peaceably. Washington, to save Boston,
remained a quiet spectator of the retreat of the English. The city pre-
sented a melancholy sight. All was havoc and confusion, for the sol-
diery, in spite of orders, committed a great deal of ravage. Nor was
it only the army that departed. Fifteen hundred Tories, with their
families, and such valuables as they could carry, had no choice but tº
follow the Soldiers of the crown whose cause they had espoused. Thus,
the city was full of disorder, grief, and misery. At last, on the 17th
of March, all were on board. -
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 431
The rear guard was scarcely out of the city, when General Washing-
ton entered with colors displayed, drums beating, and every mark of
victory and triumph, amid the shouts and cheers of the patriotic citi-
zens, who had so long heroically suffered the grinding tyranny of a
foreign army, the most hateful scourge of a free people.
Artillery, ammunition, and horses, were left by the English, and
soon after British vessels, ignorant of the fall of the city, entered and
were captured, giving many soldiers as prisoners, and, the best prize
of all, fifteen hundred barrels of powder.
America was filled with exultation at this long desired result. She
was free from the hated British troops. Nowhere in the thirteen colo-
nies had the army of England a foot-hold. Congress caused a fine
medal to be struck. It bears on one side a fine head of Washington,
with the inscription, GEORGIO WASHINGTON, SUPREMO DVCI ExERCI-
TVVM, ADSERTORI LIBERTATIs, CoMITIA AMERICANA.--The American
Congress to George Washington, Commander-in-chief of the Forces,
Assertor of Iliberty. The other side represented Washington and his
staff on the heights overlooking the city and harbor of Boston. Be-
low, troops are marching into the city, others marching out, or in
boats, seeking the English fleet. The inscription is, HosTIBUS PRIMO
FUGATIS.–The enemy for the first time put to flight. BosTONIUM RE-
CUPERATUM, XVII. MARTII, MDCCLXXVI.-Boston recovered, March
17, 1776.
Washington was not, however, one to be deluded by false hopes.
New York, with its strong Tory element, would welcome the British
forces in spite of the devoted Sons of Liberty, and the English Govern-
ment would make a strong effort to take and hold the city, which, by
the Hudson River, commanded communication with Canada.
432 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
Washington had scarcely entered Boston, before he despatched the
main body of his army to New York, leaving General Ward to fortify
Boston, which the English might attempt to molest, but would not at-
tempt to occupy again.
Though the evacuation of Boston left no organized British force on
American soil, there were many sympathizers with the English Govern-
ment, who were ready to take up arms.
The Highlanders of North Carolina were the first to take the field.
Early in 1776 a large force assembled under Donald McDonald, whom
Martin, the Royal Governor of the colony, had appointed a Brigadier
General. He raised his standard at Cross Creek, now Fayetteville,
and prepared to overrun the State. An English fleet was expected,
and it was confidently hoped that all opposition would be crushed.
General James Moore, a true patriot and splendid officer, resolved
to defeat this well-laid plan. By one stratagem and another, he held
McDonald in inaction till he had assembled the militia. With these
he occupied important points, so as to weave a complete web
around McDonald.
Moore Creek Bridge was the only point where the Tory saw any pros-
pect of breaking through Moore's line. Upon this his force marched on
the 27th of February, commanded by Captain Macleod. The bagpipes.
played the tunes that had so long cheered on the Scotch rushing to
battle, and they counted on an easy victory over the Americans.
They came down in gallant style to the bridge, beyond which Colo-
nel Lillington and Caswell had thrown up an intrenchment after re-
moving most of the planking of the bridge.
In spite of this the Highlanders attempted to cross on the timbers,
but, under the deadly fire of the Americans. Captains Macleod and
oR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 433
Campbell were cut down, and the whole force thrown into confusion.
They retreated with the loss of thirty killed and wounded : but there
was no escape. The North Carolina minute-men closed around them ;
McDonald and eight hundred and fifty of his men were taken prisoners,
disarmed, and discharged, while all their fine war material and fifteen
thousand pounds sterling, in gold, fell into the hands of the patriots.
A few days before, the Cove of Cork was a scene of activity. A
fleet had gathered there to take on board nearly seven full regiments
of well-drilled troops, under command of Lord Cornwallis. The fleet was
commanded by an able Admiral, Sir Peter Parker, and it was intend-
ed by this display of force to crush the patriots of the Southern States.
When, in May, the fleet appeared off Cape Fear, and heard of the
disastrous defeat of McDonald, General Clinton issued a proclamation
urging the people to return to their duty ; but it was too late.
Congress, at Philadelphia, after a consultation with General Wash-
ington, had proceeded to vigorous measures. The colonies were urged
to stop all acts in the King's name, and to organize suitable govern-
ments by their own authority. Rigorous measures were also adopted
in regard to Tories, who were to be compelled to declare their senti-
ments openly and depart, or submit to the new government and re-
main.
The advice had been generally followed, and all signs of British
power ceased.
Anxious to strike a blow in the South before proceeding to New
York, where they were to join General Howe, Clinton resolved to at-
tack Charleston.
On the 1st of June intelligence reached that city of the approach of
the British naval and military force. Preparations were at once made
434 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
to defend the city. North Carolina had just crushed the first armed
effort of British sympathizers; South Carolina was now to meet the
first attack of England's veteran army and navy. The President of
the Convention issued orders which were heartily carried out, and
General Charles Lee, sent South for the defense of Charleston and
the Southern department, gave order and system to the whole defense.
On Sullivan's island a little fort of palmetto logs was thrown up to
hold the channel. On one bastion floated the Union flag, on the other
the crescent flag of South Carolina. Its little garrison was composed
of some three hundred and fifty men, of the Second South Carolina reg-
iment, and a company of artillery, all commanded by Colonel William
Moultrie, who had done good service in Indian wars. Without the
fort lay another little force under Colonel Thompson.
The splendid spectacle of an English fleet coming into action was
soon presented to their eyes, as vessel after vessel came up and took
position, while, from the transports, troops were landed on Long Isl-
and, which was separated from that occupied by the Americans only by
a passage generally fordable. The thunders of cannon and mortar
Soon rang out, as a tremendous fire opened on the fort, but though
shells came bursting within, the cannon balls sank harmlessly into the
soft palmetto logs. Then the Sphynx, Acteon, and Syren, were or-
dered to run up between the island and the city. They ran on a shoal.
Two got off, indeed, but the Acteon stuck fast, and finding it impossible
to get off, or endure the fire of the fort, her officers and crew abandon-
ed her the next day, after setting her on fire. She did not blow up,
however, before the bold garrison sent off a detachment which secured
much valuable property from her, and fired some of her guns on the
English admiral's ship.
oR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 435
So fierce a fire did they return to the fleet, that their ammunition
was nearly exhausted, when General Lee managed to send them a fresh
supply. Then the firing on both sides was renewed, and kept up till
nearly ten o'clock; the English troops that landed on Long Island had
been mere spectators of the Scene, unable to cross the deep passage to
Sullivan's Island.
The English fleet slipped its cables, and quietly dropped down, leav-
ing the Americans victorious.
In this glorious defense of Fort Moultrie, Sergeant Jasper made his
name immortal. The South Carolina flag, riddled by the British fire,
was at last shot away, and fell outside the works. Jasper jumped over
amid the hottest fire, and securing the crescent flag of his State, coolly
fastened it to a sponge-staff, and leisurely planted it in its old position,
The next day, Sir Peter Parker, considering the damage done his
vessels, which were riddled by balls, with masts disabled and shot away,
and rigging cut to pieces, and a large number of his officers and men
killed and wounded, thought it his wisest course to give up the attempt.
The great question now engaging the public mind in America was
their future government; the authority of England had been finally set
aside ; no longer were laws enacted or courts held in the name of
George III., yet they had established no new government that other
nations could recognize. Independence was now the cry of the patri-
ots. They felt that they must announce to the world that they were
an independent people, with a government of their own choice. In
April, North Carolina instructed her delegates in Congress to concur
with those of the other States in a declaration of Independence. The
next month, the Virginia Convention instructed her delegates to pro-
pose the great measure. Massachusetts, by a formal election, direct-
436 THE STORY () F A GREAT NATION.
ed her delegates to vote for it : Rhode Island did the same. With
all this authority in favor of the step, the wise statesmen of the
Continental Congress did not move hastily. At last, on the 7th of
June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, introduced a resolution
declaring that the United Colonies are and ought to be free and inde-
pendent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the Brit-
ish crown, and that all political connection between them and the state
of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved.
All the members of that noble body were not yet prepared for this
decisive step. Some still clung to hopes of reconciliation, and the ties
which bound them to the country of their forefathers. The delegates
of Pennsylvania and Maryland received formal instructions to oppose
independence. A long and earnest debate followed. Lee, with John
Adams, argued most eloquently in favor of independence, while Dick-
inson, a pure patriot, whose Farmer's Letters had stirred every Ameri-
can heart, spoke earnestly against it.
The resolution was finally postponed to the lst day of July, and
a committee appointed to prepare a Declaration of Independence.
This committee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin
Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.
Meanwhile, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New Jersey instructed
their delegates to vote for the great measure; Maryland finally adopted
the same course.
On the 1st of July, the resolution was adopted by Congress, all the
colonies voting for it except Delaware and Pennsylvania.
The committee submitted the Declaration of Independence drawn
up by Jefferson. It was discussed, and, with some amendments, was
passed on the 4th of July, 1776, at two o'clock in the afternoon.
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 437
All day long, Philadelphia had been in a state of wild excitement,
and a dense crowd had stood around Carpenters' Hall awaiting the re-
sult of the deliberations. All day long, a man had stood beside the bell
in the steeple—the old bell, still preserved with its inscription, as
if placed there by Providence. A boy stood below to tell him when
to ring, but the hours went by, and the old man doubted. At last
a shout told the result, and the boy, clapping his hands, cried
out : “Ring! ring !” and the old bell rang out the birth of a
nation.
Copies, which had been printed, were posted up, and crowds gathered
to read them, while from the steps of the old hall John Nixon, in his
stentorian voice, read it aloud, amid the cheers and plaudits of the
people.
The night was lighted up by bonfires and illuminations, while the
thunder of cannon rang out, and the quiet city of William Penn was
wild with such an excitement as had never before been witnessed in its
staid streets.
That day the Declaration was signed by John Hancock, President of
the Continental Congress; but it was ordered to be engrossed, or care-
fully copied out, and signed by all the members. Every member ex-
cept Dickinson affixed his name. Some, not present on that day,
signed it subsequently, the last being Matthew Thornton of New
Hampshire, who, in November, closed the list of signers, numbering in
all fifty-six.
This great paper, the Magna Charta of America, should be known
by every child of the republic, committed to memory in early youth,
that its principles and spirit may guide him through life, teaching him
to love liberty, and respect the liberty of others.
438 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
A DECLARATION OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN.
CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate
and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God.
entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that.
they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident—that all men are created,
equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, de-
riving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that when-
ever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is.
the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new
government, laying its foundations on such principles, and organizing
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that gov-
ernments long established should not be changed for light and tran-
sient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that man-
kind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to
right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute des-
potism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government,
and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been
the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity
which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.
OR, ou R CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 439
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of re-
peated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the estab-
lishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let
facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary
for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and press-
ing importance, unless suspended in their operations till his assent
should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected
to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
representation in the Legislature—a right inestimable to them, and
formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncom-
ſortable, and distant from the repository of their public records, for
the Sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing,
with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause
others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of anni-
hilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise ; the
State remaining, in the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of inva-
sions from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for
that purpose obstructing the laws for the naturalization of foreigners;
refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and rais-
ing the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
440 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his as-
sent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of
their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms
of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without
the consent of our Legislatures.
He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior
to the civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to our constitutions, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving assent
to their acts of pretended legislation :
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;
For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any mur-
ders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States;
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ;
For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;
For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offenses;
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging
its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instru-
ment for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies;
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws,
and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments;
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves in-
vested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
oR, our Count RY's ACIIIEVEMENTs. 44f.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his pro-
tection, and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns,
and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries,
to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already be-
gun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in
the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized
nation. *
PHe has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high
seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners
of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has endeavor-
ed to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian
savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruc-
tion of all ages, sexes, and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress
in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered
only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by
every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free
people.
Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren.
We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legis-
lature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have re-
minded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement
here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and
we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disa-
vow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connec-
442 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
tions and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of
justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the
necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them as we hold
the rest of mankind–enemies in War—in peace, friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America,
in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the au-
thority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and de-
clare that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and
independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the
British crown, and that all political connection between them and the
state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that,
as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, con-
clude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other
acts and things which independent States may of right do. And for .
the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection
of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our
fortunes, and our sacred honor.
Expresses carried the Declaration from town to town. Everywhere
it was hailed with joy. It was read in churches and public gatherings;
in the camp and at the fireside.
After the evacuation of Boston by the English forces under Gen-
eral Howe, and their departure to Halifax, Washington felt that New
York would be attacked. After sending on a part of the army, under
Ceneral Putnam, he followed with all his available force, and when he
had laid his plans before Congress, began to prepare for the defense of
that important city. Congress voted to reinforce his army with thir-
£een thousand militia from the northern colonies, and ten thousand
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 443
more from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. The approaches
to the city, by the North and East Rivers, were defended by strong in-
trenchments. Sunken vessels and other obstructions were placed in
the river, and chains placed across where practicable. Troops, under
Generals Greene and Sullivan, were placed on Long Island to prevent
the enemy's approach in that way, and the army was protected by a
series of works thrown up around Brooklyn.
Such was the position of affairs, when, on the 9th of July, Washing-
ton received at Head-Quarters, No. 1 Broadway, in the city of New
York, the Declaration of Independence. At six o'clock that evening
it was read by his order at the head of each brigade, and was welcomed
by the loud huzzas of the troops. The people, led by the Sons of
Liberty, received it with the wildest enthusiasm, and they rushed down
to the Bowling Green, where stood a leaden equestrian statue of
George III., richly gilt, and still bright, for it had been erected only
six years before. Ropes were fastened to this effigy of the monarch,
whose reign in America had ceased, and it was soon by sturdy hands
leveled in the dust, and hacked in pieces, to be melted up and run
into bullets for the use of the army.
The Declaration was read from the steps of Faneuil Hall, by Colonel
"Crafts, on the 17th, and at its close the immense crowd raised a loud
ihurrah, which was kept up till it was drowned in the thunders of cannon.
At Charleston, the people gathered under the branches of a wide-
spreading live oak, the famous Liberty Tree, afterwards cut down by
Sir Henry Clinton, and an expedition against Florida was immediately
planned. From North to South, there was but one sentiment, one re-
solve.
Every sign of royal power, the King's arms, crowns, and emblems of
444 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
monarchy were at once demolished, and names were changed to bury
them in oblivion.
The various States then proceeded to alter their old charters, or adopt
new constitutions for their future government. The form of govern-
ment in Connecticut and Rhode Island was so democratic, that it re-
quired no change. In this work of reorganization, New Hampshire
and New Jersey led the way, having adopted constitutions before the
Declaration of Independence, while Massachusetts, moving slowly, did
not complete her work until 1779.
A great struggle was now to take place at New York. On the 29th
of June, 1776, General Howe arrived at Sandy Hook, with ships and
transports, bearing his army, strengthened in numbers, military stores,
and material. The very day that New York was exulting in the Dec-
laration of Independence, and demolishing the statue of the King, Howe
landed nine thousand men at the Quarantine ground on Staten Island.
They encamped on the heights, and the flag of England was raised
again on our soil. Tories flocked to his standard from all parts.
Those in New York city formed a plot to capture Washington, and
give him up to General Howe. Some of Washington's guards were
so base as to be bought up by British gold to betray their commander,
but the plot was discovered, many arrested, and one of the most
guilty hung.
In a few days after Howe's landing on Staten Island, another fleet
entered New York Bay. It was Lord Howe, bringing another army
and supplies. On the transports, and on Staten Island, were now thirty
thousand British and Hessian troops.
On the 22d of August, four thousand men were thrown over to
Long Island, and landed at Gravesend. The rest of the army and ar-
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OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 445.
tillery soon followed, the Americans having no fleet to command the
bay.
The two armies were now face to face. Unfortunately, at this criti-
cal moment, General Greene, who commanded the American lines on
Long Island, fell sick, and he was replaced by the aged but now incom-
petent General Putnam. In spite of Washington's orders, he neglected
to guard important passes. Clinton perceived the negligence. On the
26th, de Heister and his Hessians pushed up to Flatbush, Cornwallis
to Flatland. The post at Bedford, left entirely unguarded, was seized
and occupied by Sir Henry Clinton, during the night, while Putnam,
deluded by Grant, sent off General Sterling to oppose that British gen-
eral, who was advancing from the Narrows, and Sullivan was ordered
ip to strengthen the force in front of the Hessians. '
Clinton, Securing the pass, soon scattered the American forces there,
and gained the rear of Sullivan's line. While Heister was pressing
them hard in front, Clinton suddenly assailed their rear. Hemmed in
between the two divisions, the Americans fought desperately, continu-
ing the unequal contest till noon, when the survivors, Seeing the strug-
gle hopeless, surrendered.
Lord Stirling had held Grant in check till Cornwallis approached.
To secure his retreat he attacked Cornwallis so gallantly at Gowanus,
that he would have effected his retreat had not de Heister appeared ;
and Stirling, with part of his force completely surrounded, was com-
pelled to surrender, though the remainder of his troops, with consider-
able loss, crossed a creek and marsh and escaped.
The battle was a series of skirmishes of detached bodies fighting
against an enemy three times their number, with no able general di-
recting the whole movement of the army.
446 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
The army of the United States lost a thousand prisoners, and about
two hundred in killed and wounded. The English loss was about four
hundred.
This was a terrible disaster to the new country. Nearly twelve
hundred of the flower of the army was lost, with two good generals,
and the rest of the force on Long Island was in imminent danger. r
Howe, encamped before the American works, prepared to attack
them next day with the aid of the fleet. -
Washington had hastened to the spot, and saw Howe's error in not at-
tacking his lines at once. The morning of the 28th dawned, but a dense
fog covered the scene. Washington brought up fresh troops and kept
up a constant skirmishing, till he saw the English fleet preparing to
move. Still protected by the fog, he gathered all the boats around
Brooklyn and New York, and while the enemy, though so near, were
utterly unsuspicious of the movement, Washington evacuated his lines.
Regiment after regiment passed over ; Washington and his staff, in the
saddle all night, remaining till, the last company embarked. Then
they too crossed, and the fog, which had in the hands of Providence
so protected their retreat, lifted. The English entered the deserted
American lines, then galloped down to the shore of the East River
only to see the last American boats reaching the New York side.
Howe was thunderstruck at thus being deprived of the fruit of his
victory, the certain capture of the whole force.
The effect of the battle of Long Island was disastrous and almost
fatal to the cause of Liberty. Soldiers deserted by hundreds ; whole
regiments vanished ; officers resigned in disgust. &
It was a critical moment. Admiral and General Howe had come with
power to treat with the Americans. They had already sought to open
oR, our COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 447
negotiations with General Washington, but as their letter was address.
ed simply to George Washington, Esqr., and when this was re-
fused, to George Washington, Esquire, etc., etc., etc., the Commander
of the American Forces refused to receive it, or any other communica-
tion that did not recognize his rank. He gave Adjutant General Pat-
terson clearly to understand that the effort of the Howes was useless ;
they had simply power to grant pardon ; the Americans had done
nothing for which they could accept any pardon.
After the battle of Long Island, Howe thought that Congress might
not be as firm as General Washington, so he despatched General Sul-
livan, a prisoner in his hands, to offer to Congress a renewal of £3.3 over-
tures for peace. Congress appointed Franklin, John Adams, and Edward
Rutledge a committee to wait upon the Howes. They met on Staten
Island, but the Howes had no authority except to receive submission to
the crown, while Congress would listen to no terms but independence.
Washington was now unable to hold New York city, and a retreat
became imperative. To find out exactly the plans of the enemy, he
sent, the brave Connecticut patriot, Nathan Hale, inside the enemy's
lines. As he was returning to Washington with the information he
was captured, tried, and hung as a spy. Every brutality was shown to
him by the Provost-marshal. He was not allowed a clergyman or
even a Bible, and the letters which with his dying hand he penned to
his mother and sisters were brutally destroyed. Hale, the martyr.
met his fate with unflinching courage. His last words were, “I only
regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” This wanton
cruelty was long remembered by the Americans as a justification for
the utmost severity toward the enemy under similar circumstances.
Howe, at last. with his ships in the North and East River sweeping
448 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
New York island with their fire, began to land his troops at Kip's
Bay. The American troops posted there to oppose his landing, fled
without striking a blow, and Washington, after a vain attempt to rally
them, dashed his hat on the ground, exclaiming : “Are these the men
with whom I am to defend America?” So reckless was he of his own
safety that he would have been taken prisoner had not his aides seized
the reins of his horse and hurried him away.
Washington now retreated up the island, and part of his army would
have been captured had not the English halted at Murray Hill, where
Mrs. Robert Murray purposely delayed the English officers.
General Howe occupied New York city, to his intense satisfaction,
but that very night a fire broke out, which destroyed upwards of a
thousand buildings, and nearly laid the whole city in ashes. Each
party accused the other of having set the city on fire, and several per-
sons were hung on the spot on Suspicion.
As Washington fell back the English advanced, but a brisk action
took place on Harlem plains, in which Colonel Knowlton drove an
English detachment back to their lines with great spirit, losing his life
in his gallant charge.
Washington then evacuated New York island except Fort Washing-
ton, where he left a garrison. Howe pursued him, held in check for a
time at Throgg's Neck by Prescott, the hero of Bunker's Hill. At
White Plains the two armies again came face to face ; Chatterton's Hill,
on Washington's extreme right, was held by General McDougall, with
about sixteen hundred men. After some skirmishing Howe at last
attacked this position with three columns of his best troops, comprising
thirteen regiments. The American troops, except a body of militia,
fought with steady valor, contesting the ground inch by inch, and more
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 449
than once repulsing the well-trained and numerous body of assailants.
When at last they could no longer hold it they drew off in good
order and joined Washington's main army.
The English army lost so severely in this preliminary movement,
that Howe relinquished his idea of making a general attack on Wash-
ington's intrenched line. He had expected to find an army complete-
ly demoralized by the disaster on Long Island, but found that it was
still determined and resolute.
Fort Washington was now completely isolated. The troops could
not be removed in the face of the enemy : but the commander, Colonel
Magaw, resolved to hold it to the last : although the English command-
er, when summoning him to surrender, threatened to put all to the
sword if he refused. The English assailed his position with four
columns, but their advance was steadily contested. General Knyp-
hausen, however, with his Hessians, finally gained the height, and Ma-
gaw, perceiving further resistance useless, surrendered with his garrison
prisoners of War. Nearly three thousand American soldiers were thus
lost to Washington, with valuable supplies, but the occupation of the
fort had been against his advice.
The cause of freedom looked desperate. Washington, with a little
army of about three thousand men, was confronted by an English army
of ten times his numbers, which daily received accessions of Tories.
Washington had meanwhile crossed to Hackensack and retreated
through Newark, New Brunswick, and Princeton to Trenton, where
he crossed into Pennsylvania.
General Cornwallis followed him step by step, and entered Trenton
as Washington's last boats were crossing the Delaware.
A reinforcement of two thousand Pennsylvania troops under General
4.50 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Mifflin, enabled Washington to guard the passes of the river, and col-
lect all boats that could be useful to the enemy. General Lee, with a
division of the army, was still in New Jersey, and while slowly moving
to join Washington, he was captured in his quarters at Some distance
from his troops. General Sullivan, who had been exchanged, took
command, and soon joined Washington ; General Gates also came in
with the remnant of the army of Canada. But all this made up an in-
significant force to face the powerful and exultant army of England,
which held New York and New Jersey completely in their hands. It
was a period of deepest gloom for the cause of America.
Rhode Island, too, was occupied by Sir Henry Clinton and a force of
British and Hessians, escorted by a squadron of men-of-war.
Congress, which had retired to Baltimore, endeavored to arouse the
people to action, but all were disheartened. The glorious results they
had expected were changed to disasters.
Still, such a crisis had been foreseen, and Congress had already sent
envoys to France and Spain to urge those countries to acknowledge
American independence and give them aid in war material. Ben-
jamin Franklin, regarded in France as one of the first philosophers of
the age, exercised by his popularity a most favorable influence.
France agreed to supply arms indirectly. She allowed vessels to be
fitted out in her ports to cruise against the English, and, without break-
ing with the neighboring kingdom, gave every evidence of her good-
will towards the Americans.
All this, however, was but matter for hope, and before relief came,
the cause of America might be desperate. Congress had been raising
troops for short terms. Washington showed the danger of this, and
the necessity of raising and maintaining for the war, a large force of
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 451.
regular troops, whose experience should not be lost to the country
just as they became good soldiers. Seeing the perilous condition of
affairs, Congress invested him with power to raise sixteen additional
battalions of infantry, three thousand light horse, three regiments of
artillery and engineers, appoint officers, call on the States for militia,
appoint all army officers under the grade of Brigadier-General, and,
by a stretch of power most unusual, to take supplies when needed for
the army, if the inhabitants refused to sell, allowing them a reason-
able price.
To carry on the war, Congress had issued paper money, of which
some of our readers may have seen time-worn specimens. This was
called Continental Currency. The patriotic portion took this readily
at first, but the Tories and those indifferent to the cause refused it.
Washington was invested with authority to arrest and confine any
man that refused to take it.
With these powers in his hands Washington gave new life to the
army. The soldiers felt confidence that their wants would be seen to,
and that justice would be done to them in all cases. They felt that
they were indeed an army gathered in a noble cause.
Washington needed now but one thing to give his army new life and
courage. This was, to strike a blow at the enemy that would rouse
the drooping energies of the country, and fill the army with confidence.
With the keen eye of an able general he watched his enemy.
Howe, with an overpowering force, flushed with victory, looked with
contempt on Washington and his handful of soldiers beyond the river.
He feared nothing from them, and lay in perfect security.
Here was Washington's opportunity. He formed his available forces
into three divisions; he prepared to re-cross the Delaware on Christ-
452 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
mas eve and attack the Hessians who held Trenton. The river W2,S
full of floating ice, a most perilous moment to attempt to carry over
troops in the face of an enemy. He himself, with his main body,
moved quietly up to McKonkey's Ferry, nine miles above Trenton ;
there he crossed in the intense cold, during a heavy storm of rain and
hail that drove the Hessians in doors. The passage of the river
was slow and dangerous, and it was not till four o'clock that he reach-
ed the Jersey shore.
General Cadwallader was to cross at Bristol, and move on the
enemy at Bordentown and Mount Holly.
Washington formed his troops in two divisions. One, under Gene-
ral Sullivan, took the river road, and Washington himself, with Greene,
took the Pennington road.
The gayeties and merry-makings in the German camp had been
kept up till a late hour : then all was still in the little town, and
naught was heard but the driving sleet and snow. Not an ear listened
to the approach of the two American columns, plodding on over icy
roads, while men actually froze to death on the march. Suddenly the
alarm rang out. Greene is in the town ; three minutes more and
Sullivan's men, with a cheer, pour into the western side. The Hessian
drums beat to arms; quick as thought the well-drilled soldiers form
under the eye of Colonel Rahl. But he is hemmed in between the
Americans and Assanpink Creek, while a battery of six guns under
Washington's own eye opens on him. Rahl trains two guns to oppose
him, but Captain Washington and Lieutenant James Monroe are down
on the gunners, and though wounded in the charge, capture the pieces
when ready to fire. -
Rahl drew his men out of the town and, forming them in an orchard,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 453
resolves to make a desperate effort to regain Trenton. “Forward, all
who are grenadiers of mine,” he cries, and leads a fierce charge on
Washington's line. A rattling volley meets them ; Rahl falls mortally
wounded : his men turn and retreat along the Princeton road ; but
Hand's riflemen are in their front with their deadly weapons; other
troops are on their flank. Bewildered, lost, the Hessians throw
down their arms. The battle is over. Rahi, supported by Sergeants,
approaches General Washington and delivers up his sword, then is
conveyed to his quarters to die.
Trenton was won. Two men frozen to death, two killed and a few
wounded, was all the Americans lost, to purchase a victory that gave
them a thousand prisoners, with their artillery, ammunition, wagons,
and arms.
Cadwallader had been unable to effect a crossing, so Washington,
unwilling to risk anything, retired again beyond the Delaware with
his prisoners and spoils.
This brilliant victory filled his army with confidence, and in propor-
tion mortified the enemy. The British drew back from the Delaware
to Princeton. Cornwallis, about to return to England, was recalled to
resume his command in New Jersey, and watch the troublesome
American army.
On the 30th of December Washington took post at Trenton, where
he was immediately joined by Generals Cadwalader and Mifflin, each
with eighteen hundred Pennsylvania militia ; and Washington, by
promises of a bounty, induced the New England troops, whose time of
service would be up in a few days, to remain for six weeks. He pre-
pared to strike another blow, and formed his army for immediate action.
So ended the year 1776, the year of American independence.
CHAPTER I.
Jampaign of 1777—The Operations in New Jersey—Cornwallis confronts Washington at Tren-
ton—Washington's masterly Movement on Princeton—The Battle of Princeton—Death of
General Mercer–British Attacks on Peekskill and Danbury—Death of General Wooster—
Meigs at Sag Harbor—Washington in Winter-quarters at Morristown—The glorious Stars and
Stripes—Movements of the Armies in New J ersey–The British evacuate the State–Lafay-
ette comes to America—Howe lands his Army at the Head of Chesapeake Bay.—Washington
meets him at Brandywine–A hard-fought Battle—Congress leaves Philadelphia–Howe
takes Possession of the City–Washington attacks the British at Germantown—A Victory
almost gained—Operations on the Delaware—The Battle of the Kegs—Washington in Win-
ter-quarters at Valley Forge—Burgoyne, from Canada, invades New York—Ticonderoga
lost—Schuyler and his Policy—Burgoyne begins to suffer from Want of Provisions—Defeat of
Baume and his Hessians at Bennington—General Stark—St. Leger sent to attack Fort Schuy-
ler—Battle of Oriskany-–Death of General Herkimer—Arnold relieves the Fort—Sad Fate
of Jane McCrea—Burgoyne defeated at Stillwater—Another Battle—Burgoyne attempts to
retreat—His Surrender—Clinton ascends the Hudson.
THE New Year opened strangely. The English officers, who had ex-
pected to pass a gay winter in comfortable quarters, with all the amuse-
ments in which army officers have so delighted, and which make them
So popular with the ladies, were roused to good hard work, marching
and fighting. The generals found that they had an enemy who was
watchful and untiring. Howe despatched Cornwallis at once to New
Jersey, to restore order, get the army in a strong position, and prevent
Washington from doing any further harm.
Cornwallis, getting his troops well in hand at Princeton, where he
overtook General Grant already on the march, pushed on to Trenton
with a considerable force, leaving three regiments at Princeton under
Colonel Mawhood. He was so much harassed by strong parties sent
out by Washington to impede his progress, and obstruct the roads, that
it was almost night when he finally reached Trenton, and came in view
OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 45.5
of the American army. Washington's lines lay beyond the Assanpink,
in a strong position, well fortified, and as the British advanced, the
American skirmishers retired by the bridges and fords, which were all
well defended. The critical moment had come. The two armies were
face to face, but though Washington's force was made up chiefly of
militia, and men whose services would expire in a few days, Cornwallis
summoned up his remaining troops, to make Sure of crushing the lit-
tle American army.
Within those lines whose fires he could see gleaming along the creek,
a council of war was held in the house of Miss Dagworthy. General
St. Clair proposed a bold manoeuvre, which all immediately adopted.
His plan was to leave the fires burning, and men enough at work to
keep up the appearance of occupation, while the army moved stealth-
ily down to Princeton to surprise Colonel Mawhood in Cornwallis's
I’63.I’.
The baggage was sent off to Burlington, and at midnight the march
began. Taking the Quaker-road through the Woods, as safer, their pro-
gress was slow, as the road was still full of stumps. It was daylight be-
fore they came in sight of Princeton, and Mawhood was already on the
march to join Cornwallis with two regiments. Near the old Quaker.
meeting-house, General Mercer, with the advance of Washington's
army, and Mawhood came in sight. A hill near at hand was at once
the object of both. Mercer soon held it, and as Mawhood came up
poured in volley after volley from the true rifles of his men ; but Maw-
hood was full of pluck. He led a charge of bayonets before which
Mercer's men broke, leaving their general on the field. He surrendered,
but was beaten down and bayoneted with wolfish cruelty by the Hes-
sians.
456 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Washington rallied the fugitives, and with his artillery checked
Mawhood's pursuit. The British commander, however, charged bravely
again to capture Washington's guns, but was driven back to the hill,
from which the City Cavalry of Philadelphia, in a splendid charge, head-
ed by Washington himself, finally drove him. Mawhood, with one reg-
iment, then retreated towards Trenton ; his other regiments, after
a brief stand at the college-buildings, fled in disorder to New
Brunswick.
Cornwallis, completely deceived, and supposing Washington still be-
fore him, was roused from his mistake by the booming of cannon in his
rear. At once his camp was in motion. Forming his army, he march-
ed in all haste towards Princeton ; but Washington had destroyed the
bridges; so that before he could come up, Washington, after pursuing
the fugitive regiments of Mawhood's force, left the low country of Jer-
sey, in which these operations had been carried on, and striking to the
ranges of hills and mountains beyond, advanced to Morristown, where
he established his winter-quarters.
In this brilliant action, where all his men showed great resolution,
except the militia who deserted Mercer, Washington suffered slight
loss, except in officers, while the English loss in killed, wounded,
and missing, was nearly a thousand. Like the affair at Trenton,
this achievement filled the country with hope, and gave the American
commander a very great reputation in Europe as well as in
America.
One of the good effects of Washington's victories was the exchange
and release of a number of American prisoners who had been held at
New York. Their sufferings had been fearful beyond description. And
during the whole war, the treatment of the American prisoners was a
oR, our couxTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 457
disgrace to England which can never be effaced. Churches, sugar-
houses, prisons, were crowded with the unfortunate captives: then pris-
on-ships were used ; harsh treatment, decayed food, want of proper ac-
commodations, and of all means for maintaining cleanliness, swept away
these patriots by thousands. The martyrs were buried near Trinity
Church, and at the Wallabout in Brooklyn, and they merit a higher
glory in the eyes of their countrymen than if they had died on the
field of battle. Such a death seems glorious to all, but it is over in a
moment, while the lingering death of the martyrs of the prisons and
prison-ships was prolonged by every device that malignant ingenuity
could devise.
Howe lay inactive at New York, with his splendid army, awaiting
reinforcements. He sent out one expedition to destroy some stores at
Peekskill, and another to Danbury, Connecticut. The aged General
Wooster engaged the latter force with a handful of brave men, but
was mortally wounded. Arnold happened to be near, and he gathered
a small force, but was wounded and repulsed in an attack on the Eng-
lish, who accomplished their object.
To retaliate for this predatory warfare, Colonel Meigs crossed over
from Connecticut, and destroyed valuable English shipping and stores
at Sag Harbor.
About this time Washington raised on his camp at Morristown the
flag which had been formally adopted by Congress, with thirteen
stripes, alternately red and white, and a blue union with thirteen stars,
forming a new constellation—the glorious Stars and Stripes that have
for nearly a century waved over the land, and floated on every sea, and
under the skies of every clime.
Washington had been busily organizing the troops which Congress
.15S THE STORY OF A GRFAT NATION :
had raised throughout the States. Those at the North were stationed
at Ticonderoga and Peekskill. Those of the Middle and some Southern
States were collected in New Jersey. He thus awaited Howe's move-
ments. Twenty-four thousand muskets from France came seasonably
to hand, and toward the end of May, Washington advanced to Middle-
brook, near New Brunswick. Howe moved out, endeavoring to draw
him from his strong position, and failing in this, evacuated New Jersey,
and crossed over to Staten Island.
New Jersey had suffered terribly from the movements of the armies,
and the plundering of the English, and especially the Hessian troops.
Every county showed its pictures of desolation, its ruined homesteads,
its slaughtered people, women stripped of everything wandering in
the woods and mountains, houseless children, starving people.
While Washington was watching Howe, to see at what point he in-
tended to strike, ready to hasten to thwart it, he met one who was to .
be closely associated with him throughout the war, the Marquis de
Lafayette. At a dinner given by some French officers to one of the
sons of George III., who happened to be in France, Lafayette heard
of the American struggle. Though told by an enemy, there was
enough to rouse the enthusiasm of the young and gallant officer. Leav-
ing his wife in France, he hastened to America to offer his services to
the new Republic. He asked no pay, and desired only active service.
His example found followers; de Kalb, Steuben, Kosciusko, Pulaski—
officers trained in the wars of Europe, came to give America their ex-
perience and discipline.
The summer wore away, and Howe's policy was still in doubt. At
last, in August, Washington ascertained that the British had entered
the Chesapeake, and landed at the head of Elk River, evidently with a
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 459
view to march on Philadelphia. He advanced and took post along the
Brandy wine, to contest the passage of the fords of that river, especially
Chadd's Ford, where his main army was drawn up, while General
Armstrong and the Pennsylvania militia formed his left wing, and Gen-
eral Sullivan, with Stephens and Stirling, held the upper ford on his right.
Howe moved upon him in two columns; that on the right, only as a
feint, moved on Chadd’s Ford, while the left column, under Lord Corn-
wallis, moved up so as to cross the stream, and turn Washington's
right flank. A dense fog concealed his movements. This movement
was discovered late, and Sullivan moved down to attack Cornwallis,
His left was on the Brandywine; both flanks were protected by woods,
and his artillery well placed. As the day was declining, there was a
glitter over Osborne's Hill, and down swept the English force in three
columns. The cannon thundered along both lines, and the fiercest con-
flict yet seen in the war was soon raging. While the English came on
to the charge again and again, with desperate courage, they were steadily
hurled back from the American lines. For an hour they fought muzzle
to muzzle. At last Stephens' brigade wavers and falls back, Sullivan's
yields, but Lord Stirling and Conway hold their own against Cornwal-
lis's whole force. General Sullivan and Lafayette gallop up after en-
deavoring to bring the other troops again into action. Sullivan's aids
are killed by his side, Lafayette is wounded. Even they feel that they
must draw off the brave fellows or lose them. Washington had been
watching Knyphausen, expecting an attack at Chadd's Ford. Leaving
General Wayne to hold the Hessians in check, he hastened to support
Sullivan with all the force he could draw off under General Greene. He
met his gallant men in full retreat, and, opening to receive them, General
Greene formed his men in a strong position and kept Cornwallis at bay.
460 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Knyphausen at last attacked Wayne and Maxwell. For a time the
Americans here sustained the onset as bravely as men could wish, but
tidings came of the rout of the right wing. Then a retreat was or-
dered. It became a flight, for, abandoming artillery and stores, they
retreated to the rear of General Greene.
The battle of the Brandywine, fought to save Philadelphia, and fought
under great disadvantages, cost Washington nearly thirteen hundred
men in killed, wounded, and prisoners.
He fell back to Chester and Germantown. That he could save Phil-
adelphia was now clearly impossible. Congress removed from that
city all its stores and magazines, and prepared to hold its sessions
elsewhere.
Howe, after sending the butcher Grey to surprise General Wayne
at Paoli, which he did with the blood-thirsty spirit of a tiger, occupied
Philadelphia, and proceeded to remove the obstructions with which the
Americans had studded the Delaware, and which would prevent the
fleet from coming up to Philadelphia. While his army was thus weak-
ened by detachments, Washington, who was at Skippack Creek, moved
on the 30th of October to attack the British forces at Germantown. A
column under Sullivan and Wayne, eutering by the main street, was to
attack the British centre and left ; another under Greene and Stephens,
marching down the Lime-kiln road, was to attack their right, while two
columns of militia turned their flanks. General Greene was unable to
arrive in time, so that Wayne attacked the British right before he came
up. Sullivan and Conway defeated the enemy’s left, and drove it
steadily through the village ; and the enemy's right was utterly defeated
by Generals Wayne and Greene ; but the victorious army became con-
fused in the fog, so that parties fired into each other. The English.
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 461
colonel, Musgrave, who had occupied Chew's house in their rear, held
out, and the firing of cannon there gave the impression that the Eng-
lish had gained their rear just as General Grey came up to them in
front. A rapid retreat took place, but without disorder, Washington
retiring with all his artillery. The battle was a sanguinary one,
though productive of no decisive result, the loss on each side being
nearly a thousand.
Washington then retired to Skippack Creek, and Howe, feeling that
he could not risk any more such engagements, drew all his forces into
the city of Philadelphia. The reduction of the forts below him on
the Delaware was his great object, but it was no easy matter.
Colonel Donop, with twelve hundred Hessians, was sent to attack the
Rhode Island Colonel Greene, at Red Bank, while five men-of-war
were to aid in the operation. So ably did Greene defend his post,
Fort Mercer, that the assailants, after a desperate conflict, retreated in
disorder, leaving their commander, Donop, mortally wounded, a prisoner
in the hands of the Americans, and losing nearly four hundred men.
The men-of-war fared as badly, two, the Augusta and Merlin, ground-
ed, and were set on fire and destroyed by the Americans.
Fort Mifflin, situated on Mud Island, a low reedy spot about seven
miles below Philadelphia, was next attacked. It had a garrison of
three hundred men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith of Baltimore.
There were guard-boats and galleys in the channel, and Washington
sent what relief he could spare.
On the 10th of November the English opened fire from batteries on
land and floating ones, as well as from the men-of-war. A perfect
storm of shells and balls rained on the devoted fort. Smith fell
dangerously wounded. Fleury, the engineer, was struck down ; the
462 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
commander of the artillery was killed. The garrison was thinned by
the deadly fire. Towards midnight Major Thayer, the commander, set
the ruins on fire and retired to Fort Morcer.
Two days after, Cornwallis marched against that post, and as noth-
ing could be done to save it, the American forces withdrew.
The galleys and other vessels then endeavored to pass above Philadel-
phia. Some succeeded under cover of night, others were burned to
prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy.
The English were now complete masters of Philadelphia, and the
Delaware down to the sea. This result had been purchased at a serious
loss of men and time, and really was of little advantage, for Washington
was encamped at Whitemarsh, fourteen miles from Philadelphia, in a
strong position carefully fortified.
Howe felt that he could attempt no further operations till he brought
Washington to an action. To draw the American general from his
lines, he marched out of Philadelphia with his army on the night of
the 4th of December, every precaution having been taken to make the
movement a complete surprise on General Washington.
But the council of war had been held in the house of Lydia Darrah, a
Quakeress, whose patriotism, though not evinced, was true and deep.
Alarmed at this secret council of the British officers, she stole to the
door of the room were they were deliberating on the night of the
2d, and heard enough to see Washington's danger ; then crept back
to bed. When the council broke up, they rapped at her door that
she might let them out. She let them knock Some minutes, and then
came out as if roused from a deep sleep.
The next morning she asked leave to go to Frankford for flour for
her family, and having reached the mill she left her bag, and then
oR, ou R country's ACHIEVEMTNTs. 463
hastened on with all her might towards the American outposts, quiver-
ing in every limb with anxiety. At last she saw an American officer ap-
proaching. She begged him to dismount and walk with her. Panting
with her exertion she told him all she knew, and bade him hasten to Gen-
eral Washington, but not to betray her, as she was in the enemy's hands.
While, with a heart relieved and full of thankfulness, the good woman
plodded homeward, Colonel Craig galloped to the camp. Washington
at once prepared, and when Howe came up with his forces he found
the American lines manned, the artillery ready to open upon him, all
in fact ready to give him a warm reception. After a little skirmish-
ing he returned to Philadelphia, unable to explain how his plan got
wind. Lydia Darrah was not suspected, for, as one of the officers told
her, “I know you were asleep, for I knocked three times at your
-door before I could rouse you.” And she very truthfully declared
that no other of her family was up that night.
Washington soon after broke up his encampment here, and fell
back with his exhausted army to Valley Forge, twenty miles from Phil-
adelphia, where he passed the winter with terrible privation and suf-
fering, which have made the camp famous as the darkest hour in the
struggle for American independence. His army reached Valley Forge
on the 19th of December, and at once began felling trees to build log
huts on the slopes where they were to encamp. Washington's head-
quarters were at the house of Mr. Potts, an old house still standing.
Around him on regular streets, like a little city, were the huts of the Con-
tinental soldiers. Howe, in Philadelphia, enjoyed comfortable quarters
and abundance of supplies. Washington, through the dilatory action
of Congress and the frauds of those who had undertaken to furnish
supplies, saw his army almost perish with hunger and cold. For want
464 THE STORY OF A G REAT NATION ,
of horses, the men had to yoke themselves to wagons. As winter ad-
vanced the suffering increased. For a week at a time the troops were
Without any kind of flesh-meat, and the farmers around, disaffected
to the new government, refused to sell them grain or cattle. Sickness
broke out among them and numbers died. Never did a cause look
more gloomy, but Washington never despaired. Isaac Potts, in whose
house he lodged, once came upon the general's horse tied to a sapling,
and in a thicket near by he saw Washington on his knees in prayer,
his cheeks wet with tears.
We turn now to the Northern department. After the disastrous
invasion of Canada, the scanty American force, with a small body of
Canadians who had joined them, fell back to Ticonderoga and Crown
Point.
The English had meanwhile sent out German and English troops to
Canada, and a large army now occupied that province under General
Burgoyne. Canadians, with Indians and Tories from New York,
brought by the influence of the Johnson family, swelled his ranks.
He resolved to take the offensive and to sweep down to New York,
annihilating the American forces on his way, and thus crushing out the
rebellion in that colony.
Towards the latter part of June, 1777, he encamped near Crown
Point and there gave a war banquet to his Indians, addressing them
in a speech intended to inflame their zeal, although in words he enjoin-
ed on them humanity and all the usages of civilized men, denouncing
all scalping or murder of those not engaged in hostilities.
At the approach of the enemy, the Americans posted at Crown
Point retired to Ticonderoga; General St. Clair held that fort with
about two thousand half-armed men and boys. He was not aware
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 46.5
*
of the large force under Burgoyne, or its reinforcements. He at-
tempted to defend Ticonderoga, although he had not force enough to
man his lines.
Burgoyne took possession of Mount Hope and Mount Defiance,
planting batteries to command St. Clair's position. St. Clair by night
sent off his stores in batteaux to Whitehall, and then marched for the
same place. Burgoyne soon discovered the movement, although a fire
had been kept up on his works to mislead him. He overtook the
boats at Whitehall, and the Americans destroyed them, with the mills
and stores there, to prevent their falling into his hands. General
Frazer, with a force of Hessians and English, pursued St. Clair's rear,
and overtook them at Hubbarton in Vermont. The Americans, about
twelve hundred in number, under Colonels Seth Warner and Francis,
faced the enemy : but at the first volleys the militia fled, leaving seven
hundred men to bear the brunt. The battle raged furiously for some
time, and the Americans, though Colonel Francis was killed while
checking a retreat, held their ground till General Riedesel came dash-
ing up with his Hessians. Then the remnant of the American force
retreated to Rutland and Castleton, pursued by the Hessians. The
English had won the day, but at the cost of two hundred men killed
and wounded ; the American loss, including prisoners, being more than
three hundred : but the heaviest disaster was the loss of Ticonderoga,
a hundred and twenty-eight cannon, stores, and provisions.
At the same time Colonel St. Leger, with a force of English, Tories,
and Indians, was moving by way of Oswego on Fort Schuyler, now
Rome, where Colonel Gansevoort commanded a small garrison. To
relieve this place, a force assembled under brave old General Herki-
mer, but they were rash and disregarded his calm advice. While
466 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
pushing on towards the fort they were suddenly attacked by a party
in ambush, under command of Brant and Sir John Johnson. The
Americans were at first thrown into confusion as the Indians burst on
them from their coverts, with deadly volleys and yells of fury, but
they speedily recovered and fought like veterans. Brave old Herki-
mer had his horse killed under him, by a ball which pierced his own
leg. But he made his men seat him on his saddle at the foot of a
large beech tree, and, lighting his pipe, he continued to give his orders
with the utmost composure till the enemy retreated. For nearly an
hour the woods resounded with the crack of rifles, the cheers of the
Americans, the yells of the Indians and Tories. Both fought with the
utmost desperation, most of the combatants being old friends and
neighbors, with scarcely a stranger among them. It was almost a
hand to hand fight, and was suspended only when a furious storm
came on. The British then drew off, but Herkimer formed his men in
a better position. He had seen the Indians rush on his men after firing,
and cut them down. Now he put two men at a tree, one to fire at a
time. When the British renewed the attack, and, after seeing the
flash of an American's rifle, rushed up to despatch him before he could
load again, they caught the rifle-ball or the hatchet of the second
American. So severely did the Indians suffer by this new style that
they drew off, and Major Watts rushed forward to the attack with his
Royal Greens, a Tory regiment raised in the valley. The sight of these
men stung the Americans to madness. As these traitors advanced,
the Americans poured in a deadly volley, then burst from their coverts
like so many furies, and attacked them with bayonets, knives, or with
the butts of their muskets. Amid this came the thunder of cannon
from the fort. Gansevoort was coming. The English, to deceive them,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 467
Sent a party with their coats turned ; the Americans were about to
Open and receive them when the fraud was detected. So fierce was
the attack on his party, that they were all killed or driven back in
panic ; and the Indians, terrorstruck, fled with them. The sortie from
the fort, under Colonel Willett, completed the rout of St. Leger, who
lost all his camp equipage, clothing, stores, private papers and baggage,
with five British flags.
Yet St. Leger rallied his men and even sent an officer to demand
the surrender of the fort. It was indignantly refused ; and Colonel
Willett hastened in person to Albany for relief. General Arnold
marched to relieve the fort, and using a half crazy fellow named Hon
Yost Schuyler he filled St. Leger's Indians with such terrible ideas of
his immense force, that St. Leger's besieging force, to the great as-
tonishment of Colonel Gansevoort and his garrison, suddenly broke
up their encampment and fled in haste, leaving tents, artillery, and
baggage behind them.
Thus ended the siege of Fort Schuyler.
Brave General Herkimer was carried to his home, but his wound
proved fatal. He died a few days after, revered to this day in the val-
ley of the Oriskany, where he fought so nobly.
Burgoyne had now control of Lake Champlain and Lake George,
but his further progress was delayed by want of provisions. He ex-
pected to live off the country, but was soon disappointed. The
Americans had provisions stored at Bennington, in Vermont. That
State, with the rich pastures in the valleys of the Green Mountains,
abounded in horses, with which, too, he hoped to mount his dragoons.
A body of nearly five hundred men, Hessians, Tories, and Indians,
Sallied out from Fort Edward, under the command of Lieutenant-Colo-
468 TIII: STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
nel Baume, guided by Governor Skene. All was gay as a holiday ex-
cursion, but when tidings came that the Americans had mustered,
eighteen hundred strong, at Bennington to meet him, the matter began
to look serious. Still Baume felt himself strong enough, and he push-
ed on over the dusty road in the hot August Sun. At Van Schaick's
Mill, near North Hoosick, he captured some flour, and was joined by
a few Tories, who increased his hopes of success.
John Stark, at the call of the General Court of New Hampshire,
left his farm to take command of the suddenly raised forces of the
State. On the 13th of August, hearing of the enemy's approach, he
sent out Colonel Gregg with two hundred men. As this party came
upon Baume's force it fell back till Stark came up, and formed his
men in line of battle ; Baume, seeing a considerable force thus check-
ing his advance, halted on a high ground overlooking a bend of the
Walloomscoick Creek. Stark, to draw him from this ground, as
well as to obtain reinforcements, fell back. Militia came pouring in.
The Rev. Mr. Allen of Pittsfield came at the head of his flock.
“General,” said he, “the people of Berkshire have often been summon-
ed to the field without being allowed to fight, and if you do not give
them a chance, they have resolved never to turn out again.” “Well,”
said Stark, “do you wish to march now while it is dark and raining?”
“No, not just this moment,” was the reply. “Then,” said the gene-
ral, “if the Lord shall once more give us sunshine and I do not give
you fighting enough, I’ll never ask you to come out again.”
During the night the rain ceased, the day dawned bright and clear,
land both prepared for action.
Stark sent two parties, one under Colonel Nichols, the other under
Colonel Herreck, to attack Baume's right and left wings from the rear.
OR, OUR COUNTRY'S ACHIEVEMENTS. 469
About three o'clock, the rattle of musketry told that the attack had be-
gun. Then Stark, in front, sprang to his saddle, and gave the word,
“Forward.” On to the hill-top swept his main body, full in view of
the advance of Baume's force, a Tory party intrenched just over the
river, while the Hessian intrenchment, now wreathed in smoke, lay be-
yond. “See there, men,” cried Stark, “there are the red-coats. Be-
fore night they are ours, or Molly Stark will be a widow !” The mili-
tia answered with a shout that sent a thrill through every Tory heart,
as Stark swept down, and the battle began in earnest. The Tories
were driven from their intrenchment, and hurled back over the creek
into the Hessian lines. The Indian allies of the British, disliking the
look of affairs, fled with loud yells. Then the stubborn fight began.
Baume's troops fought desperately, keeping their columns unbroken,
till every charge of powder was gone. The Americans as bravely
charging upon them, regardless of their cannon and defenses. For a
time, the dragoons with their sabres endeavored to cut their way
through, but at last were compelled to yield. Almost the whole party
surrendered as prisoners of war.
Burgoyne, in his first instructions, had directed Baume to sweep
through Vermont, and join him at Albany, bringing horses by the
thousand. But Baume's letters led him to think there might be a little
trouble, So he sent Lieutenant-Colonel Breyman, to reinforce him. Just
as Stark, having secured his prisoners, was going to let his men plunder
the camp of the vanquished, Breyman came upon the field. Stark re-
called his men, and with Colonel Seth Warner, who came up with fresh
troops, renewed the battle with the fresh foe. Both sides fought des-
perately, as long as daylight lasted. Then Breyman retreated to-
wards Saratoga, pursued by the Americans.
470 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
With a loss of thirty killed and forty wounded, Stark had captured
seven hundred and fifty prisoners, four cannon, ammunition-wagons,
muskets, and killed more than two hundred of the enemy.
This deprived Burgoyne of a thousand men, and, with St. Leger's
defeat, disheartened the Tories and Indians. America was filled with
exultation. Stark, who had been so ill treated by Congress that he had
left the army, was made a brigadier-general without the asking, and a
new spirit was aroused in all.
Disappointed in his hopes of drawing relief from Vermont, or the
Mohawk valley, Burgoyne saw no alternative but to push on. Yet,
before him was a really great general ; not a showy, noisy man, but one
clear of head, cool, careful, and practical. General Schuyler had col-
lected the militia, and, while risking skirmishes, avoided a battle with
Burgoyne's veterans, delaying his progress by destroying bridges, cut-
ting up the roads, digging pit-falls, and creating every obstacle that in-
genuity could devise. On the 13th and 14th of September, Burgoyne
reached the plain of Saratoga, and encamped within nine miles of
Schuyler's camp at Stillwater. Towards this Burgoyne advanced cau-
tiously ; Arnold, who was sent out with fifteen hundred men, failing to
check his advance.
On the 19th of September, Burgoyne made his first attack on the
American lines, where Schuyler, sacrificed to the clamors of a few, had
been succeeded by General Gates. The Americans lay around Bemis’
tavern, their line well defended by breastworks and redoubts. Gener-
al Gates commanded the right in person, between the river and the
high ground, while General Arnold held the height with his left. Be-
tween the armies were two deep ravines closely wooded. Burgoyne's
force moved through these obstacles to the attack. Down on his right
oR, OUR Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 47 i
came Morgan's rifles, and General Arnold in support : but as Gates
would not send reinforcements, they were unable to turn General Fra-
zer's flank.
Arnold, ever ready in resource and boldness, marched across under
cover of the woods, and suddenly burst down like a torrent on Burgoyne's
centre. His left and right wings dared not leave their positions to aid
their commander, and though General Phillips and General Riedesel
did come up, the battle lasted furiously for four hours, until darkness
put an end to the action. Then the Americans drew off, and the Eng-
lish remained in possession of the field, having lost about six hundred
killed and wounded out of thirty-five hundred. The American loss
was much less.
Yet Burgoyne had not reached, much less attacked, the American
1ines; his provisions were nearly exhausted ; he heard nothing of Sir
Henry Clinton, who was to have co-operated with him from New York;
a retreat to Canada was almost impossible. Every day skirmishing was
kept up, weakening his men, while it gave courage and experience to
the American troops, whose numbers were constantly increasing. In
vain Burgoyne despatched messengers to Sir Henry Clinton ; in vain
he looked with anxious eyes for the expected relief.
On the 7th of October, receiving no information, he resolved to make
an attack on the American left. Phillips, Riedesel, and Frazer moved
out in gallant style, with the Indians and Tories on their left. Again
Morgan began the battle, and the Americans attacked Burgoyne's line
simultaneously on both flanks and in the centre. Burgoyne ordered up
fresh troops to cover the retreat, which he now saw to be inevitable.
It was too late. The grenadiers and Germans, under Ackland and
Riedesel, on the low ridge, had already given way before the onset of
472 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
the men of New Hampshire, New York, and Connecticut. The gallant
General Frazer, bringing up the Twenty-fourth to cover their retreat,
was killed by a ball from a tree, sent by Morgan's deadly rifles. In-
stead of menacing Gates' lines, Burgoyne began to fear for his own
Back he hastened, leaving six cannon on the field, which was strewn
with his dead and wounded.
Well might he fear, for Arnold, who had headed his men in the des-
perate attack on Burgoyne's centre and left, was determined to
strike a blow to show how unjustly Gates had treated him. Encourag-
ing his men to the wildest enthusiasm, he pushed on to the enemy's
line, and when Patterson's brigade, caught in an abattis, was driven
back, he led up Jackson's regiment and furiously attacked Lord Bal-
carras in his intrenchment, and, failing to carry it, stormed and held
the part of Burgoyne's intrenchment held by Colonel Breyman—Ar-
nold's horse being killed under him just as he was entering the works,
by a ball which fractured the general's leg.
During the night Burgoyne abandoned his lines, and fell back to a
new position. His retreat had begun, his doom was sealed ; Gates
sent off detachments to cut off his retreat, by demolishing bridges and
impeding the roads.
Burgoyne halted at Fish Creek and called a council of war. There
was no alternative. On the 16th of October a convention was signed,
by which this once formidable army capitulated to General Gates.
Two lieutenant-generals, two major-generals, three brigadier-generals,
a long line of inferior officers and men, making up five thousand seven
hundred and sixty-three men, with all their artillery, arms, and
ammunitions, were surrendered on the plains of Saratoga.
The English forces left in Ticonderoga and Crown Point, retired in
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 473
all haste to Canada. The citizen Soldiers, gathered to meet this well-
appointed army, in spite of the pompous proclamations of its general
menacing them with all the terrors of war, beheld regiment after regi-
ment file out and lay down their arms, after a series of engagements
in which the boasted Superiority of English regulars had been proved
a delusion.
Burgoyne had waited in vain for a movement from New York under
Clinton. That general had not been utterly remiss. But all these
British generals were beginning to find that America was a large
country, and that to hold much territory, required very large armies.
When Clinton should have moved from New York up the Hudson
River, he found that he had not men enough to do so safely, and leave
a force to hold New York. Every day he looked anxiously seaward
for ships with fresh troops from England. There, as usual, delays took
place, and it was not till October that Clinton could begin his cam-
paign. On the Highlands, on the western bank of the beautiful Hud-
son, about fifty miles above New York, the Americans had planted Fort
Clinton and Fort Montgomery, to prevent the enemy from passing up.
Under the guns of the fort a boom was stretched across the river,
with an immense iron chain in front, and a heavy wood-work called a
chevaux-de-frise sunk behind it. Above this again lay a frigate and
Some galleys, to prevent any attempt to force a passage. Below, on
the opposite site, frowned Fort Independence. General Putnam had
his head-quarters at Peekskill, just below, and with a force of two
thousand men commanded the river.
Clinton sailed up with three thousand men in the ships of war un-
der Commodore Hotham, and landed near Peekskill. Putnam fellº
back to the heights in the rear of Peekskill, calling on Governor
474 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION,
Clinton for reinforcements, and utterly neglecting to strengthen his
forts. Clinton, leaving part of his force to amuse the old general,
threw his army across to Stony Point, and at once marched around
behind the Dunderberg mountain to attack Fort Clinton and Fort
Montgomery. He had nearly reached them before he was discovered.
Parties which had been sent out were met and driven in by the
British columns, which now moved simultaneously on the two forts.
The little parties of Americans under Bruyn, McClaghrey, Fenno,
fought desperately but in vain ; in vain did the little garrisons of the
forts keep up a cannonade and musketry fire from their works. They
were too few. Sir Henry Clinton advanced on Fort Clinton through a
long abattis, and under a severe fire. At his word, his men, with fixed
bayonets, without firing a shot, charged and carried the works. So too,
at Fort Montgomery, Lord Rawdon led on his grenadiers to the
charge, and though Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell fell at the head of .
his division, they too, carried the works before them.
The English fleet was in the river, to aid if necessary, but by a
single blow, the elaborate American defenses were swept away. The
fleet destroyed the boom and chain ; the American vessels endeavored
to escape up the river, but, ſailing, were set on fire. The other forts
were abandoned, and to heighten the panic and dismay, the English
wantonly destroyed Continental Village and Esopus. The victory
was complete. The British were masters of the Hudson.
In the action at the forts, the Americans lost about two hundred
and fifty men, but the English did not secure many prisoners, as most
of the garrisons escaped when the enemy entered the works. Had
"Clinton at once sailed up with his force and occupied Albany, the victory
at Saratoga would have been useless, but he returned to New York.
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 47.5
General Burgoyne was received with great courtesy by General
Schuyler, whose beautiful house he had recently destroyed. Struck
with Schuyler's generosity the British general said: “You show me
great kindness, though I have done you much injury.” “That was
the fate of war,” nobly replied Schuyler, “let us say no more about it.”
Burgoyne's troops were marched to Boston to be sent to England,
but troubles arose and they were removed to Virginia, and there de-
tained as prisoners till they were formally exchanged. Gates, instead
of reporting his victory to Washington, as his Commander-in-chief, dis-
patched an officer to Congress. A vote of thanks was passed to him
and his army, and a medal was struck to commemorate his success.
Among the incidents connected with Burgoyne's campaign is the
fate of Jane McCrea, which excited universal commiseration. This
beautiful young lady was the daughter of a Presbyterian clergyman
at Jersey City, but on the death of her father there, went to reside
with her brother near Fort Edward. Here her affections were won
by a young man named David Jones, who sided with the English Gov-
ernment, and, proceeding to Canada, became a lieutenant in the divis-
ion of Burgoyne's army commanded by the brave General Frazer.
As the English army approached Fort Edward young McCrea prepared
to retire to Albany, for he was a staunch Whig : but Jenny, with her
Tory lover and many Tory friends, felt no alarm, and lingered with
some friends, though her brother sent for her. She at last promised
to join him next day. That morning some Indians stealthily approach-
ed the house. All fled to the cellar, but the Indians, dashing in, seized
Mrs. McNeil and Jenny, and dragged them off towards Burgoyne's
camp. A negro boy, seeing this, ran to Fort Edward to give the
alarm ; a party was sent out, which fired on the Indians, but they
476 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
escaped. When the pursuit ceased, the Indians stripped Mrs. McNeil
to her chemise and led her to the camp, where she almost immediately
met General Frazer, who was related to her. While reproaching him
with sending Indians to attack innocent settlers, the other Indians
came up, and to her horror she beheld Jane McCrea's Scalp dangling
from the belt of one. She charged him with having massacred her
young friend, but the Indians denied it.
As it was long currently reported and believed, the Indians them-
selves quarreled about her at the pine-tree long pointed out to travelers,
and finally murdered her, carrying off her scalp. They pretended that
she was slain by a ball from the American party, but in such a case
an Indian would scarcely carry off in triumph her scalp. Burgoyne
summoned the Indians to council, and demanded the surrender of the
man who bore off the scalp, to be punished as a murderer; but he
finally pardoned him for fear of losing all his Indians.
Young Jones, horrified at this picture of war, and heart-broken,
wished to throw up his commission, but was not permitted to do so.
He purchased the scalp of his betrothed, and, with his brother, desert-
ed from the English army soon after, and retired to Canada. There he
lived many years, keeping up in sorrow and Solitude the anniversary
of the death of the beautiful Jane McCrea.
During all the period from the Declaration of Independence, and
virtually before that act, the Continental Congress had governed the
country, but without any definite understanding with the States, or
document stating its powers. Wise men had been devising plans for
this general government. In November, 1777, Articles of Confeder-
ation were adopted, and submitted to the States for their ratification.
These Articles of Confederation should be known. Under them,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 477
each State was to have not less than two nor more than four members
in Congress; the delegates from each State having together one vote
in all deliberations: and these delegates were paid by the State
which they represented.
This Congress had the Sole right of determining peace and war,
sending and receiving ambassadors, treating with foreign countries,
establishing a post-office, coining money. They had the right to make
requisitions on the States for their quota of troops: and to appoint all
army officers except regimental ones, and all navy officers.
When Congress was not in session, a committee of the States, consist-
ing of one delegate from each, controlled the affairs of government.
Congress elected a president, who could not serve more than one year
in three.
The Union was declared perpetual, and no alteration was to be made
in any State unless agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the legisla-
ture of every State. No two or more States were to make any treaty,
confederation, or union among themselves, without consent of Congress.
These articles were now submitted to the States.
We will close the history of this eventful year by an account of a
curious panic which occurred among the British troops in Philadelphia.
David Bushnell, of Connecticut, anxious like many of the patriots to rid
his country of the British fleet in the Delaware, turned his ingenuity to
the invention of a torpedo to effect this desirable object. He made kegs
of powder to float down the stream, so arranged, by machinery, that on
striking any hard substance, they would explode. He sent several
down, but unfortunately, that very night, the English ships were hauled
into docks to avoid the ice ; but one of the kegs, meeting some obstacle,
exploded. It filled all Philadelphia with alarm. For several days the
478 TIII, STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
English soldiers and sailors watched the river with the most unwinking
gaze. Everything that could excite suspicion was fired at. It so hap-
pened that a sudden rise of the river, occasioned by a thaw, flooded a
cooper's yard above the city, and down the river went the casks, bob-
bing up and down. As this fleet was descried by a sentinel, he fired
an alarm gun. Down to the docks poured the soldiers, who, seeing so
many kegs, supposed them all Bushnell torpedoes sent down for their
destruction. A fire was opened on them from every dock and ship,
and kept up vigorously till the tide had borne them all down, or they
had been so riddled that they sank.
“The cannons roar from shore to shore,
The small arms loud did rattle;
Since wars began I’m sure no man
|Bºer saw so strange a battle.
The rebel dales, the rebel Vales
With rebel trees surrounded,
The distant woods, the hills and floods
With rebel echoes sounded:”
sung Francis Hopkinson in his ballad “The Battle of the Kegs,” written
on the Occasion, and long immensely popular.
In March, 1776, Congress despatched Silas Deane, a commercial and
political agent, to France, and at a later day sent commissioners to other
countries of Europe, from whom aid might be expected. From France
especially, an alliance was hoped ; the supplies of arms indirectly given,
the accession of a nobleman so illustrious as the Marquis de Lafayette,
and the unconcealed friendship manifested by the French ministry, all
filled America with hopes of direct aid, and especially with the hope
that France would acknowledge the independence of the United States,
setting an example that other countries would readily follow.
Q
OR, our Count RY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 479
But though Dr. Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee, as commis-
sioners, met Vergennes in December, 1776, they could not induce
the French government to take a step which must bring on a war with
England.
America offered her a share in the cod fisheries, excluding all other
nations, half of Newfoundland, and any islands in the West Indies that
might be reduced, but still France hesitated, although she continued to
aid the United States through a fictitious mercantile house in the
West Indies.
When the reverses of war made the American cause look less hope-
ful, France was still less inclined to act rashly.
The surrender of Burgoyne gave a new aspect to affairs. Although
Washington, on whom great hopes were founded, had as yet achieved
no striking success, this victory of the northern army excited universal
astonishment. England began to hope that the United States, disgusted
with French delay, would accept terms which England might honorably
offer; while Louis XVI. felt that he must now act, if at all.
Lord North introduced into Parliament conciliatory bills about tax-
ing the colonies; allowing the colonies themselves to apply the proceeds
of the tax, as though America would, for a moment, entertain any
such proposals.
On the 16th of December, Gerard, secretary to the French Council of
State, informed the American Commissioners that, after a long and ma-
ture deliberation, his majesty had determined to recognize the independ-
ence of, and to enter into a treaty of commerce and alliance with, the
United States of America; and that he would not only acknowledge
their independence, but actually support it with all the means in his
power.
480 THE STORY OF A G REAT NATION.
France saw that if North, coming at last to understand the real state.
of the case, acknowledged the independence of the United States, and
formed an alliance with her late colonies, France would be exposed to
great danger. Her interest was to prevent any such alliance, and thus
pursue the friendly course she had hitherto adopted.
Thus closed the year 1777, full of fresh hopes for American freedom,
although this cheering intelligence did not for some months reach her
shores.
We have seen how one Pennsylvania woman, Lydia Darrah,
served her country, while the English occupied Philadelphia. Another,
Hannah Erwin Israel, showed undaunted courage.
Soon after the fall of the city, the British seized her husband and
brother on the information of Tory neighbors, who reported that Mr.
Israel had declared openly that he would sooner drive his cattle as a
present to General Washington, than receive thousands of dollars in
British gold for them.
The two prisoners were conveyed on board the Roebuck frigate;
lying in the Delaware, and orders were at once given to dispatch a
Squad of soldiers to drive off and slaughter all Mr. Israel's cattle,
which were then in full sight, grazing in the meadows.
Mrs. Israel, a young and beautiful woman, only nineteen years of
age, slight in person, and retiring in disposition, was roused by the
wrongs of her country and her own. She was on the lookout, gazing
towards the vessel in which those dear to her were confined, when she
saw boats push towards the land, full of soldiers. In a moment she
divined their purpose, and resolved to baffle it. Taking a boy eight
years old, she started for the meadow, and began to drive the cattle
towards the barnyard, some distance back, where she knew the Sol-
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 481
diers would not dare to venture, for fear of being surrounded by the
farmers. Before she got the herd well started, the Soldiers reached
the field, and called on her to stop, threatening to fire.
“Fire away !” cried the heroic woman, and the volley rattled around
her, but providentially missing her, while it startled the cattle so that
they dashed madly off.
Little Joe fell to the ground in terror, but Mrs. Israel, catching him
up, ran on, and putting up the bars secured her cattle, leaving the Sol-
'diers to return empty-handed.
CHAPTER III.
‘Campaign of 1778—Alliance with France—North's Bills of Conciliation—Their Rejection—
British Cruelty—Battle of Monmouth—Conduct of General Lee—Arrival of Admiral d’Es-
taing's Fleet—Operations in Rhode Island—D'Estaing engages the British and sails off—
Retreat of Sullivan–Savage Cruelty of the English—Massacre at Wyoming—Massacre at
Paoli—At Little Egg Harbor—The English capture Savannah—Clarke reduces Illinois.
ON the 6th of February, 1778, a treaty of commerce between France
and the United States of America was signed by Franklin, Deane,
and Lee, representing the United States of America, and Gerard, rep-
resenting the French Government; a treaty of defensive alliance was
also signed, in case England should declare war against France for thus
recognizing her colonies. France agreed to maintain the liberty, Sov-
ereignty, and independence, absolute and unlimited, of the United States,
as Well in matters of government as of commerce.
America thus took her place among the powers of the earth, by the
acknowledgment of one of the greatest powers of Europe.
489 TIME STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
In March, France communicated to England the commercial treaty
By April, North's conciliatory bills reached America and were widely
scattered. They were sent to Washington, who laid them before Con-
gress, urging that nothing short of independence should be thought of
for a moment. Congress did not delay to express the opinion of the
country. On the 22d of April, less than a month after the bills reached
America, Congress unanimously resolved that the offers of the British
ministry could not be accepted.
How could they, indeed 2 Never had the British shown, on Ameri-
can soil, more bitter hatred, or more unrelenting and merciless cruelty.
Washington and his little army lay at Valley Forge, enduring priva-
tions that make us shudder to read, while the English in Philadelphia
received plentiful supplies from the farmers who thought less of patriot-
ism than of a good market. At last Washington sent General Wayne
into New Jersey, to obtain provisions and horses. One of Wayne's
parties was surprised at Quentin's Bridge, and many killed on the spot,
others driven into a creek and left to drown, while many, after surren-
dering, were bayoneted without mercy. The people of New Jersey,
regarding the whole affair more as a murder than warfare, have always
called it the massacre at Quentin's Bridge. Another party was surpris-
ed by night at Hancock's Bridge, and bayoneted in their beds, with the
citizens of the place, no resistance being made, and no quarter given. In
the little battle at Crooked Billet, where General Lacey, though sur-
prised, gallantly drew off his men, with merely the loss of his baggage,
the British soldiers not only bayoneted and hacked the wounded, but
actually gathered buckwheat straw around them, and set them on fire,
as they lay, too weak to try to extinguish the flames. The cruelties of
the Indians at Coble's Hill, in Schoharie county, where Brant began
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 483
his work of blood, do not exceed in Savage ferocity those of the civil-
ized soldiers of the English army.
Such were the acts of the men who now offered what they called Con-
ciliation Bills.
Ten days after Congress rejected the insidious proposals, news reach-
ed Congress of the final step taken by France. The treaties were im-
t mediately ratified, and the news, as it spread through the country, was
received with the wildest enthusiasm. Louis XVI., and his minister
Wergennes, were now regarded with an affection and respect that
George III, and his ministers had so utterly failed to obtain.
Walley Forge put on a garb of joy. The event was celebrated with
appropriate religious ceremonies, and the day closed with an entertain-
ment, enlivened by music and patriotic toasts.
Congress, in an address to the people, warned them against the in-
sidious offers of England, and roused their patriotism to new efforts
and new sacrifices, worthy of the admiration of Europe, which would
now watch them with a deeper interest than ever. In June, the Earl
of Carlisle, with Eden and Johnstone, the English Commissioners, ar-
rived, and sent their proposals to Congress. Its reply was prompt and
firm. “The acts of the British Parliament, the commission from your
sovereign, and your letter, suppose the people of these States to be
subjects of the crown of Great Britain, and are founded on the idea
of a dependence which is utterly inadmissible.
“Congress are inclined to peace, notwithstanding the unjust claims
from which this war originated, and the savage manner in which it has
been conducted. They will, therefore, be ready to enter upon the con-
sideration of a treaty of peace and commerce, not inconsistent with
treaties already subsisting, when the King of Great Britain shall dem-
484 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
onstrate a sincere disposition for that purpose.” The baffled and dis-
appointed commissioners, after endeavoring to buy some of the patriots,
returned to England.
According to one of the actors in the Revolution, Johnstone, in an
interview with Mrs. Ferguson, of Philadelphia, desired her to mention
to Joseph Reed, a member of the Coutinental Congress, that if he
would promote the object of their commission, he might have any office
in the colonies in the gift of his Britannic Majesty, and ten thousand
pounds in hand. Spurning the idea, Reed told Mrs. Ferguson that he
was not worth purchasing, but such as he was, the King of England
was not rich enough to do it.
The alliance between the United States and France might result at
any moment in a war between England and the French king. If a
French fleet blockaded the Delaware, the English army at Philadel-
phia would be captured as certainly as Burgoyne's had been.
Sir Henry Clinton succeeded Howe, at Philadelphia. All the mer-
rymakings, festivities, mischianzas, and tournaments, with which the
British officers had amused themselves and their Tory friends in that
city, ceased. Anxiety became general.
Clinton resolved to retreat across New Jersey to New York, but
kept his own counsels wisely, endeavoring to mislead Washington as
to his plans. Unfortunately, General Ilee, next in command to Wash-
ington, and long jealous of his chief, had, while a prisoner in the hands
of the British, betrayed the cause of America, by recommending
plans for its subjugation. He now continued the same treacherous
course by thwarting Washington's plans. The American commander
had at once divined Clinton's design, and proposed crossing at once
into Jersey to prevent it. Lee argued against it, and so plausibly, that
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS.
4.
8
f
most of the generals sided with him. However, Washington began to
interrupt and break up the roads that Clinton must take. At last,
the English general's course was seen. He sent off in ships, the pro-
vision-trains, heavy baggage, German troops, and loyalists.
A little before dawn, on the 18th of June, the British army left Phil-
adelphia, and commenced crossing the Delaware river at Gloucester
Point, three miles below. Steadily the boats plied to and fro, the
muskets glittering in the sunlight, as detachment after detachment
landed. By ten o'clock, Pennsylvania, to her joy, beheld the last of
her oppressors reach the Jersey shore. In a few hours Clinton was
encamped at Haddonfield with his force, and an immense baggage train
stretching for miles.
• Washington's forecast was justified. Although he had yielded to the
opinion of his generals, he made every preparation for a rapid move-
ment. Everything was ready. Eager for action, Wayne and Greene
moved out of Valley Forge, and crossed the Delaware at Coryell's
Ferry. Morgan, with his rifles, hastened on to reinforce Maxwell, who,
with the sturdy Jersey militia, was disputing the road with Clinton, of.
ten compelling him to halt, and draw up in line.
Again Washington held a council of war. Lee earnestly opposed
attacking the enemy, and again his influence prevailed. Clinton was
pushing on to New Brunswick, his long line of troops and baggage-
Wagons stretching out for twelve miles, halting to build bridges and
repair the roadways.
His first object was the Raritan, but Washington was in his path;
So he struck towards Sandy Hook, by way of Monmouth.
In spite of the decision of a new council of war, Washington
resolved on a general engagement. As Lee opposed it, he gave
486 TIIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Lafayette command of the advance : but Lee, soliciting the post,
obtained it.
Clinton saw before him the Heights of Middletown. Gain this and
he could defy Washington. On the night of Saturday, June 27, the
American commander ordered Lee to attack Clinton as soon as he
moved, and thus prevent his gaining the heights ; he was instructed
to send out parties to watch the enemy's movements. Success depend-
ed on celerity and vigilance, Lee showed neither.
Before he moved, Dickinson's New Jersey militia engaged the en-
emy, and reported to Washington. Again the aides-de-camp dashed
down with orders to Lee, and Washington put his army in motion; the
men prepared for hot work under the broiling sun, throwing off their
packs and coats.
While Lee lay idle, or pushed on uncertainly, Clinton, sending Knyp-
hausen ahead with the baggage, came down from the high ground on
which he had encamped, and, to cover the baggage, attacked Wayne,
who had advanced upon him. He prepared also for a general attack
on Lee. That officer now found himself confronted by the best English
troops, and, to the disgust of his men, ordered a retreat. This was
done in great confusion and indignation, no one knowing why or
whither.
Washington, pressing on, with his men full of ardor, came on retreat-
ing soldiers. Unable to believe their story, he threatened to have
them whipped. He soon found it too true. He rode forward in a fury
of passion never before witnessed. He halted the troops as they came
up and formed them in line for action. At last, Lee rode up, and
Washington demanded the meaning of his conduct. Quick, furious
Words passed.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 487
Washington formed his advance again, and asked Lee whether he
would retain command or not. “Your orders shall be obeyed,” said
Lee: “I shall not be the first to leave the ground.”
Clinton, having driven in Lee, called back all the troops he could.
Then the battle began. Lee endeavored now gallantly to hold his
ground ; but under a terrible cannonade the English moved steadily
on. The Americans, after a stubborn fight, gave way ; a stand was
made at a hedgerow, and the American artillery sweeps their line. But
the cavalry and a bayonet charge again break the Americans. Here
a woman roused the patriots to still greater exertion. Mary Pitcher
had accompanied her husband into action. He fell beside his cannon,
killed by one of the enemy's balls. It was about to be abandoned,
when Mary, who had come up with a pail of water for her husband,
saw him dead. She seized the rammer and vowed to avenge his death.
She handled her cannon all day with skill and courage, which won her
a sergeantcy and half-pay for life. But no effort could hold the posi-
tion. Lee fell back on the main army, and Washington formed in a
woody height, Stirling on his left and Greene on his right. Wayne,
posted in an orchard on a height behind a barn, met the first onset of
the British veterans, as he had done in the morning. On came the
grenadiers under Monckton, but, as they crossed the hedge, Wayne's
deadly fire sent them back. Then Monckton roused his men for a
bold decisive charge, and Wayne, telling his men to pick the officers,
lay as silent as the foe who came so gallantly on. At last the sheet of
fire bursts forth ; Monckton is down, every officer is down, but the
grenadiers rally around their commander. A furious struggle ensues;
but the grenadiers are hurled back, and Monckton is borne to the rear
of the American line to die.
4S8 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Clinton's attack in all points failed. He threw his main body on
Lord Stirling, but the American left stood like a rock, and Clinton,
shattered by the artillery, fell back ; then he formed again and moved
upon the American right. There Greene met him manfully, and du
Plessis Mauduit with his artillery took him in the flank, so that Clinton
gave up and fell back to a strong position, with woods and morasses on
his flank and a narrow pass in front. Washington prepared to attack
him, but night came on, and during the darkness Clinton stole rapidly
away, leaving his wounded on the field, and hurried on to Sandy
Hook.
With his men overcome by heat and exertion, Washington deem-
ed it unwise to pursue the enemy and risk another action. Lee had
deprived him of the opportunity of capturing the whole British force.
While the British ships bore Clinton's well-beaten force to New
York, Washington marched northward, and, crossing the Hudson, en-
camped at White Plains.
Such was the hard-fought battle of Monmouth, on one of the hottest
summer days, where men dropped dead from heat alone.
Lee demanded a trial, and was found guilty of misbehavior before
the enemy, and disrespect to his Commander-in-chief. In consequence
he was suspended from his command for a year, and never rejoined
the army.
Clinton had moved none too soon. Early in July, at the very time
that he reached New York, a fine French fleet, commanded by the
Count d'Estaing, appeared off the coast of Virginia. He had sailed
from Toulon in April, intending to prevent the English from escaping
out of Philadelphia. Contrary winds had delayed him. Finding that
the bird had flown, he sailed at once to Sandy Hook. Here, none but
or, our count Ity's ACHIEVEMENTs. 489
Tory pilots could be found, and they persuaded him that a large Brit- t
ish fleet lay inside, and that the bar was dangerous. Lord Howe
drew up his little fleet inside Sandy Hook, and gathered all the ves-
sels he could find in the bay So as to give the appearance of a large
fleet, and d'Estaing, completely outwitted, Sailed off.
The next operation was the reduction of Rhode Island, in which
d'Estaing, by sea, and General Sullivan, with a detachment from Gene-
ral Washington's army, were to co-operate. D'Estaing with his fleet
occupied all the channels, but Sullivan had been delayed. On the 9th
of August, while fretting at this loss of time, sails were seen in the
horizon, and ere long, Howe's fleet, which had received a considerable
reinforcement, appeared in sight. The impatient French admiral,
though Sullivan was just ready to begin the operations, and the Eng-
lish garrison, under General Pigot, was a certain prize, sailed out to
meet Lord Howe. A great deal of manoeuvring followed, and before
they could come to action a violent storm came on which dispersed
both fleets. Howe sailed back to New York and d'Estaing to New-
port, both with fleets in a shattered condition. Sullivan had already
begun the siege, but the storm did great damage to his tents, arms,
and ammunition. When d’Estaing returned he was ready to attack
the English lines, but to his dismay the French admiral announced his
intention of proceeding to Boston. In vain General Greene and
General Lafayette endeavored to alter his determination, but all was
fruitless. He sailed off, and his conduct excited general indignation.
Sullivan, deserted by the fleet, had to abandon the siege and commence
a retreat. Pigot pursued him, and a very hard-fought battle ensuett
at Quaker Hill, in which the loss was severe on both sides. Sullivan at
last repulsed his assailants, and was thus enabled to reach the main-land
490 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
just before Clinton arrived with four thousand men and a light fleet to
the relief of Newport. Finding that Sullivan had escaped him, Clin-
ton sent Grey with the fleet to ravage the coast; and in carrying out
the Savage order, this man of blood, as he had already shown himself.
destroyed all the shipping in Acushnet River, burned Bedford and
Fairhaven, and committed great ravages in Martha's Vineyard.
Washington, with the prudence and moderation which were so char-
acteristic of him, did all in his power to smooth over the disagreement
at Newport, and calm the general resentment. It was all the more ne-
cessary, as Gerard had just arrived as Minister Plenipotentiary from
the French King, the first ambassador to the new republic.
And now ensued a series of bloody tragedies, far different from the
battle-fields, where disciplined armies meet according to the usages of
war between civilized nations. Indian massacres and massacres that ri-
valed those of the furious savage, were now to leave an ineffaceable
stigma on the British name.
Wyoming, in the valley of the Susquehanna, was a spot whose beau-
ties have been written in prose and verse, so that its name is familiar
to all. Its fertile soil, its rich beauty, its adaptation to every want,
had drawn to its bosom a band of industrious settlers, and nowhere in
the land were there a finer set of American yeomen. As the Indians
had shown some hostility, forts were thrown up, and in August, 1776,
Congress ordered two companies to be raised for the defense of the
valley. In 1778, tidings came of a British expedition intended to lay
waste this beautiful tract. The people called in vain on Congress and
Connecticut, to which State they were still reckoned to belong. Con-
gress did at last make an effort, but so ill-managed that it was useless,
On the morning of the 30th of June, 1778, Colonel John Butler, with
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 491
four hundred Tories and six hundred Indians, chiefly Senecas, under
Grengwatoh, entered the head of the valley and posted themselves in
ambush.
The river was lined on both sides with little forts, to which the peo-
ple retreated for safety. From Fort Jenkins, the first of these, is-
sued forth this joyous morning seven men and a boy to their daily
toil, utterly unsuspicious of danger.
Towards evening the work of death begun ; the little party were sur-
rounded, but bravely defended their lives; all were killed or taken
but the boy, John Harding, who threw himself into the river, and lying
under the willows that fringed the bank, with his mouth only above
the water, escaped notice.
The rattle of musketry and the yells of the savage foe gave the
alarm through the valley. The settlers rallied, and put themselves
under the command of Colonel Zebulon Butler, a cousin of the Tory
leader. Forty Fort became the post of the Americans. John Butler
demanded its surrender, but it was sternly refused. Zebulon Butler
would have held his post till aid came, but the younger men were eager
to go out and meet the enemy, whom they could see plundering and
ravaging. At last the gates were thrown open, and the little force of
three hundred, old men and young, men of rank and plough-boys, all
shouldering their muskets, marched out. Near the blazing Fort Winter-
moor, which the Tories had fired, the two parties met. The Tories and
Indians lay flat on the ground, awaiting the American approach. Ad-
dressing his men in words fitted to rouse their courage, Colonel Zebulon
approached to within a hundred yards of the enemy. Here the firing be-
gan, and for an hour raged furiously. Then the Indians gained a swamp
and threw the American left into disorder. In its endeavor to re-form
492 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
*.
the confusion increased, and Grengwatoh rushing forward with his
Senecas, the Americans met this hand to hand charge fighting desper-
ately. But the right was also broken. There was no hope but in a
prompt retreat, and the Indians gained their rear to prevent this.
The only place of crossing the river was far below. Many fell in the
attempt to reach it. In this bloody conflict Henry Pensil, a Tory,
slew his own brother, who begged for mercy. Others were
butchered by neighbors and men who had often received favors
at their hands. Those who fell into the hands of the Indians under-
went every form of cruelty that their ingenuity could devise. , Esther,
a woman chief, with her own hand tomahawked sixteen prisoners who
were ranged in a circle, surrounded by Indians. Two others in the
circle, Lebbeus Hammond and Joseph Elliott, burst through the war-
riors and escaped almost miraculously. When night put an end to
the pursuit and massacre, two hundred and twenty-seven American
scalps were dangling from the waists of the Tories and Indians, whom
the English authorities had sent on this work of blood. Only five
prisoners remained alive.
Many, seizing a little provisions from their homes, fled to the woods,
in hopes of reaching other settlements, bearing everywhere the terri-
ble tale of the Wyoming massacre.
Colonel Denison, with a small body of those who escaped, regained
Forty Fort, but when Colonel John Butler demanded its surrender,
he yielded, no longer able to hold out. Colonel Zebulon and his
Continentals having retired, John Butler declared distinctly that they
were to be given up to the Indians.
The Tory leader, after destroying the houses and driving off the live.
stock, retired from the valley.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 4%).3
This was not the only Indian raid on the American frontiers. Daniel
Boone, with a party of twenty-seven, was captured, and carried off by
the Indians to Chillicothe, and then to Detroit. He was finally adopted
by the Shawnees, but in June, 1778, effected his escape, and making a
journey of a hundred and sixty miles, with no provision except one
meal, which he had concealed in his blanket, reached Boonesborough,
just as the Indians were preparing to attack it. He found the fort utterly
unfit for defense. His wife and children, whom he yearned to see, were no
longer there. Thinking him dead, Mrs. Boone had gone back to her
father's house in North Carolina. Boone at once called the people together
and told them of their imminent danger. Every man sprang to work.
The fort was put in repair, with new bastions, and stout gates; stock
was brought in, provisions and ammunition obtained, a garrison formed,
and parties sent out on a Scout.
It was none too soon. On the 8th of August, a party of Canadians
and Indians, commanded by Captain Duquesne, demanded their surren-
der. The answer came back : “We are determined to defend our fort
as long as a man of us lives.”
Yet Duquesne lured out Boone and eight
others under pretense of treating for peace, and basely endeavored to
seize them after articles had been signed. Then the attack began in
earnest, but So ill did the enemy manage that they soon lost courage,
and on the 20th of August retired.
Then Boone plodded his solitary way to North Carolina, where his
wife and children welcomed him as one risen from the dead. Some-
what later, Colonel Hartley led an American force into the Indian
country on the Susquehanna, where he ravaged their towns, but this
only drew the Indians down on Cherry Valley.
A small Continental force was there under Colonel Alden, a New
494 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
England officer, little used to Indian fighting. The post was surprised
by Walter Butler, and his Indian and Tory demons. A general massa-
cre took place. Whole families were swept away, the assailants sparing
neither age nor sex. Thirty-two of the inhabitants, principally women
and children, and eleven Continental soldiers were killed, and all the
houses were burned, with their barns and stores of grain and hay, leav-
ing nearly two hundred people to perish or starve, without food or
shelter ; some of them families always zealous for the royal cause.
The English regulars were now jealous of their Indian allies, and
soon showed that they could equal them in cruelty. A party of New
Jersey Light Horse lay at Old Tappan, or Harrington, on the Hacken-
sack River. Against them, Cornwallis sent the butcher General Grey,
while other detachments assailed other parties. The dragoons were
surprised in their beds, and while incapable of resistance, and begging
for compassion, were butchered in cold blood. Similar cruelty was
shown in the surprise of Count Pulaski's legion, at Little Egg Hayr
in October, where the English were led by a deserter.
The English Government approved and encouraged these atrocities.
hoping to terrify the Americans into submission, but the result was just
the reverse. It filled the whole country with a deep-seated hatred of
the British nation ; and many who had still hesitated, and had hitherto
clung to the British side, seeing that their lives and property were at
the mercy of these cruel mercenaries, heartily joined their fellow coun-
trymen. Congress formally announced its intention to retaliate for
these cruelties if they were not stopped.
Admiral Byron, who had succeeded Lord Howe, attempted to bring
d’Estaing to action, but the French admiral, escaping out of Boston,
sailed to the West Indies. An English fleet, bearing a considerable
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 49.5
military force, followed him, and Sir Henry Clinton, seizing the oppor-
tunity of the absence of a French fleet, dispatched Lieutenant-Colo-
nel Campbell with Commodore Hyde Parker to attack the Southern
States, and on the 23d of December, Campbell occupied Tybee Island,
and calling on Governor Prevost of Florida for aid, prepared to at-
tack Savannah.
General Robert Howe, the American commander, could muster only
seven hundred men, but he marched from Sunbury and took up a
strong position to defend Savannah. Campbell amused him with a
feigned attack in front, while a part of his force, under Sir James
Baird, guided by a negro, turned his right flank and attacked him
from the rear. Then Campbell began the attack in front with
Vigor. Howe's right wing was captured almost entire, while the centre
managed to retreat with severe loss. The left wing, in attempting to
retreat through a swamp, lost many, who perished in the treacherous
ooze. The city, with all its stores and arms, and most of the Ameri-
can force, were thus captured.
In less than ten days the enemy was firmly established in Georgia,
where the people, recent settlers, had not moved promptly with the
other colonies in the struggle for freedom, and had of late shown little
inclination to respect the orders of Congress; now they flocked by
hundreds to the King's officers, and made their peace at the expense
of their patriotism. Thus Georgia became, in a few months, one of
King George's most loyal possessions.
Previous to this disaster, Washington had ordered General Lincoln
to take charge of the Southern Department, and as the campaign for
the year was clearly over, prepared to go into winter-quarters on
both sides of the Hudson, his line extending from Danbury to the
496 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Delaware, completely encircling New York, and so arranged, that
each detachment could be easily supported.
We have mentioned the operations of the French fleet, but have
said nothing hitherto of the efforts of America on the sea.
The Colonies had never maintained any navy, or possessed men-of-
war. During the operations against Canada, New England had fitted
out vessels, but such vessels were utterly unfitted to cope with the
mighty navy of England.
What was done on the sea was the work of single vessels, either
fitted out as men-of-war, under the authority of Congress, or privateers.
The first naval action of the Revolution took place off Machias, in
May, 1775.
The Margaretta, an armed schooner in the King's service, lay there,
protecting two sloops which were loading with lumber for Boston.
The news from Lexington had aroused the people, and such at-
tempts were made to seize the captain of the Margaretta that he drop-
ped down the river. Joseph Wheaton and Dennis O'Brien resolved
to seize her. They surprised one of the sloops, and were joined by
Jeremiah O'Brien, an athletic, gallant man, well known in the place. All
present volunteered when he took command, and the sloop, with a gen-
tle breeze from the northwest, sailed down on the schooner, her crew
strangely armed with some twenty fowling-pieces, thirteen pitchforks,
and a dozen axes.
Captain Moore saw danger in its approach, and at once hoisted Sail :
but, in rounding a bold point of land, the Schooner carried away her
boom. But he got a new one from a passing vessel and stood out to
sea. The sloop kept up the chase and soon overhauled the Margaret-
ta. Moore opened a heavy fire on the sloop, killing one man, but the
oR, our country's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 4)7
fire was returned, killing the Margaretta's helmsman and clearing her
deck. The sloop now ran so close to the schooner that her bowsprit was
fast in the shrouds, and the Maine marksmen were pouring in deadly
volleys. Moore fought well, sending grenades into the sloop till he
was shot down. With his fall the battle ended. The Schooner Sur-
rendered, the English flag was lowered, and the first naval victory
was gained for the United Colonies of America.
Thus was a well-equipped English vessel taken by a motley crew of
men from the fields, with fowling-pieces and pitchforks.
During Arnold's operations on Lake Champlain, in October, 1776,
quite a naval action took place between two little fleets on the lake.
Arnold had three schooners, a sloop, and five gondolas, poorly armed,
and equipped by men ignorant alike of Seamanship and gunnery.
General Carleton brought down seven hundred men from Montreal and
also equipped a fleet.
Arnold anchored his little fleet across the narrow channel, between
Walcour's Island and the shore south of Plattsburg. Early on the
morning of the 11th of October the enemy appeared, and sweeping
around the island, bore down on Arnold's fleet from the south. Their
force consisted of a ship, a snow, three schooners, and smaller craft,
well manned by sailors and marines from the royal vessels in the St.
Lawrence.
The action began, and notwithstanding the odds against the Ameri-
cans, was desperately contested till darkness closed the combat. In
this battle the Royal Savage, one of Arnold's vessels, was so badly
cut up that she was run ashore and fired, and a gondola sunk soon
after.
Seeing it impossible to sustain another action, Arnold resolved to
498 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
escape with his vessels, all of them badly crippled. He passed unper-
ceived through the English fleet and nearly reached Crown Point,
When a Southerſy wind stopped his course. A sudden change enabled
the British vessels to move first, and they bore down on Arnold's
Squadron. Near Split Rock the battle was renewed. The Washing-
ton soon struck, and General Waterbury and his men were captured.
The Congress fought till she was a perfect wreck, when she was run
up a creek and fired, with five gondolas. Of the little fleet only two
Schooners, a sloop, two galleys, and a gondola escaped.
The skill, bravery, and obstinate resistance of General Arnold and
his men, in this new style of warfare, against a vastly superior force
of experienced men, was hailed as a great achievement on the part
of Americans. It was clear that they could become good sailors as
well as good soldiers.
Congress, on the 13th of December, 1775, established a navy. The
frigate Randolph, a fine new vessel of thirty-two guns, under Captain
Biddle, was one of the first to take the sea with the flag of the United
States.
After making many captures, he sailed from Charleston in February,
1778, with a squadron, comprising the Randolph, General Moultrie,
Polly, Notre Dame, and Fair American. The object was, to engage
the Carysfort, an English frigate, which, with two smaller vessels, had
been cruising off Charleston. He failed to find the British squadron,
but fell in with the Yarmouth, a sixty-four gun vessel commanded by
Captain Vincent. The action opened, and the Randolph kept up a
tremendous fire, pouring in three broadsides to the Yarmouth's one.
and the smaller vessels doing their part well for about twenty minutes,
when Captain Nicholas Biddle of the Randolph was wounded in the
OR, OUR CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 499
thigh, and almost at the same instant the Randolph blew up. Of her
whole crew none escaped but four men, whom the Yarmouth picked
up five days after, floating on a piece of wreck. During this time they
had managed to sustain life by Some rain-water, which they caught in
a blanket.
After this disaster, the rest of the American Squadron made good
their retreat.
Late in September, 1778, the United States frigate Raleigh, of thirty
guns, commanded by the gallant Captain John Barry, sailed from Boston,
convoying two vessels. She was soon chased by two English men-of-
war, the Experiment, of fifty guns, and the Unicorn, of twenty-two. On
Sunday afternoon, September 27th, the Unicorn overhauled Barry
and the battle began. Barry kept up the fight till night-fall, gaining
such advantages over the Unicorn that she would have struck had
not the Experiment come up. Against this desperate odds Barry
struggled for half an hour, when he resolved to make for land. He
ran his ship aground on Fox Island, in Penobscot Bay, but before he
could get off his sick and wounded and fire her, the English captured
her, with a few men still in her. Barry's courage and ability were
highly approved in this well-fought action.
Arnold was not the only New England officer who showed naval
ability. During the operations in Narraganset Bay, the English, to
close the East Passage, stationed there a fine stout schooner, the Pigot,
well armed and equipped, and commanded by Lieutenant Dunlap of
the Royal Navy. As she barred the entrance she proved a great annoy-
ance to the American army, so that Major Talbot resolved to capture
her. He fitted out the Hawk, a small sloop, and with sixty men
drifted down at night past the forts, then hoisting sail stood for the
j 00 T[[E STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Pigot. Just as the sentries discovered her, the Hawk's jibboom tore
away the boarding-netting of the Schooner Lieutenant Helms and fifteen
men of the Rhode Island line boarded the Pigot ; at one point, the
crew of the Hawk at another. The British crew fled below. Dunlap,
roused from his berth, attempted to defend his vessel, but he was dis-
armed and secured. Without the loss of a man on either side the
Pigot was captured, and on the 29th of October, 1778, the Hawk and
her prize sailed into Stonington. Congress promoted the gallant Tal-
bot to a Lieutenant-Colonelcy for his naval exploit.
While the main armies were contending on the Atlantic coast, an
important blow had been struck in the West. Lieutenant-Colonel
George Rogers Clark, under a commission from Patrick Henry, led
an expedition to reduce the Illinois country. Recruiting a little army
among the frontier men from Pittsburg to Carolina, he started down
the Ohio as far as the Falls, where Louisville has since been
built. *
From this point he began his march on Kaskaskia, and by night on
the 4th of July completely surprised it, bursting into the fort and se-
curing the commander, Rocheblave, without losing a man or shedding
a drop of blood. He at once convened the inhabitants, and by the in-
fluence of the Rev. Mr. Gibault, the priest of the place, won them all
to his side, and thus was secure from Indian attack, as the red men
still were greatly attached to the French. Many of the French set-
tlers even entered his ranks, and he thus was able to take posses-
sion of Cahokia and Vincennes.
Many of the Indian tribes came in to treat of peace, although some
gained to the English side showed hostility. Towards these Clark
acted with great resolution and boldness. He opened friendly inter-
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 501
course with Leyba, the Spanish commander on the other side of the
Mississippi, for that was then Spanish territory.
The English were thus completely baffled, but when an expedition from
Pittsburg against Detroit, under General McIntosh, failed, Governor
Hamilton, the English commander at Detroit, resolved to make an
effort to regain the Illinois country.
He advanced on Vincennes, then held by Captain Helm and one
man. Planting a cannon in the open gate of the fort, Helm called
out, “Halt ’’ as Hamilton approached. The British commander de-
manded the surrender of the place. “No man shall enter until I
know the terms,” was Helm's firm reply. Hamilton answered, “You
shall have the honors of war,” and then the fort surrendered with its
garrison of two.
Hamilton next advanced towards Kaskaskia, but did not dare to at-
tack Clark, although he had eight hundred British and Indians. He
even dismissed most of his Indians, sending some to ravage the front-
ier. Clark at once marched on Vincennes, and, after a vigorous
fight, captured it, with Hamilton and all his remaining force. The
British commander was sent to Virginia, where he was treated with
great severity, in consequence of his cruelty to American prisoners
and his instigation of Indian atrocities.
With a little reinforcement Clark would have reduced Detroit also,
and completely annihilated English influence in the West. As it was,
, his coolness, bravery, and singular judgment in dealing with the
French and Indians, made his campaign a complete success.
CHAPTER IV.
Campaign of 1779—Operations in the South—Georgia—Invasion of South Carolina—Battle
of Stomo Ferry—The British invade Connecticut—Storming of Stony Point—Sullivan's Expe-
dition against the Six Nations—Penobscot—Paulus Hook—Commodore Paul Jones—The
great Fight between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis–Siege of Savannah by d'Es-
taing and Lincoln—Spain joins France—Continental Money.
THE opening of the new year saw the British under General Pre-
vost in full possession of Georgia. General Lincoln strained every
nerve to save South Carolina. He appealed urgently to the patriot-
ism of the citizens. He at last gathered, at Purysburg, on the Savan-
nah, a force of three thousand men, equal in numbers to Prevost's force,
but totally undisciplined men, most of them being raw levies.
With all his superiority Prevost hesitated to enter South Carolina,
as the country was a dangerous one for military movements. At last,
... however, he sent Major Gardner to seize Port Royal. General Moul-
trie was at once sent to confront him. About four o'clock in the
afternoon of the 3d of February, he came in sight of the enemy.
With his men formed in a strong position across the road, he awaited
Gardner's approach. For three quarters of an hour a sharp action en-
sued, the militia, utterly uncovered, standing their ground manfully.
At last a well-directed ball dismounted Gardner's only field-piece, and
the enemy began to move off, leaving part of their wounded, and
losing in the pursuit several men and arms.
This little affair roused the courage of the Americans, but Prevost.
had agents actively at work among the Tories in South Carolina.
Gained by his promises, a party of Tories under Colonel Boyd began
their march towards Augusta to join the British, marking their path-
way by robbery, violence, and devastation.
| oUR country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 503
Colonel Andrew Pickens took the field to meet him, and also to in,
tercept the Tory Colonel Hamilton of North Carolina. While watch-
ing the latter, Boyd managed to cross the Savannah. Pickens gave
chase, and while Boyd's men were busy at Kettie Creek slaughtering a
drove of cattle which they had just captured from the plantations,
Pickens came down in perfect military order. The fire of the senti-
nels startled the Tories from their false security. Boyd was no coward.
He rallied his men and retreated in tolerable order, but Pickens press-
ed steadily on. When, after an hour's struggle, Boyd fell dangerously
wounded, his whole party, forty of whom were killed and many wound-
ed, fled in all directions; a small party reached the British camp.
Others surrendered and begged for mercy. Some of these were tried
for treason, and fivé leaders among them were executed. This blow
complètely disheartened the Carolina Tories, who made no further at-
tempts on any large scale to aid the British. The hopes raised by these
successes were blasted by the utter defeat of General Ashe, with the
North Carolina militia and Georgia Continentals. He allowed himself
to be surprised and routed by Prevost at Briar Creek, on the 3d of
March. This event deprived General Lincoln of one-fourth of his
forces, secured the British the possession of Georgia, and opened com-
munication between them and the Tories and Indians.
To cover Augusta, where the Georgia legislature were to meet.
Lincoln moved up the river, leaving General Moultrie to watch Pre-
'vost, who he did not suppose would make any important move. Pre-
vost, however resolved to capture Charleston before Lincoln could
come to its relief. He drove Moultrie before him, that gallant officer
in vain appealing for militia to enable him to engage the enemy.
On the 11th of May, Prevost, by rapid marches, crossed the Ashley
}
*
504 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
River, and summoned Charleston to surrender. Governor Rutledge
gained time by negotiations, and meanwhile, Lincoln, convinced at last
of Prevost's design, was hastening to relieve the capital of South Caro-
lina. Prevost, who had intercepted a letter from General Lincoln, be-
gan his retreat, making his way to the islands on the coast, where ves-
sels could reach him. e
On the 20th of June, Lincoln attacked seven hundred British troops,
well posted at Stono Ferry. The Highlanders, outside the enemy's
works, met the American attack with great gallantry, and were almost
annihilated. Then Lincoln attacked the strong English lines, but rein-
forcements, which Moultrie was too late to intercept, gave the British a
superiority, and Lincoln withdrew.
This action, however, hastened the withdrawal of the British forces
from South Carolina : but they bore with them plunder of all kinds,
taken from the country through which they passed. They pillaged
everything, and in this exceeded anything of the kind in the whole
war. Slaves were carried off in droves, and then sent to the West In-
dies and sold.
This was now the policy of the British Government. They seemed
to have felt that they must lose America, but they determined to
leave it, if possible, a desert. The war was to be carried on by rav-
aging and plunder.
So in May, Sir George Collyer, commanding the British fleet,
took on board eighteen hundred men under General Matthews, to rav-
age Virginia. Anchoring his vessels in Hampton Roads, Collyer landed
General Matthews at Portsmouth. From this place, small parties were
sent out to ravage and plunder naval and military stores; vessels of all
kinds, and property of every kind were carried off or wantonly destroyed.
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 505
In a few days, a fertile country became one vast Scene of smoking
ruins. When the people remonstrated, they were told : “We are
commanded to visit the same treatment upon all who refuse to obey the
King.”
Washington, meanwhile, had been unable to undertake any import-
ant movement. His army was Small. Congress did little to increase
the force, or even to clothe and pay the officers and men actually in
service, many of whom were suffering greatly. People generally
seemed to think that the French would do everything, and a general
apathy prevailed. Not even militia organizations were kept up to pre-
vent the constant English raids and incursions.
While things were in this condition, Sir Henry Clinton, on the 1st
of June, moved up the Hudson, and attacking the unfinished American
works at Stony Point, captured them, taking the whole garrison prison-
ers of war. He at once put Stony Point and Verplanck's Point in
a strong state of defense. It was his intention to attack West Point,
but Washington was on the alert to preserve that position, which com-
manded the river.
Unable to effect his object, Clinton resolved to ravage and plunder
Connecticut, as he had done Virginia. Again Sir George Collyer's fleet
sailed out of New York, this time bearing a force under Major-General
Tryon, and General Garth.
On Monday, the 5th of July, these forces landed at East and West
Haven, and prepared to attack the city of New Haven. Some Yale
students and other young men drove back Garth's advance, but the
British general advanced to West Bridge. There he met so stubborn
an oppposition that he retired, and, crossing higher up, entered New
Haven by another road. Tryon met a sturdy opposition to his landing,
506 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
but finally disembarked, and marched on New Haven. The British gen-
eral threatened to burn the city, but after plundering the inhabitants of all
their valuables, and destroying much furniture that they could not re-
move, and all the public stores, they marched down next day to Rock-
fort, and re-embarked. f
On the 8th, they landed at Fairfield, and, meeting little opposition,
entered the town, from which most of the people had fled. Those who
remained were subjected to the worst brutalities, , and then the town
was set on fire. Two meeting-houses, eighty-three dwellings, forty-
seven storehouses, with the schools and county-house, were all de-
stroyed. . .
Norwalk was the next inoint cf attack. As Tryon marched on this
place, Captain Stephen Betts, with only fifty Continentals, met him,
and handled him so roughly that he did not venture to Gross the
bridge and enter, the place till, Garth came, up. Here the work of
destruction was renewed. More than two hundred houses and stores,
with barns, mills, and shipping, were ruthlessly destroyed.
Such was the notorious expedition against Connecticut, of which the
people of America have ever retained the most intense indignation.
While the British were engaged in these disgraceful operations,
Washington, after personally reconnoitering Stony Point, determined to
wrest it from the hands of the enemy. He confided this important ex-
pedition to one of his best generals, Anthony Wayne.
That general made it one of the most memorable exploits in Ameri-
can wars, and as long as the history of the country is read, men will
commemorate Wayne's capture of Stony Point.
The place which bears the name is a rough little promontory jutting
out into the IIudson, about forty miles above New York. The river
oR, ou R count RY's ACIIIEVEMENTs. 507
washes nearly the whole rocky side, and a deep marsh covers the rest.
Through this marsh-there was but one passage-way, though, where it
skirted the river, a sandy beach was seen at low tide.
Wayne cautiously approached the British position, and forming his
men into two columns, moved on, with forlorn hopes of Pennsylvania
troops at the head of each column. To distinguish his men in the night
attack, each soldier stuck a piece of white paper in his hat. At half-
past eleven o'clock at night, the two columns, in perfect silence, ad-
vanced. At a little stream they separated, one to take the eastern
side, the other the western side of the works. Between them, Major
Murfey, with some North Carolina light troops, made an open attack.
The English, alarmed by an outpost at the water's edge, manned the
works. Grape and musketry poured down on Murfey's advancing col-
umn, but from the American line not a sound was heard. Through
the marsh and water, over abattis and obstructions of every kind,
Wayne's grim, resolute men, with fixed bayonets, pushed steadily on.
The darkness is lighted up by volley after volley, but they never stag-
ger or Waver. They reach the parapet, and creeping through or clam-
bering over, are inside the works. Both columns at the same instant rais-
ed the appointed cry : “The fort's our own " Colonel Fleury, the
first to enter the fort, struck the British standard with his own hand. The
garrison maintained a desperate hand-to-hand fight, but at last, seeing
their numbers thinning, and the Americans in complete possession, they
Surrendered. General Wayne, wounded in the head, had fallen outside
the works, and was now brought in bleeding, but victorious, to receive
the submission of the British commander.
The guns were at once run out and pointed at Fort Lafayette, and
the English vessels in the river. They were startled at this first notice
508 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
of a change of owners in Stony Point, and the ship, made all haste
to escape down the river.
Wayne's exploit deprived the enemy of nearly seven hundred men,
besides ordnance and stores to an immense amount.
This achievement arrested Clinton in his devastation of Connecticut,
He hastened back to New York, and dispatched troops to relieve Col-
onel Webster in Fort Lafayette ; McDougal, when dispatched by
Wayne to reduce that post, having moved too late. Washington, find.
ing Stony Point alone of no importance to hold, evacuated it, when
Clinton again posted a strong garrison there.
Not far off, on the 22d of July, a stubborn fight occurred between
Brant with his Savage warriors and a small force. Brant had plunder.
ed and burned Minisink: Colonel Hathorn, of Warwick, with others,
rashly pursued him. The adroit Indian divided his antagonists by a
stratagem. Eighty occupied the summit of a hill. These Brant now
attacked. Sheltered behind trees and rocks, the Americans kept up
a constant and telling fire, from ten in the morning till late in the
afternoon. Then a brave fellow who held the key of the position fell.
Brant saw his advantage and pushed in, attacking the little American
party on all sides. They fled, and, pursued by the savage foe, were
slaughtered without mercy, as were the wounded, who had been re-
moved and placed under the care of a surgeon.
One only received quarter, who, it is said, made a Masonic signal
of distress, which Brant, himself a Freemason, respected.
In the Northward again, the clang of battle resounded. Colonel
Maclean, from Halifax, stationed himself on the Penobscot. A fleet
was at once fitted out under Commodore Saltonstall, bearing four
thousand militia, under Generals Lovell and Wadsworth, to dislodge
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 509
him. A British fleet impeded the landing, but Lovell at last began
the siege of Maclean's works. He erected his battery, and for a fort-
night kept up a most vigorous cannonade, and preparations were made
to assault the fort. But suddenly intelligence came that Sir George
Collyer was approaching, with a large naval force. Lovell abandoned
the siege, and embarked all his troops. As he stood out to sea, Col-
lyer's fleet hove in sight. Flight was no longer possible. The Warren,
a fine new frigate, aud fourteen other vessels, were either taken or
blown up. The transports managed to land the troops on the wild,
uncultivated coast, and many men perished, as without provisions they
endeavored, through the dense woods of Maine, to reach the towns
and villages. 4,
‘Such was the disastrous result of a well-appointed expedition fitted
out by Massachusetts.
A brilliant feat of arms, however, cheered the American heart.
Wayne's exploit at Stony Point had aroused the emulation of officers
and men.
The British in New York had a post at Paulus Hook, now Jersey
City, which proved a great annoyance. Major Henry Lee, a dashing
Virginia officer, popularly known as “Light Horse Harry,” proposed
to Washington to surprise it. The English position consisted of re-
doubts and block-houses well supplied with artillery, and protected by
abattis and marshes. The ground was then far different from what the
present city shows. The post could be approached by land only by
way of the New Bridge over the Hackensack.
On the morning of the 18th of August, with the summer Sun pour-
ing down on the valley, Lee moved from Paramus with two hundred
Maryland troops, and at New Bridge was joined by three hundred
510 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Virginians and some dragoons. With these he advanced, but the Vir-
ginians, from various reasons, withdrew. With his remaining petty
force he reached the enemy's works, through the marsh and under a
brisk fire. But his rush was so impetuous, that before the British
had time to fire a single piece of artillery he gained possession of the
main work, while Captain Forsyth captured a house known as “Num-
ber Six,” with several officers and soldiers quartered there.
Without discharging a single musket, Lee had taken the place and
had the whole garrison prisoners, except a few Hessians who had
thrown themselves into a small work.
Across the river he could see New York, roused by the alarm-guns,
all in excitement. In a short time troops would pour in upon him.
So, securing his prisoners he began his retreat, and though pursued, he
repulsed the enemy at English Neighborhood Creek and returned in
safety with all his prisoners, having lost only two men killed and three
wounded, and deprived the enemy of two hundred.
Far more important was the expedition set on foot late in the sum-
mer against the Six Nations. These Indians had, from the settlement
of New York by the Dutch, been friendly to the colonists, and had never
made war upon them, till civilized England instigated them to deeds
of blood and massacre on their old friends and neighbors.
We have seen how terribly they carried out the fearful work at
Wyoming, Cherry Valley, Mohawk Valley, and Minisink. The whole
country demanded their chastisement. Pennsylvania, New York, and
Connecticut, the last as proprietors in a measure of Wyoming, called
upon Congress to act. Washington had already decided upon a plan
of action, and when Congress proposed it, at once offered the com-
mand of the expedition to General Gates, who declined : Sullivan
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 5 : 1
took his place. Two bodies of troops were to move upon the In-
dian country ; Sullivan's corps, from Easton, by way of Wyoming,
while New York troops, under General James Clinton, where to
move from Canajoharie by way of Otsego Lake. Sullivan was de-
layed by various petty obstacles, but Clinton, damming up the
outlet of Otsego Lake, was enabled to float down the Susquehanna
the batteaux he had collected, and also to overflow and damage the
Indian fields on the river.
The forces united on the 22d of August. On the 27th they ravaged
the Indian fields at Chemung. Two days after they came upon the
Indians, who had taken up a strong position near where Elmira now
stands. They lay in a bend of the river; protected in front by a
breastwork of logs. They concealed this by bushes, hoping to escape
observation till Sullivan's army was passing, when they would make a
sudden attack. They were discovered, however, and skirmishing was
kept up till the whole army arrived. The hills on the flank of the
Indians were the essential point to carry. General Poor charged up
the hill on their left with great coolness and bravery. Every rock
and tree and bush shielded its man, from behind which rang out the
sharp crack of the deadly rifle. The Indians yielded only inch by
inch, darting from tree to tree as they were pressed back, but keeping up
their fire ; Brant, in the thickest of the fight, rousing his men by word
and example. As he saw Poor steadily pressing to his left flank, he
made a desperate effort to rally his men and force Poor back. On
they came, yelling and whooping like infuriate demons, but they could
make no impression on the American line, which soon turned the left.
Then from the Indian line rose the retreat halloo, and they fled
precipitately, leaving their packs, scalping-knives, and tomahawks.
} 12 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Many of the Indians fell in the deadly battle, more in the
pursuit.
The nearest Indian village was destroyed, then Newtown, now El-
mira, with all its crops. Through the Seneca country pressed the
American army, resolved to punish their savage foe. French Cathar-
ine's, Appletown, Kandara, Ganundasaga, were all given to the flames.
The last was the chief town of the Senecas, a place of some sixty houses,
surrounded by thrifty orchards of apple and peach trees, and fine gar-
dens, showing the progress of these Indians, whom England had called
from their progress in civilization to replunge in barbarism.
After destroying other towns, Sullivan, when at Kanaghsa, sent out
Lieutenant Boyd with twenty-six men on a scout. He was intercepted
by a large body of Indians. With desperate energy he attempted to
cut his way through, but twenty-two of the party were killed, Boyd and
Sergeant Parker being made prisoners. Brant would have spared
them, but Butler, the Tory chief, gave them to the Indians to torture,
and they expired amid the most excruciating torments.
Having completely ravaged the Indian country, Sullivan marched
back to Wyoming.
Colonel Van Schaick had already this year, with a small body of men,
attacked Onondaga, killing and capturing some fifty men, and destroy-
ing fifty houses and great quantities of provisions. While Sullivan was
in the Seneca country, Colonel Brodhead, from Pittsburg, ascended
the Alleghany and ravaged the Indian villages and fields, although
there the Indians made some attempt at resistance.
These severe blows, although they did not deprive the Indians of
many warriors, left them nearly helpless, and convinced them of the
power of the Americans. In this way they were attended with no
OR, ou R Coun'ſ RY's A HIEVEMENTs.
5
1.
3
little advantage, and experience had shown, that it was the only way
to produce an impression on these haughty warriors.
The little American navy, though unable to cope With the gigantic
fleets of Great Britain, rendered, nevertheless, signal Services, and con-
tinued to show the world, by exploits on Sea as well as on land, that the
people of America were in earnest and determined to be free. England
was mistress of the seas, and few nations dared to cope With her on her
own element. Yet here were the United States fearlessly confronting
her. In 1776 the American cruisers, darting out from the numberless
ports on the Atlantic seaboard, swept away more than three hundred
English vessels. Roused by this, the King sent out the next year
seventy-seven men-of-war to cruise along the coast, yet, in the face of
this great naval force, the Americans captured four hundred and
seventy-six English merchantmen, some of them of very great value.
Occasionally, indeed, a privateer would be taken, to the great exultation
of the British and Tories, but they could not, by all the cruelties of
their prison-ships on the East River, or their Sugar-Houses in New
York city, deter bold and patriotic men from sallying forth on the
ocean to cripple the maritime strength of the oppressor.
Among the officers appointed to command in the navy was Captain
John Paul Jones, a man of great naval experience, and devoted heart
and Soul to the cause of American independence.
Through the exertions of Dr. Franklin, a little fleet was fitted out
in France in 1779, and put under command of Paul Jones. It con-
sisted of the Bon Homme Richard, an old East Indiaman mounting
thirty-four guns, the Alliance, a new American frigate carrying thirty-
six guns, the Pallas, Vengeance, and Cerf. This fleet swept along
the coast of Great Britain and spread terror throughout the country,
514 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
where the fate of South Carolina and Connecticut was, they supposed,
to become that of many a thriving town and village. As they had
robbed, plundered, burned, and desolated in America, so Americans
might justly burn and plunder in England. . . . . .
On the 23d of September, 1779, Commodore Paul Jones, cruising
off Flamborough Head, England, discovered a large fleet of vessels.
He instantly recognized it as the Baltic fleet, coming up convoyed by
two British men-of-war; the Serapis, of forty-four guns, and the Coun-
tess of Scarborough, of twenty-two. Commodore Jones signalled his
ships to form a line and bear down on the enemy, but Captain Lan-
dais, of the Alliance, disobeyed his orders. Then Jones went into
action with the two English vessels. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It was now night, and the moon came out clear and bright, on a Sea
almost as smooth as glass. The cliffs of the English coast were full
in view, lined with anxious spectators. . . . . . . . . .
“What ship is that 2" hailed Captain Pearson of the Serapis.
“Come a little nearer and I will tell you,” was Jones' reply. “What
are you laden with ?” asked the British commander. “Round, grape,
and double-head shot,” was the answer of the gallant American
commander. The broadside of the Serapis then thundered out. Paul
Jones replied, but two of what ho considered his best guns burst, kill-
ing several. Abandoning these useless guns, he kept up the battle
with those of less weight. The Serapis poured in her broadsides
with the regularity of a British man-of-war; Jones, after one or two
broadsides, ran ahead, but the Serapis luffed across his stern, pouring
in a heavy broadside and passing around and ahead. The Richard
ran into her, and in a moment threw out grappling-irons, but before
the Americans could board the Serapis, the latter contrived to get.
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 515
free. In the next manoeuvre the two ships came side by side, and the
Richard again threw out her grappling-irons, and the anchor of the
Serapis hooked fast on the Richard.
With the muzzles of their guns fairly touching, the cannonade kept
up furiously, the balls tearing through both hulls. They fought at the
guns below, they fought from deck to deck, they fought from the tops
and rigging. Seldom has history recorded such a fight. All working
of the ships ceased, as they lay head and stern, and drifted slowly to-
ward the land, till at last the Serapis cast out her anchor three miles
from shore. With a rush the British seamen attempted to board.
Back, bleeding and discomfited, they were repeatedly hurled, and from
the tops came grenades and well-aimed shots that finally cleared the
tops and deck of the Serapis. Below, the British had the advantage :
they were tearing the Richard's lower deck to pieces and driving the
Americans up.
The battle had lasted nearly an hour when the sails of the Serapis
took fire, and soon the tops of the Richard were in a blaze. Both
parties stopped the fight to extinguish the flames. Then the battle
was renewed. The fire broke out anew, but they extinguished it only
to renew the desperate fight. At last, one of the Richard's topsmen
climbed over to the maintop of the Serapis with a bucket full of gren-
ades, and began to light and drop them among the English sailors. One
at last fell among the cartridges. A fearful explosion ensued. More
than twenty were killed and forty wounded.
Just then the Alliance came up and poured in a broadside, doing as
much damage to the Richard as to the Serapis, and filling the Ameri-
can vessel with such confusion that the English prisoners were releas-
ed, and the gunner, supposing himself the highest officer left, called
516 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION,
out Quarter | The Commodore soon restored order, put the prisoners
at the pumps, and filled his crew with new hope of victory. He trained
new guns to bear on the Serapis, and at last, at half past one, Cap-
łain Pearson struck his colors with his own hand, no British tar, with
all their reputed gallantry, daring to expose himself to the deadly fire
of the American ship.
Lieutenant Dale passed on board and took possession, while Pearson
and his officers went on board the Richard, and surrendered their
swords to Commodore Paul Jones. But the haughty Englishman could
not forbear to insult his conqueror : “It is with great reluctance,” said
he, “that I am obliged to resign my sword to a man who may be said
to fight with a halter about his neck.” Commodore Paul Jones showed
his greatness of mind by replying: “Sir, you have fought like a hero,
and I make no doubt your sovereign will reward you for it in the most
ample manner.”
While the Richard and Serapis were engaged, the Pallas had attack-
ed and captured the Countess of Scarborough. The victory was won, but
the Richard was on fire and sinking. With great difficulty her crew
and the wounded were removed to the other vessels of the squadron.
She was a complete wreck, much of her timbers being completely swept
away by the cannon of the Serapis. The sun rose on the glorious ship
settling down in the sea; at ten o'clock her bows sunk, and she dis-
appeared.
Nearly three hundred men were killed and wounded on each of the
ships, so desperate had been the action. Its fame rang through Eu-
rope and America. The King of France presented Commodore Jones
with a splendid sword ; the Empress of Russia invited him to her
navy and made him Rear-Admiral. Congress showed its appreciation
oR, our count RY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 517
of his gallantry by the thanks of the nation and by striking a gold
medal.
Admiral d'Estaing, with the French fleet, after refitting at Boston,
sailed to the West Indies, where Dominica, St. Vincent's, and Granada
were captured, and all the English possessions thrown into great alarm.
An English fleet was sent out to meet him, and a sharp but indecisive
action followed. The French Admiral was about to sail home, when he
received so strong an appeal from General Lincoln, and Governor Rut-
ledge, of South Carolina, that he sailed once more for the United
States, to co-operate with the American forces in reducing Savannah.
General Prevost, who held that city, was early warned of his dan-
ger, and sent to New York for aid. Experienced engineers strengthen-
‘ed the defenses of the city, and did all that was possible to make the
approach to the city dangerous to a fleet.
D'Estaing landed Dillon's regiment of the Irish Brigade, and other
troops, amounting in all to more than three thousand men. On the 15th
of September, General Count Pulaski, with his legion, joined them,
Then d’Estaing summoned the garrison to surrender.
Prevost asked time, and this enabled him to be reinforced by Colonel
Maitland.
When General Lincoln arrived with his army from Charleston, the
siege of Savannah was begun. The garrison made repeated sorties,
but the mortars and siege-guns began their work, seriously damaging
the town and burning many houses. The English fortifications were
not, however, much injured. Finding that the siege would be long,
d'Estaing, unwilling to remain longer ºn the coast, resolved to
abandon the siege unless an assault could be made. On the 9th of Octo-
ber, the bombardment was opened from all the batteries, and under
518 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
cover of this fire, the two columns of attack were formed, one under
General Dillon, to march along the foot of the bluff on the north side
of the town, the other, commanded by Admiral d'Estaing and General
Lincoln, to attack the Spring Hill redoubt, where the Augusta railroad
Station now stands. ~
At the same time, General Huger, with a body of militia, was t
move on the south side of the town, to draw off the enemy, and, if pos
sible, enter the town.
Dillon's column got entangled in the swamp, and lost severely by
the enemy's fire without being able to come into action.
The column under the French Admiral and the American General
moved splendidly on upon the Spring Hill redoubt, where Prevost had
gathered his choice troops. Under a murderous fire they scaled the
ramparts, and the French fleurs-de-lis, and the crescent of South Caro-
lina, were planted on the redoubt. They are shot down ; but in a mo-
ment they are up again. Again a gallant Carolinian falls. Sergeant
Jasper caught his State flag, and again reared it, but received his death-
wound.
For nearly an hour a fearful struggle was kept up, but fresh English
troops came up, and the gallant men were forced back, through ditch
and abattis, down the bluff. Disheartened by the fearful slaughter of
their men, the allied commanders ordered a retreat. While this assault
was made, Count Pulaski had charged at the head of his legion in the
rear of the enemy's line, when he was struck in the groin and fell mor-
tally wounded. His Lieutenant seized his banner and continued to
lead on the charge, but the English now turned all their force upon him,
he too retreated, bearing off his dying commander.
General Huger's movement produced no result.
oR, our Count RY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 519
General Lincoln wished to continue the siege, but d'Estaing would
not consent to remain. He had lost severely, and was less disposed
than ever. Accordingly, the siege was raised, the French re-embarked,
the Americans crossed the river, and returned to South Carolina. In
loss of life, the attack on Savannah was one of the severest battles of
the war. The French lost in killed and wounded seven hundred, and
the Americans two hundred. The English loss was comparatively
small.
During the siege of Savannah, Colonel John White, of Georgia, per-
formed an exploit worth recording. Twenty-five miles from Savan-
nah, on the Ogeechee, was an English post under a British captain,
with more than a hundred men, and five armed vessels. Late at night,
White, with six men, kindled fires, so as to look like a large encamp-
ment, and made noises to convey the same impression. Then he sum-
moned the English officer to surrender instantly. The captain sup-
posed that he was about to be attacked by an overwhelming force, laid
down his arms, and Colonel White marched a hundred and forty-two
British prisoners to Sunbury. General Washington had counted also
on d'Estaing's co-operation in a great movement against New York,
the key to the English position in America, as an attack upon it requir-
ed a naval force. But the failure of the siege of Savannah, and
the subsequent dispersion of the French fleet in a storm, put an end
to all his hopes from that quarter.
The operations of the year were accordingly closed and Washing-
ton prepared to go into winter-quarters. He selected these so as to
Secure wood, water, and provisions, as well as to keep the enemy in
check. The army formed two divisions; the northern, under General
Heath, was to protect West Point and the adjacent country :
520 TIII. STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Washington himself, with the principal division, retired to Morristown,
in New Jersey.
If in this campaign Washington had effected little, the English had
accomplished nothing towards the subjugation of America. They had
scattered their forces and ravaged without mercy defenseless towns:
but, after this, they had never stepped out of their works or beyond
their lines.
Washington's army was small. The people, after the first enthusiasm
of the Revolution had subsided, had grown careless and indifferent ;
Congress was irresolute, and the Continental Currency issued by it
had become almost worthless, and was largely counterfeited by the
English Government.
It was a period of despondency for the best patriots in the land,
and for none more than for the illustrious Washington.
CHAPTER W.
Campaign of 1780—Sir Henry Clinton sails south, besieges and takes Charleston—Tarleton
begins his career of cruelty——Lord Cornwallis in the South—Sumter and Marion—Gates
sent South by Congress—His rashness—Defeated at Camden—DeKalb-General Greene—
King's Mountain—Patriotic women—Lord Stirling on Staten Island—Battle of Springfield
ELATED by the success of Prevost in repulsing the allied attack on
his works at Savannah, Sir Henry Clinton resolved to seize the oppor-
tunity aſforded by the absence of the French fleet from the coast, to
attack South Carolina. Admiral Arbuthnot, with a powerful fleet,
convoyed a number of transports, which now bore to Charleston a for-
midable force, with ample supplies of military stores and provisions. A
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 521
succession of storms nearly destroyed this armament, and actually
caused great loss, but it finally reached Savannah. The British army
then moved on Charleston. That city was held by General Lincoln,
with about one thousand men. His call for militia and for reinforce-
ments from the North was but slowly responded to, yet he resolutely
prepared to defend the town with the troops at his command. He
strengthened his works, planted cannon, sunk vessels in the channels,
and in other ways made them dangerous for the enemy's ships. Mean-
/ while Sir Henry Clinton gradually surrounded the town and approach-
ed the lines. On the night of the 1st of April, he threw up two re-
doubts within eight hundred yards of the lines held by the Americans.
In a few days his siege-line was complete, and the fleet passed Fort
Moultrie to support.the army, suffering great damage from the fire of
the fort, and losing one transport.
Clinton and Arbuthnot then demanded the surrender of the city,
but Lincoln had received reinforcements—Continentals, under General
Woodford, and North Carolina militia. He rejected the summons.
Then the siege began, and a fierce fire was kept up on the town
from the land batteries and shipping. On the 14th of April, an out-
post of Americans, under General Huger, was surprised by Colonel
Tarleton, whom a treacherous negro had guided.
A few days later, the already powerful force was swelled by a re-
inforcement ; Cornwallis landed with three thousand fresh troops.
Lincoln saw now no hope, except in escaping to the open country.
The people of Charleston, fearful of the vengeance of the British
General, begged him to defend the place to the last. On the 21st,
Lincoln proposed to surrender the town and its dependencies, on con-
dition that the garrison and such of the inhabitants as wished to retire,
522 TTIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
might be permitted to withdraw, with their arms, field-artillery, ammu-
nition, baggage, and such stores as they could carry, and that inhab-
itants unwilling to remain under British rule, should have a year to
dispose of their property. The English commander at once rejected
these terms.
So the siege went on, the English steadily pushing ahead their
works, and on the 8th of May again summoned the city. Again Lin-
coln proposed terms, but Clinton demanded alterations, which Lin-
coln refused. That night the firing commenced once more, with greater
fury than ever. The doomed city was like one vast conflagration.
Shells streaming through the air in lightning curves, or bursting in
the streets and houses ; the city on fire in five different places; cannon-
balls and shells hissing continually among the terrified people ; here
an ammunition chest would blow up, and then, with a shock like an earth-
quake, some temporary magazine would explode.
Day brought no cessation to the terrible bombardment, and night
was again made lurid by its deadly glare. At last the Americans
were fairly driven from their guns, by the deadly fire through the
embraSureS.
Worn down with fatigue, Lincoln, at last, on the 11th of May, un-
conscious that a French fleet, under du Ternay, was rapidly approaching
to his relief, and seeing no hope of aid, renewed negotiations. The
English commanders, anxious to enter the place, agreed upon terms,
and articles were signed the next day.
Fifteen hundred Continental soldiers, with a large militia force, be-
came prisoners of war, and cannons, muskets, and military stores
fell into the enemy's hands.
This terrible blow gave the British possession of all the country
OR, ou R country’s ACHIEVEMENTS, 523
from North Carolina to the Gulf. Clinton's first movements were
an earnest of what the South had to expect. He at once planned
three expeditions, one towards the Savannah ; another upon Ninety-
Six, a place on the Saluda, to dislodge the American force and rouse
the numerous Tories there ; while a third expedition, under the san-
guinary Colonel Tarleton, was sent towards North Carolina, to over-
take a small force under Colonel Buford, which had been marching
to reinforce Lincoln. After a sharp fight at Waxhaws, Buford was
defeated and his men slaughtered without mercy, quarter being refused,
and the wounded fairly hacked to pieces. They learned to their sor-
row what “Tarleton's quarter ’’ was.
The other expeditions were no less successful. Sir Henry Clinton
' offered pardon to all who submitted and asked it. Many yielded ; the
number of Tories increased. Even an address of congratulation to the
King found many signers. Emboldened by this, Clinton threatened
to treat as rebels all paroled prisoners not in the military service, who
refused to renew their allegiance to Great Britain, and enroll them-
selves as militia under the King.
Then came a period of fearful agony. Many heroically refused,
and appealed to the terms of capitulation. They were seized and
carried off to St. Augustine and elsewhere, and confined in loath-
some dungeons. Such was the fate of the venerable Christopher
Gadsden. The soldiers were confined in prison-ships and in filthy
quarters, where numbers of them perished.
In consequence of this cruelty and violation of faith on the part of
the British commanders, many fled, and a partisan warfare sprang up.
Sumter, among the hills that line the Catawba and Broad ; Marion, amid
the Swamps of the Pedee ; Pickens and Clarke on the Savannah, rallied
624 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
around them brave and daring men, who thirsted to avenge their
country's wrong on the vile oppressor. Civil war raged in all its fury.
Deadly as the strife with the Tories was at the North, in the Caroli-
nas it was still more fearful. Assassination was of daily occurrence.
No one was safe on the public roads; no planter secure in his home.
The agents of the Government deluded the slaves by offers of emanci-
pation, and stimulated their worst passions against their masters.
Whole families were strangled by their slaves.
The sparsely settled condition of the country, which abounded in
large plantations, made it an easy country to overrun with the force at
the command of the enemy. It was, in this respect, far different from
the more densely settled parts of New England, New York, and Penn-
sylvania.
Yet this very condition of affairs made the career of the patriot par-
tisans possible. Colonel Locke, with only four hundred men, in June,
after a fight showing more courage than discipline, dispersed a force
of Tories at Ramsour's Mill, under Colonel John Moore, numbering
thirteen hundred men.
Sumter was the next to take the field. On the 12th of July, Cap-
tain Christian Huck, an unprincipled Tory leader, whose name was
belied by his whole godless life, encamped in a lane on the plantation
of James Williamson, in what is How Brattonville. They had been rav-
aging far and wide, and thinking that the terror of their name had
driven off all the patriots, they slept in perfect security. Midnight had
'scarcely struck when Captain Bratton cautiously approached, and be-
fore day dawned entered one end of the lane, and Captain McClure the
other, with some of the very best and bravest of Sumter's little force.
Like avenging furies, they sprang upon the sleeping desperadoes.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS 52.5
*
Huck fought with energy, but the surprise was complete. The Tories
lost many, and were scattered to the winds; a few, under Huck himself,
escaping to Rocky Mount, pursued almost the whole distance by the
patriots. This victory encouraged the Americans and disheartened the
Tories.
Bratton's plantation was quite near the scene of this gallant action,
and his own wife had just been visited by Huck, who demanded where
her husband was. Disdaining any evasion, the noble Woman promptly
replied : “In Sumter's army.” Huck endeavored to force her by
threats of violence to disclose her husband's place of concealment, lit-
tle dreaming that that gentleman was so soon to pay him an unceremo-
nious and unwelcome visit. Mrs. Bratton firmly refused to comply or
to èxpress any submission to Great Britain ; she refused, even when a
sharp reaping-hook was held to her throat by a brutal soldier, to force
her to renounce her fidelity to her native State.
Encouraged by his first success, Sumter attacked the British posi-
tion at Rocky Mount, and succeeding in firing their garrison-houses,
compelled them to hoist the white flag; but, as a storm came on, extin-
guishing the flames, they renewed the fight, and as his want of artil-
lery made it impossible to reduce them, he withdrew.
In a deep, rocky Valley, through which a stream runs roaring along,
there juts on one side a hanging rock which gives name to the place.
Here Lord Rawdon had posted five hundred regulars and Tories, un-
der Major Carden. While Sumter was at Rocky Mount, Major Davie
had approached Hanging Rock, and surprised a foraging party of three
Tory companies, which he utterly defeated, killing and wounding nearly
all, and capturing a large stock of horses and arms. Then Sumter
-r
came up, and in three columns moved on the enemy's position. He
526 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
fell in with a division of the British, about half a mile from their
camp. With a cheer and rush he was on them ; they did not wait to
contest the ground. Flinging away guns and arms of all kinds they
fled. A braver corps rallied, and made a stand in a wood, pouring a
deadly volley into Sumter's advance, and gallantly charging with the
bayonet ; but the sharp-shooters in Sumter's corps soon brought down
the officers. Then the British lost heart and fled. Sumter, supplying
himself with ammunition, which he greatly needed, for he had gone
into the fight with only ten rounds to each man, pressed on to complete
his victory; but his men scattered to plunder the British camp. Thus
precious time was lost, and before Sumter, charging in three columns
on the British line, drawn up in a hollow square, and protected by can-
non, could force them to surrender, reinforcements came up. The vic-
torious partisan, to his mortification, had to withdraw.
Though his success had not been complete, he had inflicted severe
loss, and checked the British career.
A few days before this, a scene occurred at Green Spring, which
may here be related. A party of patriots halted for the night at
Green Spring. Before daybreak, the clatter of a horse's hoofs put them
on the alert; the vidette soon recognized Mrs. Dillard, at whose house
they had received some refreshments the day before.
A Tory party, under Ferguson, had halted at her house soon after,
and a spy informed the leader as to the patriot force. To warn them she
slipped out of the house, bridled a colt, and, without a saddle, had
galloped to warn her friends. She had scarcely disappeared on a differ-
ent road homeward, when the dragoons and mounted riflemen dashed in,
supposing that they had completely surprised the Americans, till a tre-
mendous volley in front and on both flanks told them they must ſight
or, our country's ACHIEVEMENTs.
à
J K-
27
desperately, as they did for twenty minutes, when they broke and re-
treated, leaving many dead on the field.
Francis Marion was as successful as Sumter in his operations, and,
by hardihood and daring, no less than by the republican simplicity of
his life, astonished the enemy and secured their respect.
Washington was not insensible to the condition of the Southern
States. He sent Baron de Kalb from Maryland with such troops of
the line as he could spare. This brave, upright officer advanced with
caution, gathering and disciplining the militia from Virginia and North
Carolina. He moved with caution, as he found difficulty in obtaining
provisions, and did not wish to expose his raw troops rashly. Wash-
ington wished General Greene to take full command in the South, but
Congress, led away by Gates' Saratoga renown, appointed him to the
command. General Gates joined de Kalb's army late in July. Aban-
doning the cautious course adopted by de Kalb, he pushed on towards
the English through a barren country.
On the 13th of August he reached Clermont, with an army of four
thousand men. Lord Rawdon, who commanded the British force,
was at Camden, and saw that he must strike a decisive blow or retreat.
The latter step would be disastrous, as he would have to leave his
stores and his sick, and might never reach Charleston at all, if there
should be a general rising of the people.
Cornwallis hastened to join him, and resolved to fight. About ten
o'clock on the night of the 15th, Gates moved out to attack Corn-
wallis, and Cornwallis marched out to attack Gates, neither of them
aware of his opponent's movement Suddenly, on a gentle slope in the
midst of an open forest of pine, the heads of the two armies met about
two o'clock. The American cavalry was driven back in some confusion,
528 TILE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
and both armies prepared for a general action. Each army had its flanks
protected by an impassable swamp. Gates placed de Kalb and his regu-
lars on his right, the centre and left being militia. Against these
Cornwallis threw his veterans. The militia gave one irregular volley,
and then, throwing away their arms, fled from the field. One North
Carolina regiment alone stood its ground beside de Kalb's brave men.
That capable general held his ground, and even drove Lord Rawdon
back : and when Gates fled from the field, he endeavored to hold the
positions abandoned by the militia, against the whole British force.
Ably supported by Generals Gist and Smallwood, he kept the enemy
at bay for nearly an hour, with the Maryland and Delaware troops,
who had won laurels on northern fields. Gathering up for a decisive
charge, de Kalb put himself at the head of a regiment. On they
swept, but de Kalb fell, pierced by eleven wounds. His Aide-de-camp,
de Buysson, tried to save him from the brutal enemy, who continued
to strike at him, and was wounded in the attempt. They then stripped
the dying general even of his shirt. -
No longer sustained by the presence of their general, the brave
American corps gave way, and a small body, under Gist and Small-
wood, effected their retreat. The Delaware regiment was nearly an-
nihilated, the whole army was scattered to the winds; the whole ar-
tillery, military stores, and ammunition were lost, and the killed,
wounded, and prisoners amounted to at least twelve hundred.
Thus, by the rashness and folly of Gates, the English were estab-
lished in full possession of the Southern States.
Sumter, who had driven the enemy from the Wateree, was startled
on the 18th by tidings of the rout of Gates whole army. He at once
retreated, but Tarleton was already on his trail, moving rapidly, and
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 524)
preventing any tidings from reaching him. Spent with marching and
the heat, Sumter's men threw themselves down to rest at Fishing
Creek. While Sumter, without hat, coat, or waistcoat, was sleeping
beside a wagon, and his men cooking or resting, Tarleton, who had
crept up unobserved, killing the videttes, burst into the camp, and
before the Americans realized their danger, their cannon and their
stacked muskets were in the hands of the enemy. Flight was the
only resource, and in the panic many were killed. With scarcely any
loss, the British killed, wounded, or captured nearly five hundred of
Sumter's men, and took all his artillery and arms, utterly breaking up
his force.
Cornwallis, who had been in a critical position and in great perplex-
ity, was now master of the situation. Gates' army routed, Sumter para-
lyzed, Marion closely pursued, he felt so sure of South Carolina, that he
pressed on to occupy North Carolina, leaving orders to the officers in
his various posts, to punish with severity all who, after accepting
British protection or giving parole, had taken up arms. Numbers of
persons were seized and put to death, multitudes imprisoned, while
their families were driven penniless from their houses, which were seized
as confiscated property. The land was filled with blood and misery.
Cornwallis met no opposition on his march into North Carolina, ex-
cept from Colonel Davie, who not only checked his progress, but bold-
ly surprised Tarleton's legion at Wahab's plantation. Dividing his
men, he put his riflemen in a cornfield, and with his cavalry dashed up
to the house. The enemy fled without a blow, but were met by a
murderous fire from the rifles, which killed or wounded sixty of them.
Then Davie, seizing nearly a hundred horses and more than as many
stands of arms, rode off in safety.
530 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
At Charlotte this same able officer, with a handful of men, kept
Cornwallis at bay for a considerable time, and again struck terror into
Tarleton's legion, who at last refused to attack the Americans.
t After occupying Charlotte and endeavoring to organize the Tories,
Cornwallis moved on Salisbury, but was suddenly brought to a halt
by a great disaster to the royal cause, which entirely changed his plans.
Major Patrick Ferguson, a brave and active officer, had been sent
to the borders of the Carolinas, to encourage the Tories and check
the movements of the American partisans. He was in command of a
force of nearly fifteen hundred regulars and Tories.
The American partisan officers resolved to cut him off. Far and
wide messengers went, and brave fellows prepared for the work.
From Carolina and Tennessee they began to move towards the spot,
under Colonels Shelby, Sevier, Campbell, McDowell, Cleaveland.
Ferguson sent at once in haste to Cornwallis, and began to retreat. So
rapidly, however, did the foe come on, that he saw any attempt at flight
would be useless. Reaching King's Mountain, a range extending for
several miles, he took post on a stony ridge rising about a hundred
feet above the surrounding ravines. Here, in the scattered wood, he
resolved to await the attack. The Americans came up on the 7th of
October ; Shelby and Campbell in the centre began the attack, while
the others enclosed the hill. Then all dismounted and at Önce pushed
up the slopes. The American centre were met by Ferguson's regulars,
and in a bayonet-charge forced back. At it they went again with des-
perate valor. Cleaveland, on the right of the enemy, reached the sum-
mit, when Ferguson, turning on him, forced him back. Then again meets
ing the centre, he held him at bay till Sevier, on the American right,
gained the hill and drove the left wing before him.
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTs. 53I
Surrounded on all sides, Ferguson rushed from regiment to regiment,
encouraging some, directing others, and showing the most undaunted
valor, till a well-aimed rifleball brought him down. Then Captain
Abraham de Peyster, a New York loyalist, took command, but soon
found resistance hopeless. After an action of little more than an hour,
the British commander raised a white flag.
Eleven hundred and twenty-five men were killed, Wounded, or cap-
tured in this battle, one of the most obstinately contested in the War.
The Americans, roused to fury by the cruelty and oppressions of the
British and Tories, were determined to carry the day ; although they
were comparatively untried troops, and fewer in number than the
enemy.
This victory crushed all Tory influence in North Carolina. Corn-
wallis, who heard of Ferguson's defeat and death almost as soon as he
received his call for aid, retreated in all haste to Winnsborough, and
waited there for reinforcements, which he called for most earnestly.
Sumter was constantly hovering around the English forces, cutting
off foraging parties, intercepting supplies, and keeping all in con-
stant alarm. They felt that they must at any sacrifice punish his au-
dacity. Major Wemyss was sent to surprise the daring American,
but was himself received so warmly that his party was nearly cut to
pieces, the British officer being left wounded and a prisoner in Sumter's
hands.
Then Tarleton was again sent, and Sumter met him at Blackstock's
plantation. Tarleton came on with his usual dash, but before he could
charge, or even see Sumter's line, his rear was attacked and nearly
captured. Wheeling to charge these assailants they fell back across a
brook and up the slope of a hill, followed by Tarleton, who thought he
§32 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
was sweeping all before him, when from fences and buildings came a
murderous fire from unseen foes. He tried to dislodge the Americans,
who were closing around him, and but for the gallantry of one of his
officers, who by a brave charge opened a way for Tarleton to retreat,
that officer would have been captured.
This closed the operations of the year in the South. That section
had displayed courage, devotedness, and heroism in the highest degree;
and had suffered in every way from the relentless foe
The previous winter had been so severe, that no operations of im-
portance were undertaken on either side, at the North, for several
months. Washington, awaiting the result of Lafayette's mission to
France, to secure a land force to co-operate with the Americans, lay
encamped at Morristown, in a strong mountain country.
The English had no foothold in New Jersey, yet they kept up a
post on Staten Island, and though Lord Stirling, early in the year, at-
tempted to break it up, his expedition effected nothing.
In June Sir Henry Clinton resolved to use Staten Island as the base
Df operations, and to push forward force enough to seize and hold the
Short Hills, the key to Washington's position. It was to be one of the
decisive movements of the war. New York Bay.was alive with boats
and crafts of all kinds, bearing to the island the Coldstream Guards
and the flower of the British host.
General Knyphausen, with Generals Stirling, Mathew, and Tryon,
were in command. By night the troops passed over to Elizabethtown
Point. With day they advanced on the town, Simcoe's Queen's Ran-
gers in the van, with drawn swords and glittering helms, followed by
regiment after regiment, all in new uniforms, splendidly armed and
equipped.
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 533
Colonel Dayton gave them a slight check, wounding General Stirling,
but Knyphausen pressed on through Elizabeth. As soon as he took
the Springfield road his object was seen. A beacon-fire was lighted
at Prospect Hill and a signal cannon fired. Washington, at Morris-
town, at once put his army in motion, and far and wide the militia re-
sponded to the call, gathering at their appointed mustering-places.
Beyond the village of Connecticut Farms, Dayton made a stand, and
for three hours held the enemy in check, at the defile near the Farm
Meeting-house, and even drove the enemy back.
The few Continentals and militia here engaged finally fell back to the
heights toward Springfield. Again Knyphausen pressed on, and again
the sturdy Americans charged rapidly, attacking the enemy simulta-
, neously in the centre and both wings, but they were again forced back
by the steady discipline of the mass of regulars. But they held the
bridge over the Rahway, and drove the enemy from it.
Washington was now so near, that Knyphausen, seeing his plan de-
feated, began to retreat. He plundered all the houses in Connecticut
Farms, and then wantonly set them on fire, although there had been no
firing from any part of the village. The wife of the Rev. Mr. Cald-
well, a Presbyterian clergyman, was murdered by one of the English
Soldiers, as she sat on the side of a bed surrounded by her children :
and this fiendish act was perpetrated just after the unfortunate lady
had given refreshments to some English officers. Her body was saved
with difficulty from the burning house.
Pursued by the militia, the English retreated that night during a ter-
rific thunder-storm, the darkness lit up by the flaming houses, and by
the lightning. On reaching the Point, they crossed over to Staten
Island, all except five hundred, who remained in an intrenched camp.
534 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Here they were attacked by General Hand, in a brief, indecisive
action.
The movement was, however, too important in Clinton's eyes to be
readily abandoned. Making a feigned movement up the Hudson, he
threw a still larger force over on Staten Island, and thence to Eliza-
bethtown Point, taking command himself in person.
Again through the pleasant town of Elizabeth moved a well-appoint-
ed British force, with cavalry and fine artillery. At the ruined houses
of Connecticut Farms they divided into two columns, one taking the
road through Vauxhall and Milburn, the other the Springfield road.
The former was checked at the bridge in front of Springfield, by Colo-
nel Angell, the latter at another bridge by Major Lee. But these
checks were only momentary. The British finally crossed the river,
and the Americans fell back to the heights behind Springfield
, The country was all aroused, and Washington was sending reinforce-
ments, and a brigade to cut off the retreat of the enemy. Clinton saw
the strong position of the Continentals, and the increasing militia. He
was again baffled. The Short Hills were not to be captured but at a
fearful cost of life. Foiled completely in his object, he prepared to re-
treat, but wreaked his vengeance on Springfield, giving to the flames
nineteen dwellings, and the Presbyterian church.
During the action, the Rev. Mr. Caldwell, chaplain to Dayton's regi-
ment, seeing that the men needed wadding, galloped to the church,
and brought out an armful of psalm books, and as he handed them
around, he shouted : “Now, boys, put Watts into them l’” He could
not bear to see the murderers of his poor wife triumph.
As Clinton retreated, a body of regulars and militia pursued and
galled his force by constant attacks in the rear and flanks, till at last
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 535,
the fugitive Britons escaped into their fortified lines at the Point, and
by a bridge of boats reached Staten Island.
The American loss had been slight; the British lost a general, and at
least five hundred men in killed and wounded. ſº
Washington, supported by the gallantry of New Jersey, had thus
baffled the generalship of Sir Henry Clinton, but he was full of anxiety.
The power of Congress was declining, its requisitions on the States were
disregarded, each State seemed to think only of itself, and seemed re-
luctant to obey the general government. So low had the public credit,
and the Continental money fallen, that the army was kept together and
clothed by Subscriptions among the patriotic, and by the self-sacrifice
and industry of the women, who formed societies, and all labored to
Supply the necessary garments.
Among those most prominent in this good work, was Mrs. Sarah
Bache, daughter of Benjamin Franklin. She had taken an active part
in organizing a Society of ladies to furnish the soldiers with clothing,
and, on the death of Mrs. Reed, Mrs. Bache and four other ladies
formed a sort of Executive Committee. The house of her father, where
she still resided, became a patriotic workshop. Here shirts and other
garments were cut out and made up ; money was also collected. She
was ardent, patriotic, and eloquent, and in her applications she showed
Such perseverance and tact, that she wrung contributions from the most
reluctant
P A R T IV.
THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER I.
Tffective aid from France on Sea and Land—Zealous and successful Efforts of Lafayette in
Favor of America—A Fleet under Admiral de Ternay brings over a French army under the
Count de Rochambeau—It lands at Newport—Hopes of America—Washington calls earn-
estly for Troops to enable him to strike a Decisive Blow—A Traitor—General Arnold in
Treaty with the Enemy to deliver up West Point—The Arrest of Major Andre reveals and
Defeats the Treachery—Arnold escapes to the English—Andre tried and executed.
THE settlement of the country, and its rapid development and
strength, were followed by acts of oppression on the part of the British
Government. The struggle which began at Lexington, had now lasted
several years. England had spent millions upon millions, and had
achieved so little that she seemed to look only to the injury she could
inflict on her once prosperous colonies, while America, exhausted by
the struggle, with her cities and fields ravaged and laid waste, seemed
unable to make the last effort for freedom.
In fact, all were despondent. Lafayette had studied the whole situ-
OUR COUNTRY S ACHIEVEMENTS. 53%
ation, and, risking capture by English cruisers, had gone to France, to
plead at the throne of Louis XVI. the cause of the country whose in-
terests were so dear to him. $
There his enthusiasm and importunity overcame all obstacles. His
private means were spent in obtaining suitable equipments for the offi-
cers in his own immediate corps, and articles of prime necessity to ail.
With the King and his Ministers, he employed such cogent arguments
that he finally induced the court to enter into his views. France re-
solved to send an army of her best soldiers across the Atlantic, to co-
operate with Washington, while the fleets with the white-lilied flag of
France held in check those that floated the Union Jack of England.
So much did Lafayette ask, and so much did he obtain, against the
advice of prudent old statesmen, that the prime minister, the Count de-
Maurepas, said one day at the council-board : “How fortunate it is for
his Majesty, that Lafayette has not taken it into his head to strip Wer-
sailles of its furniture to send to his dear Americans; for the King
would be unable to refuse it.”
When the great step had been decided upon, Lafayette hastened
back to cheer General Washington with the glad tidings.
The French officers had caught the enthusiasm of Lafayette ; every
one was ready to take his place in the army sent to aid in securing
liberty in the Western World, while many, still smarting under the loss
of Canada, were eager to meet their old foes in America, and help to
deprive England of a richer territory than she had wrested from
France. The regiments for the American expedition were at last
Selected ; an experienced general chosen ; then the equipments were
rapidly prepared.
On July 12, 1780, a French fleet of twelve vessels and thirty-twº,
j98 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
transports, under the Chevalier de Ternay, entered the harbor of New-
port. It bore a French army, commanded by the Count de Rocham-
beau, and numbering four thousand men. They had sailed from Brest,
On the 2d of May, and passed around by the Azores, engaging on the
way an English Squadron, under Captain Cornwallis. An English fleet,
under Admiral Graves, Sailed from England on the same day, to inter-
cept de Ternay, but was driven back by a storm and did not overtake
him. Rochambeau, who was received by General Heath, landed his
troops and military stores, and encamped so as to cover Newport.
The long voyage had caused much sickness in his fleet, and many at
Once required medical care. The French were not, consequently, in a
condition to make any important movement.
Washington had strained every nerve to have his army in a condi-
tion to compare favorably with that of his ally, before they began their
campaign together. His great object was to take New York, where
the English had so long been in undisturbed possession. A plan for
the capture of the city was drawn up, and conveyed to General Ro-
chambeau, by Lafayette, who had returned from France just before the
sailing of the French corps. Rochambeau was to march to West-
chester County, New York, and join Washington, while the French
fleet engaged that of the enemy under Arbuthnot. Graves arrived,
however, with his fleet, and the English were in this way far superior
to the French on the water.
Clinton, with his usual energy, resolved to lose no time, and instead
of waiting to be attacked, if de Guichen's fleet arrived from the West
Indies to reinforce de Ternay, he resolved to attack Newport. The
English fleet at once sailed to blockade that port, and Clinton embarked
with eight thousand of his best men to operate on land. Tidings o
oR, our COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. j:}}
his movement moved faster than he did, and at the call of General
Heath, the militia of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island,
took the field. New England was in arms, and as Clinton Sailed up the
Sound, he saw evidences of active preparation. By the time he reach-
ed Huntington Bay, Long Island, he saw that his movement would
prove disastrous, and he returned hastily to New York, full of disap-
pointment and perplexity. If de Guichen arrived he would be taken
in a trap at New York. So he prepared for the worst; but the
French admiral had met Rodney in the West Indies, and in a furious
naval battle with that English commander, had suffered so severely
that he started back to France without stopping at Newport. This
was a terrible disappointment to Washington, while to Clinton it was an
unexpected release.
Yet Washington did not give up all hope. He met the French com-
manders at Hartford, and arranged a new plan, but the arrival on the
coast of Admiral Rodney, with eleven men-of-war, baffled all their
plans. The meeting of the great American general and the French
commanders, at Hartford, was impressive. The French were eager to
see the great patriot general, whom in early life they had regarded as
so great an enemy, now their ally against the very power for which he
then fought. Washington impressed them all. No French officer ever
spoke of him but in terms of admiration.
While this cordial co-operation of the French gave Washington
hope, the difficulties in the country made him despond. Half the time
his army was without provisions, and he saw no hope of a permanent
change. He had no magazines, and no money to form them. He saw
that Congress must raise money by loan, and not depend on taxes
alone : it must take plans to maintain a permanent army.
540 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
While his mind was thus burdened by great cares, on his return
from the conference, a terrible surprise came upon him. He sent on
word to General Arnold, at West Point, that he would breakfast with
him, but on reaching the post, found Arnold absent. Soon after papers
were placed in his hands. Arnold had fled to the British lines; a Brit-
ish officer who had come to arrange with him the treacherous deliver.
ance of the post into Sir Henry Clinton's hands was a prisoner. Well
might Washington be thunderstruck to find that one who had fought
so bravely on many a field had proved a traitor. Providence had
overruled the deep-laid schemes of treachery.
Arnold, a disappointed man, unable to bear as Washington did the
slights put upon him, and led into extravagance by his wife, had long
plotted treason to his country.
Sir Henry Clinton lured him to his evil work, by promises of rank in
, the English army, and a large payment of money. Arnold obtained
the command at West Point only to deliver it up.
Washington's absence at Hartford afforded the opportunity he de-
sired. Sir Henry Clinton dispatched his adjutant-general, Major An-
dré, to concert the necessary measures with the treacherous Ameri-
can general. André did not wish to enter the American lines, and
asked to meet Arnold on the Vulture, an English man-of-war, then
lying in the Hudson, but Arnold declined, and they met in the gloom
of night, at the foot of a great hill, called Long Clove Mountain, just
below Haverstraw. There and, a few hours later, at Smith's house, the
whole plan was arranged.
André intended to proceed to the Vulture, and in her descend to
New York; but, without Arnold’s knowledge, a battery had opened on
that vessel, and she dropped down. Unable to find any one to row.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. . 541
him to the Vulture, he crossed the river at King's Ferry, and in dis-
guise endeavored to reach the British lines. Near Tarrytown, a small
stream crosses the road, and runs through a deep ravine. André, who
had been guided by Smith as far as Pine's Bridge, had reached this
point, when he was stopped by John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart, and
David Williams, three young Americans, out to arrest suspicious
characters. “Gentlemen!” Said André, “I hope you belong to our
party.” “What party 2" said Paulding. “The Lower Party,” re-
plied André. On their telling him that they did, he said, “I am a Brit-
ish officer, out in the country on particular business, and I hope you
will not detain me a minute.” Pulling out Arnold's pass, he dismount-
ed, and urged them to let him proceed, or they would bring themselves
into trouble, by thwarting the General's business which he had in hand.
The pass was all right, and they would have let him go had he not said
that he was a British officer, and showed a gold watch, which at that time
seems to have been proof positive that the owner was in British pay.
They took André into the bushes, and compelled him to strip to ex-
amine him. They found no papers, and began to think that they were
wrong, when, on drawing off his boots, they found papers between his
foot and stocking. They were documents from Arnold, giving the posi-
tion of the force at West Point, its strength, artillery, etc. Now thor-
oughly alarmed, André endeavored to buy them off, but they sturdily
refused. “No 1" said Paulding, “if you would give us ten thousand
guineas, you shall not stir one step.”
They conducted their prisoner to North Castle, the nearest military
post, and delivered him and the papers to Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson.
That officer, evidently bound to Arnold by some secret tie, attempted
to send André and the papers to that discovered traitor. Major Tall-
542 | THE STORY OF A. GREAT NATION:
madge coming in prevented this, but Jameson sent word to Arnold of
André's arrest.
The traitor was at breakfast with his aides, when Jameson's letter
was placed in his hands. Controlling himself, he apologized for leaving
them, as urgent business required him to start at once. Hastening up
stairs, he told his wife the failure of the plot, and leaving her in a
swoon, he hastened to the river-side, and in a boat made his way to the
Vulture.
Such was the astonishing intelligence placed in Washington's hands.
The unfortunate André, detained by Tallmadge's wise resolution, wrote
to Washington, acknowledging his real name and rank. He was by
Washington's orders conveyed to West Point.
After making all the arrangements necessary for the safety of that
post, Washington appointed a court-martial for the trial of André. It
met in an old Dutch Church at Tappan. This court, composed of Gen-
erals Greene, Stirling, St. Clair, Lafayette, Steuben, Stark, and others
of the noblest sentiments, decided that Major André Ought to be consid-
ered a spy, and suffer death. He was executed on the 2d of Octo-
ber, 1780.
Young, brave, talented, a general favorite with all, Major André's
fate excited the greatest sympathy in England. . The fate of Captain
Hale has never met any such sympathy, and many Americans, even,
join in the English tide of opinion, forgetful of their own heroic Hale.
André now lies in Westminster Abbey, to which his body was re-
moved by the British Government in 1821.
Clinton made every effort to save André, but nothing short of the
surrender of Arnold would have availed him.
The desertion of Arnold, and the audacity with which he made re-
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 543
ligion a pretext for his treason, roused the indignation of every Ameri-
can. There was one thought in all minds, to capture and punish the
traitor. A bold, and almost desperate attempt was made by Sergeant
Champe, who, with Washington's knowledge, deserted to the enemy in
such a way that officers and men believed him a fit companion for Ar-
mold. The English did so, for he was rescued by them from the pur-
suit of American cavalry by some galleys in the river.
He enlisted in Arnold's legion, and formed a plan, by the aid of some
patriots in the city, to seize Arnold in the garden back of his house.
which he always entered about midnight. They were then to gag him
and row him over to Hoboken. On the very day fixed for the execu,
tion of this bold plan Arnold changed his quarters, and the opportu-
nity was lost.
The remarkable manner in which Arnold's treachery, so nearly car.
ried out, was defeated and brought to nought, excited admiration
on all sides. Washington himself said in a letter to a friend : “In no
instance since the commencement of the war, has the interposition of
Providence appeared more remarkably conspicuous, than in the res.
cue of the post and garrison at West Point.”
Among the closing events of this year's campaign was the brilliant
achievement of Major Benjamin Tallmadge, who, starting from Fair-
'field, Connecticut, with eight boats, with eighty men of Sheldon's dra-
goons, crossed Long Island Sound, and at dawn on the 23d of Novem-
ber, unperceived by the enemy, rushed in three columns on their
works at Fort St. George, on the south side of Long Island. With
the cry of “Washington and Glory,” the three detachments scaled
the palisade and entered, carrying the main work within at the point
of the bayonet in less than ten minutes. After the British struck
544 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
their flag, Some of them, from one of the houses, opened a fire on the
Americans. The place was soon forced, and the violators of the rules
of war punished on the spot.
An English vessel lying near attempted to escape, but the guns of
the fort soon brought her to. After destroying a large quantity of
forage collected by the enemy at Coram, as well as the works at Fort
St. George, and much of the stores, Tallmadge loaded his prisoners
with what was most valuable and portable, and, reaching his boats,
sailed back in Safety. *
This exploit was all the more welcome to the patriots, as two little
forts in Northern New York had just been forced to yield to Major
Carleton, who invested them with a force of English, Tories, and
Indians : while Sir John Johnson was spreading terror through the
Mohawk valley, with Brant and Cornplanter to aid him in his work of
desolation. The Middle Fort would have been surrendered by the
cowardly Major Woolsey, the commandant, but for Timothy Murphy,
a famous rifleman, who shot every Englishman who approached with a
flag, and so deceived Johnson as to their forces that he drew off. Dur-
ing all the fight Woolsey was among the women and children, or
crawling around inside the intrenchments on his hands and knees.
At the Lower Fort, Johnson was again repulsed ; but many places
were given to the flames. Near Fort Paris the gallant Colo-
nel Brown, who had by order of General Van Rensselaer marched
out to meet the enemy, was overpowered by numbers and slain with
forty of his men. Van Rensselaer, after sacrificing this able officer,
lost time in pursuing Johnson, but at last took the field and came up
with the enemy at Klock's field. Johnson drew up to meet him, with
regulars on his right, and his Greens in the centre, Brant and his In-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 545
dians on the left. But so impetuous was the American charge, led by
Morgan Lewis, Dubois, Cuyler, and the Oneidas under Colonel Louis,
that the enemy gave way and fled, losing severely in the action and
flight. But the inactive Van Rensselaer again allowed him to escape
and reach Canada, after many ravages and captures that the American
general should have prevented.
This closed the operations of the year. As winter approached
Washington went into winter-quarters, stationing the Pennsylvania
line near Morristown, the Jersey line at Pompton, near Paterson, the
New England troops at West Point, those of New York at Albany,
while the French remained in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
CHAPTER II.
‘Campaign of 1781—Aspect of Affairs—Arnold leads an Expedition to Virginia, and is joined
by Phillips—Lafayette sent against him—The Campaign in Carolina—General Morgan's bril-
liant Victory at Cowpens—Greene's famous Retreat—Battle of Guilford Court House—Corn-
wallis, pursued by Greene, enters Virginia—Lord Rawdon in the Carolinas—Battle of Hob-
kirk's Hill–Siege of Ninety-Six—Death of Hayne–Lafayette and Cornwallis in Virginia
—Cornwallis at Yorktown—Washington and De Grasse concert a Movement against him—
Successful Co-operation—Cornwallis invested—Surrenders—Arnold ravages Connecticut.
WHEN the American Revolution began, it was considered in England
as a trifle, a petty insurrection, to be put down at once : it had become
a great and fearfully expensive war, and now the whole continent of
Europe was arrayed against England. France and Spain were openly
at war, and Holland, stung by England's arrogant assumption of a right
to seize enemies' goods on neutral vessels, also became involved in the
war, while Russia, Sweden, and Denmark formed an armed neutrality
which resolved to submit to no British exactions. There was scarcely a
546 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
clime where English ships and English soldiers were not engaged. This.
made it all the more difficult to maintain their foothold in America. But
while they could not send over new armies to crush the Americans, the
latter were in a state of exhaustion. Their paper money was worthless,
their army unpaid, and ready to mutiny. On the 1st day of January,
1781, fifteen hundred of the Pennsylvania Line, driven by want, parad-
ed under arms and refused to obey orders. General Wayne rode
out to meet them, but when he drew his pistols on the boldest he was
encircled by a forest of bayonets pointed at his breast. “We respect
you, General, we love you,” said these men of his own State, “but
you are a dead man if you fire. Do not mistake us, we are not going
to the enemy ; on the contrary, were they to come out you should
see us fight under you with as much resolution and alacrity as ever :
but we wish a redress of grievances and will no longer be trifled with.”
Congress finally made satisfactory arrangements with these neglected
men. They showed that they were really patriots by their treatment
of some emissaries whom Clinton sent to win them over to the English
side. They gave them all up to the commanding general, and with
great Satisfaction saw them hanged.
General Arnold, who had sailed from Sandy Hook on the 19th of
December, on the 30th entered Hampton Roads. No provision
had been made by Virginia, to meet a sudden invasion. So Arnold
sailed up the James, with twelve hundred men in boats, convoyed by
the Hope and Swift, two small armed vessels. A battery at Hood's
Point, checked them during the night of January 3, 1781. The
next day, Arnold landed at Westover, and marched on Richmond.
Governor Jefferson removed the archives and called out the militia, but
only a few parties assembled, and these fled before Arnold without
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 547
making any resistance. The renegade entered the city, and after de-
stroying the foundry, public stores, and some government papers at
Westham, set fire to many of the public and private buildings in
Richmond. He then retired as rapidly as he had come. As the forces
could be organized, he was pursued, but Arnold succeeded in reaching
Portsmouth, opposite Norfolk. Here he was nearly caught, for the
Eveillé, a French man-of-war, with two large frigates, under de Tilly,
from Newport, entered the Chesapeake, but they were not able to
reach Portsmouth, one of the frigates having actually got aground in
the attempt. Anxious to secure the traitor, Washington proceeded to
Newport, and concerted with Rochambeau a movement of the French
fleet and army against him. Admiral Destouches accordingly sailed,
followed by the British admiral, Arbuthnot, who managed to intercept
the French fleet at the entrance of Chesapeake Bay. A naval battle
ensued, but without a victory on either side. Arbuthnot, however, ef-
fected his object, for Destouches sailed back to Newport, leaving Arnold
safe at Portsmouth, to be watched by the Virginia militia, under Baron
Steuben.
The English commander-in-chief, seeing the ease with which Arnold
had reached Richmond, resolved to reinforce him, so as to scourge
Virginia like the more southerly colonies.
In March, General Phillips was sent to the Chesapeake, with two.
thousand men, and being Arnold's superior in rank, took command of
the whole English force in Virginia.
He at once began a course of plunder and destruction. He swept
through the peninsula between the York and James, destroying all the
public stores and tobacco. He then entered Petersburg, where he de-
stroyed immense quantities of tobacco and all the vessels lying in the
548 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
river. Chesterfield Court-House and Manchester experienced the same
fate.
To relieve the State from the destructive inroads, Washington de-
tached General Lafayette, with part of the Northern army, and that
commander entered Richmond just before Phillips entered Manchester,
which lies opposite Richmond, on the James. The English general,
finding that he had an army to confront, retreated down the river.
When General Greene took command of the Southern army, he sent
Morgan to watch the enemy, while he himself strained every nerve to
restore and reorganize the shattered army confided to him. Morgan
had played his part well. By the sudden dash of his cavalry, under
Colonel Washington, at the Tories, near Ninety-Six, whom he sur-
prised and slaughtered almost to a man, he struck terror through the
Tories, and gave hope to the patriots. Cornwallis, anxiously awaiting
reinforcements, had resolved to make no movement till they came, but
he saw the necessity of crushing Morgan. So Tarleton was soon in the
saddle with a thousand men. He advanced with his usual rapidity,
crossing the Ennoree and Tiger. Morgan fell back towards the Broad,
but as Cornwallis was advancing on his rear, he resolved to make a
stand at Cowpens, in Spartanburg District, about three miles south of
the North Carolina line. Here, on some small ridges covered with
heavy red-oak and hickory, Morgan drew up his army ; the militia of
the Carolinas, under General Andrew Pickens, were the first line. In
the second stood John Eager Howard, with Virginia veterans and
Continentals, completely concealed by the wood ; Washington's cavalry,
With some Carolina mounted men, being in reserve. Morgan renewed
their courage and confidence by a stirring speech, and awaited the at-
tack. Tarleton drove in the American light troops in order to recon-
OR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 549
noitre Morgan's position, then formed his line, with the light infantry
on the right, his own legion in the centre, and the Seventh regiment on
the left. Then, at the head of his first line, he dashed upon Pickens.
The militia stood firm as a rock, and when the enemy were within forty
or fifty yards, poured in a well-directed volley. Tarleton's line was
staggered, but kept on ; then Pickens fell back, firing steadily, and
formed behind the second line.
Supposing the victory won, Tarleton, with his usual impetuosity
rushed forward, hoping to make short work of the second line, direct-
ing his cavalry to attack the American left. But as the British horse
advanced, a furious volley from Morgan's reserve emptied many a sad-
dle and threw them into confusion, while Washington's cavalry swept
down upon them, and the American Sabre clashed on the legion hel-
mets with a hearty good-will. The spell was broken, Tarleton's caval-
ry, so long a terror, were driven back with terrible loss in men and
still greater in prestige.
Tarleton himself found his charge met by Howard's stern line. The
fight was furious and deadly, but neither could move the other. Then
Tarleton brought up his reserve, a regular regiment, the Seventy-First,
and with them on one side and the cavalry on the other, again charged
the stubborn American line, that gave him such trouble as he had
never had before. Howard, perceiving that his flanks would be turned,
formed to receive them ; but as some confusion ensued, General Mor-
gan ordered the whole line to fall back.
Seeing this movement, Tarleton thought they were giving way, and
rushed forward in pursuit so madly that his lines were broken. Then
Morgan's voice rang out. His line halted, faced about, and hurled
into the disordered English masses such a withering volley that it was
550 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
staggered, confused, and began to retreat. Then Howard's Continen-
tals, fixing bayonets, charged in a Solid mass, and the British column
was sent whirling back in utter disorder. In vain Tarleton's cavalry
tried to cover the retreat ; Washington was upon them, and again the
British horse fled.
Tarleton escaped with forty of these cavalry, and some more subse-
quently reached Cornwallis' camp ; his infantry was almost entirely
killed or taken, with his cannon, arms, Wagons, and colors. On this
bloody day the English had almost as many officers killed as Morgan
had men ; Morgan's killed and wounded being only seventy-two,
while Tarleton's loss was two hundred and thirty-nine killed and
wounded, and five hundred prisoners. Cornwallis, dismayed at a re-
sult so utterly unexpected, acted with decision ; he destroyed his bag-
gage and heavy stores, retaining only what was absolutely neces-
sary, and started in pursuit of Morgan.
That general, anticipating such a movement, left the wounded pris-
oners at Cowpens with surgeons, and that evening crossed the Broad,
beginning a retreat which is one of the most famous in history.
The fords of the Catawba was the point that he must reach. Corn-
wallis, actually nearer to it, was pressing on to intercept him. On the
evening of January 28th, Morgan reached Sherrard's Ford, and the
next day the militia passed it with his prisoners, Morgan himself in
the rear, with his Continentals and cavalry. Two hours later the
British van reached the southern bank. It was too late to cross that
night, but before morning heavy rains made the ford impassable, and
there Cornwallis was forced to remain for three days, waiting for the
Waters to subside.
Morgan sent forward his prisoners and captured stores and arms,
oR, our countRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 551
and then, with the Mecklenburg and Rowan militia, under General Da-
vidson, who had rallied to his aid, prepared to check Cornwallis,
Greene himself, leaving his main army under the command of General
Huger, hastened to Morgan's camp and took command. Cornwallis at
last resolved to force a passage at McCowan's ford. Here General
Davidson was posted. As the English column was approaching the
militia gave them a volley, but the English, avoiding their position,
moved farther up, and some, reaching land, formed and replied. Da-
vidson kept up his fire on those in the water and on land, killing the
highest English officer on the shore and unhorsing Lord Cornwallis, who
was still crossing. But the militia could not alone hold out against
the British force, and while retreating in a masterly manner, General
Davidson was shot through the heart.
General Greene on this resumed the retreat, anxious and harassed
as to his future plans, and in great distress for money. Alighting one
day, wet with rain, at the door of a hotel kept by Mrs. Steele, Greene
told Dr. Reed, who greeted him on the porch, that he was tired out,
hungry, and penniless. He sat gloomily down by the table in a room
to which he was shown, to await some refreshments. Instead of these
the landlady, who had overheard his remark, came in bearing two
small bags of specie, the savings of years, and handing them to the
general, she exclaimed : “Take these, General, you need them ; I can
do without them.” Such was the spirit of the undaunted women of
the South, ready to sacrifice everything for the cause of freedom.
Small as the offering was, it met a pressing want, and was thankfully
received by the General. His retreat was another race, the English
pushing on in close pursuit, so that their van was often in sight of the
American rear. Greene, however, crossed the Yadkin, on the night
à
THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
5
9
3.
between the 2d and 3d of February, after a sharp skirmish in which he
lost a few of his wagons. But he secured all the boats to prevent
Cornwallis from using them. The British commander reached the riv-
er too late to cross in the darkness. Again the opportunity slipped
from his grasp. A night of storm swelled the river, so that daylight
showed him the Americans beyond, and no ford or boats to reach them.
From the English artillery, a furious cannonade was opened on the
American camp, and directed especially against a small cabin among
the rocks, in which General Greene had established his head-quarters.
Here the American general was busy writing orders, dispatches, re-
ports, indifferent to the cannonade, although the balls tore off boards
from the frail structure.
Bafiled, but not disheartened, Cornwallis marched up the river to
seek a ford, and General Greene, released from immediate pursuit,
pressed on.
On the 7th of February he formed a junction with the forces under
Generals Huger and Williams, at Guilford Court-House, thus uniting
all the army : but, till he received reinforcements, he did not wish to
risk a battle with Cornwallis. So he still kept on towards the Dan.
Cornwallis struck for the same point, both armies making daily most
extraordinary marches, tasking the endurance of their men to the very
utmost, without tents, with scant provisions, over wretched roads, and
through heavy rains ; the Americans, ragged and barefoot, marking their
route by their blood.
Greene passed the Dan on the 14th, with his army, baggage, and
stores, having safely effected his masterly retreat of more than two
hundred miles.
Cornwallis, abandoning the pursuit, resolved to rouse the Tory spirit
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 553,
in North Carolina, and sent Tarleton to the country between the Haw
and Deep rivers, to encourage the adherents of the English cause.
To thwart these plans of Cornwallis, Greene detached Lieutenant-Col-
onel Lee and General Pickens, to gain the British front, and check
any Tory movement. Getting on Tarleton's track, Lee pretended his
party to be a reinforcement sent to that officer. Two scouts of a Tory
party fell into the trap, and the whole body, some four hundred in
number, under Colonel Pyle, were suddenly confronted by Lee and his
men. They opened fire on the Americans, however, but the superior
discipline of Lee's command made the struggle a short though bloody
one. Nearly a hundred of the Tories were slain on the spot, and al-
most every survivor wounded, without the loss of an American on
Lee's side. Tarleton was only a mile off, but when some of the surviv-
ors of Pyle's party came dashing into his line wild with terror, their
exaggerated accounts So alarmed him that he recrossed the Haw in hot
haste, and did not draw bridle till he reached Hillsborough, cutting
down on the way a Tory party hastening to join him, as nothing
could convince him that they were not Lee's troopers in disguise.
In a few days after this blow, Greene, who did not believe in letting
things stagnate, moved on the enemy, recrossing the Dan into North
Carolina. Cornwallis at once retreated from Hillsborough. Greene
followed him up, and hovering around Troublesome Creek, made him-
self very troublesome to his Lordship, moving in one direction one day,
In another the next, scouring the country with his light troops, and
perplexing him beyond measure, while it gave his own men confidence
and courage, and lessened their respect for their antagonists. So high
had Greene brought up the spirit of his men, that a small detachment
at Wetzell's mill held at bay for a considerable time the very flower
*--sº
3.54 * *
THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
of the British force. At last Cornwallis took post on the Alamance,
and here Greene, who had received reinforcements from Virginia and
North Carolina, resolved to give him battle, and advanced to Guilford
Court-House. Cornwallis, seeing his object, sent off his baggage and
stores under a strong guard, and moved out to meet General Greene on
the way, or attack him in his encampment.
Tarleton, supported by a brigade of the Guards, led the British line,
but had not gone far before they were confronted by Lee, who opened
by some irregular skirmishing, then suddenly made a furious dash, cut
to pieces a section of the British dragoons, and drove the remainder in
upon the Guards, whom Lee next attacked, inflicting severe loss,
sweeping all before him, till Cornwallis ordered up a fresh regiment,
the Welsh Fusileers. Then Lee fell back, and Cornwallis pushed
on till he came in sight of Greene. The American general was
drawn up on a large hill surrounded by other hills, most of them still
covered by woods, with dense undergrowth. His first line, occupying
the edge of the wood and two cleared fields, consisted of North Caro-
lina militia, under Generals Eaton and Butler. The second line in the
wood comprised Stevens' and Lawson's Virginia militia, while in a third,
on a hill, were stationed the Continental troops of the Maryland and
Virginia line.
Cornwallis drew up his army, and about one o'clock moved forward
with steadiness and composure upon the American forces. Greene's first
line opened an irregular fire, but when the British replied with a steady
volſey, and charged with fixed bayonets, the militia turned and ſled
through the second line. There the Virginia militia stood firm, while
Tee on their left, and Colonel Washington on the right, so galled the
enemy that he had to call up his reserves. For a time this brave
OR, OUR Count RY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 555
body of militia contended for victory with the best troops and ablest
officers in the British service, but at last it was forced to yield, and, re-
tiring, formed again behind the Continentals; though Campbell's rifles
and the Legion infantry still held their ground.
The first attack of the enemy was steadily repulsed by the sturdy
Continentals, but when other English troops came up, the second Mary-
land broke before the charge of the guards and grenadiers who pursued
them, till Colonel Gurley, with his veteran Marylanders, whom
the English had not seen, wheeled, and taking the British in the flank,
opened a destructive fire. The British, surprised at this unexpected at.
tack, met it with great resolution. A fierce conflict ensued. Smail-
, wood's veteran Marylanders, who had met the English at Brooklyn,
Chatterton Hill, Germantown, Camden, and Cowpens, were full of ardor
to achieve honor and fame. The English Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart
fell by the hand of Captain Smith, of the Maryland line. The fall of
their brave commander disheartened the Guards, they began to waver,
when Colonel Washington's horse dashed down on them, and, Colonel
Howard ordering a charge of bayonets, the Guards were almost anni-
hilated. Americans and fugitives, in almost an inextricable mass, came
rolling towards Lord Cornwallis, who, massing his artillery, opened a
furious fire on friend and foe.
Howard's own regiment, meanwhile, was again attacked by Web-
ster and O'Hara with all the troops they could gather ; and still far-
ther off, Campbell's militia was holding the Hessians at bay.
Greene felt that he had done enough, and ordered a retreat, which
he effected without loss, though pursued by the British reserve.
The battle of Guilford Court-House was well fought, and creditable
alike to both generals. It was a victory to Cornwallis, but a victory
556 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
that cost him one-third of his army, and such a victory that another
like it would sweep his whole army away. From pursuers the English
became a retreating force, Cornwallis retiring so rapidly from the field
he had just won, that he left nearly a hundred wounded on the field.
Among his trophies were two six-pounders, captured from Burgoyne
at Saratoga, recovered by Cornwallis from Gates at Camden, recap-
*ured by Morgan at Cowpens, and now again fallen into English hands.
This battle was the first step in the movements which terminated
in the overthrow of English power. Greene, beaten in the field, was
now pursuing the triumphant victor.
Cornwallis, retreating rapidly, reached Wilmington. Greene on the
5th of April resolved on a new course, and instead of following up
Cornwallis, resolved to attack Lord Rawdon at Camden. This left
Cornwallis in perplexity. Should he pursue Greene, or make his way
to Virginia and leave Rawdon to fight it out? He settled the question
by marching to Petersburg in Virginia, where, on the 25th of May, he
took command of all the British forces in that State.
Greene moved rapidly down on Camden, but found Rawdon too
strongly posted to justify an attack. Learning, however, that Colonel
Watson was approaching the English general with reinforcements, he
resolved to intercept him. Sending off his heavy artillery and bag-
gage, he moved with celerity, and taking a good position awaited
Watson. Finding that he did not come, he returned to Hobkirk's Hill.
There Rawdon suddenly attacked him. Greene drew up his army
skillfully, and had flanked Rawdon on both sides and was crushing him
with his main body, when a panic arose in one of his best regiments,
the 1st Maryland. It spread to others, and Greene saw the victory
he had all but won slip from his grasp. He retreated to Saunder's
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OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 557
*
Creek, Colonel Washington covering his march, and finally driving
the enemy's pursuing corps back to Camden.
Lord Rawdon had won the day after a hard fight, but that was all.
He had lost more than a fourth of his men, and reaped no benefit.
Watson did at last reach Rawdon, after being constantly harassed and
attacked by Marion, who, with Lee, on April 23d, captured Fort Wat-
son, a strong stockade, with its garrison of a hundred and fourteen
men. When Watson finally reached Camden, Rawdon marched out to
attack Greene ; but the position of the American general looked too
strong, and remembering Hobkirk's Hill he fell back to Camden, and,
setting fire to all the public buildings in the place, he retreated towards
Charleston, to the terror and dismay of the Tories who had joined him,
but now beheld themselves left to the vengeance of the patriots whom
they had oppressed. -
The English posts were everywhere assailed, and a general alarm
prevailed. Augusta was besieged, and General Pickens was soon
there to command the operations ; Marion was hammering away at
Georgetown, Sumter menaced Orangeburg, and Greene himself was
assailing Ninety-Six, a place so called in early times because it was
ninety-six miles from there to the Cherokee country. *
Everywhere the patriots were exulting, and even women felt eager
to show their love of country. Grace and Rachel Martin, two young
married ladies whose husbands were in the field, heard that an Eng-
lish courier, escorted by two British officers, would pass near their
place with important dispatches. Arrayed in their husbands' clothes
and fully armed, they lay in wait in the woods, and as the three horse-
men came galloping on they sprang from the bushes, and presenting
their pistols, demanded the surrender of the party and their dispatch-
558 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
es. Taken utterly by surprise the officers submitted, gave up the
papers, but were allowed to depart on parole. Their captors van-
ished at once in the woods, and reaching their home resumed their own
dresses, after dispatching the documents to General Greene. They had
scarcely done so when a knock sounded at the door; the English officers,
returning to their starting-point, had stopped at this house to ask ac-
commodation for the night. The ladies, whom the officers did not at all
suspect, drew the story out of them, and then rallied them on being
captured by a couple of lads. “Had you no arms?” asked one of the
ladies with a merry laugh. “Yes | " they replied, “but we were taken
off our guard and had no time to draw them.” It was all the daring
heroines could do to play the part of hostesses without betraying them-
selves; but the two officers rode off next day, without the least idea
that the two fair ladies who had entertained them had been the daring
rebels in the wood. *
Fort Motte, the house of the patriotic Mrs. Rebecca Motte, which
the British had seized and surrounded by a stockade and other works,
was now an important point in the English line of forts. It was gar-
risoned by a hundred and fifty infantry, and some cavalry, under Lieu-
tenant McPherson. Marion and Lee, after their movements against
Watson, invested Fort Motte. They pushed on the works vigorously
and demanded a surrender. McPherson refused, and news soon came
that Rawdon was approaching on his retreat from Camden.
There seemed no way to reduce them in time except by firing the
house. This the American commanders were reluctant to do, as Mrs.
Motte was a widow who had suffered greatly for the cause. When
she heard of their hesitation, she at once told them she was gratified
with the opportunity of contributing to her country's good, and herself
OR, OUR COUNTRY S ACHIEVEMENTS, 359
brought a fine bow and arrow which had come from India, to enable
them to send fiery shafts into the roof of her own home. When the
English again refused to surrender, the arrows were discharged. The
roof was soon in a blaze, and the garrison prevented by a field-
piece from all attempts to extinguish the fire. Then McPherson hung
out the white flag and surrendered.
Augusta was besieged by General Pickens and Colonel Lee, after
the latter had by a splendid dash captured Fort Galphin, where the
English had all their presents for the Indians in their interest—blan-
kets, ammunition, and other articles greatly needed by the Americans.
Of the two forts at Augusta, one, Fort Grierson, manned by a small
body of Georgia Tory militia, was soon attacked, and the men, abandon-
ing the works, were nearly all killed or taken in the attempt to reach
Fort Cornwallis. That was a larger and stronger work, held by nearly
six hundred men, Tories, Creeks, and Cherokees, under Lieutenant-
Colonel Browne, an officer of great ability. A long and obstinate
siege followed. The Americans had to construct towers to command
the enemy's works, while Browne, by sorties, mines, and every arti-
fice skill could command endeavored to baffle them. He was ever on
the alert, and no sooner did he detect a weak point in the American
line than he hurled a mass of men upon it. But his assailants were
sturdy men. In this siege occurred a rare scene in war, a charge of
bayonets met and repulsed. At last, on the 6th of June, Browne sur-
rendered, after having sustained very heavy loss.
One English post after another was thus swept away, and Lord
Rawdon, who had fallen back to Monk's Corner, was utterly unable to
save them. His only hope was that reinforcements might arrive in
time to enable him to regain lost ground. But on the 21st of May,
560 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Ninety-Six was invested by General Greene. It had been fortified
by the best English engineers, and was garrisoned by the very pick
of Northern and Southern Tories. Kosciusko, as engineer, directed
the works of the besiegers, which were steadily pushed forward, as the
Tory commander, Cruger, refused to surrender. Lord Rawdon had re-
ceived the reinforcements he had been looking for so wistfully, and
early in June marched to raise the siege of Ninety-Six, Greene sent
off Marion, Pickens, and Sumter, to hold him in check, and redoubled
his exertions to reduce the place. He cut off the garrison from water,
set fire to the buildings, and at last, on the 18th, made a general as-
sault. One of his columns entered the fort, but another was repulsed
with severe loss. He therefore abandoned the siege and drew off, as
Rawdon, who had eluded Generals Sumter and Marion, was rapidly ap-
proaching. The English general pursued him, but soon after, falling
back to Ninety-Six, evacuated that post and, followed by a herd of
Tories with their families and property, marched toward the Congaree
to meet detachments from Charleston. General Greene at once turned
back to cut him off, and Lord Rawdon retreated to Orangeburg.
Greene, who had been joined by Sumter and Marion, marched on that
place, but finding it too strong to assail safely, contented himself with
cutting off Rawdon's communications, by means of the partisan officers
and cavalry.
Greene's activity, skill, and perseverance gave the English no rest.
Rawdon's health failed and he returned to England, leaving Colonel
Stewart in command. It was a great advantage to General Greene to
have no longer before him the able general who had watched and
baſiled him. After resting his troops on the high hills of the Santee,
he moved down late in August to attack the enemy, who were posted
oR, our COUNTRY's AOHIEVEMENTS. j61
at Eutaw Springs, about sixty miles from Charleston. Stewart, utterly
unaware of Greene's approach, had sent out a large detachment to
dig sweet potatoes in the plantations, and these were all captured.
When a party of his cavalry were driven in, he drew up his army to
receive the attack. The Americans cautiously approached, but attack-
ed with vigor. The battle soon became warm, and the Americans
were pressing the enemy steadily, when Stewart, bringing up his re-
serve, charged furiously, and Malmedy's North Carolina regiment was
forced back. Fresh troops of that State were promptly pushed for-
ward. Fiercer than ever raged the battle ; Stewart fought with skill
and valor, and gathering all his strength charged so furiously that
again the American line was broken. Then General Greene moved
up the Virginia and Maryland brigades. With a hearty shout they
charged with fixed bayonets, while the Legion and State troops on the
wings, who had steadily held their own, pressed forward, and, Lee
turning the enemy's flank, Stewart was driven from the field. Major
Majoribanks on the English left alone held his ground, and he repulsed
and captured Colonel Washington, who attempted to cut him off.
Greene's army now poured into the English camp, and broke into
disorder to plunder the tents, which were all standing. Liquor passed
freely around, and a scene of revelry ensued. While a party of To-
ries held the other troops in check at a large brick mansion, Major
Coffin repulsed the American cavalry, and dashed into the camp, cut-
ting down the drunken rabble. Colonel Hampton, of South Carolina,
however, came up, and a desperate cavalry fight ensued in the camp,
till the English horse at last broke and fled, pursued by the Americans.
At the stone house they were compelled to fall back, and Majoribanks
wrested their cannon from them.
562 *
THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
Thus, in this strange battle, the success seemed to waver, but Stew-
art was utterly beaten. Leaving his wounded, he retreated as rapidly
as possible to Charleston, with Marion and Lee hanging on his rear,
cutting off every small party that left the main body.
General Greene returned to the High Hills of the Santee. This
important victory crowned the glory of General Greene. The people
looked up to him as, next to Washington, their greatest general. Con-
gress voted its thanks and a gold medal to the hero of Eutaw Springs.
Among the gallant men who fell on that well-fought field, Lieuten-
ant-Colonel Campbell, of Virginia, deserves to be remembered.
While leading the charge that won the day, he fell mortally wounded,
and as he was borne off, asked who gave way. When told that the
British were fleeing at all points, he replied : “I die contented ” and
immediately expired.
The retreat of Stewart filled the British and their adherents with
such alarm that many posts were abandoned, and the public stores
burnt. At Charleston, the gates were closed, and negroes were driven
out in gangs to fell trees, and impede progress by the road on the Neck.
The battle of Eutaw Springs, crowning the cautious policy of
Greene, closed the war in South Carolina. At the commencement of
the year, that State lay at the mercy of the invaders, completely over-
run by their troops, who held it in a grasp of iron by their series of
strong posts. At its close, the English were cooped up in Charleston,
and durst not venture twenty miles from the city. In November,
Greene moved down, and completely hemmed them in. Then Gener-
al Pickens marched to chastise the Cherokees, for having taken up
arms for the King. They were vanquished, and compelled to purchase
a peace by the cession of lands.
or, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 563
Cornwallis, never dreaming of any such result, but sure that Raw-
don would be able to hold his own, had entered Virginia, and with re-
inforcements sent by Sir Henry Clinton, and the troops already there,
whose command also devolved on him by the death of General Phillips,
felt that he could ravage Virginia, as he had the more Southerly States.
Lafayette had an army of one thousand Continentals, twice as many
militia, and a cavalry force of sixty dragoons. Lord Cornwallis
laughed at this army, and in high glee wrote to England : “The boy
cannot escape me !” He found, however, that Lafayette, young as he
was, was a shrewd and cautious general, and avoided an action, yet
hung near him so that he could not divide his force. He once attempt-
ed to surprise Lafayette, but the Marquis, by getting a bold Jersey
soldier, Charley Morgan, to desert to the enemy, contrived so to mis-
lead and outwit Lord Cornwallis, that he escaped the danger.
Cornwallis entered Richmond in June, but, according to orders from
Sir Henry Clinton, moved down to Williamsburg. From that point
he sent out parties to drive in cattle, but Lafayette was on the watch,
and one party got a pretty rough handling at Spencer's Ordinary,
Tarleton, however, dispatched against Charlotteville, moved with his
usual celerity, seized a number of the principal met of Virginia, as-
sembled there in convention, as well as a considerable quantity of mil-
itary stores and provisions. The great object of the raid was to secure
the person of the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas
Jefferson ; he not only escaped, but saved a large part of the arms and
ammunition. Simcoe, sent against Baron Steuben, forced that general
to retreat in haste.
Cornwallis now crossed the James, and Lafayette, intending to attack
his rear, came upon him at Jamestown Ford, on the 6th of July. His
564 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
cavalry, supported by the rifles, made a vigorous onset, but Cornwallis,
prepared for such a movement, faced about, and his brigade of veter-
ans, with Hessians, light troops, and artillery, moved in splendid array
upon the American light troops. But the little corps held their own,
and received the English veterans with perfect coolness, keeping up a
steady fire till they were crowded back by overwhelming numbers to-
wards a dense wood. There, unknown to the English, stood Wayne of
Stony Point, with a small body of Continentals. Allowing the light
troops to fall past his corps, pursued by part of the British force, he
gave the word. Without firing a shot he charged with fixed bayonets
on Cornwallis's line. The English, astonished at this sudden attack, at-
tempted to hold their ground, but Wayne, after forcing them back
slightly, coolly withdrew his men, and retired half a mile. Here
Lafayette rallied his somewhat scattered force ; and Cornwallis, suppos-
ing from the boldness of the whole movement that it was a feint to
draw him into a trap, made no attempt to pursue him, but crossed over
to Jamestown Island before morning, with evident haste.
Clinton had called for part of his men, and Cornwallis was hastening
to Portsmouth, to ship them to New York, when new orders came.
Clinton had just received three thousand Hessians from Europe, so that
Cornwallis was to hold what he had. A proper place for a permanent
camp was the next consideration. Portsmouth did not suit, Point Com-
fort was talked of, but Cornwallis finally decided on Yorktown, on the
York river, with the village of Gloucester opposite. The water was
deep, so that the vessels of the royal navy could reach it safely. It
was a place easily defended, open to the sea, so that the troops could
easily embark for any further operations or to retreat.
Meanwhile, Washington was again concerting with the French naval
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS.
5
6
5
and military commanders, a grand movement by land and Sea. He had
set his heart on the capture of New York, the centre of the British
power. De Grasse, the best of the French admirals yet seen in Ameri-
can waters, was in the West Indies with a very large fleet, and would
soon be on the coast of the United States. So Rochambeau marched
from Rhode Island with the French army, and joined Washington on
the Hudson, while the advance of the American army, under General
Lincoln, began to move down that river, and a vast number of flat-
bottomed boats came down from Albany to convey the troops. Clin-
ton called in all his outposts, and began to fortify his position on New
York Island, to sustain a vigorous siege.
Washington's call for troops had been, as usual, disregarded. He had
not actually men enough to besiege New York, and worst of all, tid-
ings came that De Grasse was sailing to the Chesapeake, not to New
York.
To make the best of the case, Washington now resolved to move
rapidly down, and by the aid of the French fleet capture Lord Corn-
wallis. Sir Henry Clinton saw his movement, but thought it merely
a trick to draw him out of New York, so he kept on fortifying his posi-
tion. All Washington's movements confirmed his delusion. A bold
push was made at Kingsbridge, men were busy at boats and ovens, till
the combined armies were beyond his reach. On the 30th of August
they entered Philadelphia. The Count de Grasse was the same day
at the mouth of the Chesapeake, and at once in communication with
Lafayette and Washington. His light vessels ran up the Chesapeake
to the Head of Elk, to which Washington and Rochambeau pressed on
Wifh all speed. Everything worked like a charm. On the 25th of
September the last division reached Williamsburg, and Lafayette's
566 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION
force encamped there was united to that under Washington and Ro-
chambeau. -
Sir Henry Clinton was now awakened to a sense of danger. He
had kept Admiral Graves to resist the French fleet at New York. Now
that Graves was joined by Hood, from the West Indies, he sailed
down to attack de Grasse. As he came in sight, the French admiral,
covering the entrance to the Chesapeake, so that Graves should not.
slip in, formed to receive him. A sharp action ensued. De Grasse,
well supported by Vaudreuil, a Canadian, and Bougainville, an old
aide-de-camp of Montcalm, handled the British admiral so roughly that
he gave up all hopes of reaching Cornwallis, or injuring the French
fleet, and sailed back to New York. French troops were landed from
the fleet, and de Barras came up with his squadron from Newport,
bearing the heavy French siege guns. -
On the 28th of September the allied army was in motion, and took
up a position within two miles of Cornwallis's line. The Americans
were on the left, the French on the right ; across the river, the
British, at Gloucester, were surrounded on the land side by a French
force under de Choisy and General Weedon's Virginia militia.
Cornwallis, cheered by encouraging letters from Sir Henry Clinton pro-
mising speedy relief with a force of five thousand men, prepared to hold out.
The besiegers pushed on their operations, narrowing in their lines
around Yorktown. Continual skirmishes went on, till, on the night of
October 6th, General Lincoln opened his trenches within six hundred
yards of the English works. Cornwallis, on discovering it the next day,
made a desperate attack on the French troops holding the trenches,
but the Baron Viosmenil repulsed the English attack.
Qn the \th, the siege guns were all in position, and Washington in
oR, our cornTRY's cIIIEvKYIENTs. 567
person fired the first cannon from the American line. The French also
opened fire. So fiercely did this artillery play on the English wo, ks,
that they withdrew their cannon from the embrasures, and scarcely
fired a shot in reply. Nor was it the enemy's works only that suffered.
Their shipping was cut up, the frigate Charon and three transports
were set on fire, and totally destroyed.
The English resumed their fire with vigor, and two redoubts in front
of their left gave so much annoyance that on the evening of the 14th
they were both attacked. A column of American light infantry, under
General Lafayette, moved upon the redoubt on the right; a column
under Baron de Viosmenil, of French grenadiers and chasseurs, as-
saulted that on the left.
By the pale light, the assaulting parties moved gallantly up without
firing a shot ; over the abattis and palisades they poured, without waver-
ing under the steady English fire. Both redoubts were carried almost
simultaneously, the French losing nearly a hundred men, and captur-
ing a larger English body. These works were at once used by the be-
siegers, and Cornwallis was completely covered by the heavy cannon
directed from all sides.
Yet he did not despair. Clinton's promised aid did not appear, but
he resolved to leave his sick and wounded in his camp, cross over to
Gloucester, and cut his way through to New York. He actually be-
gan to carry out his scheme. Two divisions of his army had reached
Gloucester, when a terrible storm arose. Day revealed his project.
Under a heavy fire, he fell back to his works at Yorktown. All hope
was gone. On the 17th, he opened negotiations. Two days after, the
posts of Yorktown and Gloucester were surrendered to the allied
French and American forces.
568 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
This English army, which had destroyed fifteen millions of dollars
worth of property in Virginia, and which numbered seven thousand,
men, became prisoners of war. General Lincoln, who had surrendered
to Cornwallis at Charleston, was appointed to receive his sword.
As rapidly as news could spread, the tidings of this great success ran
through the country. It reached Philadelphia by night, and the watch-
men, calling out the hour, as was the custom, shouted out : “Cornwallis
has surrendered.”
The great blow of the war had been struck. Clinton sailed from
New York the very day Cornwallis surrendered. He returned in all
haste, and Washington, after dispatching two thousand men to rein-
force General Greene, moved up to watch Clinton, and prevent any
further barbarous expeditions like that just conducted by Arnold
against New London. At that place, Fort Griswold was ably defended
by Colonel Ledyard. When at last overpowered, he surrendered ; the
British officer on entering cried : “Who commands this fort. 2” “I did,”
replied Colonel Ledyard, “but you do now,” at the same time present-
ing his sword. The brutal officer seized it and plunged it into his heart.
Then followed an indiscriminate massacre of the Americans. The
bloodthirsty marauders, after pillaging and firing the town, retired.
Some minor hostilities occurred, but it was evident that the war was
over. Parliament soon declared for peace. Negotiations were opened,
and Sir Guy Carleton, who succeeded Sir Henry Clinton, in letters to
Washington, announced that he had virtually suspended hostilities.
In the South, when General St. Clair joined General Greene, Wayne
was sent to protect Georgia. The British general Clarke concentra-
ted his forces at Savannah, but as Wayne was advancing to invest him,
he was suddenly attacked by a strong force of Creeks, who showed
or, OUR Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 569
that they had acquired skill and discipline from the English. Wayne
repulsed his savage assailants, and this closed the War in Georgia.
Savannah surrendered in July, 1782.
Charleston alone remained in the hands of the enemy.
In December, Rochambeau’s army, which had been in America two
years and a half, and had contributed so well to the great result, em-
barked at Boston.
Washington took up his head-quarters at Newburg, New York, await-
ing the termination of the long negotiations in Europe. At last, on the
30th of November, 1782, a provisional treaty of peace was signed at
Paris, which was approved and ratified by Congress the next year.
The war of the Revolution was ended. America had declared her
Independence, and in a seven years' war had established it.
The army, which had fought so nobly and patriotically, was in a state
of Suffering, with long arrears of pay due them ; with no homes, it
might be said, to welcome them. There were even projects of making
Washington a king, but he nobly repulsed all such offers, and by his
temperate and wise counsels induced them to trust to the justice of
Congress.
On the 19th of April, the cessation of hostilities was proclaimed in
the camp. *
On the 30th of November, after the final treaty of peace was signed
(Sept. 3), the British evacuated New York city. Washington en-
tered, as it were, in triumph, and on the 4th of December he took
leave of his companions in arms, the generals who had becm so closely
connected with him during the long struggle. His emotions were too
strong to be concealed. Filling a glass of wine, he turned to them
and said : “With a heart full of love and gratitude I now take leave
#570 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosper.
ous and happy as your former Ones have been glorious and honorable.”
Each one then grasped in turn the hand of the Father of his Country,
and in silence Washington and his generals parted.
The commander who had swayed the destinies of a continent, now
modestly repaired to Congress, resigned his commission, and returned
to private life at Mount Vernon, astonishing the world by this unwont-
ed spectacle.
P A R T V.
THE REPUBLIC UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND
UNIDER THE CONSTITUTION.
CHAPTER I.
The return to Peace—Articles of Confederation—Treaties with Foreign Countries—Indian Na-
tions—Northwest Territory organized—A desire for a better Union—A Convention called––
The new Constitution—It is accepted by eleven States—Close of the Continental Congress.
THE great struggle was over, peace once more reigned throughout
America. The army which had so gallantly struggled on through
every adversity was disbanded, and the soldiers had returned to their
homes to engage once more in cultivating the soil, or exercising the
various industries which contribute to a country's wealth. Washing-
ton, crowned with glory, regarded with admiration, not only by his
own country, but in Europe, was in retirement at Mount Vernon, re-
taining none of the power he had so long wielded.
There was much to do, to enable the country to recover from the
desolation of war.
Among the curious anecdotes of the struggle which now became pub-
lic. one of the strangest was that of Deborah Sampson, a young
woman of Plymouth, Massachusetts, who, disguised as a man, enlisted
572 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
in the army, in October, 1778. By her courage and fidelity as a sol-
dier, she gained the approbation of the officers, and was always ready
for the post of danger. She thus had many adventures, and did not
escape unharmed, having received several wounds. At last a severe
wound in the shoulder compelled her removal to an hospital, where
a brain fever set in, and she was soon supposed to be dead. It was
then for the first time seen that she was a woman. The physician in
charge took her to his house, and gradually restored her to health.
When she recovered, her commanding officer sent the young soldier to:
General Washington with a letter. The soldier feared that her Secret
had been discovered, and that the letter revealed it to the General-in-
Chief. When she presented the letter, she trembled as she had never
done on the field of battle. Washington allowed her to retire while
he read the letter. He then recalled her, and without a word, handed
her a discharge from the army, and a note containing some words of
advice, and money enough to enable her to reach some place where she
might make her home.
The United States, as recognized by the treaty of peace, embraced
thirteen States, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, to which the District
of Maine then belonged, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, which
claimed Vermont, as New Hampshire did also, New Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, of which Kentucky formed part,
North Carolina, which then included Tennessee, South Carolina, and
Georgia, of which Alabama and Mississippi were then part. The
Mississippi River was, except near the mouth, the western boundary, Sep-
arating the new republic from the Spanish territory of Louisiana on
the west. It was separated on the north from the British provinces,
by the great lakes and the St. Lawrence, as far as St. Regis, from
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 573
which a line ran east to the bounds of Maine. Florida was still held by
England, though it was soon after restored to Spain. The country
northwest of the Ohio was the great Indian country, the only whites
being a few of the old French settlers.
The country was governed by the Articles of Confederation, ratified
in 1781, all the powers being vested in Congress, composed of dele-
gates chosen by the various State governments. The President of
Congress was the virtual head of the republic, the personal represent-
ative of the sovereignty of the Union, and the ceremonial of his
household was regulated on that footing, those being days of great dig-
nity in men holding high office. The Presidents of Congress from the
commencement were Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, John Hancock, of
Massachusetts, Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, John Jay, of New
York, Samuel Huntington, of Connecticut, Thomas McKean, of Dela-
ware, John Hanson, of Maryland, Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey,
Thomas Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia,
Nathaniel Gorham, of Massachusetts, Arthur St. Clair, of Pennsylva-
nia, and Cyrus Griffin, of Virginia.
But the government under the Articles of Confederation was found
difficult. Congress could lay no tax or duty. On all important points
it was necessary for a bill to have the votes of nine States before it
could pass, and then at least two members from each State were re-
quired to vote. The heavy debt contracted during the war was still
unsettled, and Congress could not induce the States to pay their several
proportions. The army and the creditors of government were clamor-
ous for money. The question of new States was urgent. Kentucky
and Tennessee wished to be admitted as States, denying the authority
of Virginia and North Carolina; Vermont was ready to join Canada,
{)
}
*
74 TTIF STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
if she was not recognized as a State. Still, with all its weakness, the
new government made some progress. It concluded treaties with
France, Russia, and Morocco, regulated the currency by adopting
the silver dollar of Spain as a standard, dividing it into a hundred
parts, called cents, thus establishing what is known as the decimal sys-
tem, much easier to calculate than the old pounds, shillings, and pence.
A mint was established in 1786, and copper coin were struck. The
greatest act of this period, was the success of Congress in inducing the
various States to give up all claim to the territory northwest of the
Ohio, for which Congress, July 13, 1787, by a celebrated ordinance,
established a regular government.
The poverty of the country was great. The States, urged by Con-
gress, endeavored to raise means to pay off the army and other debts.
The attempt to lay taxes caused great dissatisfaction. New England
showed the greatest discontent. In December, 1786, a body of insur-
gents in Massachusetts, took the field to obtain a redress of grievances.
and were led by Daniel Shays, who had been a captain in the Conti-
mental army. The Governor of Massachusetts issued a proclamation,
calling on the insurgents to disband, and urging the officers and cit-
izens of the commonwealth to suppress the treasonable work. But
the insurgents stood firm, and held several counties. Massachusetts
then applied to Congress, which raised a little army of one thou-
sand three hundred and forty men, but Massachusetts herself called out
the militia, and General Lincoln, at their head, marched against Shays,
who was threatening Springfield, then, as now, a great arsenal. It
had hardly been occupied by a part of the militia under General
Shepard, before the insurgents attacked it. Lincoln acted with great
energy and judgment, and without a battle, and very slight skir-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 575
mishing, dispersed the insurgents, and drove their leaders from the
State.
This, more perhaps than anything else, induced the States to yield to
the advice of Congress, recommending a Federal Convention to pre-
pare amendments to the Articles of Confederation. Virginia, Penn-
sylvania, Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, New York, Massachu-
setts, South Carolina, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, and New
Hampshire, in succession appointed delegates to the Convention. On
Friday, the 25th of May, twenty-nine delegates, representing nine
States, organized the Convention at the State-House in Philadelphia.
George Washington, who was present as a delegate from Virginia, was
at once appointed President of the Convention. The delegates were,
in general, men of the clearest mind and purest patriotism. All seemed
to feel that it was necessary to remodel entirely the general govern-
ment. On the 29th of May, Edward Randolph, of Virginia, laid be-
fore the Convention a scheme embracing a national legislature in two
houses, a national executive to be chosen by the legislature, and a ju-
diciary. This scheme led to violent debates, the smaller States insist-
ing on equal representation in both Houses, while the larger States
wished the representation to be in proportion to the population. The
slave population was another difficulty. The small States wished
whites only counted as population, while the larger States, with many
slaves, wished all to be counted. The debates and discussion led to
compromises on various points. At last, on the 6th of August, 1787,
the committee appointed to embody the various points decided, re-
ported, not any amendment of the old Articles, but a new Constitution.
This was put into shape by Gouverneur Morris. By this Constitution,
the national legislature preserved the name of Congress, so justly hon-
576 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
ored in America. The upper house was to be called a Senate, and
composed of two members elected from each State, the lower house
was to be called the House of Representatives, and to be composed of
members elected by the people of the several States, each State to have
one representative for every forty thousand inhabitants, or as it was
finally made, at Washington's suggestion, thirty thousand ; a President
was to be chosen every four years, by electors selected by the people ;
Federal courts were to be established, with a judiciary, and the powers of
each branch of the government were laid down with remarkable clearness.
The Constitution, as proposed by the Convention, was then submitted
to Congress, to be laid before the States. By its terms, it provided that
when ratified by nine States it should be put into force.
When the new Constitution was made public, it aroused a strong
feeling of opposition. There was much in it that excited alarm, and
seemed to menace that liberty which had just been purchased by the
greatest sacrifices. Able papers were written in favor of the Consti-
tution and against it. A series of articles called the Federalist, written
by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, earnestly supporting the Constitution,
produced a great impression, and are still regarded as the best exposition
of the Constitution, and as such are used in colleges as a text-book.
Gradually the soundest patriots prevailed. Delaware adopted the
Constitution in December. Her course was followed by more impor-
tant States, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massa-
chusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire. By the
close of June, 1788, all these States had ratified it, making the nine
required by the terms of the Constitution to establish it as the law of
the land. These States did not, however, lie together ; the three
great States of New York, Virginia, and North Carolina, broke the
oR, ou R CotſNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs.
j
T
7
other States into three groups. Virginia and New York were
strongly opposed to it, unless certain amendments were made ; but as
it was now necessary to accept or reject it, enter the Union, or set up as
independent republics, they at last reluctantly joined the rest. Of the
thirteen States which had stood side by side from the commencement
of the Revolutionary struggle, two only, North Carolina and Rhode
Island, stood aloof. North Carolina gave only a conditional approval,
while Rhode Island would not even call a convention to consider it.
The great work now before the country was to put the new scheme
of government in operation. Preparations were at once made for
elections in conformity with its provisions, for Representatives chosen
by the people directly, for Senators chosen by the legislature of each
State, and for presidential electors. All passed off with great harmony.
The Continental Congress now closed its labors, leaving all great
questions for the action of the new government. It had organized
Northwest Territory, which was governed by General St. Clair, who
published a code of laws, and wisely encouraged immigration and
colonization. Under the impulse thus given, Marietta arose, with set-
tlements at the mouth of the Miami, and Losantiville was started,
where Cincinnati now so proudly rears her head. Western New York
was rapidly filling up with emigrants from the Eastern States. The
Virginia emigrants in Kentucky felt that they needed a separate gov-
ernment, and applied for admission as a State, while the people of
Western Carolina, in what is now Tennessee, set up the State of
Frankland, which North Carolina, however, soon suppressed.
Such was the state of the country when the Continental Congress,
having achieved its great work, the Independence of America, dis-
Solved of itself.
CHAPTER II.
GEORGE WASHINGTON PRESIDENT 1789–1797—His Cabinet—Peace made with the Creeks and
Cherokees–North Carolina and Rhode Island yield when treated as Foreign Countries—
The National Debt—War with the Miamies and Western Tribes—Defeat of General Har-
mar—Bank of North America—Vermont and Kentucky admitted—St. Clair defeated by
the Western Indians—Washington's Re-election—The French and their Ambassador, Genet
—The Algerine Corsairs—Wayne overthrows the Indians and concludes a Peace—The
Whisky Insurrection—indian Boundaries—Treaty with Spain—Tennessee admitted—
Washington's Farewell Address—He returns to Mount Vernon.
THE American people in adopting the Constitution looked to one
man as alone capable of putting the government in operation. It
seems a simple thing now, but it is one of the few cases in history
where a government was set up and carried on successfully by the
will of the people, and the only one where distinctions of rank did
not exist, and a body of nobles control the destinies of the people. In
our happy land all were equal, but all recognized the purity of char-
acter and rare abilities of George Washington.
The people felt the necessity of wise and prudent men, and the
members of the first Congress included most of the eminent men of
the time.
The new Congress was to meet on the 4th of March, but owing to
the wretched state of the roads, and other delays, it was not until a
month later that the two houses organized. Meanwhile, the electors
chosen in the different States had met and transmitted to Congress, in
New York, their votes for President. These were opened on the 6th
of April. Sixty-nine votes had been given, and every one bore
first the name of George Washington. He was thus unanimously
elected President of the United States. Of the second vote cast by
the electors, thirty-four were given for John Adams, who thus became
OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs.
5
7
9
Vice-President. Official information was at once dispatched to the
President and Vice-President elect, and preparations at once begun
to inaugurate the new government with all possible Solemnity. At the
corner of Wall and Nassau streets stands a white marble building
erected for a custom-house, but now used by the Treasury Department.
Here in 1789 stood Federal Hall, which had been selected as the capi-
tol. The merchants of New York city, with commendable public
spirit, raised a large sum of money to put the building into such a state
as to fit it for the reception of Congress.
Mr. Adams, escorted by a troop of horse, came on and, having been
sworn into office, took his seat as President of the Senate. All now
awaited the coming of Washington. The President elect felt great
diffidence as to the step he was to take. He wrote to a friend
in confidence, “I tell you that my movements to the chair of govern-
ment will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit
who is going to the place of his execution ; SO unwilling am I, in the even-
ing of life, nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode
for an ocean of difficulties, without that competency of political skill,
abilities, and inclination, which are necessary to manage the helm.”
But the confidence of the people in his wisdom and integrity reas-
sured him. His journey from Mount Vernon to New York was like
a triumphal procession. Every village, town, and city through which
he passed, showed, by applause, by military honors, by addresses, by
triumphal arches, their desire to do him honor. As he passed the
bridge over the Schuylkill, a boy placed above dropped a civic crown.
of laurel on his head. But the celebration at Trenton was the most
beautiful of all, and has never been forgotten. The ladies of that city,
which he had so gallantly rescued from the Hessians, had erected
580 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
over the stream near the city, a beautiful triumphal arch. Amid
flowers and laurels at the top were the words: DECEMBER 26th, 1776,
On the curve of the arch stood out in bold gilt letters : “THE DEFEND.
ER OF THE MOTHERS WILL BE THE PROTECTOR OF THE DAUGHTERs.”
North of this were ranged thirteen beautiful girls, arrayed in white,
with coronets of flowers, to represent the thirteen States. Behind
stood all the ladies of the town. As soon as Washington arrived be-
neath the arch, the girls began to sing a beautiful ode composed for
the occasion, and with the last lines :
“Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers,
Strew your hero's way with flowers,”
they scattered flowers from baskets in their hands, upon the path where
the Father of his Country was to pass.
Washington was deeply moved by this beautiful and touching ex-
pression of gratitude. \
The Governor of New Jersey escorted him to Elizabethtown Point,
where a Committee of Congress was in waiting to receive him. Here,
on the 23d of April, he embarked in an elegant barge of nineteen oars,
manned by thirteen pilots, all dressed in white. New York Bay was
alive with crafts of all kinds, decorated in the most holiday style ; many
with bands of music or singers. Amid all this pageantry, the thunder
of cannon, and the welcome shouts of the people, he reached Murray's
Wharf. There the Governor of the State, the foreign ministers, the
clergy of the city, with a large military force, met Washington, and con-
ducted him in procession to the residence prepared for his reception.
The whole city was illuminated at night, and a general joy prevailed.
On the 30th all places of business were closed. Public service was
performed in all the churches. After that, about noon, Committees of
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 581
Congress waited on Washington, who went in procession to Federal
Hall. On the balcony in front of that building, Chancellor Livingston
administered the oath of office, which Washington reverently repeated,
adding, as he kissed the Bible, “So help me God.” Then the Chancel-
lor turning to the people exclaimed in a loud voice : “Long live
George Washington, President of the United States.” The shouts that
rose from the dense crowd below was like the roar of the ocean, and
the thunder of the artillery hardly rose above it.
The whole country felt a sense of relief. If the country was to
prosper, it would in the hands of such a President and Congress.
Washington then entered the Senate Chamber and delivered his in-
augural address to the two houses. He next, with the Vice-President,
and the Senators and Representatives, proceeded to St. Paul's Church,
where prayers were offered by Bishop Provost. Thus was God recog-
nized in the whole ceremony of organizing the Government under the
Constitution.
The first important duty was to select a cabinet. For the time,
Washington selected John Jay as Foreign Secretary, and General
Knox as Secretary of War, and placed the Treasury in the hands of a
. Board of Commissioners.
The United States had border and other difficulties with England
and Spain which required to be adjusted, the more especially as Eng-
land, maintaining military posts in the West, really influenced the In-
dians to commit hostilities. In the southwest the Creeks, relying on
Spain, were at war with Georgia. The corsairs of the Barbary States
were plundering our ships. The treasury was empty, and all the ma-
chinery of the new government was to be set working.
Congress now organized the Departments of Foreign Affairs, War,
582 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
and the Treasury, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States;
fixed the salaries of the President and other officers, Washington ask-
ing that his salary Shquld be limited to his actual expenses. For his
permanent Cabinet Washington chose Thomas Jefferson as Secretary
of Foreign Affairs, or of State ; Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the
Treasury; General Knox, Secretary of War ; Edmund Randolph, At-
torney-General ; and he appointed John Jay Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court.
Congress passed in this session the laws most urgently needed, and
by its wisdom and harmony tended to confirm the general confidence.
During its recess Washington visited the Eastern States, everywhere
welcomed in the heartiest manner.
The next Session took up the great question of the National Debt.
Hamilton, whose ability was remarkable, proposed that the United
States should adopt the war-debt of the States, fund the whole debt,
amounting to about seventy millions of dollars, and pay it off gradu-
ally. This was finally adopted, with some modification as to the
State debts.
It was also decided to make Philadelphia the seat of government
for ten years, after which it was to remove to some place on the Poto-
mac. The selection of this spot was finally left to Washington, who
fixed upon the District of Columbia, a tract ten miles square lying on
both sides of the Potomac.
North Carolina and Rhode Island, finding that they must either en-
ter the Union, or be treated as foreign countries, and have custom-
houses established all along their frontiers, adopted the Constitution,
Rhode Island acting on the 29th of May, 1790.
North Carolina, moreover, ceded to Congress the western territory
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 583
which she had hitherto claimed, and which was now organized as “The
Territory of the United States south of the river Ohio.”
The Indian question was the next difficulty to be met. Washington
sent to the Creek country Colonel Willett, a brave officer, cautious and
politic. In conference with Alexander McGillivray, a half-breed who
was the head chief of the Creeks, he paved the way for peace. The
chief was the son of a Tory whose property had been confiscated ;
and he felt bitter on that account. However, McGillivray, with other
chiefs, were induced by Willett to accompany him to New York, where,
in August, 1790, a treaty was finally concluded, which for a time gave
peace to the South.
In the northwest, the Indians showed a determined spirit of hostility,
and there was no choice except to send an army to reduce and over-
awe them. They had such a low idea of the American power, that it
was necessary to make an impression. As the year 1789 was drawing
to a close, General Harmar arrived at Fort Washington, a fortification
erected on what is now Broadway, Cincinnati. He marched in with a
body of three hundred soldiers, to the great joy of the scattered set-
tlers of Ohio. It was not, however, till September, 1791, that prepara-
tions for a regular campaign were completed. Then militia from Penn-
sylvania and Kentucky came up, and taking the van, marched into the
interior. Harmar joined them with three hundred and twenty-five regu-
lars, making the whole force under his command nearly fifteen hundred
men. The Indians did not wait to engage so large a force, they fired
their villages, and fled, as Colonel Hardin approached at the head of
his Kentuckians. The latter detached a part of his men in pursuit,
but the Indians turned, and throwing the militia into disorder, killed
twenty-three, and scattered the whole party, so that only seven reached
584 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Hardin's camp. Colonel Hardin, however, pushed on, and destroyed
the rest of their towns, ravaging their fields. The army then returned
to Fort Washington, but as public opinion censured Harmar, he again
took the ſield. Near Chillicothe, he sent Hardin forward to meet the
enemy. Early in the morning this detachment reached the enemy, and
a severe engagement ensued. The Indians fought with desperate val-
or, and the militia gave way in spite of their gallant officers, many of
whom perished. The American loss was more than a hundred and fif-
ty. The Indians were, however, so severely handled that Harmar
drew back to Fort Washington unpursued.
A deep feeling of dissatisfaction prevailed as the news of this de-
feat spread through the country.
Congress at its next session had important matters under considera-
tion. England showed an unfriendly disposition, and all Europe was
evidently about to be involved in war, which would expose the United
States to difficulties. At home it organized a new territory south of
the Ohio, and prepared to select a district in which to establish the per-
manent capital of the United States. It was also necessary to raise
a revenue to meet the public debt. In January, 1791, an act was
passed laying a duty on spirituous liquors distilled in the United States.
The tax was light, but it caused great discontent. To regulate the
financial affairs of the country, the Bank of the United States was es-
tablished, on a plan proposed by Alexander Hamilton. This bank was
from the first a matter on which opinions were greatly divided both in
Congress and among the people, and ultimately became the question
between the two great parties in the country.
Washington, in a tour through the Southern States, received the
same warm welcome that always hailed him ; and as Congress had left
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 585
it to him to select the site for the capital, he finally decided on a spot
on the banks of the Potomac, partly in Maryland, and partly in Vir-
ginia, the district to be ten miles square, the new city to lie on the
Maryland side.
Though party spirit began to run high, no doubts were any longer
felt as to the success of the new government. The States still solicited
admission into the Union. Early in January, 1791, a Convention at
Bennington, Vermont, adopted the Constitution of the United States,
and applied for admission as a State. New York and New Hampshire
yielded, and Vermont was admitted by Act of Congress, February 18,
1791,
The repulse of Harmar had made the Indians only the bolder. Two
expeditions against the Miamis, on the Wabash, proved ineffectual.
General Arthur St. Clair, a veteran of the Revolution, and at one time
President of the Continental Congress, was now Governor of the Ter-
ritory northwest of the Ohio. To him was confided a general and de-
cisive campaign against the Indians. The frontiers, with their hardy
and industrious settlers, so long exposed to the midnight horrors of In-
dian warfare, now began to breathe freely, and the whole country felt
that the work of pacification would be sharp and prompt.
In October, 1791, he took the field at the head of an army of nearly
two thousand men. But so slowly did he advance towards the Wabash,
that his militia and the friendly Indians who had joined him abandoned
him in great numbers, and when, in November, he reached the Wa-
bash, and encamped on the banks of the St. Mary's, within a few miles
of the Miami villages, he had to wait for reinforcements, as his force
was reduced to fourteen hundred men. The Indians were not so blind
as to allow their opportunity to escape them. Meshecunnaqua, or, as
586 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
the whites called him, The Little Turtle, was the chief of the Miamis,
and a man of great ability. He had watched and studied the policy of
the Americans, and had been in both battles against Harmar. With
Buckongehelas, he planned an attack on St. Clair's ill-guarded camp.
On the 4th of November, half an hour before sunrise, the war-whoop
rang out as they burst suddenly in full force on St. Clair's camp, their
main attack being on a part held by militia and raw troops, who fled
in utter terror across a creek into the camp of the regulars. On
rushed the Indians in pursuit, till St. Clair's first and second lines, has-
tily drawn up, met them with a steady fire of artillery and musketry.
For a moment the Indian line halted, but roused by their chiefs, one of
them in British uniform, they charged with a yell, while an incessant
fire was kept up from the ground, from among the grass, and from
every log and tree. The artillerymen in the centre were shot down
at their guns, the shrewd chiefs having picked out men to look to this,
and deprive St. Clair of the use of his cannon. The braves fairly toma-
hawked men at the guns. Two pieces were lost. In vain the regulars
charged ; the Indians fell back a few hundred yards, but advanced
again as soon as the troops retired. Another charge was as fruitless.
Twice were the cannon retaken, but it was impossible to use them.
The Indians swarmed on all sides; the troops, who had lost nearly all
their officers, were totally demoralized. More than half the rank and
file were killed, and there seemed little hope of escape for the rest.
The ground was covered with the dead and dying, the freshly scalped
heads reeking with smoke ; the little ravine that led to the creek actu-
ally ran with human blood. It was now nine o'clock, when St. Clair,
who had three horses shot under him, rallied his men for a desperate
charge on the Indian line in his rear. The American army gained the
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 587
road, and abandoning the camp with all its equipments, artillery, and
baggage, began a retreat which soon became a flight as the militia flung
away their arms and accoutrements. The remnant of the force, in dis-
order and panic, reached Fort Jefferson.
Never since Braddock's defeat had the whites suffered so disastrous
a defeat.
The whole frontier was again left exposed to the ravages of the In-
dians, now elated by victory, and full of contempt for the Ameri-
CàIlS.
In Congress, where so much depended on harmony, party spirit was
violent, and delayed public business. A bill for fixing the ratio of the
representation in Congress led to fierce debates, and as first passed
seemed to Washington so injudicious that he could not sign it, and re-
turned it with his veto. The act to increase the army met with no op-
position, for all felt the necessity of organizing an army to reduce the
western Indians. The coinage of money, however, led to violent de-
bates. A pattern piece had been struck, having on the reverse or tail,
ONE CENT, in a laurel wreath, with tº below, and UNITY STATES of
AMERICA around, and on the obverse or head, a head of Washington.
The republican party stigmatized this as favoring a monarchy, and to
please them, the head of a pagan goddess, Liberty, was substituted
for the head of Washington. The reverse was retained ; and in this
way the first regular American coin, the Cent, was struck in 1793.
The cents of that year are now very scarce and much prized.
For a time these discussions and party differences had not affected
General Washington, but gradually he was attacked with great vir-
ulence. That illustrious man, who had so reluctantly accepted office,
now weary of his painful position, with opposition even in his cabinet.
5
S
8
THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
wished to retire to private life at Mount Vernon. The true patriots,
however, looked with dread on this step, and the leading men of all
parties urged him so earnestly to become again a candidate that he
yielded. When the election came off Washington was again chosen
President, and Adams Vice-President. º
The Indian affairs at the west were still a great source of care.
General Wayne had been appointed to command the forces, but a
strong party in the country were opposed to war, and clamored for a
peaceable settlement of the difficulties with the red men, although, be-
tween 1780 and 1790, fifteen hundred inhabitants of Kentucky had
been massacred in their homes, or carried off to endure the rigors and
tortures of Indian captivity. Nor had the frontiers of Virginia and
Pennsylvania suffered less. Yielding to the clamors of the peace
party, envoys were dispatched. Two officers, Colonel Harden and
Major Trueman, who were sent to negotiate with them, were barbar-
ously murdered. It was evident that nothing but a thorough campaign
against them would have any effect, especially as the English, in
spite of the treaty of 1783, still held several posts in the West,
where they supplied the Indians with arms, gave them hopes of
English aid, and filled their minds with hatred and contempt for the
Americans.
While this Indian difficulty, and the national debt, which Hamilton
was devising plans to meet, occupied the public mind, alarming news
arrived from Europe. France was in the midst of a bloody revolution.
Louis XVI., whom America had reason to respect, had perished on the
Scaffold, soon to be followed by his queen, Marie Antoinette. A gen-
eral war in Europe was imminent, the new republic having already be-
gun hostilities with England. Counting on the alliance and Support
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 589.
of the United States, the French republic sent out as ambassador to
Washington, Genet, a bold and enterprising man. Of the two parties
which had arisen in the United States, the republicans, headed by Jef-
ferson, sympathized with France, while the Federalists, who supported
Washington and Adams, could not approve the excesses committed in
France, and looked with alarm at the mad course on which that country
had entered. On his arrival at Charleston, in South Carolina, Genet
was warmly received by the Democratic clubs, which had been formed
in various parts of the United States, in connection with the Jacobin
club of Paris. Intoxicated by the honors thus done him, Genet began
a bold course ; he issued commissions, and fitted out privateers in the
United States, to sail against English commerce. Wessels captured by
these cruisers were brought into Charleston, and sold under the author-
ity of French consuls. All thoughtful men were alarmed. Washing-
ton issued a proclamation, warning people against being misled by such
foreign agents, but Genet, backed by the more ardent opponents of
Washington's administration, and its temperate policy, openly set gov-
ernment at defiance. A vessel fitted out under Genet's authority, eluded
the authorities, and sailed out of the Delaware. Washington, unwill-
ing to come to an open rupture with France, at last requested the gov-
ernment of that country to recall M. Genet, and Congress passed an
act prohibiting enlistment for the service of any foreign power, or the
fitting out of privateers, except by the authority of the United
'states.
Our affairs were at the same time in so difficult a position with Eng-
land, that this affair was most unfortunate. It exasperated the Eng-
lish government, which was already complaining of the United States,
all ging that they had violated the late treaty, by preventing English
j90 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
merchants from recovering debts due them by Americans before the
Revolution. The new cause of complaint arising from the seizure of
English ships by French privateers, fitted out in the ports of the
United States, made the feeling still more bitter. On our side, the
government complained that in violation of the treaty, England main-
tained posts in the West, in territory clearly belonging to the United
States, and had even established new military posts among the Indian
tribes, aiding and supporting them by agents in their midst to carry on
a savage warfare upon our frontiers. Another cause of complaint, and
one long maintained, arose from the arrogant claim made, and enforced
by English men-of-war, which constantly boarded American vessels,
and impressed men as sailors under the pretence, often totally unfound-
ed, that they were British subjects. They also, by their privateers
and men-of-war, seized many American ships on their way to France,
violating all the right of the United States as a neutral power.
For a time there was no intercourse between the two governments,
but in 1791, England made the first step, by sending out Mr. George
Hammond as Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States.
Now that matters looked so much like war, Congress prepared to
lay an embargo on all ships and vessels bound to any foreign port, and
to sequestrate all debts due to British subjects, to make good all dam-
ages caused by British vessels. But tidings came that England had
modified her orders in council. Washington then nominated Chief Justice
Jay, as envoy extraordinary, to negotiate a new treaty, giving redress
for the past, and security for the future. In spite of this, however,
Congress would have passed an act prohibiting all intercourse with
Great Britain, had not the Vice-President, by his casting vote, defeated
it in the Senate.
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 591
Laws were passed to make active preparations for the war which
seemed so near, by raising an army and navy.
Mr. Monroe was sent as minister to France, to endeavor to prevent
any action there that might increase our difficulties.
Portugal, which had long been at War with Algiers, and in a manner
protected other nations, by preventing the corsairs from coming out
through the Straits of Gibraltar, had now made peace, it was said, at
English suggestion, and several American vessels were soon after cap-
tured by those pirates, and their crews condemned to a life of slavery.
To redeem them was an object of solicitude to the American govern-
ment. A naval force would soon have effected this, but the opposition
resisted it, and it was finally resolved to purchase their freedom by the
payment of a million of dollars.
The Indian affairs in the West were, however, at last brought to a
settlement by the decision and energy of General Anthony Wayne.
Taking command too late in the year for an effective campaign, he
pushed on with his army to St. Clair's battle-field, and there erected
Fort Recovery, which he made his camp for the winter. In 1794, he
advanced cautiously. The regulars were a new organization called
“The Legion of the United States,” specially enrolled, and whom
Wayne had waited to drill, and form into good soldiers, and expert In-
dian fighters, before he exposed them to action. Every precautiou
was taken to prevent surprise or panic.
Now that he was advancing into the heart of the enemy's country,
skirmishes took place, which gave experience and confidence. In Au-
gust, he erected Fort Defiance, at the junction of the Auglaize and
Miami. Leaving a garrison here, the army pushed on in high Spirits,
the two thousand legion troops, with eleven hundred mounted Ken-
592 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
tuckians, under General Scott. These were on the flanks in the march,
and between them and the main body were riflemen. On the 20th,
Price's battalion, in the van, received a warm fire from an unseen foe,
and was driven back. The enemy, comprising the Miamis and many
other tribes, were upon them in force, eager to contest the soil with the
Americans. They had selected their battle-ground wisely. They were
in a dense wood which lay in front of a recently erected British fort,
and they were protected by a quantity of trees thrown down by a tor-
nado, which formed an intrenchment almost impassable by horsemen.
They were drawn up in three lines with their left on the Maumee.
Their first movement was an attempt to turn the left flank of the
Americans, but as soon as the firing began, Wayne formed the legion
in two lines, and the first charged with trailed arms, to rouse the Indi-
ans with the bayonet from their coverts, behind logs, and in the grass,
and when they had dislodged them, to pour in a steady volley, and
press them so rapidly that they should not have time to load. The
second line was ordered to check the Indians who were endeavoring to
turn his left, and the cavalry skirting the river, and wheeling around on
the other wing, were to take them in flank. With one tremendous
shout, the legion sprang forward. The startled Indians sprang from
their ambush, and with a scattering fire fled, pursued by the terrible
volleys of the legion. Forty fell dead, others were carried off. Away
through the wood rolled the tide of battle, the Indians being driven for
an hour, with constant loss, for more than two miles, till the routed,
crestfallen braves at last sought shelter under the guns of the British
fort. So impetuous was this charge of Wayne's first line that the sec-
ond and the cavalry hardly got into the fight at all.
The victorious general halted to give his troops time to take Some re-
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 593
freshments, then he marched down the river, and encamped within half
a mile of the British Fort Miami. Here he remained three days,
burning and ravaging the houses and cornfields aii around the fort, and
within pistol-shot of it, and though the English commander attempted
to take a high tone, General Wayne was so decided that he cooled
down. The houses of English and Canadians among the Indians, fared
like the wigwams.
His complete victory cost Wayne about a hundred men. It was sup-
posed that it would bring the Indians to ask peace, but as they held out
Wayne laid waste their whole country, and built forts in the very
heart of their settlements to prevent their return.
The spirit of the Indians was broken, and a general war all along
the frontiers was happily avoided.
The Miamis at last made overtures of peace, and on the 3d of Au-
gust, 1795, Wayne concluded a treaty at Fort Grenville, with the
Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatamies,
Miamis, Kikapoos, and Illinois. A boundary line was assigned to
them, and annual presents agreed upon in return for the lands which
they gave up forever.
This triumph over the savage foe was complete : but while war was
thus banished from the frontiers, where the hardy backwoodsman was
pushing on as the pioneer of civilization, a dangerous insurrection
broke out in western Pennsylvania. The tax laid on spirituous
liquors was very unpopular, and excited discontent, which at last
resulted in acts of violence. In July, 1794, the marshal was shot at,
and the next day, a body of five hundred insurgents attacked the
house of the inspector, who had obtained a detachment of eleven
men from Fort Pitt for his protection. They were summoned to sur-
594 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
render, and finally did so, when the buildings had been set on fire,
and all escape was cut off. The insurgents seized the mails, and opened
all letters, to discover those in favor of enforcing the law. President
Washington saw the danger. If insurgents could thus defy the laws
of the United States all government was at an end. Governor Mif-
flin, of Pennsylvania, did not believe the State militia able to quell
the insurrection. Washington, thereupon, by proclamation, called
upon all the insurgents to disperse and retire before the 1st of Sep-
tember. He also made a requisition on the Governors of New Jer-
sey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, for militia to form an
army of fifteen thousand men. The States responded to the call ; the
militia turned out with uncommon alacrity. The army, under the
control of Governor Lee, of Virginia, marched into the country of
the insurgents, but found no body of men in arms to oppose them.
Overawed by this display of force, the insurgents lost all hope, their
leagers were arrested or fled, and the people whom they had led into
the rebellion submitted to the government.
The government acquired new popularity by its exhibition of pow-
er, and still more by the leniency with which it treated the misguided
II) (2 I).
The arrival of the news of Jay's treaty was another source of dis-
content, and some riotous displays took place, designing leaders in-
ducing the people to believe that the honor and interests of the
country had been betrayed. But the people generally sustained
Washington, and refused to believe that he could have become a
traitor to his country. Now, when we look back at those times, with
the reverence for Washington which time has given, we can scarcely
believe that any American could have been so unjust towards him.
2 * * * r rIYCW 595
oR, our Country's ACIIIEVEMENTs. *
Congress showed also its support of Washington's policy ; the House
of Representatives voted money to carry out the treaty. By its terms,
England finally withdrew her troops from the western posts which
she had so long held to the annoyance and injury of our growing set-
tlements. She also made compensation for the illegal captures of
American vessels by her cruisers. On our side the government of
the United States secured to British creditors proper means for col-
lecting debts due them when the Revolution broke out.
As soon as British influence was removed from the West. Congress
passed an act regulating intercourse with the Indian tribes, and estab-
lishing a boundary along the western frontier, beyond which no white
man was to be allowed to go, either for hunting or pasturage, without
a pass. This vast Indian territory was separated into two parts by
Kentucky, but it comprised nearly one-half the whole territory of the
United States, which, our readers will remember, then extended only to
the Mississippi, and did not include Florida. Special provision was
made for the punishment of offenses committed by either whites or
Indians. Another step was taken for the improvement of the Indians,
by appropriating money to supply them with agricultural implements,
so that they might be induced to rely less on hunting, and cultivate
the ground like the whites. A great difficulty has always been, that
wicked and unprincipled traders corrupt the Indians, lead them into
intoxication, and then rob them in various ways. Laws were passed
to prevent this as far as possible.
All these steps produced a good feeling among the various Indian
tribes, and a general and secure peace enabled the hardy pioneers to
extend the settlements in all directions.
Ün the west and south, the United States was bounded by Spanish
596 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
eolonies. The western bank of the Mississippi, whatever of Louisi-
ana lay east of that river, and Florida, were held by Spain, so that,
many questions arose between the two countries. On the 27th of Oc-
tober, 1795, a treaty was concluded with Spain, and ratified in the
following year, by which the bounds of Florida were fixed at the lim-
its set out in the treaty between the United States and Great Britain,
that is, from the Mississippi at 31° North, to the junction of the
Flint and Apalachicola, and thence to the head of the St. Mary's.
On the west, the boundary was to be the middle of the channel of
the Mississippi to the thirty-first degree of north latitude, the navigation
of the river remaining forever free to the citizens of both nations. For
purposes of trade, Americans were to have the right to store goods
for three months at New Orleans. Both parties also pledged them-
selves to use their best endeavors to restrain their Indians from com-
mitting any hostilities beyond their lines, and to refrain from tamper-
ing in any way with the Indian tribes of the neighboring State. Ano-
ther State was now ready to enter the Union. Tennessee had already
endeavored ineffectually to set up an independent government. They
went to work again in 1796, and, acting on their own responsibility,
declared themselves a State, adopted a constitution, and elected sena-
tors and representatives to Congress. These proceedings, as being
utterly irregular, were condemned, as Congress had not fixed the ter-
ritory of the new State, or directed the election. The want of due
formality was, however, overlooked, and Tennessee became the six-
teenth State in the Union.
Such were the chief acts of Washington's second administration.
It was now drawing to a close. He had organized the government
under the new constitution, and the United States had entered on a
oR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 597
career of peace and prosperity. With England and Spain, the coun-
tries whose colonies bordered on our land, we were at peace. France,
our old ally, showed a spirit of reckless hostility which might lead to
some trouble, but this afforded no grounds for alarm. At home, all
was prosperous; industry, agriculture, manufactures were thriving ;
the public debt was gradually decreasing, without any severe bur-
dens being imposed on the people ; the happiness and security en-
joyed here invited many from the Old World, and a large emigration
began from Ireland and France. Educational establishments were
multiplied, and New York adopted a system of common schools, to
extend to all the benefits of education. Pennsylvania hesitated
to follow in the same course only from a fear that education without
a religious basis may prove a curse and not a blessing.
Washington felt that his labor was complete. He had most reluc-
tantly accepted a second term ; it had been one of pain and anxiety.
It is sad to think how so great and good a man was assailed and ma-
ligned. He longed to return once more to his peaceful retreat at
Mount Vernon. He announced his intention of retiring in a Fare-
well Address, which is one of the greatest monuments of his wisdom
and patriotism.
He implored them to hold the Union between the States inviolable.
“It is of infinite moment,” says the Father of his Country, “that you
should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to
your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a
cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it, accustoming your-
selves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political
safety and prosperity ; watching for its preservation with jealous
anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion
598 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
that it can in any event be abandoned ; and indignantly frowning
upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion
of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which
now link together the various parts. For this you have every
inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or
choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concen-
trate your affections. The name of AMERICANs, which belongs to
you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of
patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local dis-
criminations.”
“This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced
and unawed ; adopted upon full investigation and mature delibera-
tion, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers
uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provis-
ion for its own amendments, has a just claim to your confidence and
support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquies-
cence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims
of true liberty.”
He warned them against the violence of party spirit, and against
the danger of one department of government encroaching on another.
He urged the establishment of institutions for the diffusing of knowl-
edge as the best security.
In regard to foreign nations, this wise man urged peace and justice,
avoiding excessive fondness, or antipathy, towards any ; avoiding all
occasions of being drawn into the disputes between foreign nations,
and, still more, preventing all interference of foreign governments in
our national affairs.
This address was everywhere received with profound reverence.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 599
The various States, through their legislatures, responded to his patri-
otic and wise address.
The third presidential election saw two great parties arrayed. The
Federalists, who supported the policy hitherto followed by Washington,
nominated John Adams for President, and Thomas Pinckney for Vice-
President. The Republicans, or antifederalists, took up Thomas Jeffer-
son as their strongest candidate. The election was an exciting one,
but it was soon evident that Adams was elected. Washington's mes-
sage to Congress was touching, as he stood for the last time in the hall
of Congress, addressing the Senate and House of Representatives—for
his messages were always spoken by him ; not sent in writing, as is
now the custom. He closed with the wish that the Union which they
had formed for their protection might be perpetual.
The answer of the Senate was cordial ; but, in the House, some im-
pulsive Republicans wished to strike out all words that expressed at-
tachment to Washington's character and person, all approbation of his
administration, or regret at his retiring from office.
When the electoral vote was counted in the House, John Adams
had seventy-one votes, and Thomas Pinckney only fifty-nine, some Fed-
eralists having voted for other candidates. Thomas Jefferson received
sixty-eight votes, and became, as the law was then, Vice-President,
although he had run for the presidency. This seems strange ; but
under the Constitution, each elector voted for two persons for Presi-
dent, and the one getting the highest number became President, the
One getting the next highest number became Vice-President.
Washington's administration closed ; he retired from office, and set
out for his own home at Mount Vernon. Everywhere on the road he
Was Welcomed with enthusiasm and reverence.
CHAPTER III.
JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDEN 1-1797–1801.
Affairs with France—Mississippi Territory organized—War with France on the Ocean—The
Alien and Sedition Acts—-Death of General Washington—Seat of Government removed to
Washington—Indiana Territory organized—Close of the War with France—Adams defeat-
ed in the next Election.
ON the 4th of March, 1797, John Adams was inaugurated as Presi-
dent, and after delivering his address, took the oath of office. He
was a patriot of the most incorruptible principles, calm, able, labori-
ous, but not always consistent or firm in pursuing a course which he
had adopted. He formed a cabinet which was not in harmony with his
own views or with itself. Pickering was Secretary of State, Wol-
cott, of the Treasury; the other members were McHenry and Lee.
The first object that claimed the attention of the new President, was
the relations of America with France. General Pinckney, Minister
Plenipotentiary to France, had been virtually expelled from the
country by the Directory, which then ruled in that republic. French
ships still continued to plunder American vessels.
On the 25th of March, President Adams, by proclamation, convened
an extraordinary session of Congress. He recommended them to
provide effectual measures of defense in case war became ne-
cessary.
As a last effort for peace, General Pinckney, John Marshall, and
Elbridge Gerry, were appointed envoys to France. They set out,
but on reaching Paris, were met with insulting propositions from Tal-
leyrand, the French minister for Foreign Affairs. If the United States
oUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 6() ||
would pay Talleyrand a quarter of a million of dollars, and loan to
France thirteen millions, they would be restored to favor. When they
declined absolutely to consider any such proposal, Pinckney and
Marshall were ordered to leave France, while Gerry, a republican,
was ordered to remain, under a threat of immediate war, if he retired.
It was in this correspondence that Pinckney used a phrase which
has become a motto for the country : “Millions for defense, not one
cent for tribute.”
Congress met before news of this arrived in America, for ships did
not cross the ocean rapidly in those days. When, however, the cor-
respondence reached the President, he laid it before Congress, and it
was at once published. It speedily roused the spirit of the whole
people. The land rung with preparations for war. Hopkinson com-
posed a patriotic song that has not yet been forgotten : “Hail Colum-
bia.”
Congress passed an act for retaliation, and by another increased
the army, and authorized the President to raise additional regiments,
and organized a provisional army.
When Marshall arrived, and reported in full the treatment to which
he had been subjected, Adams sent a message to Congress in which he
said: “I will never send another minister to France, without assur-
ance that he will be received, respected, and honored, as the repre-
sentative of a great, free, powerful, and independent nation.”
As soon as it was clear that a resort to arms would be necessary,
all eyes turned upon Washington, as the only man to be placed at the
head of the army. On the 3d of July, 1798, President Adams nom-
inated him Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the United States.
and the Senate confirmed his choice. The illustrious man accepted
{}{\9 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
the high office, and again, relinquishing his domestic retirement, as-
sumed the direction of the army.
The Navy Department was now organized, and Benjamin Stoddart,
of Maryland, became first Secretary of the Navy. Thirty active
cruisers were ordered, and the treaties with France declared to be 110
longer binding. Among other preparations for war, two acts were
passed which drew great odium on Adams, these were the Alien
and Sedition Acts.
Although war was not declared against France, vessels were author-
ized to resist French cruisers; privateers were fitted out, and three
frigates, the United States, commanded by Captain Barry, the Com-
stitution, Captain Nicholson, and the Constellation, Captain Truxtun,
with a number of smaller vessels, sailed out to meet the French.
The sudden appearance of So many American vessels astonished not
only the French, but also the English, who could not conceal their
chagrin to see the United States manifest such power on the ocean.
They even let their ill-temper carry them to violence, as in the case
of the attack of the British frigate Carnatic on a little American sloop-
of-war, the Baltimore.
In June, 1798, the French privateer Le Croyable was captured, and,
under the name of the Retaliation, was sent to sea under Lieutenant
Bainbridge, but only to be recaptured by a French frigate.
On the 9th of February, 1799, the Constellation, Commodore Trux-
tun, fell in with a large ship which showed the Stars and Stripes, but
soon raised the tricolor. She was the Insurgente, Captain Barreault,
one of the fastest ships known. She returned the Constellation's fire
vigorously, injuring her masts and rigging, so that the fore-topmast
was saved only by the gallantry of midshipman David Porter, who cut
Aº
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTs. 603
away the yards. Thus relieved, the Constellation poured into her an-
tagonist two or three raking broadsides, then shooting out of the smoke
of the combat, she wore round, and getting across the Insurgente's
stern was about to rake her when she struck. The French vessel was
much cut up, having lost seventy men killed and wounded. A few
other collisions took place. Merchant vessels were captured on both
sides, but France recoiled from her hostile attitude, asked indirectly for
a renewal of intercourse, and a minister was sent.
But while this was going on, the country continued to grow. Con-
gress organized the country between Georgia and Louisiana into a new
territory, under the name of Mississippi. A strong effort was made to
exclude slavery from the new territory, and Jefferson so planned it ;
but this was finally defeated, and it became slave territory. A Gover-
nor was appointed, and the territory organized.
In spite of the firm position which he had assumed in regard to
France, President Adams suddenly resolved to renew negotiations, and
to the surprise of all, nominated William Vans Murray minister to that
country. This led to dissensions between him and his cabinet, and to
the breaking up of the Federal party; while the Republican party, un-
der the leadership of Jefferson, was daily gaining strength. At his sug-
gestion, Kentucky and Virginia adopted resolutions denouncing the
Alien and Sedition laws as violations of the Constitution of the United
States, and claiming the right in the States to nullify all such acts. It
is somewhat strange that Andrew Jackson, then an opponent of the
Federalists, was subsequently, as President, to put down with a hand
of iron these nullification doctrines, when set up by his native State,
South Carolina.
The country now experienced a terrible loss in the death of George
604 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
Washington. That noble patriot, so much of whose life had been given
to his country's service, but now deprived of the consolation attend-
ant on public favor, had organized the army for any emergency. On
Thursday, December 12th, he spent several hours riding around his es-
tate, directing operations on various parts. The day was stormy, and
on his return, he was seized by a violent cold, accompanied with sore
throat. During the night he became rapidly worse, and inflammation,
with fever, set in. He would not, however, allow a physician to be
summoned till morning. When Doctor Craik arrived, he was alarmed
at the symptoms, and at once called in consulting physicians. Various
remedies were resorted to, but in vain ; Washington's sufferings were
acute, and it was evident that the illustrious patient was rapidly sink-
ing. From the first, Washington was convinced that it was his last
sickness. Towards evening, on the 14th, he said to Doctor Craik :
“I die hard, Doctor, but I am not afraid to die. My breath cannot
last long.” Thanking his physicians for their efforts to save him, he
asked them to resign him to the hands of Providence. Nothing fur-
ther was attempted. His agonized family and friends watched the mo-
ment of departure. He expired between ten and eleven o'clock at
night, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, maintaining his faculties to the
last. He was quietly interred on the Wednesday following.
Thus passed away the father ef his country, one of the few immor-
tal names that were not born to die. There is no tarnish to the lustre
of Washington's glory. He was a patriot, pure and disinterested,
seeking only the good of his country, with no ambition except to serve
it, no desire to enrich himself from the taxes drawn from his fellow-
citizens. After holding the highest positions, military and civil, he
went back to his quiet home, no richer than he left it.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 605.
Congress was then in session at Philadelphia. The news of his death
and of his illness arrived together, so that the sad tidings came unher.
alded. As soon as it became known, a motion was made in the House
to adjourn. The next day, John Marshall announced that the infor-
mation was but too true. After a brief but comprehensive view of
Washington's career and services, he moved that a joint committee
should be appointed “to devise the most suitable manner of paying
honor to the memory of the man, first in war, first in peace, first in the
hearts of his countrymen.” The Senate addressed a letter to the Pres-
ident, to which President Adams replied in a touching eulogy on the
hero who had passed away.
The joint committee appointed by the two Houses resolved that a
marble monument should be erected in Washington, under which his
body, if the family consented, was to be placed ; and that a funeral
oration should be delivered in the Lutheran Church before both Houses;
that the President should recommend the people of the whole country
to wear crape on their arm for thirty days.
On the 26th of December, Henry Lee pronounced the eulogy on
Washington, before both Houses of Congress. Similar orations were de-
livered throughout the country, by Hamilton, Ames, Carroll, and other
eminent men. The anniversary of his birthday, February 22d, ar-
riving Soon after, called forth fresh tributes to his memory.
Amid this general grief and respect, a few political fanatics ventured
to cast slurs upon his illustrious name, but they were frowned down by
an indignant people. They have long since been consigned to merited
oblivion, while Washington has constantly risen higher and higher in
the esteem and respect of his countrymen.
Washington was not one of those dazzling meteors which have as-
606 - THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
tonished and terrified the world by a brilliant but destructive course.
A warrior, he sought not conquest, but liberty; a ruler, he had no aim
but the happiness of the people ; in all, he had no wish but justice.
Calum and unruffled in temper, prudent and steadfast in his resolutions,
prompt and decisive in action, he was never elated by success, nor de-
jected by failure. Though oftener defeated than victorious in the field,
he was never routed, and thus, ever formidable to his antagonists, never
periling the cause by rashness, he brought the Revolutionary War to a
triumphant close. As President of the Convention, he was one of the
founders of the Constitution, showing great ability as a statesman. On
the establishment of a new government, he organized it amid difficulties
and opposition of various kinds. His full confidence in that form of
government has been justified by its triumphant career of nearly a cen-
tury ; but in our thankfulness for its blessings, and our prayers for its
future maintenance in its purity and integrity, we should remember
that Washington established it on a firm footing only at the loss of his
own popularity. *
The death of Washington quickened the movement for the perma-
ment establishment of the National Capital. The site of a Federal dis-
trict had been selected by Washington. One of the acts of the Con-
gress, on meeting in 1799, was to provide by law for the removal of
the United States Government to the city of Washington, henceforth to
be the permanent capital of the United States.
The new settlements had grown, so that new territorial governments
were needed to prepare for the gradual admission of new States. The
territory northwest of the Ohio was divided into two, and the west-
ern part became Indiana Territory; at the South, a government was
established for Mississippi Territory. So rapid was the increase of set-
OR, OUR Cotſ NTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 607
tlements by emigrants, from the coast and abroad, that the sale of pub-
}ic lands became an important source of revenue. New laws were
passed to enable industrious settlers to buy land and pay for it gradu-
aliy.
Although Mr. Adams had renewed negotiations with France, hostili-
ties were still carried on at sea, chiefly in the West Indies, where
France still held, though heaving with revolution, part of St. Domingo,
and ruled in peace several of the smaller islands. In the waters sur-
rounding these islands, our navy officers sought to win glory by meeting
the French navy, and profit by meeting her merchantmen. The new
century opened with a naval victory. On the first day of February,
1800, Captain Truxtun, in the Constellation, of thirty-eight guns, while
Cruising off the island of Guadeloupe, discovered a vessel to the south-
east, steering west. Taking her for a large English merchant vessel,
Truxtun hoisted English colors, but the other vessel did not regard it.
Then Truxtun gave chase, crowding all sail. When near enough to
distinguish her, Truxtun found her to be a French frigate. He at
once hauled down the Union Jack, and running up the Stars and
Stripes, prepared for action. The Wengeance, his antagonist, was a
French frigate of fifty-two guns. As the Constellation, having over-
taken her, was doubling the weather quarter of the Vengeance, the
French opened fire from her stern and quarter guns. As soon as he
could bear full on her, Truxtun gave her a broadside, and through the
night, from half past eight till nearly one, the two vessels, running free
side by side, sent broadsides into each other, till the Wengeance, with
fifty men killed and a hundred and ten wounded, and the hull cut up by
Truxtun's balls, drew out of the fight. The Constellation gave chase.
sure now of capturing her, but just then, all the shrouds having been
608 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
cut by the Frenchman's fire, the Constellation's mainmast went by the
board, carrying a gallant young midshipman, named Jarvis, and several
men with it. This enabled the Vengeance to reach Curaçoa, though in
a sinking condition. Truxtun bore up for Jamaica. It was a well-fought
battle. The French vessel was heavier, carried sixteen more guns, and
nearly a hundred men more than the Constellation, yet she would in a
few minutes more have been compelled to strike. Congress showed
its appreciation of Truxtun's gallantry by striking a gold medal.
Napoleon Bonaparte had now risen to the head of the government
in France. With him a treaty was negotiated, but some of the articles
displeased the Senate, who refused to confirm them. Mr. Adams rati-
fied it as finally, and nominated a Minister Plenipotentiary.
In June, 1800, the public offices of government, with all its archives
and officials, were removed from Philadelphia to Washington ; and
somewhat later, Mr. Adams and his family took up their residence in
the President's house. In these days of railroads and rapid traveling
through our more densely settled States, it is amusing to look back to
that time and read of the President getting lost in the woods with his
family while on their journey from Baltimore to Washington. They wan-
dered around for hours, till a straggling negro at last came lounging
along that way, and guided the presidential party to the capital.
The public buildings were by no means ready, the place was a
wilderness, and it was for a long time a wretched place of resi-
dence.
The census, at the beginning of the century, showed a population of
five million three hundred and six thousand, being an increase of nearly
a million and a half in ten years, due in some measure to emigration
from abroad ; France sent her exiled clergy and nobility; Saint Do-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 609
mingo, her planters flying from the infuriated negroes; Ireland, her
sturdy sons, whose rising for freedom had been crushed in blood. Mr.
Adams' term of service was drawing to a close, and party spirit ran
high. Mr. Adams looked to a re-election, but among his own party,
the Federalists, he had made many enemies, and alienated many of his
friends. Hamilton, one of the leaders of the Federal party, who had
carried on a vigorous contest with Burr in New York, had become
hostile to Mr. Adams, and Burr adroitly used this to injure both. The
election was an exciting one, and when the votes of the electors came
to be counted, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received each sev-
enty-three votes, Adams sixty-five, and General Pinckney sixty-four.
The votes given for Burr and Pinckney were really given them for the
position of Vice-President, but as the Constitution then stood, each
elector voted for two persons, and the one who received the highest
number of votes became President, and the one who received the next
highest became Vice-President. One of the electors should have voted
for Jefferson without casting a vote for Burr. As it stood, there was
no election. Jefferson had seventy-three votes, and so had Burr. By
the Constitution, it had to go to the House of Representatives. There
the members voted by States, and the candidate who received the vote
of nine States would be President. Burr was a man full of plot and
schemes. He had been put forward only as a candidate for the Vice-
Presidency ; but as he saw a chance to become President, he used all
his ability to secure his election in place of Jefferson. The Federals,
defeated as they were, were ready to defeat Jefferson. For days they
continued balloting without being able to effect an election. General
anxiety prevailed, and fears were entertained that they might not be
able to make a choice, but at last, on the 17th of February, 1801, six
610 THE STORY OF A GREAT IN ATION.
representatives agreed to vote blank, and Jefferson received the vote
of ten States, Burr of four, two not voting.
The few remaining weeks of his administration were uneventful.
Congress reorganized the United States Courts, and Mr. Adams, on the
3d of March, appointed judges under the new Act; a step which called
forth strong censure.
Without waiting for the inauguration of his successor, Mr. Adams,
early on the morning of the 4th of March, bid adieu to the Capital
and public life.
During this short administration, the yellow fever, which had been
very destructive in 1793, renewed its ravages. Steps were taken in
New York and Pennsylvania for the gradual extinction of slavery.
Albany became the capital of New York.
The French Revolution, which abolished monarchy and aristocracy
in France, had done away with much of the old style finery of dress.
Its influence was felt in America. Short hair took the place of the
long powdered hair or wigs; loose trowsers were worn instead of the
tight knee-breeches; dark or black cloth was adopted for men's wear
instead of gayer colors. In all social concerns, there was less formality
and display, and more simplicity was everywhere introduced.
CHAPTER IV.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, THIRD PRESIDENT—1801–1809.
War against Tripoli—Purchase of Louisiana–Lewis and Clarke's Expedition to Oregon-
Troubles with Florida—Burr's Conspiracy—English Outrages—Attack on the Chesapeake—
New States and Territories. -
JEFFERSON came into power as representing a new policy. All was
at peace, except that the Barbary States continued to plunder Ameri-
can ships, and carry off passengers and crews to be sold as slaves,
Under previous administrations, the party now in power had urged the
payment of money to redeem the captives rather than fit out a navy to
punish them. But the French war had brought a navy into existence,
and there was now no talk of paying money to those pirates.
One of Jefferson's first acts was to send out Commodore Dale, with
a Squadron, to the Mediterranean Sea, to chastise Tripoli, the last offen-
der. Finding a Tripolitan frigate and brig near Gibraltar, he block-
aded them So that they could not get to sea. Then the little Enter-
prise, a twelve-gun schooner, under Lieutenant Sterrett, overtook a
Tripolitan fourteen-gun ship, and in a running fight of three hours
captured her, after killing or wounding fifty of the corsairs, without los-
ing one of his own men. He then threw her cannon and ammunition
Overboard, and sent her adrift with one old sail. When the pirate
Captain at last got back to Tripoli, he was paraded around on an ass.
Ohio had now gained so much in population, that she solicited admis-
sion as a State. Accordingly, Congress authorized the holding of a Con-
vention, which in 1802 adopted a very liberal Constitution. Under
{312 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
this it became a State on the 1st of March, 1803. Then the growth
of settlements on the Mississippi, in the Territory of that name, gave
promise of a new State. But suddenly news came that Spain had, by a
secret treaty, on the 1st of October, 1800, ceded back to France the
colony of Louisiana, which she had held for nearly forty years. There
was at once a change of system. The authorities at New Orleans re-
fused to carry out the treaty of 1783, so as to allow American vessels
to land their cargoes at New Orleans. All the American settlements
in the Mississippi Valley were aroused, and many were in favor of rais-
ing an army and taking possession of Louisiana by force. Congress
acted more prudently, but the free navigation of the Mississippi was so
essential to the West, that a law passed authorizing the President to
call out an army of eighty thousand men, and two millions of dollars
were put at his disposal to purchase, if possible, the island of Orieans,
and the free navigation of the river. The navy was also increased ;
and as another war with France seemed possible, some who had been
strongly in favor of that country, now looked to England for aid.
Livingston, the American minister at the court of France, had in
vain endeavored to baffle the negotiations, and prevent the cession of
Louisiana to France. Failing in this, he opened a negotiation for the
purchase of New Orleans, and the adjacent territory on the Missis-
sippi. Bonaparte did not give the project a favorable consideration,
till it was evident that France must again plunge into war. Then
Bonaparte asked Livingston to make an offer for all Louisiana. The
American minister's instructions did not anticipate this, nor did those
of Monroe, who arrived to succeed him. But there was no time to ask
instructions. The American envoys offered ten millions of dollars ;
the French government at first asked sixteen millions, but having
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 613
agreed that four millions should go to pay American claims, the bar-
gain was closed, and a treaty was signed on the last day of April, 1803.
The treaty secured to the inhabitants their liberty, property, and re-
ligious rights, and provided for their early admission as citizens, and
the organization of part of the territory as a State.
The treaty came as a surprise to the whole country, and was too
satisfactory a solution of the difficulty to allow much dispute. The
amount to be paid was trifling to a great and growing country, and it
gave the United States not only complete and exclusive control of the
Mississippi, from its source to the Sea, but carried the American
boundary to the shores of the Pacific, for no limits west were
fixed.
When Congress met the treaty was confirmed, and money voted to
carry it out ; so that on the 20th December, 1803, Lausat, as commis-
sioner for France, formally transferred New Orleans to the American
commissioners, Wilkinson and Claiborne. The latter was appointed
by Congress to govern the new province for the time being. This was
not, however, intended to last. The next year, Louisiana was divided
into two parts; the portion south of the thirty-third degree of lati-
tude became the District of Orleans. This was to be under a governor
and council appointed by the President. Courts were established, and
preparations made for its admission as a State, as soon as the in-
habitants had become sufficiently accustomed to our government. The
northern part, called the District of Louisiana, was for the time made
dependent on Indiana Territory. It was even supposed to be so re-
mote, that it was proposed to remove all the Indians to it from the
States east of the Mississippi river. Most of it was an almost un,
known wilderness, but an expedition under Lewis and Clarke pene.
614 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
trated to the Rocky Mountains, and crossing that ridge, reached the
head waters of the Columbia, to which they gave their names, and
then descended the Columbia to the Pacific, carrying the United
States flag across the continent.
The war with Tripoli was maintained, and in 1803, Commodore
Preble sailed with a squadron of seven vessels. While chasing a Tri-
politan ship, the Philadelphia, Captain Bainbridge, ran ashore and
was captured with all on board. The Pacha got her off, but Preble
resolved to destroy her. Decatur, with a small vessel, ran in, captured
her, and set her on fire. As all her guns were loaded ready for action,
the vessel, as she lighted up the city with her blazing hull and masts,
poured her deadly broadsides into Tripoli, till her magazine was reached,
when, with a terrible explosion, she disappeared. Preble, with his
inferior force, kept up a constant series of attacks on the place, and
, tried by torpedoes to destroy the Tripolitan gunboats. Youssouf, dey
of Tripoli, had expelled his brother Hamet, and usurped his throne.
Hamet, having won the friendship of Eaton, the United States consul
at Tunis, formed a plan to recover his throne. Eaton and Hamet,
with seventy men from Preble's fleet, captured Derne by assault, and
de, eated Youssouf in two battles. This brought him to terms of
peace, by which the American prisoners were given up, but Hamet
was abandoned most unjustly. Tunis was then menaced, and thought
it best to send an ambassador to the United States. An American
Squadron was kept in the Mediterranean, and for the first time, those
piratical nations began to see that their trade was at an end.
Another presidential election was now at hand. Jefferson was
again chosen President, and George Clinton, of New York, Vice-Pres-
ident, by a large majority. Aaron Burr, who was set aside, smarting
A. oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 615
under disappointed ambition, during the campaign challenged Alex-
ander Hamilton, and killed him in a duel at Weehawken,
Some troubles occurred on the Florida frontier, the Indians in that
province, aided by Englishmen, committing ravages. Steps were
taken to purchase that province from Spain. England showed her
hostility also by continuing to impress American seamen. The Brit-
ish naval commanders even carried their insolence so far as to attempt
to take men by force from vessels belonging to the American navy.
A new war seemed probable. In Europe, England and France were
issuing decrees in regard to neutral vessels, which made it almost im-
possible for American ships to be at sea. This led Congress to pass,
in 1806, an act to prohibit the importation of English manufactured
goods. -
While the country was in this critical position with regard to Eng-
land, Colonel Burr well nigh involved it in a war with Spain. Desper-
ate as a politician, he formed a plan for separating the Western States
and territories from the United States, and forming a new Republic,
which was at once to wrest Mexico from Spain. He tried to win over
General Wilkinson, who commanded the United States troops on the
Mississippi, but Wilkinson not only posted his troops so as to check
Burr's movements, but reported all he knew to the President. Burr
did not even then give up all hopes of success, but being at last sur-
rounded, he surrendered to the governor of Mississippi Territory.
His trial was an event of great importance. It was a strange sight to
see a man, who had so recently, as Vice-President, acted as President
of the Senate, now brought to trial for high treason. He was defend-
ed with great skill, and acquitted.
The Berlin Decree of Napoleon, and the British orders in council
816 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
were now in full operation, both condemning neutral ships to forfeit-
ure. Mr. Pinckney negotiated a new treaty with England, in which
that country yielded some points, but not the right of impress-
ment. This was so unsatisfactory to Mr. Jefferson, that he resolved
not to send the treaty to the Senate for confirmation. While attempts
were on foot to renew negotiations, an event occurred which justified
Jefferson. The Chesapeake, a thirty-eight-gun frigate, left the Chesa-
peake for the Mediterranean; just outside the Capes of Virginia, the
Leopard, a British vessel of fifty guns, came up and demanded several
men as deserters, and quietly prepared for action. On the refusal of
Commodore Barron, she opened fire, pouring a broadside into the
Chesapeake, and for a quarter of an hour kept up a steady fire ; the
Chesapeake, unable to return her fire, at last struck, having had three
men killed and eighteen wounded, and the vessel, masts, and rigging
greatly cut up. The men taken from her were tried, and one of them
hung in cold blood. This outrage roused the indignation of the whole
country. The President, by a proclamation, forbade all English
armed vessels from entering any port of the United States, and pro-
hibited under penalties all intercourse with them. The English gov-
ernment endeavored to allay the storm by recalling the Admiral, re-
moving the Captain of the Leopard, and restoring the pretended de-
Serters; for in almost every case the claim was a falsehood got up for
the occasion, and the men taken Americans.
On the 22d of December, 1806, Congress laid an embargo, prohibit-
ing all American vessels from sailing to foreign ports, and excluding
all foreign vessels from taking out cargoes. This step caused great
distress in the country, and roused a strong feeling of opposition, es-
pecially in New England. England and France were not affected by
OR, OUR CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 617
it, so that it did not produce the expected result, and it was finally
repealed in 1809.
Illinois Territory was organized about this time, embracing not only
the present State, but also Wisconsin. Thus terminated Jefferson's
presidential career. He long continued to be regarded as the head of
his party, and is still looked up to with reverence, as the most thorough-
ly democratic expounder of national policy. As Washington had de-
clined to serve more than two terms, Mr. Jefferson did not become a
candidate ; but prepared to retire to private life, having, from the
opening of the Continental Congress, devoted himself almost entirely
to the cause of his country. As one of the greatest American states-
men, his influence still remains. In the election which took place,
there was scarcely any opposition. James Madison, of Virginia, put
forward as candidate for the presidency, and George Clinton, of New
York, nominated for the vice-presidency, were elected almost unani-
mously.
Among the important events which marked the administration of
Jefferson, was the successful operation of a steamboat, by Robert Ful-
ton, in 1807. Many, from the time of Fitch and Rumsey, had endeav-
ored to apply steam to navigation, but Fulton was the first who so far
succeeded as to run a steamboat on the Hudson to Albany.
His triumph revolutionized the whole navigation of the world.
CHAPTER. W.
JAMES MADISON, FOURTH PRESIDENT—1809–1817.
Trouble in Pennsylvania—The President and Little Belt—Indian Troubles in the West—War
with England—Hull's Surrender—Operations on the New York Frontiers—Queenstown, La
Colle—Victories at Sea—Proctor's Victories in the West—Repulsed at Fort Meigs—Toronto
—The Niagara—Perry's Victory—Battle of the Thames—Tecumseh slain—The Creek War—
General Jackson—Battle of the Chippewa—Invasion of Maryland—Capture of Washington—
English repulsed at Baltimore—Macomb and McDonough at Plattsburg–Jackson in Flori-
da—Battle of New Orleans—Peace proclaimed—Final battles at Sea.
MR. MADISON selected for his cabinet, Robert Smith, of Maryland,
Secretary of State ; Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury ;
William Eustis, Secretary of War; and Paul Hamilton, of South
Carolina, Secretary of the Navy.
The great question was the relation of America to England. Eng-
land had never forgiven the Revolutionary War, and, as we have seen,
had done many unfriendly acts. Still Mr. Madison, sustained by the
Voice of the country, was reluctant to resort to hostilities. Anxious
to escape the embarrassment of the embargo and non-importation
Acts, he began secret negotiations with David M. Erskine, then British
minister at Washington. Erskine engaged himself to obtain a repeal
of the orders in council, so far as they related to the United States.
But the English Government disavowed Erskine's acts, and matters
remained in the same uncertain position, non-intercourse being rigidly
enforced.
OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 6 f :)
France made some overtures, but soon fell back, and both powers
continued to intercept American merchantmen.
At home, some troubles arose in 1809. A case at law, arising of
of the capture of a vessel during the Revolutionary War, involveſ,
the Government of the United States in a contest with the State of
Pennsylvania. The Governor of the State ordered out the militia,
and placed a guard under the command of Captain Bright, to prevent
the United States marshal from serving any process of the United
States court; the marshal on his side called for two thousand men to
aid him, and the Governor of Pennsylvania, finding matters serious,
yielded, but this did not end the matter. Bright and his militiamen
were arrested, and tried for resisting the marshal, and after a long
trial, convicted. The whole affair thus resulted in confirming the
powers of the General Government.
In 1811, the Territory of Orleans was at last made into a State, un-
der the name of Louisiana, although not without great opposition on
the part of the Federalists, who denied that Congress had any power
to create States out of the newly-acquired territory, so jealously did
our ancestors watch every movement of the new government, for fear
it might, in an unguarded moment, deprive them of the liberty they
prized So highly. After this time what had been called the District
of Louisiana was called Missouri.
Application was also made to erect Mississippi into a State, but it
was deferred, owing to the necessity of satisfying the State of Georgia,
in regard to her claims over its territory.
The negotiations with France and England had failed to obtain a re-
peal of the obnoxious decrees and orders in council. The American
Tavy was too small to defend the immense number of American ships
620 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
from all English cruisers, for even then American ships were found
in every sea. A lesson was, however, taught them on the 16th of
May, 1811. The frigate President, Commodore Rogers, was pursued
for a time by the English sloop-of-war Little Belt, Captain Bingham.
When the President hailed the Little Belt, she replied with a cannon-
ball. The American vessel, zealous for the national honor, prepared
for action. In a moment the vessels were engaged ; but after one or
two broadsides, the Little Belt had all her guns silenced, and her decks
strewed with the dead and wounded, no less than eleven men having
been killed and twenty-one wounded in this brief action, which left the
Little Belt little better than a wreck. The President then hailed
again, and this time received an answer. In the morning, Captain
Rogers sent down to offer assistance, which the Little Belt declined,
and sailed off as best she could. This affair excited both countries, and
each nation justified its own vessel.
It was evident that war might break out at any moment. Great
Britain had never ceased to tamper with the Western Indians, who saw,
with hatred and alarm, the rapid increase of the States. There was at
this time a Shawnee chief, famous alike for bravery in battle and elo-
Quence in council. This was Tecumseh. With his brother, a noted
medicine-man, commonly known as the Prophet, he went from tribe to
tribe, urging the Indians to cast away the deadly firewater of the
whites, and all European goods, and to set their faces sternly against
Christianity and civilization, all alike being but devices for the destruc-
tion of the red race. The Wyandots, of Sandusky, a turbulent and
powerful tribe, were the first to join him. Then Tecumseh prepared
for actual war. His operations had not been unwatched. General
William Henry Harrison, then governor of Indiana Territory, invited
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 621
riv]
Tecumseh to a conference at Vincennes. The chieftain came, but be-
haved with so much haughtiness that General Harrison broke off the con-
ference, and prepared to meet him in the field. In November, with a
small force of regulars, Indiana and Kentucky militia, he advanced
upon the Prophet's town, at the junction of the Tippecanoe and Wa-
bash. When he came within a few miles of the town, the principal
chief came out with proffers of peace. General Harrison was too cau-
tious to be deceived, and prepared for action. When, at four the
next morning (Nov. 7), the gloom of night was deepened by the fierce
yells of the savages rushing furiously on his camp, Harrison was ready
to receive them. He maintained order, and met the assault with steady
courage. The bloody battle raged till the sun rose ; then the baffled
savages withdrew utterly repulsed ; the Americans lost sixty-two killed
and about twice as many wounded. The loss of the Indians, who were
more exposed, was much greater. The battle of Tippecanoe was
one of the fiercest and hardest battles ever fought with the red men,
and it gave Harrison great and deserved renown. Tecumseh was not
present in the action, and the Prophet was on a hill going through his
incantations, while the warriors were battling fiercely below. Harri-
Son's loss had, however, weakened him, so that after burning the Proph-
et's town, and establishing forts, he returned to Vincennes.
The West, roused by this Indian trouble, which they ascribed to Eng-
lish influence, were eager for war. The South also desired it, but New
England still advocated peace, exciting the contempt of the English,
who said that the United States could not be kicked into a war. On
the 4th of April, 1812, Congress laid another embargo on all vessels in
American waters; and on the 18th of June, President Madison, by the
authority of Congress, declared war against Great Britain.
629 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ,
Justified as the act was, it was rash, for the country was utterly un-
prepared, and communication through the country was very slow. The
President had authority to enlist twenty-five thousand men, to accept
fifty thousand volunteers, and to call out a hundred thousand militia
for the defense of the sea coast and the frontiers. Henry Dearborn,
of New Hampshire, an officer of the Revolution, was appointed
commander-in-chief, with the rank of Major-General, with Wilkinson,
Hampton, Hull, and Bloomfield, as brigadiers.
General Hull was Governor of Michigan, and when war was declared,
he was marching against the Indians. He was ordered to invade Can-
ada, but before he was aware that war had been declared, the British
knew it, and seized his military stores. Undeterred by this, he crossed
the Detroit river, and advanced on Fort Malden, but by delay he lost
the opportunity of carrying the place. More active, the English took
Mackinac, with the help of the Indians, who now rallied in force to the
British standard, led by Tecumseh. Hull found himself cut off from
supplies, and a detachment under Van Horn, sent out by him, was cut
off near Raisin river, by Tecumseh. The American general resolved
to fall back to Detroit, and sent Colonel Miller to open a road for his
convoy. General Proctor had joined Tecumseh, and taken up a strong
post at Maguazo. Colonel Miller attacked them with great skill, and
after an obstinate struggle, forced their position. But his victory was
fruitless. Hull was completely encircled. Meanwhile, General Brock,
Governor of Upper Canada, reached Malden with reinforcements. Hull
then retreated to Detroit, followed by Brock, at the head of the whole
British and Indian force, numbering thirteen hundred. He summoned
Hull to surrender, threatening, as usual with English commanders, to
give the men up to every species of Indian cruelty if he refused. Hull
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 623
called in all his troops, and hung out a white flag. On the 16th of
August, 1812, he surrendered the fort, garrison, stores, and the Terri-
tory of Michigan. As the tidings of this terrible reverse spread, the
country was filled with indignation. Hull was tried, and having been
found guilty of cowardice, was sentenced to be shot, but was pardoned
by the President.
Though hostilities had begun, negotiations were still kept up, and an
armistice was soon agreed to. England, however, still insisted on her
right to stop American vessels, and impress all whom any English offi-
cer might suspect to be British subjects. How terribly American ship-
ping was injured by this wanton and cruel practice, may be seen by
the fact that, as Lord Castlereagh, an English minister, admitted, there
were no less than seventeen hundred bona fide American citizens, who
had thus been kidnapped, and were now compelled to serve against
their will in the British navy. The real number was three thousand.
and twenty-five hundred refusing to fight against their own country,
were confined with every ill-treatment in Dartmoor prison, England.
The American vessels on the ocean were scattered. The Nautilus
was soon taken by a British fleet, and the Constitution escaped cap-
ture only by the wonderful skill and seamanship of Captain Hull. The
first naval action occurred off the Great Banks of Newfoundland. The
British sloop-of-war Alert, of thirty-two guns, falling in, on the 13th
of August, with the Essex, Captain Porter, attacked her, thinking her
to be a merchantman. But when the Essex had for eight minutes
showed her metal, the Alert struck.
On the afternoon of the 19th of the same month, the Constitution.
Captain Hull, discovered the English frigate Guerriere, and gave chase.
Her Captain, Dacres, had boasted of his desire to meet an American
624 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
man-of-war. As the Constitution bore down, the Guerriere opened
fire, but the Constitution came on grim and silent, till Hull got into the
position he wished ; then he opened. By the light of the moon the
battle went on. Broadside after broadside poured in upon the Guer-
riere, as fast as mortal men could send them. In half an hour's time,
the Guerriere was little better than a wreck, and Captain Dacres, hav-
ing lost more than a hundred in killed and wounded, surrendered to:
Hull, who had lost only fourteen killed and wounded. The Guerriere
could not be taken into port, she was set on fire and blown up. All
America rung with exultation over this victory. Congress voted Cap-
tain Hull their thanks, and gave him and his gallant crew $50,000 as
prize money. In England, the news caused the utmost mortification.
That a British frigate had been taken in a fair fight, was the terrible fact
which they could not deny. America at once took her place in naval
history, as one to compete with England for supremacy. Other vic-
tories followed. The British sloop-of-war Frolic, of eighteen guns, fell in
with the United States sloop-of-war Wasp, of the same number of guns.
After a fierce and bloody fight, Captain Jones boarded the Frolic, to
find her deck covered with the dead and wounded. He lowered the
English flag himself, but such are the chances of war, before he could
get his own ship and his prize into order after the action, the Poictiers,
a British seventy-four, bore down and captured them. Then Captain
Decatur, in the United States, forty-four guns, met the Macedonian, car-
rying forty-nine. The action began, the vessels passing each other for
an hour, keeping up their fire; the American firing like a sharp-shooter,
true to aim. Just as the Macedonian supposed the United States had
given up, she took up a raking position across the stern of the Macedo-
nian. Then the British frigate struck her colors, having received a
oR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 625
hundred balls in her hull, and had a hundred and four of her crew
killed and wounded, though, on the United States, there were only
twelve. Before the close of the year, the Constitution, now under
Commodore Bainbridge, engaged the Java, of thirty-eight guns, and by
his true and rapid fire absolutely cut her up so that when she attempt-
ed to run down and board the Constitution, her foremast fell, her main-
opmast came down, and her bowsprit was sent flying by the American
guns. Spar after spar was cut away; her Captain killed, but her Lieu-
tenant kept up the fight manfully for a time, then struck. Bainbridge
had to blow her up, there was nothing left to take to port.
On land, the Government, by the utmost exertions, had collected
troops on the frontier at various points. General Dearborn stationed
on Lake Champlain an army of three thousand regulars, and two
thousand militia ; two thousand militia were posted at Sackett's Har-
bor, and six thousand more, under General Van Rensselaer, were at
Buffalo. The New York frontier was thus protected from invasion.
Besides this, Commodore Chauncey had been sent to Lake Ontario, to
fit out a flotilla, and check the operations of the British fleet in those
waters. He was soon in force on the Lake, and drove the British fleet
into Kingston. He then endeavored to make his little squadron a
fleet ready for any emergency. Commodore Elliot was equally busy
on Lake Erie.
It was evident that the real work of the war must soon come off. The
English opened the campaign by attacking Ogdensburg, New York, in
October, 1812, but after a short and decisive action, they were re-
pulsed by General Brown and his militia, and fell back.
On the 13th of October, General Van Rensselaer attempted to
cross the Niagara. His first detachment of two hundred and twenty-
(§ 26 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
five men, under Colonel Van Rensselaer, crossed to attack the British
posted at Queenstown. After mnch loss from a shower of musketry
and grape, they effected a landing, and, led up the rocks by Captains
Wool and Ogilvie, after the Colonel had fallen, they drove the English
behind a stone house, and silenced all their batteries. Then the roll
of the drum was heard, and General Brock came up with the Forty-ninth
British regiment, and forced the little American detachment to the very
verge of the precipice. One officer actually hoisted the white flag, but
Wool tore it away, and by a desperate charge drove the British back,
and when their general, Van Rensselaer, was in vain endeavoring to
send over fresh troops, the militia declined to leave the State, and
only a thousand, under General Wadsworth, crossed. At three o'clock in
the afternoon the enemy rallied, and, aided by several hundred Indians,
attacked the American lines. With severe loss, the little force, under
Ilieutenant-Colonel Scott, repulsed them. But the English were con-
stantly bringing up fresh troops. An hour later, reinforced by eight
hundred men under General Sheaffe, they again advanced. General
Wadsworth, with men exhausted by a day's constant fighting, without
food, and no hope of reinforcement or relief, had no alternative. He
made a gallant fight for a time, but as he could not retreat for want of
boats, he at last Surrendered, many, after laying down their arms, to be
butchered by the Savages, whom England was not ashamed to array
against civilized men. This gallant but unfortunate day cost America
eleven hundred in killed, wounded, or taken ; while the English loss
was comparatively small.
Disgusted at this reverse, and the miserable inefficiency and incapac-
ity manifested in all departments, Van Rensselaer resigned, and was
succeeded by General Smythe, of Virginia.
oR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 627
The conduct of the Administration was far from creditable. The
War Department planned no campaign, and raised no army. It in-
vested the generals in command of the several divisions with discre-
tionary powers, and left everything to them, and the militia were
called out without any object, or any orders to guide them. The
whole year was spent in fruitless marches and countermarches, or in
unimportant skirmishes.
In October, Dearborn occupied the Indian town of St. Regis, which
lies partly in New York and partly in Canada, but advancing, he was
defeated in a movement against La Colle, and a month later, lost a
detachment in an action at Salmon river.
At Niagara, General Smythe issued a pompous address, and finally
sent a detachment under General Winder across the river. One de-
tachment under King gallantly carried a British battery, but being
unsupported, at last retreated, leaving a part to surrender to the Eng-
lish. In the West, Zachary Taylor, at Fort Harrison, on the Wabash,
found himself and his little garrison of fifty invested, in September,
by several hundred Indians, who attacked with great fury. Steadi-
ness and intrepidity disconcerted the savage foe, who drew off after
heavy loss. g
Some expeditions took the field against the Indians, but beyond
destroying Some of their towns near Peoria, no good was effected.
This virtually closed the campaign of 1812. Amid the excitement
of War, a presidential election had taken place. Mr. Madison was
again put forward as President, with Elbridge Gerry as Vice-President.
The candidates of the opposition, with whom the Federalists operated,
were De Witt Clinton, of New York, and Jared Ingersoll. Madi-
son was re-elected by a large majority.
#
628 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
CAMPAIGN OF 1813.
THE operations in the following year began in the West. The army
of the West, under General Harrison, was near the head of Lake
Erie, acquiring the discipline and skill necessary for action. The great
object was to recover Michigan, and wipe out the disgrace of Hull's
surrender. Kentucky, Ohio, and other States, sent their brave, though
inexperienced soldiers. On the 10th of January, General Winchester,
with eight hundred men, reached the Maumee Rapids. Hearing
that a British and Indian party had taken post on the river
Raisin, twenty-five miles south of Detroit, he sent forward a detach-
ment which dislodged the enemy, and held the place till he
Came up.
The English general in that department was the active Proctor,
acting under Sir George Prevost, now commander of the British forces
in Canada. Proctor, hearing, at Malden, of Winchester's success, and
of his unguarded camp, gathered a force of fifteen hundred whites and
Indians, and crossing on the ice, suddenly attacked the American camp
at Sunrise, on the morning of the 22d. Though previously warned,
Winchester took no precautions. Proctor approached by night, in the
most profound silence, and at daybreak opened from artillery that he
had planted on Winchester's right, then charged with his regulars,
Indians at the same time assailing both American flanks. Though
taken So unawares, Winchester fought bravely, but with severe loss, till,
falling a prisoner into the hands of the Indians, he agreed to surrender
his whole force, on Proctor's promise that they should be protected from
the Indians; but the English commander, fearful of Harrison's ap-
proach, marched back to Malden, leaving the sick and wounded Amer-
oR, ou E COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 629
icans without a guard. His Indians at once returned, and falling
upon the Americans, slaughtered and scalped many, hurrying others off
to Detroit, to be held for ransom, or into the woods, to be the sport
of their savage cruelty.
Harrison, marching up to join Winchester, heard of this disaster,
and falling back, erected Fort Meigs, and resolved to hold that posi-
tion at all hazards, despairing of being able to assume the offensive, as
the terms of many of the men were just out.
Madison, now re-elected for another term, reorganized his cabinet,
and endeavored to infuse more energy into the War Department. It
was not to be merely a war with Canada, and on the sea. English
fleets blockaded New York, Delaware, and Chesapeake Bays, and raw-
aged the whole coast.
Harrison had foreseen an English attack on Fort Meigs. It came
on the 28th of April. On that day, Proctor invested it with two
thousand English and Indians, throwing up batteries on both sides of
the river. On the fifth day of the siege, the beleaguered force were
cheered by the approach of General Greene Clay of Kentucky, with
twelve hundred men, whose impetuous charge scattered the English,
leaving a battery in their hands as a trophy. But Clay's inexperi-
enced soldiers forgot to spike the guns, and while scattered in pursuit
of the flying foe, were suddenly surrounded and captured by the rest
of Proctor's force. That general then attempted to resume the siege,
but his Indians, content, as usual, with one battle, wished to return
home, and Soon withdrew in such numbers that Proctor abandoned
the siege and returned to Malden.
The army in New York also took the field to invade Canada.
Early in May, Dearborn resolved to attempt the capture of York, now
630 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Toronto, Canada, the principal depot of supplies for the British posts.
in the West. Commodore Chauncey took the troops on board a
Sackett's Harbor, and on the 27th of April, they landed on the beach
at York, under a heavy fire from British and Indians, under Colonel
Sheaffe. Led by the brave General Pike, the Americans drove the
English before them. After destroying one of the enemy's batteries,
they were pressing on the main works, when a terrific explosion took
ylace. A magazine blew up, hurling fragments of stone and wood in
all directions. Numbers were killed on both sides, and General Pike
was mortally wounded. In the confusion, Sheaffe escaped towards
Kingston. The Americans captured York, with all the stores laid up
there by the British, and found a fresh American scalp suspended
over the speaker's chair in the Parliament House. Commodore
£hauncey burned the Parliament House, and destroyed much
war material that could not be removed, and some vessels
on the stocks. The victorious forces then returned to Sackett's
Harbor, with a large quantity of captured ammunition and
St0reg.
Having obtained reinforcements, Chauncey sailed to the Niagara
river, to invest Fort George. On the 27th of May, the advance, un-
der Colonel Scott and, Major Forsythe, landed, followed by Boyd,
Winder, and Chandler's brigades. The enemy abandoned their works
without waiting to fire a shot, but treacherously laid trains to blow up.
the magazine. Fortunately, the Americans entered in time to extin-
guish the match before it reached the powder. General Vincent, the
English commander, deeming Fort George untenable, retreated to Bur-
lington heights, pursued by the Americans. Instead of advancing in
person with all his force, General Dearborn sent on General Winder,
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 63]
with one brigade, and soon after detached General Chandler to sup-
port him. The latter, taking command, resolved to attack the enemy
In the morning, and encamped without sufficient precautions on the
banks of Stony Creek.
Vincent saw his opportunity, and, as soon as it was dark, made a
sudden attack on the American camp. The sentinels were bayoneted,
the guards passed, but the British Indians gave a yell that roused the
Americans, who were sleeping on their arms. A Strange irregular fight
took place, in which Generals Chandler and Winder, getting by mis-
take among British soldiers, were carried off by them as prisoners in
their precipitate retreat, their general, Vincent, being lost in the
darkness, and found next day at a distance without Sword or hat.
In this rather curious battle, about a hundred men were lost on
each side,
As soon as it became known in Canada that Chauncey had sailed
from Sackett's Harbor, General Sir George Prevost sailed from King-
ston, to attack that centre of American operations. His force consist-
ed of seven hundred men. A body of militia under Colonel Mills,
were stationed on the shore to dispute the landing of the enemy ; but
they fled in spite of their commander, who was killed while trying to
rally them. Some block-houses held by Colonel Backus, and a small
body of regulars, held Prevost in check, and poured in deadly volleys
on his exposed men, so that when General Brown, who had gathered
a few of the militia, attacked Prevost in the rear, the British general
retreated in all haste to his ships, with no consolation except that of
seeing the American store-houses in ſlº mes, an over-zealous officer hav-
ing set them on fire on a false report of Brown's total defeat.
The English had not given up their operations in the West. On
(332 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
the 21st of July, Proctor, aided by Tecumseh, appeared before Fort
Meigs, at the head of a force of British and Indians amounting to four
thousand. General Clay was in command, and he made so vigorous a
defense, that Proctor, leaving his Indian ally to watch the fort, attempt-
ed, with thirteen hundred British and Indians, to carry Fort
Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky, a slight work held by only a hun-
dred and fifty men, under the command of Major Croghan. Proctor
demanded an instant surrender, threatening, in case of refusal, to give
the garrison up to all the savage barbarities of his Indians. Croghan
rejected the summons with scorn. Prevost opened with his heavy
guns, and having made a breach, attempted to take the fort by assault,
but Croghan planted his only cannon to sweep the gap, and the Eng-
lish column was met by such a shower of grape, and volley of rifles,
that they fled panic-stricken, leaving a hundred and fifty dead or
wounded. This gallant defense made young Croghan illustrious—he
was but twenty-one—and damped the zeal of the Indians in the Eng-
lish interest.
Lake Erie was now to be the scene of naval operations. Commo-
dore Perry had been sent to fit out an American squadron on that
lake. During the summer of 1813, he launched on those inland waters
a squadron of nine vessels, mounting fifty-four guns, to hold in check
the British naval force, and co-operate with the American army in any
operations near the shores of the lake. On the 4th of August, 1813,
he sailed out to seek the British fleet, under Commodore Barclay, con-
sisting of six vessels, but carrying more guns than Perry's flotilla.
Not finding Barclay, Perry retired to Put-in Bay. To his joy, Bar-
clay at last appeared. Perry stood out to meet him, and obtained the
Weather gage, the advantage of the wind in his favor. Then hoisting
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 633
his flag with Lawrence's dying words for a motto, “Don’t give up the
ship,” he bore down on the enemy. The Lawrence, Perry's fiag-ship,
was attacked by two of the enemy, and so cut up that she was a mere
wreck. Then Perry, leaving her in an open boat, through a hot fire
from every part of the enemy's line, carried his flag to the Niagara.
The battle went on furiously, the smaller American vessels coming up
at last. Perry managed with singular skill, and kept up such a con-
tinued and deadly fire, that at four o'clock every one of the British
flags struck, without their having been able to take possession of the
Lawrence, which actually lay at their mercy. Then Perry sent to
General Harrison the famous dispatch beginning with the words
“We have met the enemy, and they are ours.”
The influence of this victory, the Battle of Lake Erie, was tremen.
dous. The capture of a whole British flotilla, after a severe action,
was in itself a triumph that raised the American fame throughout the
World. Its effect on the military operations was decisive. It gave
the Americans complete control of Lake Erie. It cut off Prevost
from Canada, and he accordingly retreated in all haste, crossed over
the Detroit, dismantled Malden, and endeavored to reach a strong po-
sition, where reinforcements could reach him. General Harrison, aid-
ed by Perry's fleet, was in hot pursuit. Detroit was recovered after
having been in the enemy's hands from the outset of the war. On the
4th of October, General Harrison came up with the British rear, near
the Moravian town, on the Thames, eighty miles from Detroit. Pre-
vost found that he must fight. He drew up his force of British and
Indians, across a narrow strip of land, between a swamp and the riv-
er. The next day the battle began. Proctor poured in a volley on
Harrison's advance, but Johnson's mounted rifles swept through the
634 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
British line like a tornado, routing it so completely that no attempt
was ever made to rally, and Proctor himself fled with a few followers,
…) be seen no more on the field. Tecumseh, with his Indians, made a
better stand. Posted in a marshy spot, they were not so easily rout-
ed. Johnson dismounted his men, and broke through to their rear ;
even then they would not yield, but hurled themselves on the infantry,
till checked by old General Shelby. Amid the din of battle rose the
voice of Tecumseh, encouraging his braves, till he fell, surrounded by
the flower of his warriors.
This battle of the Thames, the glory of Harrison and Colonel Rich-
ard M. Johnson, by whose hand Tecumseh is supposed to have fallen,
completely broke the power of the English in the West. Michigan
was recovered, the Indians completely crushed, and Upper Canada
menaced from the South and West. All that Hull had lost was now
regained, and even the cannon he surrendered, trophies of Saratoga
and Yorktown, were again restored to American custody.
But if the Indian enemy at the North was checked, the influence
of Tecumseh and the Prophet had worked mischief at the South. That
chief had, in 1812, visited the Creeks, Cherokees, and Choctaws. The
young Creek braves rallied to his call. The settlements in Tennessee,
Georgia, and Mississippi, were ravaged by the savage foe, who obtain-
ed arms and ammunition from the British. Emboldened by success,
they next attacked Fort Mimms, in August, 1813, taking it by sur-
prise, and putting the garrison to death, only seventeen out of three
hundred and fifty escaping. The threatened States then put forces in
the field ; Tennessee in the van, with her brave sons, under General
Jackson. The Choctaws joined the Americans, and did good service.
On the 2d of November, General Coffee advanced on the Creek town,
oR, ou R COUNTRY's 7~,
ACHIEVEMENTs. 635
Tallushatchee. They did not wait to be attacked, but went out to
meet him with such fury, that they were with difficulty repulsed.
Even then they kept up the battle, refusing quarter till they were al-
most all killed. A few days after, Jackson, protecting the friendly
Creeks of Talladega, fought another desperate battle. At the close
of November, General Floyd, of Georgia, obtained another signal
victory at Autossee, the Creek metropolis, on the Tallapoosa. The In-
dians were utterly defeated, the King and two hundred of his braves
slain, and the town given to the flames.
Thus far, the inhuman English policy of arming Savages against the
American frontiers, so as to weaken and divide the national forces,
had utterly failed. It brought destruction only on those who had
been lured on by the English envoys.
Meanwhile, the American commander-in-chief, General Dearborn,
lay inactive in Canada. But the English were not disposed to allow
an invader to hold a position on their soil undisturbed. Colonel Bishop,
with a small force, determined to operate in the American rear, and
cut off Dearborn's supplies. He encircled his camp, occupied Fort
Erie, and crossing over to Black Rock, on the American side, on the
11th of June, dispersed the militia, and destroyed all the cannon and
provisions stored there. A body of regulars, militia, and Indians,
however, hurried up from Buffalo, and a second engagement took
place, in which Colonel Bishop was killed, and his troops compelled to
retreat.
Other minor operations were carried on by both sides, but Dearborn
was not relieved. To open communications, he sent Colonel Boerstler, to
attack a British force at Beaver Dams, collect provisions, and encourage
friendly Canadians. That officer, attacked in the woods by a few regu-
(336 TIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
lars under Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, and some Indians, Boerstler sup-
posed that he was surrounded by a British army, and surrendered
with his whole force.
Colonel Winfield Scott, convoyed by Chauncey, made another dash
at York, in July, destroyed more British stores, and rescued some
American prisoners.
General Dearborn, inefficient from age, was recalled in June, and
General Wilkinson appointed to command the army of the centre.
A new and more vigorous plan of action was projected by General
Armstrong, Secretary of War. It was resolved to capture Montreal.
Early in November, seven thousand men under Wilkinson moved
down the St. Lawrence in boats from French Mills. The British
were on the alert, and annoyed him so much from the shore, and from
gunboats in his rear, that he was compelled to land and come to ac-
tion. The battle of Chrysler's Field was severely contested—the
Americans losing General Covington and three hundred men—but &na-
bled him to advance to St. Regis. There he learned that the army
under Hampton, which was to co-operate with him, had fallen back ; it
had been checked in its advance by a small Canadian force under Sal-
aberry, at Chateaugay, on the 21st of October. Wilkinson, finding
Hampton indisposed to co-operate with him, retired to winter quarters,
nothing at all having been effected.
General Harrison, dissatisfied with the state of affairs on the New
York frontier, returned to the West, leaving the command on the Ni-
agara frontier to General McClure. The American forces there were
chiefly militia, and when the time of service for which they had been
called out expired, they left, refusing to stay even for the large bounty
offered. Unable to hold his ground in Canada, General McClure de-
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 637
O
stroyed Fort George, and returned to New York State, having first
wantonly set fire to the town of Newark. Provoked at this, Prevost,
the English commander, crossed the river, took Fort Niagara, put the
garrison to the sword, and burned every village up to Niagara Falls,
while another detachment of his army gave Black Rock and Buffalo
to the flames, and destroyed a part of Perry's fleet. Prevost then, in
a proclamation, justified his conduct, but offered to conduct the war on
more humane principles, if the Americans would pursue a similar
course. And for all the pillaging and incendiary expeditions of the
English against the American towns and cities, England always gave
this same excuse.
Thus ended the campaign of 1813 on land.
On the ocean there were many engagements Some of them severe
naval battles between the cruisers of the rival powers. But the chief
Service of the British fleet was the blockade of American ports; and on
the Southern coast, where Admiral Cockburn, known as the Henroost
Admiral, commanded, they plundered the country in a most unheard-
of fashion. O
The American shipping in the Delaware River was destroyed by this
buccaneering admiral, in March, 1813, and the next month he can-
nonaded the town of Lewiston. Entering the Chesapeake, he plunder-
ed and burned Frenchtown, Havre de Grace, Georgetown, and Fred-
erictown. While attempting to reach Norfolk, his fleet was repulsed
by the Americans upon Craney Island, under the command of Major
Faulkner.
Few of the American frigates could get to sea. One of these, the
Hornet, Captain Lawrence, in February, discovered the Peacock, an
English brig-of-war, at anchor near Demerara. Although of superior
638 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
force, Lawrence cleared for action, and ordered his men to quarters.
The two vessels exchanged broadsides, but Lawrence soon ran him
close on board on the starboard quarter, and kept up such a telling
fire, that in fifteen minutes the British commander struck, hoisting a
signal of distress, for she was actually cut to pieces: her mainmast went
by the board as she struck, and before all her crew could be got off she
went down, carrying three of the Hornet's men with her.
The success of the American navy in the previous engagements had
elated them greatly, and led to rashness. The Shannon, a British ves-
sel, had been cruising for some time off Boston Harbor, defying any
American vessel in port to come out and meet her. Captain Lawrence,
just appointed to the Chesapeake, stung at this challenge, resolved to
accept it. The equipment of his vessel was not complete, he had not
his full complement of officers, his crew had just been shipped, and had
received little drilling, but he resolved to meet the Shannon, and sailed
out, June 1st, 1813. The Shannon opened, doing fearful execution,
but the Chesapeake answered with terrible broadsides. At last, how-
ever, she got locked to the Shannon by one of her anchors, so that she
was exposed to a raking fire. Captain Lawrence was mortally wound-
ed just as he was about to board. There were no officers left to lead
on the men, and in the confusion, Captain Brooke boarded the Chesa-
peake, which struck, in spite of Captain Lawrence's dying words:
“Don’t give up the ship.” This sea-fight is one of the bloodiest on
record. It lasted only fifteen minutes, yet in that brief space, a hun-
dred and forty-six were killed and wounded on the Chesapeake, and
eighty-three on the Shannon.
oR, our country's AcHIEVEMENTs. , 2 639
CAMPAIGN OF 1814,
THE first operations on land, in 1814, were in the Creek Territory.
The movements in the previous year had been in a manner independ-
ent and without concert, two from Tennessee, one from Georgia, and
one from Mississippi. The war had not, therefore, been brought to a
decisive point.
As these columns after gaining victory retired, the Creeks rallied,
and very soon began to assume the offensive. They resolved to attack
Floyd and the Georgia troops, and took the field against them ; but
the resolute Jackson was again approaching Emuckſau, where they
were posted. The Creeks at once changed their plans, and on the
21st of January, at dawn, attacked Jackson on his left flank. A warm
action ensued, but in half an hour the Creeks were repulsed and
driven back two miles. There they took up a position too strong to
be rashly assailed. Finding that Jackson would not attack, they
again advanced upon him, but General Coffee turned their left flank,
and by a splendid piece of strategy cut off a large body of them.
Their main attack on Jackson's line was stubborn and persistent; but
a general charge again routed them. Jackson's army was, however,
so weakened that he fell back to Fort Strother, keeping up a running
fight almost all the way.
No sooner were the Creeks relieved from fear of further movements
on Jackson's part than they turned their whole force on Floyd, attack-
ing him on the 27th with great spirit. After heavy loss on both sides
they were routed.
Jackson was soon ready to make a decisive campaign. The Creeks
had intrenched themselves for their last stand at the Great Bend of
640 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
the Tallapoosa. Their position was defended by a breastwork thrown
up with great care and judgment.
On the 27th of March, Jackson, with about three thousand men,
drew up in view of the enemy for a final struggle. Having dispatched
General Coffee to encircle the Bend on the river-side with his mounted
men and friendly Indians, he moved to the charge of the breastwork.
The regulars, led by Major Montgomery, scaled the rampart, and
though he fell, they poured over the intrenchment and drove the In-
dians to the shelter of the bushes. Routed from this, they fled to the
river, to be met by Coffee's withering fire. But they would not yield,
and even fired on a flag sent to offer them terms of surrender. Then
Jackson fired the brushwood, and amid the glare and blaze most of
them perished, few escaping the trap into which they had thrown
themselves. %
This victory gave a death-blow to the power and hopes of the
Creeks. They had fought bravely; four hundred and fifty-seven war-
riors lay dead on the ground—only four were taken.
After recruiting his army, Jackson, effecting a junction with the
Georgia troops, moved upon the Hickory Ground, where the remnant
of the warriors had gathered. But their spirit was broken. As the
army approached a deputation of chiefs came out to treat of peace.
Weathersford, the most cruel and relentless, who commanded in the
massacre at Fort Mimms, addressed Jackson with the greatest elo-
quence :
“I am in your power,” said the chief; “do with me as you please.
I am a soldier. I have done the white people all the harm I could.
I have fought them, and fought them bravely. There was a time when
! had a choice and could have answered you ; I have none now—even
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 64 1.
hope is ended. Once I could animate my warriors; but I cannot ani-
mate the dead. My Warriors can no longer bear my voice ; their
bones are at Talladega, Tallushatchee, Emuckfau, and Tohopeka.
Whilst there was a chance of success I never left my post, nor suppli-
cated peace. But my people are gone ; and I now ask it for my nas
tion and myself.”
Jackson had determined not to spare this man ; but his noble atti-
tude disarmed his resentment. Peace was made ; the Creeks retired
beyond the Coosa, and a line of posts secured their fidelity.
The Indian allies whom England had roused against American
homes at the North and South were crushed. The war was to be car-
ried on by civilized men. England now made overtures of peace, led
less by any effect of the American operations than by the state of af.
fairs in Europe. Madison sent out commissioners to negotiate, but
before a treaty was signed Napoleon was overthrown and sent to
Elba. England, thus relieved of her great enemy in Europe, aban-
doned all ideas of peace with the United States. Instead of appoint-
ing commissioners to meet those sent by the American Government,
she sent over large bodies of her veteran troops, who were not imme-
diately needed in Europe. The American navy was scattered or
broken up, or shut up in the harbors by the British fleets, which block-
aded the whole coast. Everything served to announce that the real
fighting of the war was about to commence.
Although a large party in the United States opposed the war, and
Crippled the power of the Government, preparations were made for the
great struggle. The army on the Niagara frontier was reorganized
and placed under the command of Major-General Brown, under whom
Scott and Ripley served as brigadiers. The earlier months of the
642 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
year had not been marked by any important activi, Wilkinson was
repulsed in an action with the enemy at La Colle, on the 30th of March,
and in consequence lost his command.
On the 5th of May, a British force of three thousand men landed
from a squadron before Oswego, which had none to defend it but Col-
onel Mitchell, with three hundred men. The object of the expedition
was to destroy the naval and military stores deposited at Oswego
Falls; but Mitchell held them at bay for two days, and so discouraged
them that they were afraid to push in land. They finally withdrew
on the 7 ih, having lost two hundred and thirty-five men.
When General Brown took command, he marched from Sackett's
Harbor to the Niagara. On the morning of the 3d of July, his ad-
vance, under Scott and Ripley, crossed the river and carried Fort Erie.
The garrison fell back to General Riall's entrenched camp at Chip.
pewa. On the 5th, Scott drove in the British outposts, and Riall,
who had crossed the Chippewa and dispersed the American volun-
teers before him, was driven back by Scott over the river at the point
of the bayonet. In this sanguinary battle, Riall lost five hundred
men. He then retreated to Burlington Heights, where he was joined
by General Drummond, who at once assumed command.
Now greatly outnumbering Brown, Drummond advanced to meet the
Americans. To prevent the loss of his magazines, Brown sent for-
ward Scott with his brigade and some artillery. About a mile from
Chippewa, Scott came upon Riall's whole army. It was near sunset,
but the armies engaged within sight and hearing of Niagara Falls.
From Sunset to midnight the battle raged. Scott suffered severely,
but he maintained his ground, awaiting aid, till by a diversion he
routed the Canadian militia, and captured Riall himself. At nightfall.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 643.
Brown came up with Ripley's brigade, and threw himself in front of
Scott. A British park of artillery had galled Scott terribly. Brown
ordered Colonel Miller to storm it. With the simple answer, “We will
try,” Miller pushed up the hill, and drove the men from the guns at
the point of the bayonet, exposed the whole time to a terrible fire.
That night the English advanced stealthily to recover their guns,
but soon recoiled before the American musketry. In half an hour they
again advanced, but after a severe conflict, in which Scott took them
in flank, they were again driven back. Rallying with desperate ener-
gy, they made a third attempt, in which bayonets were frequently
crossed, but it was all in vain. Drummond, after losing nearly nine
hundred men, at last drew off, leaving the Americans in quiet posses-
sion of the field, but with nearly as heavy a loss. Generals Brown
and Scott, who had both been wounded in this desperate battle,
left the field, and the command devolved on Ripley. That
general, after awaiting for half an hour any further movement
of the enemy, returned to his camp. The cannon so gallantly
captured were left on the field, as he had no means of removing
them.
The American army then fell back to Fort Erie, where General
Gaines assumed command. Drummond was not yet discouraged.
With a force of five thousand men, he again advanced, and on the 4th
of August invested Fort Erie. At midnight, on the 15th of August, he
assaulted it in three columns. Gaines repulsed two of these columns,
but the third, with daring intrepidity, effected a lodgment in one bas-
tion, and held their position till a quantity of cartridges exploded.
Fearing that a mine was about to be sprung on them they retreated.
This assault cost Drummond nearly another thousand men, but he kept
644 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
up the siege, till Brown, in a sortie, destroyed hisadvanced works, blew
up the magazines, spiked the guns, took four hundred prisoners, and
drove Drummond towards Chippewa. Then learning that General
Izard was on his way with reinforcements, Drummond retreated to
Fort George.
Fort Erie was, however, too exposed to hold safely; it was accord-
ingly dismantled and destroyed in November, and the American forces,
crossing the Niagara, took up their winter quarters at Buffalo, Black
Rock, and Batavia.
These were not the only operations on the northern frontier. When
Izard marched to relieve General Brown, Plattsburg was left quite ex-
posed, General Macomb having only fifteen hundred men to defend the
important line of Lake Champlain. General Prevost seized the oppor-
tunity to strike a decisive blow. He at once marched down with four-
teen thousand men, chiefly veterans, who had won distinction under
Wellington in Europe. His advance was covered by a fleet under
Commodore Downie. General Macomb at once called for militia, and
Commodore McDonough, a most efficient commander, prepared to meet
Downie on his element.
Prevost, on reaching Plattsburg, on the 6th of September, found
Macomb's little army, with a strong body of militia, drawn up in a
strong position beyond the Saranac, ready to dispute its passage. Com-
modore McDonough drew up his little fleet across the harbor to re-
ceive the English fleet. which bore down upon him on the 11th. A
desperate naval engagement ensued, on the waters of that beautiful
lake ; but after a contest of two hours and twenty minutes, Downie's
flagship struck, several others of his vessels did the same, a few escap-
ed, but the whole fleet was dispersed, and nearly all captured. Though
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 645
disheartened at this unexpected result, Prevost fought fiercely all day
long to cross the Saranac, but was bravely resisted. During the even-
ing, he retreated in haste, leaving his sick and wounded, with most of
his baggage and stores.
The evident intention of the British, to attack some city on the At-
lantic seaboard, kept the Administration in great alarm, but little was
done to meet the emergency, and the measures of defense taken were
tardy and ill-concerted. At last, on the 18th of August, Admiral
Cochrane entered the Chesapeake with a fleet of nearly sixty vessels,
bearing a division of Wellington's army, numbering four thousand men,
under the command of General Ross. To oppose this force, there
were in the waters of the bay only a small flotilla, commanded by Com-
modore Barney. The army under Ross, accordingly, landed on the 20th,
at Benedict, on the Patuxent, and at once moved on Washington, guid-
ed by negroes.
Armstrong, the Secretary of War, now made some hasty attempts to
defend the capital, and after great exertion, a motley host gathered at
Bladensburg, to check Ross. There were Maryland militia, under
Stansbury, a few of General Winder's regulars, sailors and marines
from Barney's flotilla, now abandoned and burned. The English came
up, exhausted and doubtful, but as their only chance lay in a bold dash,
they charged like veterans that they were. The militia broke and fled.
Barney and Miller, with their artillery, for a time checked the British
advance, but as the Annapolis regiment, and regulars supporting them,
at last gave way, the sailors and marines drew off, leaving their
wounded commanders on the field.
The ground was but a few miles from Washington, and the Presi-
dent and his cabinet had been on the field. They were swept away
646 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
by the tide of fugitives. At Washington, all was panic and
alarm.
After a brief rest, Ross pushed on, and occupied Washington the
same day. With the vandalism characteristic of his nation, he burned
the Capitol and other public buildings, destroying the library of Con-
greSS, and much of the national archives. Other public and private
property, was destroyed. Europe had just seen capital after capital
captured, but had witnessed in no case such barbarous destruction as
disgraced the English in America. Ross felt this, and felt his danger :
fearing to be treated as a midnight incendiary if taken, he rapidly re-
tired, leaving his wounded to the mercy of the Americans. The Brit-
ish fleet then advanced to Alexandria, and carried off an immense
quantity of flour, tobacco, and other merchandise.
While one crew of English marauders was thus ravaging and plun-
dering the shores of the Chesapeake, another was committing similar
acts on the coast of Maine and Massachusetts ; and the British com-
manders officially announced in dispatches their intention to destroy
and lay waste every town they could reach. When Paul Jones, in the
Revolution, plundered Lord Selkirk's place, the English could not find
words to condemn it as an act that made him a pirate. Yet that was a
mere sudden act of private vengeance, while their course in America
was premeditated and planned. America was roused to make a vigor-
ous defense, so that when Cockburn landed Ross at North Point, on the
Patapsco, on the 12th of September, in order to attack and sack Balti-
more, they found more formidable preparations to receive them. The
fleet bombarded Fort McHenry, while Ross attempted to push forward
toward the city. They were soon checked by the advance of the mi-
litia, under General Stricker. A skirmish at once ensued, in which the
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 647
incendiary Ross was killed. Colonel Brooke, his successor, driving on
the American advance, the action became general. The artillery
did great execution on both sides ; but the militia, fighting for their
homes, held in check a superior force of English veterans for an hour
and a half. Forced back after killing and wounding nearly twice as
many of their opponents as they lost, they retired in order, till Gen-
eral Winder came up. Both parties slept on their arms. In the morn-
ing, Brooke reconnoitred the American lines, and hesitated. He con-
ferred with Cochrane, who had been pouring into Fort McHenry a per-
fect tornado of shells, but the brave commander, Major Armistead,
showed no signs of yielding. The English commanders were discon-
certed. Discomfited, the army retired to the shipping and with-
drew.
Baltimore was saved. The song, “The Star-spangled Banner,”
was composed at this time by Francis S. Key, who had been watch-
ing from Cochrane's ship, where he was detained, the flag at Fort
McHenry.
The ravages of the coast were not ended. For four days Commo-
dore Hardy bombarded Stonington, Connecticut, although every at-
tempt to land was repulsed by the militia.
There seemed to be no violation of the laws of war to which the
English would not stoop. Pensacola was in Florida, then a Span-
ish province. An English squadron took possession of the forts, with
the connivance or consent of the Spanish authorities, and from it fitted
out an expedition of British and Indians against Fort Bowyer, at the
entrance of Mobile Bay. But this violation of neutral territory did
not avail them. Fort Bowyer made a vigorous defense : the British
were repulsed by the gallant Major Lawrence, who, with only one hun-
648 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
dred and thirty-two men, killed two hundred and thirty-two of the
British, and deprived them of a man-of-war.
General Jackson was not one to brook such action on the part of the
Spaniards. He demanded guarantees that they would not permit any
further hostilities from their territory, and as the Spaniards gave no
satisfaction, Jackson, with two thousand Tennessee militia and some
Choctaws, marched on Pensacola, took it by storm, November 7th,
1814, drove the British to their shipping, and compelled the Spaniards
to surrender the town and forts unconditionally. The fleet sailed off,
leaving their Spanish friends in the lurch.
Returning to Mobile, Jackson heard that New Orleans was menaced.
It was then a city of twenty thousand inhabitants, chiefly of French
and Spanish origin, with little attachment yet to the new Government,
to which they were comparative strangers. Jackson could not count
here on any vigorous militia. Still he assembled his forces, and en-
deavored to protect the city. His preparations were rapid, but on the
12th of December, 1814, the British fleet anchored off Lake Borgne,
with one of the most imposing British armies yet seen on the continent.
Twelve thousand men, under Generals Pakenham, Keene, Lambert,
and Gibbs, landed after the American flotilla had been dispersed.
Jackson proclaimed martial law, and called on Tennessee and Missis-
sippi for aid. It came slowly. By the 21st, he had five thousand men
at his command. The next day, twenty-four hundred of the enemy
reached the Mississippi, nine miles below New Orleans. Jackson, alive
to every advantage, at once led a part of his force to attack them the
following night, and, with the loss of a hundred, cut off four times that
number of the enemy. This roused the spirit of his men. They had
attacked these veterans, and caused them heavy loss.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 649
Four miles below the city, Jackson had thrown up a line of intrench-
ments. Here he now concentrated his troops, strengthening his hasty
fortifications with cotton bales, and anchoring a vessel in the stream to
cover his flank. On the 28th, Pakenham began the attack. He drove
in the American outposts, but after a seven-hours' cannonade, was com-
pelled to retire with loss. On the 1st of January, 1815, Pakenham
renewed the bombardment, but his guns were silenced and dismounted.
Three thousand Kentucky volunteers now came pouring into Jackson's
camp, so that all along his line of intrenchments he had the keen-eyed
marksmen of the West. He threw up works beyond the river, and
confidently awaited the attack. On the 8th, the final assault was made
by Pakenham and his three subordinate generals on the one bank of
the river, while Thornton, on the other, engaged the new American
works, and soon carried them. But Pakenham, as he came up, was met
by a tremendous cannonade ; yet he pushed bravely on, till he came
within rifle-range, when a sheet of flame belched out, and the sharp-
shooters poured in volley after volley, aimed as at a target, by men
who rarely missed. With the instinct of soldiers, the British pressed on,
but their line wavered. Pakenham, attempting to restore order, was
killed ; Gibbs was mortally wounded, and Lambert, who took com-
mand, at last retreated, leaving two thousand dead and wounded on the
field. Their retreat soon became a flight. Their encampment was
reached to be abandoned, and the fugitives escaped to their ships,
This repulse and fearful slaughter of the British cost the lives of only
seven killed and as many wounded on the American side.
So signal a victory made the country ring with joy. It was so deci-
sive, so complete a triumph of volunteers over regular European troops,
that it filled all with new hopes, and made Jackson the hero of the hour.
650 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Yet this battle was fought after peace had been signed. England,
while negotiating for peace, had been carrying on this savage war on
the American shores, hoping to inflict injury to the last moment. Close
on the tidings of the victory at New Orleans, news arrived at New
York that the commissioners sent out by the United States had actu-
ally negotiated a peace with England, and that Parliament had already
ratified the treaty. On its ratification by Congress, all hostilities were
to cease. This took place on the 17th of February, and the treaty of
Ghent thus put an end to this unfortunate war, in which the last battle
alone shed luster on American arms.
The news did not reach the vessels at sea for some time, and several
naval actions occurred. On the 20th of February, 1815, the Constitu-
tion, “Old Ironsides,” as the sailors called her, discovered two war
vessels of English trim near Lisbon. Captain Stewart at once gave
chase, and at Sunset, having overhauled them, he ranged ahead and
opened. His broadsides were answered ; then the battle went on hot
and heavy, till the combatants were fairly hidden in the smoke. When
it cleared, Stewart again opened, pouring in broadsides right and
left, till the Constitution reeled. One of the enemy, the Cyane, a
34-gun ship, was soon unmanageable, and she fired a gun to show that
she surrendered. Then the Constitution pursued the other, the Le-
want, which soon struck, having five feet of water in her hold. The
gallant old Constitution had thus captured two vessels, killing and
wounding nearly eighty men, with very little loss to herself in men or
otherwise.
Away off by the Cape of Good Hope, in March, the sloop-of-war,
Hornet fell in with the British brig-of-war Penguin. The vessels
Were about equally matched, and the battle was a desperate one. The
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 651
captain of the Penguin was killed in a daring attempt to board the
Hornet, and not only were the English tars beaten back, but they
were forced to strike, when their vessel was so cut up that the Ameri-
cans had to scuttle her. In June, the Peacock compelled the Nautilus
to strike to her in the Straits of Funda. This was the last action of
the war, which closed, as it had begun, in the naval glory of America.
During the war on the ocean the English had captured sixteen hun-
dred and eighty-three American vessels of all sizes, but lost seven-
teen hundred and fifty.
Peace having been restored with Great Britain, and the fall of Na-
poleon having led to a general pacification in Europe, commerce re-
vived, and with it came general prosperity. The revenue from im-
ports rose in one year from four millions to thirty-seven millions of
dollars. Emigration, which had been checked, now increased, gain-
ing steadily from year to year, as people suffering from the effects of
war and oppression in the Old World heard of the land where all
men were free, and every man enjoyed the fruit of his labor.
With the peace the army was reduced to a small force of ten thou-
sand men, employed in garrisoning the forts and watching the Indian
frontier. The navy, however, was maintained, and proposals even
made for increasing it. As the Barbary States had resumed their old
insolence, Decatur was sent out to chastise Algiers, which had declared
war. He made short work of it. He captured the two largest ves-
Sels in the Algerine fleet, and in June compelled the Dey to sign a
treaty on his quarter-deck. There were complaints also against the
Bashaws of Tunis and Tripoli, who had allowed English cruisers to
capture American vessels under their guns. For this, Decatur com-
pelled them to make indemnity, Tunis paying forty-six thousand dol-
652 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
Jars, and Tripoli twenty-five thousand. The Barbary States had never
been so humiliated. It was reserved for the young republic of Amer-
ica to chastise those foes of civilization, and give a decisive blow to
their system of piracy, which had endured for centuries. As every
one of the Barbary States had learned to respect the American flag,
their power was broken, and Europeans soon found courage to follow
the example of the United States.
There were few important events during the remainder of Madison's
administration. Indiana and Mississippi were admitted as States in
1816, and Alabama Territory organized. About the same time Church
and State were separated in Massachusetts. The Government at this
period began a plan for removing the Indians where possible beyond
the Mississippi River. By treaties with the Cherokees, Chickasaws,
and Choctaws, the Government acquired a vast territory, and many of
the Indians, preferring a hunter's life, moved over beyond the Missis-
sippi, where game was plentiful.
The administration of James Madison was now drawing to a close.
It had been one of difficulty and war, which he was obliged to carry
on without preparation, and under great obstacles. At the new elec-
tion, which took place this year, James Monroe, of Virginia, a Revolu-
tionary officer, who had served his country in many high and impor-
tant positions, was elected President, and Daniel D. Tompkins, of New
York, Vice-President.
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CHAPTER WI.
JAMES MONROE, FIFTH PRESIDENT—1817–1825.
Indian Troubles—The Seminoles—-Seizure of Spanish Forts—Florida Ceded to the United;
States — The Treaty of Ghent — Alabama — Arkansas, Maine — The Missouri Compro-
mise—Lafayette Revisits the United States—The Monroe Doctrine—West India Pirates
Broken up.
MR. Monroe was inaugurated at Washington in the Capitol, which
had begun to rise from its ashes. He began his administration with
happy auspices. There was no bitter political feeling; it was indeed
a time of harmony, peace, and tranquillity. The only embarrassment
was the distress caused by the stoppage of various manufactories
which had grown up during the war, but which could not now compete
with European goods. This threw many out of employment, and
would have caused great suffering had not the general activity carried
numbers of natives and emigrants westward to settle the new States
and Territories.
Monroe selected for his Cabinet, John Quincy Adams, as Secretary
of State ; William H. Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury; John C.
Cainoun, Secretary of War; Benjamin Crowninshield, Secretary of
the Navy, and William Wirt, Attorney General.
The Spanish Colonies in America were at this time almost all in a
revolution against Spain, and two piratical establishments grew up in
the disorder near the United States, one in Florida, the other in
Texas. These were broken up soon after the commencement of Mon-
roe's administration.
654 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
A more serious trouble, and one that was to annoy the country for
years, arose in Florida. A fort of Seminoles, negroes, and Indians, on
the Apalachicola River, in the province of Florida, which then be-
longed to the Spaniards, gave shelter to the runaway slaves of Geor-
gia. Some troops under General Clinch, and Creeks under McIntosh,
a half-breed, invested the fort in September, 1816. They blew up the
magazine, killing three hundred and fifty men, women, and children.
On this the fort surrendered ; but Clinch, with a cruelty happily not
often to be met with in American generals, put the commanders to
death in cold blood.
This led to a new war. In November, 1817, General Gaines
marched against them, and burned an Indian town ; but the Seminoles
at once took the field with so brave a spirit, that General Gaines
had to call on the militia of Georgia to aid him. The War Department
ordered General Jackson to march with his Tennessee militia to the
seat of war. That active general built Fort Gadsden on the site of that
destroyed by Clinch. Then he marched east against the Seminole vil-
lage, which he burned without incurring any loss, and then, under the
pretext that the people there had aided the Indians, he seized the
Spanish fort at St. Mark’s, April 7, 1818. After this he attacked an-
other Indian fort at the mouth of the Suwanee, where the Indians under
Ambrister, an Englishman, in two considerable skirmishes, checked
him for a time ; but Jackson at last burned the town, took Ambrister,
and hanged him as well as another Englishman found at St. Mark's,
and two Indian chiefs. Pensacola was the only remaining Spanish
post, and on this Jackson aſ once advanced. The governor and garri-
Son retired from the town to Fort Barrancas, on Santa Rosa Island, at
the entrance to the bay. The American general compelled him, how-
or, our COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS.
6
j
5
ever, to surrender, and sent him to Havana with all the Spanish offi-
cials and troops. He even ordered General Gaines to march upon
St. Augustine.
As there was no war with Spain, this whole course was contrary to
right and law, and was severely censured ; but many people, deeming
the Spanish authorities responsible for the Indian hostilities, sustained
him. Spain was then almost powerless in America, nearly all her col-
onies having revolted. Florida was not a rich province, and had ceased
to be important to her. She protested against the invasion by Gen-
eral Jackson, but now at last showed a disposition to sell this whole
territory to the United States. After considerable discussion a treaty
was signed February 22, 1819, by which the United States agreed to
pay claims of her citizens against Spain amounting to five millions of
dollars, and in return Spain ceded Florida, and fixed the boundary
line between Louisiana and Mexico on the Gulf at the River Sabine.
It followed that river to the thirty-third degree, and then ran to the
source of the Arkansas. Thence westward the forty-second degree
was the boundary line.
The King of Spain at first refused to confirm this treaty, but, find
ing that there was no alternative, as the Americans were actually in
possession of the country, finally ratified it in October, 1820, and for-
mal possession of St. Augustine was immediately given. That little
eity came into the United States to rank as its oldest settlement. The
Spanish settlers, although secured by the treaty in all their rights,
generally emigrated to Cuba, and as few emigrants went southward,
Florida increased in importance very slowly.
There were still some matters to be adjusted with England, so as to
prevent future difficulties. Under the treaty of Ghent a commission
656 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
of citizens of the two countries was appointed to settle the boundary
line between the United States and the British possessions in Amer-
ica. The country in the interior was not well known when previous
treaties were made, and it was impossible to run the lines as there laid
down from incorrect maps. After long examination this commission,
in 1819, fixed the northern boundary by running a line through the St.
Lawrence and the great lakes, and making the forty-ninth degree the
boundary line between the United States and the British possessions,
from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. Beyond that no-
thing was decided, Oregon being left open to both parties for ten years.
The western territory was filling up with settlements, where before
all had been a wilderness, dotted here and there by an Indian village,
and traversed only by the red hunter and warrior, or the adventurous
white trapper. Many of the Indian tribes, the Chippewas, Ottawas,
Pottawatomies, Miamis, Delawares, Shawnees, Wyandots, sold to Gov-
ernment their rights in extensive tracts which they claimed as hunting
grounds, and agreed to remove beyond the Mississippi. Kentucky and
Tennessee also induced the Chickasaws to give up their claim to much
of the valuable territory of those two States. The lands thus acquired
were thrown open to settlers, and the backwoodsmen were soon clear-
ing, planting, and building, and the clatter of mills and forges, the
church-going bell, and the sounds of the village school began to be heard,
In 1819 the southern part of Missouri Territory was organized as a
separate government, under the name of Arkansas Territory. The
remaining portion at the north solicited admission as a State, and the
District of Maine, heretofore held by Massachusetts, also asked the
Same right. Alabama was admitted in 1819; but a violent discussion
arose as to Missouri. The North had now generally abandoned sla-
oR, ou E COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 657
Fºr
very, and most of the States were passing laws to abolish it entirely.
In fact, the great emigration from Europe to America Supplied those
States with labor which was cheaper than slave labor, so that those
who had refused to listen to arguments while it was profitable, were now
very quick to see that slavery was wrong. The great question came up
whether slavery should be permitted in the territory west of the Mis-
sissippi. The North wished it free ; the men of the South wished to
have the right to emigrate there with their slaves when they saw fit.
Here began a struggle which was not ended till nearly fifty years
from this time, and then only, as we shall see, after one of the bloodiest
wars in history.
The bill for the admission of Missouri, as introduced, had a clause
excluding slavery : the matter was debated in Congress and discussed
throughout the country for two years, when a compromise was finally
agreed to on the last day of February, 1821. By this it was agreed
that slavery should be admitted in Missouri, and in all territory south
of Missouri and of a line running west from its southern boundary
line. This Missouri Compromise settled for a time this important ques-
tion, and Missouri was admitted as the twenty-fourth State of the
Union, August 21, 1821.
Mr. Monroe had already, in 1820, been re-elected President, and
Mr. Tompkins Vice-President, with scarcely a dissenting voice. The
second term was not marked by any great events. Provision was
made by Congress for the relief of the surviving soldiers of the Revo-
lution, a pension being allowed to each. Year by year they dropped
away, until at last, toward the close of the century from the time of
the Stamp Act troubles, the last of them passed away.
During Monroe's administration, a very favorable arrangement was
658 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
made with Great Britain in regard to the right of American fishermen
to take cod on the Great Bank of Newfoundland.
An event which excited general interest and joy was the visit at this
time paid to the United States by General Lafayette. This visit of
the illustrious man to the country which he had served so nobly in his
youth, and where he was now welcomed as one of the founders of the
republic, was pleasing alike to the country and its guest. The Govern-
ment and the citizens vied with each other in doing him honor, and when,
after visiting a considerable portion of the United States, wondering
and gratified at its progress since the days when he suffered and fought
at the side of Washington—when, with a thankful heart, he prepared to
return to France, the Government prepared a fine frigate, the Brandy-
wine, for his accommodation. Lafayette never again visited America.
He died in France soon after he had by his influence raised to the throne,
in 1830, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans. As a gallant officer of our
Revolutionary army, and the man whose zeal, energy, and perseverance,
undaunted by obstacles, enabled us to win the alliance of France in our
hour of need, Lafayette will ever be an object of the nation's gratitude.
A doctrine put forward by President Monroe, and often spoken of
had reference to European settlements in America. When Spain found
herself unable to reduce her revolted American colonies, she, in De-
cember, 1823, addressed a formal invitation to the Courts of Russia,
Prussia, Austria, and France, to send plenipotentiaries to Paris, to
adopt plans for assisting her. Such a concert of European powers
combining to interpose in American affairs, was fraught with danger, and -
Monroe, in his message of Congress, declared that our Government
would regard as directed against it, and would resist, any combination
of European Powers for colonization or any other purpose.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 659.
During the latter years of Monroe's second term, expeditions were
sent out to break up the nests of pirates who had been for years con-
stantly engaged in plundering the commerce of America in the West
Indies. The efforts were crowned with perfect Success, although
it was difficult to pursue the pirates amid the small islands in which
they had their haunts. But Commodore Porter, in 1822 and 1823, with
a small fleet broke up their various rendezvous, and taught them such
a lesson that the bands scattered, and these depredations on our com-
merce were arrested.
As the administration of Mr. Monroe approached its close, it was
evident that the “era of good feeling,” as it was called, had passed
away. Party violence again seized the public mind. The nominations
for the Presidency had on former occasions been made by the members
of Congress, acting as a convention for the purpose. In this case they
nominated John Quincy Adams, but several independent candidates
appeared—General Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, Henry Clay of Ken-
tucky, and William H. Crawford of Georgia. Each candidate received
the support of his own section of the country, and the result was that
no one of the four received enough votes to Secure his election. Jack-
son received more votes than any of the others, but as he did not ob-
tain more than them all, it was not sufficient.
In such cases the Constitution provided that the House of Repre-
sentatives should select the President. After a great deal of intrigue
and bargaining, such as had never yet been seen in America, Henry
Clay gave way, and his friends supporting Mr. Adams, he was elected
President of the United States. John C. Calhoun, of South Caro-
lina, had received in the election votes which made him Vice-Presi-
dent.
CHAPTER VII.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, SIXTH PRESIDENT—1825–1829.
Internal Improvements—Death of Adams and Jefferson—Indian Troubles—Masonic Excite-
ment.
THE administration of John Quincy Adams was marked by few
important events. There was undisturbed peace, and a season of
great prosperity. By this time the fruits of Fulton's invention were
evident : without it the people of so vast a country would have been
long strangers to each other ; steam allowed ships to ascend the navi-
gable rivers with rapidity, and this brought the produce of all parts
to the great centres of trade. New York, anxious to secure the trade
of the West, which would evidently be the great grain-district of
America, as well as its best pasturage, began, under the auspices of
De Witt Clinton, the Erie Canal, to connect the Hudson River with the
waters of Lake Erie above the Falls. The great work was ridiculed
by many, and termed “Clinton's big ditch,” but it was completed at a
cost of five millions of dollars. When, in November, 1825, a canal-
boat from Buffalo reached New York, there was an enthusiastic cele-
bration, and all joined in exulting over this new avenue for trade.
During this administration, the first railroad was opened in the
United States.
It was the pioneer of that vast system of railways that now trav-
erse the country in all directions, uniting the Atlantic to the Pacific.
A still greater improvement was to be brought about by railroads,
on which cars were drawn by locomotives, which are steam engines
on wheels. A horse railroad was begun at Quincy, Massachusetts, in
1825; but in 1829 the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company imported
two locomotives of Stevenson's invention, and began the first railroad
oUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 661
for steam cars. The success of the experiment led to the formation of
companies in all parts, and railroads soon began to connect all the
great cities.
A strange coincidence marked the 4th of July, 1826, the fiftieth an-
niversary of the Declaration of Independence. On that day, within
a few hours of each other, two signers of the Declaration, who had
successively filled the Presidential chair, Thomas Jefferson and John
Adams, both expired, each in his own State. Jefferson, almost with
bis last breath, said, “Adams still lives,” little supposing that he, too,
was passing away. The disputes of their political career had been
forgotten ; both had long been regarded with reverence and respect, and
their death on so remarkable a day was an object of public mourning.
The same year witnessed the celebrated Morgan excitement in New
York, which led to the formation of an Anti-masonic party in that
State, which was long in power.
The election which took place in the autumn of 1828, and in which
Adams and Jackson were again opposed, was one of greater popular
excitement than had ever yet been seen in the United States. Popu-
lar gatherings were held, speeches made, and the newspapers entered
violently into the advocacy of their favorite candidate. It opened
that series of eagerly contested elections, so fraught with corruption,
fraud, intrigue, and violence, which had done so much to lower the
national character, and made the elections an affair of politicians by
driving away the quiet citizens.
Jackson, now supported by Crawford, was chosen by a large major-
ity, and John C. Calhoun was again elected Vice-President.
President Adams retiring, left a country at peace, the public debt
greatly diminished, and a large surplus in the treasury.
CHAPTER VIII.
ANDREW JACKSON, SEVENTH PRESIDENT—1829–1837.
Striking Inauguration—A Bad Policy—Cherokee Difficulties—The United States Bank—
Black Hawk War—Nullification in South Carolina—Seminole War—Texas becomes an
Independent Republic—Arkansas and Michigan Admitted—The Specie Circular.
THE inauguration of General Jackson was marked by a new and
striking feature. He took the oath surrounded by several of the sur-
viving officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary War, in which he
himself, as a spirited boy, had received a sabre-wound from a British
soldier.
His Cabinet was composed of Martin Van Buren, Secretary of
State ; Samuel D. Ingham, Secretary of the Treasury ; John H. Eaton.
Secretary of War ; John Branch, Secretary of the Navy; and John
McPherson Berrian, Attorney General.
Jackson was honest and patriotic, but he was intolerant of opposi-
tion, and wished all to bend to his firm will ; and his administration
was one of stormy contention.
He initiated a system which has been most injurious to the
country. Using the military maxim, “To the victors belong the
spoils,” he gave every office in his gift to his partisans in the late elec-
tion, and men were removed from office on no charge of unfitness or
neglect in the discharge of their duties, but simply on political grounds.
The condition of the Indian tribes led to the first trouble. The
United States had by several treaties guaranteed to the Cherokees
the territory held by them, and in which they had sole jurisdiction as
OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 66.3
an independent tribe. The State of Georgia resolved to extend the
State laws over it, and subject the Cherokees to them, without, how-
ever, giving them any of the rights of citizens. The Cherokees ap-
pealed to the Supreme Court, which at last gave a decision in their
favor on some points; but even on these Georgia refused to yield, and
Jackson really sustained Georgia. His great wish was to remove all
the Indians beyond the Mississippi. Finding that there was no alter-
native, a part of the Cherokees agreed to remove ; and in 1838, General
Scott was sent to their lands with a large body of troops to remove
the tribe, using force if necessary. Fortunately, the Cherokees sub-
mitted, and were placed west of Arkansas.
An opposition to the United States Bank, which was then the de-
pository of the moneys belonging to the Government, was one of the
great principles of the Jackson party. As the charter was about
to expire, the bank solicited its renewal, and after a long debate
in Congress, an act was passed in 1832; but President Jackson, on
the 10th of July, vetoed the bill, and subsequently removed the depos-
its and placed them in various State banks.
Dreadful Scourges, war and pestilence, also afflicted the country in
the year 1832. In the summer, the Asiatic cholera, which had ravaged
Europe, appeared simultaneously at Quebec and New York, and
spread over the whole country, sweeping off thousands, especially in
the large cities.
During the spring of that year, the Sacs, Foxes, and Winnebagoes,
in Wisconsin, under Black Hawk, a Sac chief, began to ravage the
frontiers of Illinois, destroying many new villages, slaughtering fami-
lies, and giving all to the flames. United States troops under Colo-
nel Taylor, and Illinois militia under General Atkinson, were sent
664 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
against them ; and though this body of white troops was thinned by
cholera and desertion, Colonel Taylor, by forced marches, overtook
the enemy on the 2d of August, at the mouth of the Iowa, and routing
the Indian braves, captured Black Hawk, and put an end to the war.
This Indian outbreak had scarcely been suppressed when a new dan-
ger appeared, greater than any that yet threatened the Goverment—
the danger of a dissolution of the Union. A tariff act, passed in 1832,
imposed duties which the Southern States deemed unjust and partial :
most of the States merely murmured, but South Carolina, refusing to
submit, threatened to withdraw from the Union and set up an inde-
pendent government, for the first time claiming the right to secede.
Similar threats had been made during the war by some Northern
States, but they had never gone as far as in this case. South Carolina
prepared to resist by force of arms. Electing the eloquent Hayne
Governor, they began to organize troops, while Calhoun, resigning his
position as Vice-President of the United States, entered the Senate
Chamber as Senator from South Carolina, in order to make a final
effort there. The President, however, was too stern and peremptory a
man to brook opposition even in case of doubt : he issued a proclama-
tion, declaring his resolution to enforce obedience, and, if necessary, at
the point of the bayonet. His previous career gave proof that such a
threat would not be an idle one. Congress, in a long and able debate,
in which Daniel Webster delivered a famous exposition of the Consti-
tution, sustained the President, and South Carolina submitted, protest-
ing against the injustice done her. At this juncture, Henry Clay in-
troduced his plan of compromise, which was adopted, and the difficulty
was avoided for the time. Yet it was clear that the time for compro-
mise was nearly gone. Amid all this excitement a Presidential election
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 665,
came off. The country at large sustained Jackson, who was re-elected,
with Martin Van Buren, of New York, as Vice-President.
About this time, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last of the sign-
ers of the Declaration of Independence, expired, at a moment when the
work of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention
seemed about to be destroyed.
A more serious Indian war than Black Hawk's now engaged atten-
tion, and for years cost blood and treasure without stint. This was
the Seminole War in Florida. The trouble with them began at the time
that General Jackson attacked their fort in Florida. They had then
become imbittered against the Americans. “Seminoles” means Wander-
ers, and the tribe that bears the name belongs to the Creek Nation, and
was formed chiefly of the fragments of tribes converted by the Spanish
missionaries, but almost exterminated by Georgia and South Carolina.
The proposal to remove them beyond the Mississippi excited the
strongest opposition, but the Government made a treaty in 1832, with
a few inferior chiefs, who pretended to act for the tribe. The Semi-
mole Nation, however, with Micanopy, their king, disavowed the acts of
these chiefs, and refused to depart. General Thompson, the Govern-
ment agent, hoping to overawe them, seized one chief, the gallant Os-
ceola, and put him in irons. The Seminole chief, in order to secure his
liberty, signed a treaty, but secretly laid plans for a bitter war on the
whites. He at Once organized all the braves of the nation, and pre-
pared for a simultaneous attack on the various posts, and a general
ravaging of the country. The day before Christmas, 1835, was fixed
for the execution of his design. That day, Major Dade, with a hun
dred and ten men, moved forward from Fort Brooke, on Tampa Bay,
to reinforce General Clinch, then at Fort Drane, near Orange Lake,
66.5 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
That day, General Thompson was dining with some friends in a house
outside Fort King, where he was stationed. While the wine passed
briskly around, amid laughter and merriment, Osceola and a small
war-party burst in upon them. Thompson fell, riddled by fifteen bul-
lets: nearly every one of the party shared his fate ; and Osceola, scalp-
ing the man who had so wronged him, drew off to the woods before
the garrison of the fort were aware of what had occurred. As Dade
rode along by Wahoo Swamp, amid the rank vegetation of the Florida
Everglades, flashes from every side announced the attack. Dade and
most of his men fell at the first volley. Thirty escaped, and throwing
up an intrenchment of logs, prepared to sell their lives dearly. But
Osceola, fresh from his exploit, bounded in among his braves, and led
them in a furious charge. Every soldier was slain but one, who,
wounded unto death, managed to reach the whites and tell the story of
Dade's detachment.
General Clinch collected all his forces, and marched to the Withla-
coochee ; but he too was suddenly attacked on the last day of the year,
and though he repulsed the Indians, his loss amounted to a hundred
killed and wounded, weakening his force so that he had to retreat.
General Gaines, who penetrated to the same spot in February, 1836,
was also attacked, and lost several men. Roused by the success of
the Seminoles, the Creeks took up arms, and Georgia and Alabama,
like Florida, were exposed to all the horrors of Indian war. Steam-
boats were taken, villages burned, and thousands were fleeing in
all directions from the homes which they had built up. General
Scott, however, took command, and, having speedily reduced the
Creeks, the Government immediately transported several thousands
of them to the territory assigned to them beyond the Mississippi.
oR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 667
Georgia also moved. Governor Call, of that State, took command of
the forces, numbering two thousand men, and marching into Florida
encountered the Seminoles at Wahoo Swamp, near the Scene of Dade's
defeat, and twice repulsed them with loss, after a long and terrible
contest. The Seminoles then, for a time, discontinued all active hos-
tilities.
The rancor of political agitation about this time extended to reli-
gious matters, and, for the first time, America was menaced with reli-
gious strife between its citizens. Violent publications kept up the ex-
citement, and a convent at Charlestown, Massachusetts, was burned by
a mob ; but the people at large showed a disapproval of such acts, and
the excitement died away, though it was renewed in after years, and
led to the formation of a political party.
Toward the close of the administration of General Jackson a strange
revolution was taking place near the borders of the United States.
Texas, one of the States of the Mexican Republic, had been first occu-
pied by the French, under La Salle, who, missing the mouth of the Mis-
sissippi, entered by mistake Matagorda Bay, and threw up a fort there.
This was soon after taken by the Indians, who massacred all but a few.
The Spaniards, who claimed the territory, sent a force to occupy the
country. The commander found only the victims of Indian fury, and
buried them. Spain then planted forts and missions in various
parts, and held the country till Mexico became free. Then Texas,
with Coahuila, formed one of the States of Mexico. Many Americans
gradually entered Texas, some of them taking slaves with them,
although slavery had been abolished in Mexico. These new settlers,
being strangers to the language, religion, and government of Mexico.
became greatly discontented, and much trouble ensued. When, in
668 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
1835, the Federal Government at Mexico crushed down the State gov-
ernments, and renounced the federal system, the Texans took up arms
to resist this act, which they declared subversive of the original Con-
stitution of Mexico. They called on their countrymen in the United
States to join them. The United States offered no obstacles, and such
numbers crossed the frontiers into Texas, that on the 2d of March,
1838, the people of Texas declared it an independent republic.
Santa Anna, President of Mexico, resolved to crush the rebellion, and
advanced into Texas at the head of an army. Having been defeated
and taken prisoner by General Houston at the battle of San Jacinto, on
the 21st of April, he made a treaty with the Texans, which the republic
of Mexico disavowed. Still Texas had virtually established her inde-
pendence, and was recognized as a republic by foreign powers.
Mexico made no further attempt to reduce it, and, under a separate
government, Texas, increasing by emigration from the United States,
became thoroughly American, and it was evident that it would soon
become part of the United States.
The intercourse between this country and foreign nations during the
whole period of Jackson's administration had been one of peace. The
only exception was a momentary difficulty with France, owing to old
claims connected with Napoleon's decrees, under which American ships
had been seized. To compensate the owners, France had agreed to pay
five millions of dollars, but neglected to do so. Jackson threatened
War, but by the intervention of England the affair was amicably ar-
ranged.
In June, 1836, Arkansas became a State, and in January following,
Michigan, a Northern State, was also admitted.
As Jackson's Second term was drawing to a close, the great political
or, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 669
parties prepared for a new election. The Democrats put forward Mar-
tin Van Buren as their candidate, while William Henry Harrison was
the choice of the Whigs. Van Buren was elected, but there was no
choice of Vice-President, no one of the candidates for that office re-
ceiving a sufficient number of votes. The Senate, under the Constitu-
tion, then proceeded to elect one, and Richard M. Johnson was chosen.
Jackson's last act was to refuse his sanction to an act passed to re-
peal his Specie Circular, which required all collectors of the public
revenue to take only gold and silver in payment. The whole country
was affected at the time by a spirit of wild speculation, and the country
was flooded with paper issued by banks, much of which ultimately
proved worthless. The Specie Circular caused much difficulty, but
has been adhered to as a wise rule.
After his stormy administration, Jackson retired to private life,
highly esteemed for his uprightness, integrity, and firmness, even by
those who questioned some of his acts.
CHAPTER IX.
MARTIN VAN BUREN, EIGHTH PRESIDENT—1837–1841.
Bankruptcy caused by Speculation—The Independent Treasury—The Seminole War—Death
of Osceola—Troubles in Canada—Wilkes's Exploring Expedition—The Maine Boundary.
THE Spirit of speculation which had invaded the country, soon
brought about its natural result. The banks, which had increased the
amount of their loans day by day, at last took alarm. When men
could no longer get money freely from the banks, many were unable
to meet their obligations, and the consequence was a series of failures,
670 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
In the city of New York, the failures amounted to a hundred millions
of dollars, and a similar state of affairs prevailed throughout the
country. Factories were stopped, and property of all kinds declined in
value, for there were few able to buy. The banks suspended specie pay-
ment, and Government, which had placed its moneys in various banks,
was unable to obtain gold and silver to pay the demands on the
treasury.
The President, in his message to Congress, proposed that in future
the Government money should no longer be placed in banks for safe
keeping, but retained by the Government in its own treasury. This
excited great opposition, for people had come to look upon the public
money as something that could be used in the trade of the country ;
but the wisdom of the plan was evident, and the independent treasury
has always been maintained.
The Seminole war still continued, the Indians from time to time mak-
ing fresh attacks. A treaty was made in March, 1837, by several
chiefs who came into General Jesup's camp at Fort Dade. By its
terms peace was restored, and the Seminoles agreed to remove beyond
the Mississippi. Still this was not the act of the whole tribe : a war
party still remained, weak in number, but full of resolution. Although
without skillful chiefs, and with an organized army of nine thousand
men against them, they continued the war. In the operations that fol-
lowed through the summer, Osceola was the leading spirit; and when,
in October, he and some other chiefs, with a band of seventy warriors,
entered Jesup's camp under the protection of a flag, Jesup seized and
confined them. Osceola was sent to Charleston, and died in Fort
Moultrie, where his grave is still shown. Many blamed Jesup's course,
but he considered himself not bound to keep the rules of war with one
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 671
who was ignorant of them and never shrank from treachery. He
deemed it better to close the war. Notwithstanding this severe blow,
the Indians kept the field ; but in December, Colonel Zachary Taylor
penetrated to the haunt of the Mickasuckies, and forced them to an ac-
tion on the northern border of Macaco or Okeechobee Lake. These
Indians, who had stubbornly refused all offers of pacification, were
drawn up, under their chief Aviaka, in a strong position near the lake.
Taylor, who, besides his regulars, had a corps of Mississippi volum-
teers under Colonel Gentry, immediately attacked their camp. The
battle lasted over three hours, and so desperately did the Indians fight,
that they routed the volunteers, who left their colonel dead on the
field. Taylor rallied the regulars; a part finally repulsed the Micka-
suckies, but those Indians drew off unpursued. Taylor's loss was
nearly a hundred and fifty killed and wounded, including several of
his most valuable officers.
This reverse broke the spirit of the Indians: many submitted, and
were removed, so that in May, 1839, General Macomb induced the re-
mainder to treat of peace. Yet again hostilities began, and Colonels
Harney and Worth finally reduced them in 1841, by penetrating to
their fastnesses, cutting down their crops, and sweeping off their cattle.
Peace was finally secured in 1842, after a seven-years war, which cost
America many millions of dollars and the lives of thousands.
In one point of view, this long and expensive war had been of ac-
tual Service ; it proved an excellent school for our army, and gradually
prepared officers for more important service.
Previous to the closing of this war, the United States was involved
in a trouble of another character on its northern frontier. Canada,
though its earlier privileges had provoked the Americans before the
(5.72 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Revolution, was now itself discontented with the British Government.
In 1837, the popular feeling rose so high that an insurrection broke
out, and as any cry for liberty finds a ready response in American
bosoms, many persons in the United States, and especially in the State
of New York, hastened to aid the cause of revolution by sympathy,
and by contributions of men, arms, and money. This sympathy be-
came so general on the northern frontier, that Government was
unable to repress it, and peace between the United States and Great
Britain was in great jeopardy. This state of things continued to the
close of Van Buren's administration.
Although the President by proclamation forbade all citizens of the
United States to interfere, and ordered troops to the frontier, many
continued to cross and take part in the struggle. Some of these were
killed in the actions which took place with the British forces; more
were taken prisoners, tried, and, on conviction, either hung or trans-
ported to Van Diemen's Land.
The English were exasperated at the conduct of the American sym-
pathizers, and retaliated by a violation of American soil. A party
of the insurgents on Navy Island, in Niagara River, kept up communi-
cation with the American shore by means of the steamer Caroline.
The English in vain endeavored to capture this little steamer during
her trips to and from the island. Failing in this, they sent over a de-
tachment to the American side, on the 20th of December, 1837. The
party cut the Caroline loose, after killing an American on the dock.
They then towed the steamer out into the stream, set her on fire, and
sent her over Niagara Falls with all on board of her, and she plunged
down that cataract with her unfortunate crew. This outrage excited
the public mind in the United States to the highest degree, but the in-
oR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 673
fringement of our national rights was never disavowed by the English
"Government
The United States had in many ways shown an interest in the ad-
vancement of science, and had given all the encouragement that the
Constitution permitted to the General Government. Some of the States
began to collect in Europe documents relating to the early history of
the country, and at the same time caused accurate surveys to be made
of their territory, under competent men, who studied the geology, min-
eralogy, Zoology, and botany, as well as the geographical position. So
admirably was this carried out, especially in New York, that no coun-
try can show a more noble monument than the Natural History of that
State.
The United States Government, to aid, in this general movement,
sent out in 1838 an exploring expedition under Captain Wilkes,
which visited much of the Southern and Pacific Oceans, and after mak-
ing several important discoveries returned. Wilkes' report was full of
interest and value.
The ill-feeling which had been excited against Great Britain showed
itself in Maine, in 1839. The treaty of 1783, which fixed the boundary
between Maine and the adjacent English provinces, was based on in-
correct maps, and when they attempted to run the line, difficulties
arose, each side construing it so as to give them most territory. The
King of the Belgians was appointed an umpire between the two parties,
but his decision pleased neither of them. As the disputed tract was
valued for its timber, the people of Maine attempted to drive off the
New Brunswick lumbermen, and some on both sides were taken into
custody as trespassers by the opposite Governments. Some excitement
prevailed, but as the Governors of Maine and New Brunswick soon
674 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
came to an understanding, further collisions were prevented, and the
whole affair was left to higher authorities.
Van Buren's administration had not met general approval. The
people, oppressed by the results of the revulsion of 1837, clamored
for a general bankrupt act.
Van Buren was again nominated by the Democratic party, while the
Whigs put up General William H. Harrison, with John Tyler for
Vice-President. The election was the most exciting and enthusiastic
ever yet seen in America. Log cabins were raised in all parts in honor
of Harrison, and the campaign was carried by violent speeches and
Songs in favor of their candidate, and against the opposing one. Presi-
dent Van Buren was defeated by a large vote, receiving only sixty elec-
toral votes, while his antagonist received no less than two hundred and
thirty-four. William Henry Harrison became President, with John
Tyler as Vice-President.
CHAPTER X.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, NINTH PRESIDENT—1841.
JOHN TYLER, TENTH PRESIDENT—1841–1845,
Mr. Tyler vetoes the United States Bank—The Maine Boundary–Rhode Island Troubles—
Patroon Troubles—Native American Party—The Mormons—Annexation of Texas.
GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, born in Charles County, Vir-
ginia, in February, 1773, was the son of a signer of the Declaration
of Independence. He entered the army at an early age. As Governor
of Indiana Territory, he had won fame and distinction by his skillful
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 675
management of public affairs, and by his ability as a military com-
mander. Great expectations were entertained of reforms and changes,
under his Presidency, as a new political party now came into power.
To fulfill the wishes of the people, he issued a proclamation on the 17th
of March, calling an extra Session of Congress to meet in May. But
his administration was destined to close suddenly. His health was
broken, and the exertions attending his inauguration and the assump-
tion of the duties of his arduous office hurried him to the grave. Be-
fore he had accomplished any public act, he died after a short illness on
the 4th of April, 1841, at the age of sixty-eight, to the universal regret
of the nation. The Cabinet formed by President Harrison consisted
of the able and eloquent Daniel Webster as Secretary of State ; Thomas
Ewing, Secretary of the Treasury; John Bell, Secretary of War;
George Badger, Secretary of the Navy; Francis Granger, Postmaster
General, and John J. Crittenden, Attorney General.
By the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, John
Tyler, the Vice-President, now became President of the United
States. Like his predecessor, he was a native of Virginia, in which he
had always resided. Although not altogether in harmony with the
views of the late President, Mr. Tyler retained the same Cabinet ; and
when Congress met on the last day of May under the call of Presi-
dent Harrison, his message recommended many of the projects already
agreed upon by the party. The Sub-Treasury Act was repealed ; and
a general bankrupt law passed with his approval. One of the great
objects of the Whig party was to restore the United States Bank,
which had been overthrown by Jackson. Accordingly, Congress passed
an act to revive it; but, to the great chagrin of those by whose votes he
had been raised to the Presidency, President Tyler vetoed the biii,
676 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
seeing in it dangers to the country. For this he was warmly censured
by his party, and all the members of his Cabinet except Mr. Webster
resigned. He then appointed Walter Forward, Secretary of the Treas-
ury; John C. Spencer, Secretary of War; Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of
the Navy; Charles A. Wickliffe, Postmaster General, and Hugh S.
Legare, Attorney General. The last of these soon after died at
Boston.
The boundary between Maine and the British Provinces—the
Aroostook difficulty—still excited trouble. Negotiations were now in
progress to solve the difficulty. Webster, as Secretary of State, con-
ducted the discussion with Lord Ashburton, the English envoy, and
in July, 1842, a treaty was signed at Washington, and soon after rat-
ified by both countries, by which the line was fixed, and described
with so much certainty as to remove all doubt as to its construction.
This treaty also settled the northern limit of New York, New Hamp-
shire, and Vermont, obviating all difficulty in that quarter.
Rhode Island had, down to this time, been governed under the
charter granted by Charles II., the last relic of the reign of the Stuarts.
This charter contained, however, great restrictions on the right of
suffrage, and a large party in that little State had long sought a more
liberal government. This the charter party refused, and, in conse-
quence, a convention of the people assembled, which drew up a consti-
tution, and submitted it to the people. As it received the approval
of a majority of the voters, a new government was organized in May,
1842, with Thomas W. Dorr as Governor. The charter government
treated all these proceedings as illegal, and made the exercise of any
powers under the new constitution treason against the State. The
suffrage party then attempted to obtain control of the State by force ;
oR, our Count RY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 677
but their efforts were defeated, and Dorr was compelled to leave the
State. He soon after returned, thinking that the excitement had
blown ever ; but he was arrested, tried for treason, and, on his con-
viction, sentenced to imprisonment for life. This was a strange result
for America to witness. Dorr was soon released, and this ended the
struggle. The charter party had triumphed, but were forced to call
a new and more regular convention in 1844, which drew up a new
constitution suited to the wants of the people.
In New York, troubles occurred also between a party clinging to
old colonial ideas, and a party of reform. In several parts of the
State large tracts were held under old Dutch grants to a kind of lords
of the manor, called Patroons, who leased them out to those who culti-
wated the land. These leases had many feudal obligations; rent was
paid in produce ; farmers had to send their grain to particular mills;
and whenever a lease was transferred from one to another, a kind of
tax was levied.
All these conditions were so distasteful to Americans, that many of
the tenants objected ; and forming a party called Anti-renters, they de-
termined to resist the landlords, and any officer of the law who at-
tempted to serve any legal process on them. This disturbance spread
over most of Columbia, Rensselaer, and Delaware Counties, and for a
time set the State authorities at defiance. A deputy sheriff and some
others were killed in broad day, and many others brutally treated ;
but the Government at last crushed the insurrection, and brought the
murderers to trial. To avoid a renewal of the difficulties, most of the
landlords abolished the obnoxious features of their leases, and made
the rent payable in money.
A new political party appeared about this time, called the Native
678 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
American party, formed to check the rapid increase and power of the
foreign element and the Catholic religion. It acquired considerable
strength in all the large cities of the North and East, where foreign
labor competed with native. Much was done to inflame the public
mind to a dangerous pitch, and serious riots broke out in Philadel-
phia, in May, 1844, in which many lives were lost, and many churches
and institutions burned and destroyed, the authorities showing great
inefficiency. When, however, the riots were renewed in July, the
State Government acted vigorously, and suppressed it at once, with
the help of militia drawn from adjacent counties.
The West, too, had its troubles. About the year 1830, a man
named Joseph Smith, living at Palmyra, in the western part of the
State of New York, pretended to have received a new revelation from
God, written in mystical characters on a series of plates which he
claimed to be pure gold. He pretended to decipher these characters,
and published the rhapsody under the name of the Book of Mor-
mon. Assuming to be a prophet, he founded a new religion ; but as
his character became known, he was driven from place to place ; but
everywhere managed to gain some proselytes. He and his followers
at last settled in Kirtland, Ohio; but as the hostility to them was re-
newed, the Mormons, now numbering several thousands, set out for
the West, and settled in Jackson County, Missouri. The people in
that part of the country rose in arms against them, and the Governor
ordered their expulsion. The State militia was called out, and in the
excitement they attacked the Mormons, killed many, and forced the
rest to leave the State. The fugitives now attracted the sympathy of
many who regarded them as deluded, but as most unjustly treated.
Settling in Illinois, in 1831, they founded the city of Nauvoo, where,
oſt, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 679,
on the banks of the Mississippi, they laid the foundations of an *m-
mense temple. Here they were at first welcomed by the people, and
Smith, sending missionaries through the country, and even to Europe,
saw his believers increase with wonderful rapidity. He obtained from
the Illinois Legislature a favorable charter for his city ; but, in a short
time, the public mind in Illinois became strongly excited against the
Mormons, who were accused of very heinous crimes. The country
rose in arms. Nauvoo was besieged, and several were killed on both
sides. A charge of murder was then brought against Joseph Smith,
and that leader, anxious to disarm the public hostility against him,
Surrendered to the authorities to undergo a legal trial. But the mob,
Were unwilling to trust to the law ; they surrounded the place where
Joseph Smith and his brother Hiram were confined, and, bursting in,
murdered them with great brutality. The troubles were kept up : the
Mormons, so far from being disheartened by the death of their prophet,
looked up to Brigham Young as their head, and stood their ground,
Yielding at last to the storm, they resolved to emigrate to a part of
the country where they would be far from all neighbors, and set out
in a body for a long journey over the Plains, with all their cattle and
property, to the interior of California.
All these things showed that changes were coming over the Ameri-
can people, who had long been so quiet and tolerant with each other.
Public excitements were increasing, and people were more easily led
to acts of violence.
As yet, however, this spirit of turbulence had not gained sufficient
strength to check the general prosperity of the country. The contin-
ued tide of emigration enabled the Territories to fill up rapidly ;
and in March, 1845, an act of Congress was passed admitting two
680 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
new States, one in the North, Iowa, the other in the South,
Florida.
Just previous to this, Texas, having come to an understanding with
the United States, ceased to be an independent republic. Resolutions
were adopted by the Congress of the United States for its annexa-
tion. After the battle of San Jacinto, Texas had maintained its inde-
pendence, but, owing to many difficulties, was not in a state of pros-
perity. The Mexican Government had never relinquished the hope of
again reconquering Texas, and as soon as the act of annexation to the
United States was accomplished, Almonte, the Mexican Minister, pro-
tested, but, the resolution of the United States Congress having been
ratified by Texas on the 5th of July, Texas, with undefined limits,
came into the Union as a State. The question of slavery arose in re-
gard to it, and by a compromise it was agreed that Congress should
have the power to form the territory into four States, and that, on such
division, all north of 36° 30' should be free States, while slavery
might exist South of that line.
While the public mind was occupied with the now imminent war
with Mexico, and with troubles in regard to the Oregon boundary
with Great Britain, a new election took place. Henry Clay, the can-
didate of the Whig party, who was in favor of negotiation, was defeated,
and James K. Polk, of Tennessee, was elected President, and George
M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, Vice-President.
CHAPTER XI.
JAMES K. POLK, ELEVENTH PRESIDENT—1845–1849.
The Mexican War—Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma—Battle of Monterey—Con-
quest of California and New Mexico–Santa Anna—Scott at Vera Cruz—Battle of Buena
Vista—Capture of Vera Cruz—Battle of Cerro Gordo—Puebla taken–Contreras and Chu-
rubusco—Battle of Chapultepec
Guadalupe Hidalgo—Close of Polk’s Administration.
Mexico taken—Last Struggles of the Mexicans—Peace of
WE have not in our sketch of the history had occasion to mention
James K. Polk, who was now raised to the Presidency. The great
men of the rival parties excited too much jealousy to be safely put
forward as candidates, and hence, men who were little known were
sometimes nominated. James K. Polk, born in North Carolina.
in 1796, had from childhood resided in Tennesee, and had served in
the Legislature of that State and in Congress for many years.
Mr. Polk, on the day of his inauguration, appointed as his Cabinet,
James Buchanan, Secretary of State ; Robert J. Walker, Secretary of
the Treasury; William L. Marcy, Secretary of War; George Bancroft,
the historian, Secretary of the Navy ; Cave Johnson, Postmaster Gen-
eral; and John Y. Mason, Attorney General. The subject requiring
immediate action was the position of our affairs with Mexico. The
late President had already prepared for any emergency. When Texas,
in July, 1845, ratifying the resolution, became a State in the Union,
General Zachary Taylor entered it with an army of occupation, num-
bering fifteen hundred men. The frontier between Texas and the adjoin-
ing Mexican States had never been settled. The Texans claimed to the
Rio Grande, while, in fact, they had no settlements, and were never
*s-f
{382 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
able to exercise any authority beyond the Nueces. The United States
and Mexico might easily have adjusted a boundary, but Mexico felt
aggrieved and refused to treat, and the United States were eager for
war. Herrera, President of Mexico, was indeed anxious to avoid hos-
tilities, but he was forced to retire, and Paredes, a war candidate, be-
came President. In September, General Taylor encamped at Corpus
Christi, between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. His instructions
were “that the appearance of any considerable body of Mexican
troops in this territory would be regarded by the executive as an in-
vasion of the United States and the commencement of hostilities,”
although it had always been held by Mexican and never by Texan
troops. In January, 1846 Taylor was ordered to advance to the Rio
Grande. After encamping and leaving his stores at Point Isabel on the
25th of March, he moved to the mouth of the Rio Grande, and be-
gan to erect Fort Brown, opposite the Mexican city of Matamoras.
The Mexican settlers fled across the Rio Grande, and General
Ampudia arrived at Matamoras with a large force to drive the Amer-
icans beyond the Nueces. He at once summoned Taylor to withdraw
within twenty-four hours; but, before he could commence operations,
was succeeded by General Arista. That commander at once sent a
party of dragoons across the river. Taylor detached Thornton with
sixty dragoons to reconnoitre, but they were nearly all killed or taken
on the 24th of April by the Mexicans under Torrejon. This was the
first bloodshed in the war. The Mexicans then crossed in force, and
gained Taylor's rear, menacing Point Isabel. Having completed his
fort, Taylor marched on the 1st of May to the relief of that post. No
Sooner was he lost in the distance, than Arista began a bombardment
of Fort Brown, while he himself, with a considerable force, crossed the
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 683
river to assail it in the rear. The garrison made a vigorous defense,
and silenced the Mexican batteries; but when siege cannon were planted
in the rear, and Major Brown, the commander, was mortally wounded, sig-
mals were sent up for relief. Taylor at once marched from Point Isabel,
and on the 8th of May, at noon, came up with Arista, who had taken
post at Palo Alto. Taylor drew up his little army, and opened with his
artillery. A fierce cannonade followed, the Mexicans replying with spirit.
Then their cavalry, in splendid style, swept down on the American right.
Taylor's troops received them without flinching, and the artillery
and infantry drove them back. But this was all. The Mexican line
was unbroken by our cannonade and musketry. Arista, massing his
batteries, endeavored to silence the American guns, and, by a perfect
tempest of balls, for a time checked our fire, cutting down Major
Ringgold and Captain Page at their guns. Again and again his
splendid cavalry swept down in the vain endeavor to break the Amer-
ican lines. At last, despairing of the attempt, Arista drew off his
whole force, leaving Taylor in possession of the field. In this first
battle of the war, which lasted five hours, Taylor lost about fifty in
killed and wounded. Arista six times as many.
Early the next morning, Taylor resumed the march for Fort Brown.
At Resaca de la Palma he came upon Arista's army, well posted and
drawn up to receive him. Here the second battle was fought. The
Mexicans again endeavored to silence the American guns with their
well-handled artillery; but the American dragoons, under May, drove
the Mexican gunners from their pieces, and the American infantry, by
a bayonet charge, carried their best battery. Taylor's main body,
almost at the same instant, forced Arista's center from the ravine,
which they held. An irregular combat ensued, but the Americans
-
684 THE STORY OF A GRA'ſ NA.10N :
pushed steadily forward, and drove the Mexicans from their in trench.
ments, capturing all their camp equipage. General La Vega and a
hundred men were made prisoners; eight cannons, three stand of col-
ors, and a quantity of military stores were captured. The Mexican
army was completely broken up, and Arista fled in disorder to Mata-
II] OI’8,S.
After this signal victory, Taylor pressed on to Fort Brown, and
relieved that post from its long bombardment. Then, in concert with
Commodore Connor, he took Barita, at the mouth of the Rio Grande,
and prepared to attack Matamoras; but that city surrendered on the
18th of May.
Before these operations were known in Washington, Polk had sent
a violent message to Congress, announcing that American blood had
been shed on American soil, and that war existed by the act of Meº,
ico. Congress immediately acted on this message, and on the 13th of
May passed an act authorizing the President to raise fifty thousand
volunteers, and appropriating ten millions of dollars to carry on the
war. As the motive of the war was conquest, and not the possession
of the disputed strip, a plan of campaign was formed for attacking
Mexico in various parts, and occupying her most valuable frontier
States. A fleet bearing an army was to sweep around South America,
to take possession of California, a State already explored by Fremont
and other American officers, and known to contain great mineral
wealth ; an “Army of the West” was to assemble at Fort Leaven-
worth, march to Santa Fé, take possession of New Mexico, and invade
the State of Coahuila; while an army of the Center was to operate
from Texas upon the heart of Mexico. Immediate steps were taken
to organize these armies and carry on the war.
OR, OUR COUNTRY S CHIEVEMENTS. 685
On her side, Mexico formally declared war on the 23d of May,
and nerved herself for a deadly struggle with her powerful sister re-
public, whose resources seemed inexhaustible. General Taylor in the
mean time received reinforcements, chiefly of the newly raised volun-
teers, and, finding himself in September at the head of six thousand
men, resolved to advance upon Monterey, an important place in Northern
Mexico, the route to which had been opened by General Worth with
the first division. On the 19th of September, the whole American
army encamped within three miles of Monterey, which was beld by
General Ampudia with an army of nine thousand men. Although a
strongly fortified town in a position protected by great natural de-
fenses, Taylor prepared to attack it. Cutting off Ampudia's supplies
by the Saltillo road, he began the siege on the 21st. An old palace
of the bishops, now a strong work, was the chief fortification. Gen-
eral Worth was dispatched to turn this, and attack the heights in the
rear. To cover his attack, Lieutenant-Colonel Garland, with another
division, attacked the lower town ; Butler and Quitman, with a third
division, carried the enemy's advanced battery, and secured a position
in the town. Meanwhile General Worth had encountered the enemy
in force, repulsed him with heavy loss, and carried two of the heights.
The next day Worth carried the palace itselſ, and entered the town,
while Quitman, in spite of all the efforts of the enemy to dislodge him,
fought his Way in from house to house, and reached the plaza or great
public Square found in all Spanish cities.
Ampudia then drew in his troops for a last struggle, but finding re-
sistance hopeless after the dreadful carnage, he offered to capitulate,
and on the 24th surrendered the city, marching out with all his
troops. In this sanguinary battle both regulars and volunteers dis-
'686 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
played the greatest skill and courage. The American loss was one
hundred and twenty killed, and three hundred and sixty-eight wound-
ed, while that of the enemy was at least a thousand.
General Taylor placed Worth in command of Monterey, and en-
camped himself at Walnut Springs, three miles distant.
Another change was now to take place in Mexican affairs, which
seemed at first to promise the Americans a satisfactory solution of the
war question, but which proved a delusion. The Mexican Govern-
ment had thus far been in the hands of Paredes, an advocate of war.
General Santa Anna, then in Cuba, professed a desire for peace, so that
the administration at Washington came to an understanding with him,
and enabled him to pass through the fleet then lying before Vera
Cruz. No Sooner, however, was that able man in his own country.
than he threw himself into the hands of the war party, assumed the
direction of affairs, and prepared to carry on the war with vigor. This
compelled the United States to adopt another series of plans.
The other operations of this campaign had meanwhile succeeded,
though not as intended. When Texas was annexed, Commodore Sloat
was off the coast of California. Believing that war actually existed,
he took Monterey, August 7, 1846. San Francisco soon followed
its fate ; and the best port on the Pacific fell into the hands of the
Americans to begin a new career. Colonel Fremont, who had ex-
plored the passes of the mountains, was also in California with a small
force, and he raised the American flag at San Juan. The Mexican
authorities did not yield without a blow.
Meanwhile, General Kearney, in command of the Army of the West,
had marched across the Western plains and through the mountain.
passes, a distance of nine hundred miles, from Fort Leavenworth to
or, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 687
Santa Fé, following the well-known track of the traders. The Mexi-
cans had anticipated no attack. Kearney met with no resistance: he
took possession of the country, and, having made Charles Bent gover-
nor, continued his march toward California, which he was also in-
structed to reduce. On the way he was met by a courier from Com-
modore Stockton and Colonel Fremont, informing him that California
was already in the hands of the United States. Sending back his
main army, he marched on with a hundred men, and with Stockton
and Fremont completed the subjugation of the province. Fremont
had been proclaimed governor, but Kearney proceeded to Monterey,
and there assumed the office of governor, and proclaimed that California
was annexed to the United States
Before proceeding to California, General Kearney had detached
Colonel Doniphan against the Navajo Indians. He compelled that
tribe to make peace, and then marched toward Chihuahua to join
General Wool. On the 22d of December he encountered a Mexican
force at Bracitos, whom he dispersed, and, pushing on through the
hostile country, on the last day of February found the Sacramento
Pass, eighteen miles from Chihuahua, held by four thousand Mexicans,
under General Trias. After a short but decisive struggle, in which
the Mexicans were completely routed, Doniphan pushed on, and on
the 2d of March took possession of that large city, and the province
of the same name. After giving his soldiers a short rest here after
their march of many thousand miles, he advanced to Saltillo, where
General Wool was encamped.
The authority of the United States in these conquered parts was
firmly established, and, though some outbreaks occurred, the Mexicans
were never able to regain possession of any part.
688 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
But the war was not yet ended. Though the Mexicans had
been defeated in the field, and many of their provinces occupied,
their spirit was unbroken, and the Americans found that they must
strike at the capital, if they wished to conquer a peace.
There, Santa Anna, after outwitting them, was now preparing all
the resources of the republic for the ultimate struggle of the war.
The Government of the United States now formed a new plan of
operations, the first step in which was to attack and occupy Vera Cruz,
the chief Mexican port on the Gulf, and from that point move upon
Mexico itself. The plan was arduous and surrounded with difficulties,
Vera Cruz was defended by the strong fortress of San Juan de Ulua,
which had defied the French arms. The road from that port to Mex-
ico was a gradual ascent, abounding in narrow mountain-passes, where
a small force could hold an army at bay.
Preparations were, however, made to carry out this plan of cam-
paign. General Scott was directed to raise a new army, drawing such
forces as he could safely from General Taylor. This army he was to
lead in person. After making all necessary arrangements at Wash-
ington, he proceeded to Texas late in the year, to form his troops for
service as they arrived. In March, 1847, he concentrated all his
troops at Lobos Island, about a hundred and twenty-five miles north
of Vera Cruz, and on the 7th embarked from that point for Vera
Cruz, on a squadron commanded by Commodore Connor. Two days
later he appeared before that city with an army of thirteen thousand
{{1911,
Santa Anna, who felt that he could depend on a vigorous if not suc-
cessful resistance to the Americans, when they should appear before
Vera Cruz, had resolved to act with vigor gainst Taylor, whose army
oR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 689
was much weakened. By unparalleled exertions he assembled an
army of twenty-two thousand men, and at the opening of the year lay
with these at San Luis Potosi, waiting his opportunity to strike an
effective blow. At last he resolved to hurl his whole force on Taylor
and crush him, before he marched to check Scott's advance.
In February, Taylor, with gloomy forebodings, heard of Santa
Anna's approach, and, calling in his various divisions, effected a junc-
tion with Wool at Agua Nueva. Then he fell back to a position of
remarkable strength near Buena Vista, eleven miles from Saltillo, and
there drew up his force, about six thousand strong, with his left on a
high mountain, and his right and front so covered by a series of
ravines as to be impracticable even for infantry.
Santa Anna, who believed the American general to be flying before
him, pushed on with his whole force, well equipped, but suffering sadly
for want of provisions. About noon on the 22d of February, Santa
Anna was within two miles of the American lines, and, assuring
Taylor that he was surrounded so that escape was impossible, called
on him to surrender.
A stern refusal showed Santa Anna that he must attack the Ameri-
can general in his strong position. Skirmishing began that day.
Santa Anna, finding the American left the only feasible point, de-
tached General Ampudia with light troops to occupy the mountain.
These were attacked by the American left, under Colonel Marshall,
and an active skirmishing was kept up till night closed on the scene.
At the same time a detachment of Mexican cavalry, under General
Miñon, was operating against General Taylor's rear. In the morning,
Santa Anna again attacked Taylor's extreme left, and then threw him-
self on the centre. Repulsed here, he accumulated his forces, under
690 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
Generals Lombardini and Pacheco, to force the left, then held by Lane.
The charge was a terrible one. In vain O'Brien's artillery hurled
1 s shot and shell into the advancing corps of Mexicans. It swept
steadily on. An Indiana regiment fled in confusion : the left wing
gave way. General Wool, in command in front, called in the
light troops on the mountain, and drew in his left. Santa Anna en-
deavored to follow up his advantage; but Taylor, hurrying up from
the rear, threw fresh troops on the left. The battle was renewed with
fury. Again and again Santa Anna swept down with foot and horse
to break the line, but always with increasing loss. One of his de-
tachments, reaching the American rear, attacked the trains and bag-
gage at Buena Vista, but were checked and cut off from their main
body by Colonels Marshall and Yell.
Then Santa Anna, calling on his left and all his reserves, led the
last attack in person, sustained by General Perez and Pacheco. Again
the well-handled batteries of O'Brien and Bragg poured death into the
advancing columns; but Santa Anna pushed on, and made a fearful
charge. The level portion between the ravines became the scene of
furious encounter, of alternate attack and defense. The American
troops fought with desperate courage, conscious that retreat was im-
possible—that they must conquer or perish. However, the Kentucky
and Illinois regiments, after losing Colonels Clay, Hardin of the First
Illinois, and McKee, were driven back. *
Once more Santa Anna endeavored to follow up the slight advan-
tage gained so dearly, but the terrible American artillery and the diffi-
culties of the ground checked him. He finally drew back; and when
night closed over the fearful day's battle, the two armies lay as they
had at daybreak.
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 69 ſ
In the morning, General Taylor prepared to renew the battle, but
he soon found that the work was done. The Mexicans had retreated
during the night, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. Such
was the eventful battle of Buena Vista, in which an American army
of five thousand men sustained for a whole day the repeated attacks
of an army four times its number. Taylor's loss was about three hun-
dred killed, and five hundred wounded, while Santa Anna's loss was
estimated at two thousand.
This glorious victory confirmed the American supremacy, and over-
threw the Mexican power in that portion of the country. General
Taylor centered his army at Monterey, and soon after returned to the
United States in consequence of difficulties with the War Department.
General Wool then assumed command of the army at Monterey.
Taylor's campaign had been most creditable to him as a commander.
There was nothing to dim the lustre of his army but occasional law-
less acts by Some of the volunteers, among whom it was not easy to
enforce strict discipline.
His campaign from Palo Alto to Buena Vista had been a school
where many officers were trained, who at a later day fought against
each other in the terrible civil war. Here Mansfield distinguished
himself as an engineer; Bragg, with his artillery ; Halleck, Lowe,
Wallace, Richardson, and many others, in both the regular and volun-
teer service.
The victory at Buena Vista closed the campaign of General Taylor
in that part of Mexico. He had not an army large enough to advance,
and he had already effected more than had been expected. He was,
however, too brave a man and too able a general to remain idle when
there was real service to be done. His victories made him extremely
ular, and at last raised him to the presidential chair.
69%) TIIF STORRY OF A GREAT NATION:
Scott meanwhile was investing Vera Cruz and its renowned fortress.
He summoned the city to Surrender, and on its refusal prepared to
Þombard it. The fleet took up a position to give the most efficient aid,
and batteries were planted on land in the best positions the engineers
could reach. On the 22d, the bombardment of the fortress and the
city began. The destruction in Vera Cruz was fearful, as nearly seven
thousand shot and shell were hurled into the devoted city. The loss
of life among the citizens, their wives and children, was terrible, one
of the sad barbarities of modern warfare. The Mexican commander,
General Landero, asked for a truce to allow non-combatants and neu-
trals to withdraw ; but Scott would not consent, and the fearful bom-
bardment went on till the 26th, when Landero made proposals for a
capitulation. Three days after, the garrison of five thousand men
marched out and laid down their arms, giving their parole not to serve
in the war until exchanged.
General Scott immediately occupied the city of Vera Cruz and the
castle of San Juan de Ulua, with two smaller forts, Santiago and
Concepcion, five hundred pieces of artillery falling into his hands.
This capture was effected with very slight loss, the Americans not
losing in all a hundred men, while the Mexicans are said to have had
nearly a thousand killed, and many more wounded. The reverse was
unexpected, and gave a terrible blow to the plans of Santa Anna, as it
was his strongest post, and was full of artillery and supplies.
He saw that his action must be prompt and vigorous. His bloody
repulse at Buena Vista had taught him that he was engaged with an
enemy most difficult to cope with. But he must now meet a victorious
army with comparatively raw troops. Gathering what forces he
could at the instant, he marched to check Scott's advance. It was
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 693
time. Scott had lost no time in landing wagons and other necessaries
for transportation. On the 8th of April, Twiggs's division moved for.
ward to the interior, like Cortez of old. Santa Anna was approaching
rapidly with his new army. Near the coast the territory of Mexico is
low, flat, and unhealthy. This is the Tierra Caliente ; then it begins to
rise gradually till in the interior it spreads out in one vast table-land.
When General Twiggs reached the little village of Plen del Rio, on
the limit of the Tierra Caliente, he found himself confronted by the
Mexican army under Santa Anna, drawn up in a very strong position
at the pass of Cerro Gordo, and numbering nearly twelve thousand
men, with artillery well planted. Before Twiggs could attack, Gen-
eral Scott came up with the main body, making his force in the field .
about eight thousand five hundred men.
Early on the 17th, Twiggs began to cut a road through the brush-
wood, to reach Cerro Gordo without being exposed to a heavy Mexi-
can battery between that point and the American camp. Here the
battle began. Santa Anna hurried up to cheer on his men; but the
Americans, under Colonel Childs, drove him back, and occupied the
heights of Atalaya. The next day the American troops, under Gen-
eral Harney and Colonel Riley, from this point stormed the heights
of Cerro Gordo on different sides, and killing the Mexican com-
mander, General Vasquez, drove his force from the hill with terrible
loss. The victorious troops now found themselves within range of an-
other Mexican battery, and Colonel Riley, with General Shields,
were detached to take it. Shields fell severely wounded, but Baker
gallantly led on his men and drove the Mexicans from their guns.
All was now confusion. Santa Anna in vain endeavored to rally his
men to check the progress of the Americans. His army was totally
694 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
routed. The heavy Mexican battery nearest the American eamp had
gallantly repulsed an assault led by General Pillow ; but seeing Santa
Anna routed, they hoisted a white flag, and surrendered, to the num-
ber of three thousand men. Scott's loss was sixty-three killed and three
hundred and sixty-seven wounded, while Santa Anna lost a thousand
killed and wounded, and three times as many remained as prisoners
of war in the hands of the American general. Santa Anna himself
with difficulty escaped from the field. Scott, having thus gained the
Eastern Cordilleras, pushed on to Jalapa, and having occupied the
strong castles of La Hoya and Perote, advanced upon the important
city Puebla de los Angeles. Perote was the strongest fortress in Mex-
ico after San Juan de Ulua, but it surrendered without firing a gun,
and no resistance was made at the strongly fortified city of Puebla,
with its population of eighty thousand people. Here General Scott
was compelled to halt in his career of victory. Three thousand of his
volunteers had served the time for which they had enlisted, and now
withdrew, leaving him with too small a force to continue his progress.
This was all the more unfortunate, as it gave the brave and capable
Santa Anna time to recover from his series of defeats, and organize
new plans for the defense of the menaced capital, as well as to gather
and drill the army to carry out his designs.
It was not till August that Scott, having been reinforced, so that he
had again an army of ten thousand men, resumed his march. They
had now left the unhealthy Tierra Caliente. The American soldiers
found their line of march traversing a beautiful, well-watered country,
with a fine climate. Before them rose the great Cordilleras, and as-
cending these, they looked down into the beautiful valley where
Mexico lay amid its lakes.
4
§
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS, 69 y
When Scott reached the city of Mexico the Government of the United
States had in vain endeavored to open negotiations. The Mexicans
sternly refused every proposal of peace. Indeed, those in authority
durst not entertain for a momen; any proposition. Santa Anna had
raised an army of twenty-five thousand men, with which he held all the
strong positions around the city, and stood ready to check the American
advance. General Scott, avoiding the regular causeways leading to the
city, as they were all protected by fortresses, pushed on to San Augus-
tin. Here the Mexicans had made little preparation, for at this
point began the Pedregal, a broken field of lava, the remains of some
extinct volcano. This rough and sterile lava-bed was deemed impassa-
ble by troops, and no attempt was made to defend it, though General
Valencia lay beyond it with a force of six thousand men. Undeterred
by the nature of the ground, General Persifer F. Smith, pushed on
across the Pedregal with his own brigade and those commanded by
Riley and Cadwallader. Shields pressed on steadily behind him. At
San Hieronymo, Smith came up with Santa Anna, but the Mexican
general fell back; and at three o'clock in the morning, in the pitchy
darkness, Riley advanced to assault the Mexican works at Contreras.
He soon carried them, and was in possession of the enemy's camp.
Smith's brigade had been attacked by Torrejon's cavalry, but the Mexi-
can lancers with all their horsemanship and prowess could not stand
before Smith's brigade, which utterly routed them. Cadwallader,
Shields, and Pierce, who had been engaged holding in check Santa
Anna's reserves, now hemmed in the fugitives and cut them down.
The Mexicans were utterly defeated. Although the Americans as-
sailed strong works, their loss was comparatively small, not exceeding
a hundred in all, while fifteen hundred Mexicans lay dead and wounded.
396 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
on the field of Contreras, and a thousand more were prisoners, with
cannon, muskets, and stores. To the delight of the whole army
O'Brien's guns, so gallantly lost at Buena Vista, were here recov-
ered.
Having gained the position at Contreras, one great step was accom-
plished ; but Churubusco was the key to the city, and the assault upon
it was a much more serious affair.
Santa Anna had posted himself, with an army of thirty thousand
men, in a strong position. An old church and convent had been made
part of his defenses, and strong fortifications covered the bridge by
which the Americans could best advance to the assault. Undismayed
by the numbers of the enemy or the strength of their works, the
American army came on in three divisions. Worth led the right to
attack the Mexican post covering the bridge, and drove them to the
fortifications, which opened on him. At these he led on his men.
Twiggs and Pillow rushed on with their gallant fellows to storm the
convent; while Shields, with the left, swept around to attack the
enemy's reserve in the rear. The struggle was desperate : the Mexi-
can fire of artillery and musketry swept through the small American
line, and it was again and again driven back from the convent and for-
tifications; but stubborn valor prevailed : both points were carried.
Shields and Pierce found the reserves intrenched, and they repeat.
edly charged amid a murderous fire without success. They could
neither carry the works nor demoralize the Mexicans; but a loud
American hurra rose above the din of battle. Worth, after carrying
the works before him, was sweeping down to take the Mexican
reserve in flank. Then the enemy gave way, and the American
commanders pushed on in hot pursuit to the very gates of the capital.
oR, OUR COUNTRY S ACHIEVEMENTS. 697
Santa Anna had lost the battle of Churubusco, and his great army
was shattered; ten thousand men lay dead or wounded, or were grim
prisoners in the hands of General Scott. It had not been a bloodless
victory to that general. Of his army, less than ten thousand in all,
one thousand fell dead or wounded at Churubusco, with nearly a hun-
dred officers.
The city of Mexico was now really at the mercy of General Scott,
as Santa Anna could not have prevented his marching in and taking
possession ; but the Mexican commander resolved to make one more
effort. To gain time to rally his forces, he opened negotiations. Scott
fell into the snare, and, satisfied with what he had achieved, agreed to
an armistice. He was soon, however, convinced of his mistake : and
finding that Santa Anna was insincere, and was merely amusing him
to gain time, he resolved to attack the city before all the fruit of the
victories at Contreras and Churubusco was lost.
But the conquest that might have been bloodless, was now to be pur-
chased at a heavy cost of life. The Mexicans had been fortifying their
position, and again breathed defiance. The point to be attacked by
General Scott in order to gain the city, was the fortress of Chapulte-
pec, and the defenses at its base. These consisted of a stone work
talled Molino del Rey, or the King's Mill, and the arsenal. Both were
filled with troops, and the interval between them was occupied by a
large force of infantry with artillery. Here Santa Anna himself, with
Generals Waldarez and Leon, awaited the American attack. General
Worth was ordered to lead the assault. Early on the morning of the
8th of September his corps advanced by starlight. On the right a
storming party under Wright attacked the Molino, but were driven
back by the volleys of the Mexicans with terrible loss. Smith and
'698 - THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Cadwallader, however, hastened up, and Garland burst on their flank
These commanders at last drove the enemy from their strong position.
At the arsenal, on the left, the fight was of the fiercest description.
Here McIntosh led his brigade up gallantly to the assault, but he soon
fell wounded ; the next in command was killed, and finally the whole
brigade was driven back by the tremendous fire of the Mexicans. As
they recoiled from this almost impregnable position shattered and deci-
mated, the Mexican General Alvarez, with his cavalry, came rushing
down upon them ; but Sumner's dragoons and Duncan's battery met
this charge, and at last drove Alvarez from the field.
Duncan then opened on the arsenal, and by his steady and well-
directed fire dislodged the enemy from that position, which was imme-
diately occupied by our troops. So far, General Worth had carried the
last bulwark. He had accomplished the task assigned to him, but it
had been at fearful loss : of the brave men who went into that fight,
eight hundred, including fifty-eight officers, lay dead or dying, reducing
Scott's force to about three thousand men. Santa Anna, who had lost
two of his best generals, and nearly two thousand men, fell back, and
gathered the remainder of his troops on the southern front of the city.
Worth after this action dismantled the Mexican works and resumed
his original position
Chapultepec, a grim old fortress, towering high above them, remained
to be taken by Scott before the final storming of Mexico, the capital. Its
frowning heights, with the fortress, and military academy, held by men
now nerved with desperation, told that its rocky sides would run with
blood before the Stars and Stripes were planted on the summit.
General Scott in a council planned the assault. He erected four
heavy batteries to bear upon the fortress, and on the 12th of Septem-
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 699
ber began a heavy cannonade and bombardment. The next day
Twiggs moved around to make a feigned attack on the south ; while
two columns, one led by General Quitman, the other by General Pil.
low, moved forward by different roads to attack Chapultepec. The
Mexicans held the foot of the hill with artillery, but the American
artillery soon silenced the Mexican cannon and drove the men from the
guns. Then came the rush of the Americans. With a cheer the re-
doubt of the slope was taken, and the Mexican detachment driven up
the hill. Up in pursuit charged the Americans. Pillow fell wounded
before he reached the top, but the men pressed on. The fortress walls
are reached. Some plant ladders, others batter in the gates. They
swarm over the walls and through. Chapultepec is entered. But all
is not won. The Mexicans made a desperate fight, although they were
cut down on all sides. At last, seeing no hope left, they begged for
quarter and surrendered.
General Scott soon reached the spot to look down on the humbled
capital. Now resolved to lose no advantage, he orders Worth with his
fresh men to attack the San Cosme gate, and Quitman that of Belen.
The high causeways leading to these gates were defended by barri-
cades well manned and commanded ; but both American generals car-
vied them at a charge and reached the gates. Quitman actually en-
tered the city; but Worth met greater opposition, as Santa Anna threw
troops into the houses, and for a time checked Worth's advance; but,
breaking through from house to house, hoisting cannon to the house-
tops, he fought his way in.
When might closed the two American commanders had effected a
lodgment in the city.
700 THE STORY OF A GREAT, NATION ;
Utterly broken and disheartened, Santa Anna fled from Mexico that
night with the remnant of his force.
The next morning a deputation came to propose a capitulation.
General Scott refused to listen to any proposals. He had taken the
city, and it was too late to talk about its surrender. Although there
was no force of regulars to oppose him, some convicts, escaping from
prison, began to fire on the Americans. These were soon routed, and
Scott entered the ancient city of Montezuma, with his gallant and vic-
torious army grimy and war worn with a long campaign, and reduced
in the last desperate battles by the loss of more than fifteen hundred
Iſle Il
Having established his headquarters, General Scott proclaimed mar-
tial law, and established a firm discipline, to prevent any such outrages
as had occurred in some other parts. So firm and just was the govern-
ment of the city, compared with the misgovernment and tyranny to
which they had been subjected, that many leading men of Mexico pro-
posed to General Scott to retain possession and give them a good and
permanent administration.
But the American general sought only to serve his country. He
had forced Mexico to submit.
His Government was to settle the terms with the conquered republic.
Peace was now certain ; but General Scott was soon after recalled, and,
leaving the army in Mexico, he returned to New York in the spring.
The fall of Mexico put a stop to hostilities in that vicinity; but
Santa Anna, recovering a little courage, once more appeared in the
field, and attempted to break the American line of communications.
Puebla was held by a small American force under Colonel Childs, and,
though besieged by a large body of Mexicans, refused to rurrender.
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 701.
Santa Anna joined the besiegers with his army, and used every exer-
tion to take the place before relief could reach it.
Failing in this, he resolved to strike a blow in another quarter, and
hearing that an American detachment under Lane was marching to
reinforce Colonel Childs, he attempted to intercept it. The two corps
met at Huamantla, on the 9th of October, and after a brief action,
Lane routed Santa Anna ; and pushing on to Atlixco, attacked the
Mexican guerilla Rea, who had cut off a hundred men of Major Lally's
command. On the 16th, he utterly routed Rea, killing and wounding
more than five hundred of his opponents.
Santa Anna, now a mere fugitive, rejected by the people whom he
had led on to resist the Americans, resigned all his offices, and the
government of Mexico devolved on Peña, who at once called a con-
vention to consider the critical state of Mexican affairs. It met at
Queretaro in November, and conforming to the expressed opinion of
Peña, appointed commissioners to treat of peace with the United
States. N. P. Trist, acting on the part of that republic, soon brought
negotiations to a close, and on the 2d of February, 1848, the commis-
Sioners of the two nations signed a treaty of peace at Guadalupe Hi-
dalgo. This treaty, finally accepted by both Governments, and pro-
claimed by President Polk on the 4th of July, gave to the United
States the disputed territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande,
as to which the war had arisen, and in addition New Mexico and
California. The American Government on its side agreed to pay
Mexico fifteen millions of dollars, three millions in hand, and twelve
millions in four annual installments. They were to evacuate the Mexi-
can territory within three months. The war having thus closed, the
American army withdrew from Mexico in the course of the summer.
702 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
The new territory thus added to the United States is not without
its interest in an historical point of view. New Mexico had been
discovered by the Spaniards as early as the year 1539, by a Francis-
can, Father Mark, of Nice in Italy, who penetrated to Zuñi, one of
the Indian towns still standing. He found the country inhabited by a
half-civilized race, living in houses built close together of sunburnt
bricks, several stories high, each story smaller than those beneath,
and reached by ladders, there being no door or opening on the outside.
The main entrance was in the roof. These Indians cultivated the soil,
used hand-mills for grinding corn, wove cloth, made pottery, and
showed great intelligence.
An expedition under Vasquez de Coronado occupied the country in
1540, and zealous missionaries began to labor among the Indians, some
of them losing their lives in the Christian work.
California, which had been discovered by Cortez, the conqueror of
Mexico, was visited by a fleet under Vizcaino, at the same time that
Coronado was exploring New Mexica. John de Oñate finally entered
New Mexico in 1595, under a patent from Philip II. of Spain, with
colonists, and founded St. Gabriel, and soon after Santa Fé, in which
the governor of New Mexico resided as early as 1600. Thus we see
that that little town, even now far removed from all our thriving States
and cities, is really, next to St. Augustine in Florida, the oldest city
in the United States. - -
The Spaniards converted nearly all the natives to Christianity by
the year 1626, and ruled the country in peace for many years; but in
1680, owing to the tyranny of the military governors, the Indians rose
and nearly exterminated the Spaniards, San Juan de los Caballeros
being the only large place that escaped. The Spaniards, however,
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 703
soon recovered the country, and attempted to extend it, sending ex-
peditions to what is now Kansas. New Mexico formed a part of Mex-
ico till, by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, it became part of the
United States. Before the United States had taken any steps as to its
government, Texas claimed New Mexico as part of its territory. This
claim was resisted by the Americans who had settled there ; and in
consequence, Colonel Monroe, the governor of New Mexico, in 1850,
called a convention, which adopted a constitution, and proceeded to
Solicit admission as a State.
California was not so soon occupied by the Spaniards. It was too re-
mote, and seemed to offer little inducement for colonists.
The Jesuits began missions in Lower California, and were extending
their labors northward at the time of their suppression in the last cen-
tury. In 1769, Galvez resolved to settle Upper California, and set out
with a considerable force, taking live stock and all necessaries. The
Franciscans, who had succeeded the Jesuits, began missions in Upper
California, with a little garrison of soldiers near each. Out of these
grew many of the present older towns in that State.
In this way San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, and other cities
of California were founded just about the time of our Revolution. A
few Spaniards settled in the territory, and the Indians were raised to a
high degree of civilization by the missionaries, who taught them agri-
culture and manufactures, and enabled them to live in comfort. The
missions were sometimes attacked by wild Indians, and several of the
devoted men were killed ; but the country prospered until 1824, when
the Mexican Government sent out men to seize the mission lands and
dispossess the Indians. In a short time those thriving communities
were broken up, and the Indians, left to themselves, fell back to less
704 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
2ivilized ways, and diminished greatly. California did not gain in
white settlers to make up the loss, and became a languishing province.
England and France both began to feel the importance of San
Francisco as a port on the Pacific, and the Russians actually began a
settlement at Bodega, not far from it. p
The mineral wealth of California was not known at that time, but
the same month that the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, a man
in the employ of Captain Sutter, who had settled on the Sacramento
River discovered gold. This set others to examine, and gold was found
in many places. As soon as this became known in the United States, a
general excitement ensued. Thousands started at once for the land of
gold, endeavoring to reach California by any kind of vessel, the only
modes of proceeding at the time being to sail around Cape Horn, or to
go to the Isthmus of Panama, and cross there, and take shipping on.
the Pacific.
The population increased so that a regular Territorial Government
Was organized.
During the war, the United States had prospered, and showed their
appreciation of suffering abroad by sending relief to the starving poor
in Ireland. A vessel of the United States navy on one occasion car-
ried over a cargo of provisions : a better use than bombarding cities
and carrying death and desolation amid women and children cluster-
ing around the family altar.
During this administration, Wisconsin was admitted into the Union
in 1848, and Oregon organized as a Territory, as Minnesota also was in
1849. But the discovery of gold in California drew the tide of emi-
gration to that new Territory, and checked for a time the growth of
the Northwest.
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 705
§
At the election which took place in 1848, Lewis Cass was put for-
ward by the Democratic party, and General Taylor by the Whigs;
but many of the Democrats did not accept the political views enter-
tained by the adherents of General Cass, and Martin Van Buren was
nominated by a section of the party adverse to the extension of sla-
very and known as Free-Soilers. Zachary Taylor, accordingly, was
elected President, and Millard Fillmore, Vice-President.
CHAPTER XII.
ZACHARY TAYLOR, TWELFTH PRESIDENT—1849–1850.
MILLARD FILLMORE, THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT—1850–1853.
Brief Administration of General Taylor—Admission of California—Fillmore as President–
Lopez and the Cuban Affairs—Sioux Indians—Kossuth—Sir John Franklin and the Grinnelſ
Expedition—Fishery Question—Death of Clay and Webster—The Telegraph.
ZACHARY TAYLOR, born in Virginia, in November, 1781, before the
close of the Revolution, removed in childhood to Kentucky. In 1807,
he entered the United States army, and had won distinction in the
war with Great Britain, as well as at a later date in the Seminole war
and the first campaign against Mexico. His brilliant victories at Palo
Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, and Buena Vista had made him
a favorite with the people. t
Although he had never filled any civil position in the Government,
great hopes were placed on his integrity and decisive character. He
selected as his first Cabinet, John M. Clayton, as Secretary of State ;
William M. Meredith, Secretary of the Treasury; George W. Craw-
ford, Secretary of War; William B. Preston, Secretary of the Navy;
706 y THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
*
and to the newly erected Department of the Interior he appointed
Thomas Ewing.
One of the first questions for consideration was the erection of a
State Government in California, a Somewhat premature step, but called
for by the large number who had already settled in the State, and the
constant influx from all parts.
Governor Riley, the military governor of California, called a con-
vention to form a State Constitution, which it did, September 1, 1849.
When the people adopted the instrument submitted to them by this
convention, they elected Peter H. Burnett as Governor. This Consti-
tution excluded slavery from California. -
The Legislature at once proceeded to elect two Senators, who hast-
ened to Washington with a petition asking the recognition of Califor-
nia as a State. On the meeting of Congress in December, General
Taylor sent in these petitions and recommended action upon them ; but
intense excitement prevailed through the country. Taking alarm at
the hostility manifested by Northern members to the institution of
slavery, the Southern members of Congress prepared to secede from
the Union. A convention was called at Nashville, January, 1850 to
consider the step.
The question of slavery excited violent debates in Congress, which
lasted for four months, and resulted in the Compromise Act of 1850,
passed on the 9th of September. By this, California was admitted as a
free State ; the country east of it was formed into Utah Territory, with
no limitation in regard to slavery ; New Mexico was made a Territory
in the same way. At the same time provision was made for
the return by the Northern States of fugitive slaves from the
South. § .
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 707
But before this act passed, Zachary Taylor passed away. He died,
July 9, 1850, of a sudden and painful illness.
Millard Fillmore, a native of Cayuga County, New York, who had
risen from the position of an humble mechanic to a high rank at the
bar by his own exertions, assumed the duties of the Presidency on the
10th of July, 1850. He did not retain Taylor's Cabinet, but called
Daniel Webster to the Department of State ; Thomas Corwin, to that
of the Treasury; made Charles M. Conrad Secretary of War; Alex-
ander H. H. Stuart, Secretary of the Interior ; and William A. Gra-
ham, Secretary of the Navy.
Under his administration the questions as to the admission of Cali-
fornia were, as we have seen, settled. Utah, made a Territory by the
same act, had already been fixed upon by the Mormons as their future
abode. In this Territory is a remarkable body of water, known as the
Great Salt Lake, resembling the Dead Sea in the saline character of
its waters. On this the Mormons began Salt Lake City. Here they
commenced cultivating the soil and raising cattle. Missionaries were
sent to Europe, who found many to join them in England, Wales, and
Norway. They thus increased rapidly in numbers, but being unre-
strained by any neighbors, and under no control, they soon introduced
many practices at violence with all civilized custom ; among others, that
of polygamy, by which a man had several wives at the same time.
Brigham Young, their prophet and chief, was for a time the Governor
appointed by the authorities at Washington, and this confirmed their
power. As the Legislature of the Territory was entirely Mormon, and
all the judges, there was no means of punishing a Mormon for polyg-
amy, or for many murders which were laid to their charge, sometimes
of considerable bodies of emigrants.
708 Tax STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
The difficulties of treating the Mormon question, prevented the ad-
mission of Utah as a State, and kept settlers from entering a Territory
where they could not feel safe.
During the troubles arising out of the French Revolution, Spain
was for a time ruled by a brother of Napoleon, and became the scene
of many battles between the English and French. Profiting by the
distracted state of the mother country, all the Spanish colonies in
North and South America threw off the Spanish yoke, and, following
the example of the United States, formed separate republics. Spain
was able to retain only Cuba, and Porto Rico, in the West Indies.
In these, too, a republican feeling grew up ; and in 1851,
pians were formed for a revolution in Cuba, with the design of
throwing off all dependence on Spain, and making that island a
republic.
There were many in the United States who sympathized with the
Cubans, and who were ready to join in the attempt, many having
seen service in Mexico. President Fillmore acted with decision, and
prevented the organization and fitting out of a military force in the
United States; but in August, an expedition of four hundred and
eighty men, under General Narciso Lopez, a native of South America,
who had been in the Spanish service, sailed from New Orleans, in the
steamer Pampero, and landed, on the 11th day of August, at Playtas,
on the northern coast of Cuba. Leaving a small party under Colonel
Crittenden, of Kentucky, at the landing, Lopez penetrated into the in-
terior, expecting a general uprising of the people. None rallied to his
stardard. Crittenden and his party were captured by Spanish troops,
and shot; Lopez was soon defeated and his men dispersed. He him-
Seif, with some of his officers, was taken to Havana, and there garroted,
oR, our COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 709
the mode of death used in Spanish parts. Others were condemned,
but most of them were ultimately pardoned.
As emigration was steadily pouring to the Northwest, it became de-
sirable to extinguish the Indian title to lands in Minnesota, and induce
the powerful nation of Sioux to retire farther westward. By two trea-
ties in 1851, they yielded large tracts of land ; but though the Indians
thus ceded part of their hunting-grounds, they viewed with jealousy
the increase of the whites, and nourished a spirit of revenge.
Among the acts of the first Congress under Fillmore's administra-
tion, was one reducing the postage on letters to three cents for any
distance under three thousand miles. The experiment of cheap post-
age had been tried already in England, and found to be equally bene-
ficial to the Government and the people. Another act authorized the
Government to send a vessel to bring to the United States Kossuth
and other Hungarians, who had been exiled for their opposition to the
Austrians. He in fact came over, and for a time excited attention by
his eloquence, but the public interest in him soon died away. He was
for the time the lion of the day—one of those distinguished foreigners
over whom an excitement occurs every few years. The sympathy
shown in the United States, and even by the Government, for the Hun.
garians, had already elicited protests from the Austrian Government.
This year witnessed the return of the first Grinnell expedition sent
out under Lieutenant De Haven to the Arctic Ocean, to discover and
rescue, if possible, Sir John Franklin, an English explorer, who had set
out to seek the passage through to the Pacific, but who had not been
heard of since 1848. Dr. Kane, who had accompanied De Haven,
was sent out in 1853 on a second expedition, by the generous public
spirit of Mr. Moses H. Grinnell, but failed to find the lost English
710 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
navigator. Sir John Franklin had undoubtedly perished amid the
northern ice.
An outrage on American shipping occurred at Greytown, Nicaragua,
in November, 1851, which showed the English to be actuated by their
old overbearing and arbitrary ideas. The American steamer Prome-
theus was twice fired into by the British brig-of-war Eh!press, and
compelled to pay illegal port dues before it was permitted to proceed.
The English Government recoiled from any attempt to justify so gross
an outrage, and disavowed the acts of the Eapress. It was the more
necessary to maintain a good understanding between the two countries,
as violent disputes already existed in regard to the fisheries. By the
treaty of 1818, Americans were not to fish within three miles of the
shore of the British provinces. On an irregular and much-indented
shore, it became a question how this three miles was to be reckoned.
The Americans considered the three-mile line to be one following the
coast, and three-miles distant from it point for point, while the English
drew a line between the most prominent points on the coast, and
wished the Americans to be kept three miles beyond that, which
would in some cases be five or six miles from the coast. The adjust-
ment of this matter was one of Mr. Webster's last great acts. A mutu-
ally satisfactory arrangement of the fishery question was effected
by the Reciprocity Treaty with the British colonies.
Henry Clay, long a prominent American statesman representing the
South, had died in June, 1852, having resigned his position as Sena-
tor from Kentucky. Mr. Webster was now to follow. He died on
the 21st of October. These two great men were universally lamented,
as all felt that never perhaps in the country's history were such wise
and experienced statesmen more needed in the management of pub-
oR, our COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 711.
lic affairs. Webster was succeeded as Secretary of State by the elo-
quent Edward Everett, one of whose first duties was to reply to the
proposal of England and France to join them in a treaty by which
Cuba should be secured to Spain. This was a step that America could
never take. Everett replied distinctly, “that the United States could
not see with indifference the Island of Cuba fall into the possession of
any other European Government than Spain.” While disclaiming any
wish on the part of the United States to wrest Cuba from Spain, he
showed that the power of Spain over that island must soon cease, and
that, from its very position, America must be free to do what her inter-
est demanded.
In the last session under Mr. Fillmore, Washington Territory was
formed out of part of Oregon ; money was appropriated to survey a
line of railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean, so as to
bring the two shores of the continent into closer connection.
A wonderful invention, the magnetic telegraph, perfected by Samuel
F. B. Morse, an artist and polemical writer, had already been widely
adopted. Companies had been formed which extended lines of tele-
graph to all parts of the country, by which messages were sent over
insulated wires with almost the speed of light, making the diffusion of
intelligence nearly instantaneous.
In the Presidential election of 1852, there were several candidates.
The Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, and as
Vice-President, William R. King, of Alabama. The Whigs put for-
Ward General Scott as their candidate for the Presidency, with Wil-
liam A. Graham as Vice-President. The Free-soil party nominated
John P. Hale, of New Hampshire. Mr. Pierce was elected by a
large majority.
CHAPTER XIII.
FRANKLIN PIERCE, FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT—1853–1857.
The Mesilla Valley Difficulty—Growth of the Country—Walker and Nicaragua–The Ostend
Manifesto–Kansas and Nebraska—The Dangerous Excitement as to the Growth of Slavery.
(º
FRANKLIN PIERCE, born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, in 1804,
received a finished education, and rose to a high rank at the bar. After
holding various public positions, as member of the State Legislature.
and Representative and Senator in Congress, he entered the army in
the Mexican war as a private soldier, but was commissioned as briga-
dier general. We have seen him already, with Shields, leading on the
troops in some of the most important battles of the war. He came to
the Presidency with a high reputation as a statesman and commander.
His Cabinet was composed of men of mark: William L. Marcy, Sec-
retary of State ; James Guthrie, Secretary of the Treasury; Robert
McClellan, Secretary of the Interior ; Jefferson Davis, Secretary of
War ; James Q. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy; James Campbell, Post-
master General ; and Caleb Cushing as Attorney General.
Mr. King, who had as President of the Senate acted as Vice-Presi-
dent under Fillmore, did not long survive his election to that office.
The oath of inauguration was administered to him in Cuba, whither he
had gone to regain his shattered health ; but he died in April, 1853,
and Mr. Atchison, of Missouri, as President of the Senate, acted as
Vice-President.
A border difficulty occurred in this administration in regard to a
tract called the Mesilla Valley, which it was important for the United
States to possess, but which Mexico claimed. After some negotiations.
Mexico finally ceded it to the United States, relinquishing all her right
on payment of a stipulated amount.
otſ R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 713
Settlements had pushed on beyond the limits of Missouri, and when
Congress met it was proposed to organize this tract into two Terri-
tories, by the names of Kansas and Nebraska, the former lying be-
tween 379 and 40° N., and the iatter between 40° and 49° N. The
question whether slavery should be admitted into these Territories
aroused the whole country. The discussion was not confined to the
halls where men met to discuss politics : churches rang with the ex-
citing topic. A petition was presented to Congress against the
admission of slavery into these Territories, and it was signed by three
thousand clergymen. A bill was finally passed, May 22d, organizing
Nebraska as a Territory, and leaving the question of slavery entirely
to the people of the Territory, who were to permit or prohibit it as
they chose. Kansas was soon after admitted on the same plan.
America had refused to enter into the Tripartite Treaty and bind
herself not to deprive Spain of the Island of Cuba. But the European
Powers did not let the matter drop. The American ministers to Eng-
land and France and Spain resolved to confer with each other, and
they accordingly met at Ostend, in Belgium, October 9, 1854. Here Mr.
Buchanam, minister to England, Mr. Mason, minister to France, and
Mr. Pierre Soulé, minister to Spain, drew up the famous Ostend Mani-
festo, in which they said : “If Spain, actuated by stubborn pride, and
a false sense of honor, shall refuse to sell Cuba to the United States,
by every law, human and divine, we (the United States) shall be
justified in wresting it from Spain, if we possess the power.”
This document excited considerable discussion at home and abroad,
but Government did not notice the affair.
. Meanwhile another occasion of difficulty arose from expeditions from
the United States. The travel to California was shortened by crossing
714 THE STORY OF A GREAT INATION.
the Isthmus of Panama, and a railroad opened in 1855 made the
crossing easy and rapid. Another route led through the State of Nica-
ragua in Central America. The project of a railroad there attracted
many Americans to that country, and Some began to take part in the
endless revolutions which have proved ruinous to most of the repub-
lics in Spanish America. William Walker, an American raised to
office in Nicaragua, returned to the United States to obtain troops, and
numbers enlisted under his standard. The Government of the United
States used every effort to prevent their departure, but many got
away. Walker succeeded in his attempt, and his Government was
recognized by President Pierce. It did not last long, however.
Walker was driven out, and, in a subsequent attempt to regain his lost
power, was captured and shot.
While we were not very strict in enforcing neutrality on our citi-
zens, we showed promptness in rebuking other Governments on that
score. About this very time, England and France were at war with
Russia, and as England found it difficult to raise a sufficient number of
soldiers, never having ventured to adopt the French system of con-
scription, by which men are dragged from their business and forced
into the army, it endeavored to recruit soldiers in the United States.
President Pierce, to check it, dismissed the British minister at Wash-
ington, as well as the English consuls in New York and Cincinnati.
The slavery question, so far as Nebraska was concerned, was settled
by the very nature of the country. It was adapted only for northern
crops, and slave labor could not be profitable. Kansas became the
scene of strife. If the South sent in most settlers, it would be a slave
State ; if the North sent most, it would be another free State. The
whole country was again convulsed, and the most inflammatory articles
oR, our country's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 715
in the papers and speeches to the people kept the excitement
alive.
Amid it all a new election took place. The Democratic party put
forward as its candidate James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, with
John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, as Vice-President. The new
party opposed to the extension of slavery, which now assumed the
name of the Republican party, selected as their candidate John C.
Fremont, who had played so prominent a part in the conquest of Cali-
fornia. The party opposed to the immigration of foreigners and the
extension of the Catholic Church had revived, and gained strength in
some parts to such an extent that for the first time it put forward a
Presidential candidate. It was called the American or Know-Nothing
party, and its choice fell on Millard Fillmore, who had already so hon-
orably filled the Presidential chair. After an exciting election, Mr.
Buchanan was chosen, the Know-Nothing party showing itself insig-
nificant ; but it was evident that the Republican party was rapidly
gaining in strength. This sought only to limit slavery, but declared
that it did not seek to interfere with the old slave States, or abolish
slavery there, as a little party called Abolitionists demanded. Many
who respected the rights of slaveholders under the Constitution, were *
averse to seeing slavery extend farther into the country.
CHAPTER XIV.
JAMES BUCHANAN, FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT—1857–1861.
Kansas—Its Civil War and final Admission as a Free State——Admission of other New States—
Territories Organized—Party Violence—John Brown and Harper's Ferry—Four Presiden-
tial Tickets—Election of Abraham Lincoln—Secession of South Carolina and six other
States—They form the Confederate States of America—Seizure of Forts—Anderson and
Fort Sumter—The Ineffectual Attempt to Relieve it.
JAMES BUCHANAN brought to the Presidency long experience in pub-
lic affairs as a Cabinet officer, legislator, and diplomatist. He was
born in the State of Pennsylvania, in April, 1791, and was elected to
the Legislature of his native State at the age of twenty-three. His
Cabinet was composed of Lewis Cass, Secretary of State ; Howell
Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury; John B. Floyd, Secretary of War;
Isaac Toucey, Secretary of the Navy; Jacob Thompson, Secretary of
the Interior ; Aaron W. Brown, Postmaster General ; and Jeremiah
S. Black, Attorney General.
Kansas was the great difficulty. The animosity of the two parties
there led to repeated acts of violence, and the governors with great
difficulty prevented a civil war. When the time came for framing a
Constitution, two conventions met ; one, of those favoring slavery, at
Lecompton ; the other, adverse to it, at Topeka. Each adopted a Con-
stitution. The elections that followed were marked by every species of
fraud and violence. Buchanan, recognizing the Lecompton Constitution,
sent it to Congress in February, 1858, with a message recommending
its acceptance. Congress, however, directed its submission to the people,
by whom it was ultimately rejected. Popular sovereignty had decided
against slavery ; and a Constitution having been adopted, suppressing
our count RY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 717
slavery, Kansas, on the 29th of January, was admitted as a free
State. -
Another Territory gave trouble also. This was Utah. As it was
inhabited entirely by Mormons, whose strange religion and shameful
practice of polygamy cut them off from the rest of the people, Con-
gress had always deferred admitting them as a State. Incensed at this.
they commenced revolutionary proceedings in 1857, destroying the
records of the United States, and aiming at a separate existence. Brig-
ham Young, who had unwisely been made governor by President
Fillmore, was removed, and Colonel Cumming appointed. A small army
was sent to enforce the laws of the United States. Brigham Young
threatened to resist, but, when the troops appeared, surrendered the
reins of power to the new governor. From this moment the Mormons
announced their intention of migrating, but for many years no such
step was taken. The army, which had fortunately no necessity for
action, was recalled, having lost a provision-train destroyed by the Mor-
mons in the mountains.
The year 1858 showed, though only for a time, the triumph of enter-
prise and science in the laying of a transatlantic cable, extending from
Europe to America, for the working of a magnetic telegraph. The
wire was insulated by a coating of gutta-percha, and sunk in the ocean,
a plateau having been discovered, extending from Ireland to New-
foundland, where the depth of the water was remarkably less than in
other parts. This great undertaking, due in no small degree to the
energy of Cyrus W. Fields, of New York, was successfully accom-
plished on the 5th of August, 1858, a cable sixteen hundred miles
long extending from Valentia Bay, Ireland, to Trinity Bay, New-
foundland. On the 16th, the whole machinery was in working
718 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
order, and a message was sent over it from Queen Victoria to Pres-
ident Buchanan, and his reply was telegraphed back. But the cable
almost immediately parted.
The great object was, however, attained. It was possible to lay
such a cable, and work it. In a few years another cable was laid,
which excited competition. In our time we have our daily news from
Europe, and know great events taking place in foreign countries often
long before they are known in many parts of those very states where
they occur. º
Lopez, who had made himself dictator of Paraguay, acted in so
hostile a manner to American vessels, that a squadron was sent out
under Commodore Shubrick, which obtained satisfactory apology.
England gave annoyance during this administration, by reviving her
old right of search, boarding many American vessels under the pre-
text of their being engaged in the slave trade.
The questions arising from slavery were exciting the whole country.
Congress, carrying out the Constitution, had passed a law regulating
the mode of returning to their masters fugitive slaves. This law was
odious in the North, and was nullified by State laws, rendering it
practically a dead letter. The South, in its exasperation, sought to
revive the slave trade, and introduce new slaves direct from Africa. It
was evident that a great struggle was at hand. The Republican party,
though professedly moderate, disavowing any design to interfere with
slavery in the South, would evidently be satisfied with nothing short
of the absolute abolition of slavery. They were evidently aggressive,
as the South was conservative. That the Republican party then
aimed at the liberation of the slaves, and investing them with the
almost exclusive political power, so that ignorant and violent negroes
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 719
should legislate for and govern the cultivated white owners of the soil,
no one then dreamed ; yet the result proved that the project existed.
The first blow that showed the aggressive character of the North was
the action of John Brown, in Virginia. On the dark night, October
16th, 1859, this man, who had become a perfect fanatic during the
civil war in Kansas, with a few followers, black and White, seized the
United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and called on the
slaves in that State to rise and strike for freedom. The call was un-
heeded. The next day, the State militia invested the place, but Brown
kept up the fight, and was finally reduced by a party of United States
marines. Brown was badly wounded, and, with the survivors of his
band, captured, indicted for treason, and tried within two weeks after his
mad attempt, being brought into court on a mattress. He was promptly
convicted, and, with his followers, was executed in December. The
excitement caused by this affair throughout the country was
intense.
The Presidential election was approaching. A Democratic conven-
tion met in Charleston, but it broke up on the slavery question. At
an adjoarned convention in Baltimore, Stephen A. Douglas was nomin-
ated for President, but the members of the Slave States in a separate
convention nominated John C. Breckinridge. A new party, taking a sort
of middle course, put forward John Bell of Tennessee, and Edward
Everett of Massachusetts. The Republican party united in putting
forward Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, for President, and Hannibal
Hamlin of Maine, for Vice-President.
The election was very warmly contested, and showed some strange
results in the method of electing a President. Mr. Lincoln received
1,866,452 votes of the people, and 180 in the electoral college.
720 THE STORY OF A GREAT N ATION.
Douglas, though he was voted for by 1,375,144 citizens, had only 12
votes in the electoral college ; while Breckinridge, who received only
847,953 popular votes, had 72 electors in his favor ; and Bell, with a
still Smaller popular vote, 591,631, had 39 electoral votes.
The excitement in the Southern States during the election had
been intense, and the people were filled with the most bitter feel-
ings.
To their minds there was no alternative between a condition of vas-
sals and war. South Carolina acted at once. She held that, under the
Constitution of the United States, a State might at any time secede, as
there was nothing in the instrument denying the right, and that in the
Convention the right had been virtually admitted. The Legislature
of South Carolina accordingly called a convention of the people.
That body, on the 20th of December, unanimously adopted an ordi-
nance repealing the adoption of the Constitution of the United States
by South Carolina, and dissolving the Union on the part of that State.
Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, approved the
course of South Carolina, and prepared for Secession. The other slave
States hesitated.
While the country was convulsed with excitement and the forebod.
ings of a terrible future, Congress met. President Buchanan, in his
message, calmly reviewed the whole situation. He deplored the vio-
lent interference of the North in the matter of slavery, but showed
that no act had yet been done by the General Government which could
justify revolutionary resistance : “In order to justify secession as a con-
stitutional remedy, it must be on the principle that the Federal Gov-
ernment is a mere voluntary association of States, to be dissolved at
pleasure by any one of the contracting parties. If this be so, the
or, our country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 721
confederacy is a rope of sand, to be penetrated and dissolved by the
first adverse wave of public opinion in any of the States. By this
process, a Union might be entirely broken into fragments in a few
weeks, which cost our fathers many years of toil, privation, and blood
to establish.” But he did not believe that Congress had the right to
compel the submission of a State by force of arms. He urged concilia-
tion, and proposed such an amendment to the Constitution as would
relieve the fears of the South.
The course of the President pleased neither section of the country.
But as he adopted the plan of not interfering to prevent Secession, and
several members of his Cabinet, including the Secretary of War, were
avowed secessionists, they had nothing to oppose their work. The
discussions in Congress were violent, but no measures were adopted.
As soon as South Carolina seceded, the Senators and Representa-
tives from that State left their seats in Congress, and nearly all citi-
zens of that State who were officers in the United States service, whe-
ther army, navy, or civil, resigned.
Immediately after the accomplishment of the secession of South
Carolina, the people of that State prepared to seize the arsenals, cus-
tom-houses, and other property of the United States. The harbor of
t]harleston was defended by Forts Moultrie, Sumter, and Castle Pinck-
ney. There was a small garrison in Moultrie, under Major Anderson,
but the other works were not protected ; and Floyd, the Secretary of
War, who had long been working to carry out the Southern plans, de-
termined that they should not be. Major Anderson had in vain ap-
pealed to Washington for reinforcements to secure all the forts. Find-
ing that in case of attack he couid not hold Moultrie with his small
garrison, Anderson, on the 26th of December, transferred his force to
722 * THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Fort Sumter, which, lying on an island in Charleston Harbor, was much
more easily defended.
The effect of this movement was startling. General Cass, as Secre-
tary of State, had urged the reinforcement of the forts, but had been
forced to retire from Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet. Now Floyd, insisting
on the removal of Anderson and his garrison, withdrew, and Joseph
Holt of Kentucky became Secretary of War.
The Governor of South Carolina at once seized Fort Moultrie and
Castle Pinckney, the arsenal, custom-house, and post-office, and ordered
Anderson to return to Fort Moultrie, an order which he of course de-
clined to obey. At Washington, three commissioners, sent from South
Carolina to treat with the Government of the United States for the
delivery of the forts and other property, denounced in violent lan-
guage the conduct of Major Anderson. The President declined to re-
ceive them in any but their individual capacity, or to order the evacua-
tion of Fort Sumter. Their reply was in such language that Mr.
Buchanan refused to receive it.
South Carolina at once began to throw up works to besiege Fort
Sumter. And other Southern States followed the example she had
set of seizing the forts and other property belonging to the Federal
Government. Georgia troops, by order of the Governor, seized Fort
Pulaski, and, under orders of Governor Ellis of North Carolina, Fort
Macon, the forts at Wilmington, and the United States arsenal at Fay-
etteville were seized. Fort Morgan at Mobile, with an arsenal well
stored with arms and ammunition, was seized by Alabama, although
none of those States had yet pretended to secede.
It became a question whether Major Anderson was to be reinforced
or left to his fate. The Brooklyn man-of-war was at one time ordered
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 723
to proceed to that fort with reinforcements. This order was revoked,
General Scott acting with great indecision, and when troops were
finally sent it was in the Star of the West, an unarmed merchant
steamer. It reached Charleston harbor on the 9th of January, 1861,
but, in trying to reach Fort Sumter, was fired at from a battery on
Morris Island, manned by the cadets of a Charleston school. One ball
struck the steamer, and as the fort did not open fire to protect it, the
Star of the West wore round and steered down the channel.
That same day, Mississippi, by the vote of a convention, seceded from
the United States. On the 11th, Florida, which was territory pur-
chased by the United States Government from Spain, passed a similar
ordinance of secession, and Alabama did the same. On the 14th,
the troops of these two States seized Fort Barrancas and the navy-
yard at Pensacola, with large supplies of arms, ammunition, and
Stores.
On the 19th, Georgia adopted the same course, although Alexander
H. Stephens and Herschel W. Johnson labored earnestly to prevent
the disastrous action. A week later, Louisiana, which, like Florida,
was formed from territory purchased by the United States Government,
adopted a secession ordinance, and seized the Government forts,
arsenals, and treasure.
In Texas, General Houston, the old hero who overthrew Santa
Anna at San Jacinto, earnestly opposed secession, but the convention
wn the 23d of February finally adopted it, but in a more republican
method. The question was submitted to the vote of the people of the
State, and they on the 4th of March adopted the ordinance of seces-
S10I?.
When this movement had been accomplished, the Representatives
724 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
and Senators of those States in Congress withdrew, many of them
taking leave in speeches defending the course of the Southern States.
The Northern States were now roused to a sense of danger, and be. -
gan to offer the President aid in men or money to enforce the laws
and uphold the authority of the Federal Government.
The position of the country was strange. In all the Southern States,
rom South Carolina to Texas, the flag of the United States had dis-
appeared ; the forts were all held by the State troops, the custom-
houses were in State hands, the United States Courts had ceased, the
post-offices had been seized, and the militia were under arms, well Sup-
plied with all necessaries for actual service ; Floyd, recently Secretary
of War, having, as part of the plan of secession, sent to the South large
quantities of cannon, muskets, and ammunition for the purpose.
Their next step was to organize a new government. In accordance
with a proposition of Alabama, all the seceding States sent delegates
to a general congress which met in Montgomery, Alabama, on the 4th
of February. They at once adopted a constitution based upon that
of the United States, and then elected Jefferson Davis of Mississippi
as Provisional President, and Alexander H. Stephens as Vice-Presi-
dent of the Confederate States.
Davis was a man of ability ; he was a graduate of West Point, had
served in Indian wars, and as colonel of a Mississippi regiment had
fought gallantly at Monterey and Buena Vista, having been severely
wounded in the last battle which he helped to decide. He had been
a Representative in Congress, and Senator, and under Pierce was Sec-
retary of War. He assumed the position of President of the Confed-
erate States on the 18th of February, 1861, and held it till the utter
overthrow of the new government the secessionists sought to create.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 725
Like a President of the United States, he at once formed a Cabinet,
selecting the prominent men of the movement. Robert Toombs of
Georgia was made Secretary of State; C. J. Memminger of South
Carolina, Secretary of the Treasury; L. P. Walker of Alabama, Sec-
retary of War; J dah P. Benjamin of Louisiana, Attorney General ;
and John H. Reagan, Postmaster.
There were thus two governments in the United States, one recog-
nized by seven States; the other still obeyed by the remainder, some
of which were ready to join the seven.
On the 14th of February, the votes of the electors were opened in
the House of Representatives, by Vice-President Breckenridge, who
declared Abraham Lincoln of Illinois duly elected President, and
Hannibal Hamlin duly elected Vice-President of the United States.
Two days after, General Twiggs, commanding the American army in
Texas, thirty-seven companies, numbering two thousand five hundred
men, surrendered them to the Confederates under McCulloch, with pub-
lic stores and munitions of war to the amount of over a million of
dollars.
P A R T VI.
THE GREAT CIVIL WAR–ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIXTEENTH PRESI.
DENT—1861–5—1865.
—º-
– sº-
CHAPTER I.
Affairs during the Spring and Summer of 1861—Lincoln's Cabinet—Reorganization of the
Government, Army and Navy—Attempt to relieve Sumter—Its Bombardment—The first
call for Troops—Replies of the States——Blockade of the Southern ports—East Tennessee
and West Virginia for the Union—Missouri saved by Lyon's energy—First movement of
|United States Troops—Ellsworth—McClellan in Western Virginia—Battles of Philippi,
Rich Mountain, and Carrick’s Ford—Big Bethel—Bull Run—General Lyon and the Bat-
tles of Carthage, Dug Spring, Wilson's Creek, and Lexington—First operations against
the Coast of the Confederate States. *
Owing to the excited state of Virginia and Maryland, which sym-
pathized warmly with the Secession movement, it became a question
whether Mr. Lincoln would ever be inaugurated in Washington. The
country was full of rumors of conspiracies to seize Washington, and,
to assassinate Mr. Lincoln on his way to the seat of government
While proceeding to the capital, the danger was deemed such that \,,
entered the city Secretly and in haste. Steps had been taken to pre-
vent any sudden attack during the ceremony. Mr. Lincoln was duly
inaugurated on the 4th of March. In his address he said: “The
power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the
property and places belonging to the Government, and collect the
duties and imports ; but beyond what may be necessary for these
OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 727
2'
objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among
the people anywhere.”
Such was the extent of what the new administration proposed. But
as the South would listen to nothing but independence and separation,
it was impossible to recover the forts, or to re-establish custom-houses,
without a war. The peace propositions in Congress, and the failure of
a peace convention, showed this clearly.
Mr. Lincoln selected as his Cabinet, William H. Seward of New
York, as Secretary of State ; Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Secretary of
the Treasury ; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War;
Gideon Welles of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy ; Caleb B. Smith
Secretary of the Interior ; Montgomery Blair of Maryland, Postmas-
ter General; and Edward Bates of Missouri, Attorney General.
The duties devolved on these officers were important and urgent.
The War and Navy Departments were disorganized by the acts of sec-
retaries under Buchanan, who had worked in favor of the South ; many
officers of the army and navy of Southern birth had resigned, and
taken service in the army and navy which the Southern Confederacy
at once organized ; the large force of regulars in Texas had been cap-
tured ; the Northern arsenals and navy-yards had been stripped of
great quantities of arms; the ships of war were dismantled or in dis-
tant seas; the public treasury was to be reorganized to meet any com-
ing difficulty.
The position of Fort Sumter was one requiring immediate attention.
Two commissioners came from the Confederate Government, but these
the administration declined to recognize or treat with. Mr. Lincoln,
however, agreed with Governor Pickens of South Carolina, not to re-
lieve Sumter without notice to him. He finally determined, against
728 • THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
the opinion of General Scott, to attempt to throw reinforcements into
it. A squadron was fitted out, but storms scattered it, and the ships
that arrived found that the steamer Powhatan, which carried the orders
for the operations, with the launches for landing the soldiers, had been
sent to Pensacola. *
On receiving notice of the intention to reinforce Fort Sumter, Gen-
eral Beauregard had been sent by the Confederate Government
to control the military operations at Charleston. Batteries of heavy
cannon were planted at all points near the fort, some protected by
railroad iron, so as to be proof against shells or balls.
On the 11th of April, Beauregard formally demanded the surren-
der of the fort. Anderson agreed to leave the fort by the 15th, if
he did not receive controlling instructions or additional supplies from
Washington. As the United States vessels were known by Beaure-
gard to be outside at that very time, he gave notice on the 12th that
he would open fire within an hour. The first shot was fired from a
battery on Cummings' Point, quickly followed by others from a float-
ing battery, Fort Moultrie, Sullivan's Island, and other works. An-
derson had only eighty men—just enough to work nine guns—and only
seven hundred cartridges. He replied to the fire of the enemy so
steadily that they believed he had been reinforced. The wooden bar-
racks in the fort were soon on fire, and though they were checked from
time to time, the flames finally swept them all, and burned away the
gate of the fort, leaving it open to the besiegers. The flag was shot
away, but gallantly replanted by Sergeant Hart on the shattered wall.
After thirty-six hour's bombardment, Wigfall, of Texas, came to the
fort with a flag of truce, and Anderson agreed to evacuate the fort at
once, as he had already agreed to do on the 15th. On raising a white
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 723
flag at Wigfall's request, officers came from Beauregard to know its
meaning. Wigfall was disavowed, but the firing was not resumed, and
on Sunday, the 14th, Anderson, with his garrison, evacuated Fort Sum-
ter, with colors flying and drums beating. They were conveyed to the
Baltic, lying at the entrance of the harbor.
Fort Sumter had not been surrendered. It was evacuated one day
earlier than Major Anderson's offer.
This bombardment determined one question. The dispute was now to
be settled, not by negotiation, compromise, or convention, but by War.
The bombardment of Fort Sumter roused the whole North. On the
15th, President Lincoln, by proclamation, called forth the militia of
the States to the number of seventy-five thousand men, to sup-
press unlawful combinations for resisting the laws which had for some
time existed in South Carolina and six other Southern States. The
Governors of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mis-
souri, and Arkansas, refused with scorn to obey the call. Maryland
and Delaware temporized. The other States responded with enthusi-
asm. The apathy had been broken by the first gun fired at Fort Sum-
ter. The general voice was for war, and public opinion became as in-
tolerant of all argument or opposition at the North as it was already
at the South.
Davis, as President of the Confederate States, called out a hundred
and fifty thousand men, besides thirty-two already demanded, and at
the same time invited privateers by offers of letters of marque to
cruise against Northern shipping. This, President Lincoln met by a
threat of treating as pirates any privateers who should be captured.
The replies of the Governors of the remaining slave States in-
ſlicated that they would join the Confederacy. On the 17th of April,
730 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
Virginia passed an ordinance of secession, and attempted to seize the
navy-yard at Gosport, near Norfolk, and the arsenal at Harper's
Ferry. The officer in command at the latter post, Lieutenant Jones,
seeing the preparations, blew up the place, destroying all the arms.
The arrival of the Pawnee enabled Commodore Macauley to Save the
archives of the Gosport navy-yard, and the ship Cumberland, and
destroy all vessels and arms that could not be removed, although by a
little foresight and promptness an immense quantity of public property
might have been saved.
The North, now thoroughly roused, went earnestly to work to raise
men, money, and supplies for the contest, the banks and moneyed
corporations promptly aiding the States to effect this.
All felt that the national capital was in imminent danger. A
glance at the map will show you its position. Washington stands
on the banks of the Potomac. All south of that river had joined in
the hostile movement, Maryland, which lay around the District of
Columbia, was so divided, that the Governor in a proclamation prom-
ised the people that troops of his State should be used only for the
defence of Washington. That capital was really cut off from the
States that were heartily in favor of the old Government.
Every effort was made to send forward men, as the Confederates
were known to be advancing on Washington. On the 19th of April,
the Sixth Regiment of Massachusetts militia entered Baltimore on its
way to Washington. A mob attacked them while crossing the city to
take the cars to Washington, and they had to fight their way, losing
several of their men. Some Pennsylvania troops that arrived unarmed
were forced to return to their own State. But other regiments poured
down ; bridges destroyed by the Maryland mobs were rebuilt, railroads
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 731
relaid. General Butler, with the Eighth Massachusetts, came down the
Susquehanna, took possession of Annapolis, and restored railroad
communication between that city and Washington. Troops poured in
so rapidly that the hostile spirit was overawed, and the Maryland
Legislature voted not to secede.
The northern bank of the Potomac was lined by troops to sustain
the Union, and on the south were encamped several thousand mena-
cing the capital. That city was soon safe ; and troops were thrown
into Fortress Monroe, so as to insure the safety of that important post.
It was now evident that the struggle was to be a long and serious
war. On the 3d of May, President Lincoln called for forty-two
thousand volunteers for three years, and for an increase of the regu-
lar army and navy. A blockade of all the States from Virginia to
Texas was also declared, and ships fitted out to maintain it. North
Carolina had followed the course of Virginia, had seized the mint
and arsenal, and then, on the 20th of May, passed an ordinance of se-
cession. Arkansas followed two days later.
Tennessee then entered into a league with the Confederate States,
and finally seceded; but the eastern part of that State and the western
part of Virginia opposed secession and adhered to the Union, and or-
ganized to resist -the secession movement. When two companies of
Confederate soldiers marched into Clarksburg, Virginia, on the 20th
Of May, they were surrounded and disarmed.
Missouri was another State in which public opinion was divided.
The Governor and many of the leading men were avowed sympathiz-
ers with the Confederates. The Legislature met in secret session, and
the Governor called out the militia of the State ; but four regiments
if volunteers were organized by Colonel Frank P. Blair to respond
732 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
to the President's call ; and the arsenal was held by Captain Lyon of
the United States army, who not only furnished the Governor of Illinois
With arms on a requisition from Washington, but, with authority from
the Seat of government, proceeded to thwart the plans of Gover-
nor Jackson of Missouri.
On the 10th of May, with his regulars and Blair's volunteers,
he suddenly marched out and surrounded the militia at Camp Jackson,
and compelled them to surrender. The column on its return was at-
tacked by a mob, and had at last to fire on them. General Harney
was then sent to restore order in Missouri, but he was outwitted by
Governor Jackson and his general, Price ; and Lyon, now made a
brigadier general of volunteers, was intrusted with full command.
Then Governor Jackson called out fifty thousand men to repel inva-
Sion, and in a proclamation called on the people to resist the United
States authority. The railroad bridges between St. Louis and Jeffer-
Son City were cut, and all preparations made to throw the State into
the hands of the Confederacy.
Illinois, running down like a wedge between the doubtful States of
Kentucky and Missouri, was intensely Republican. At the commence,
ment of the troubles, she made Cairo, at the extreme southern point,
her centre of operations, and, under directions from the War Depart-
ment, occupied and fortified it.
Such was the position of affairs in May. The two sections of the
country were in arms, and the actual warfare might commence at any
point along the line. General Scott, at Washington, was planning a
campaign with all his long experience and ability, but he was sur-
rounded by officers devoted to the South and all his plans were known.
almost immediately.
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OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 723
The troops of the insurgent States had gathered in force in Virginia,
under officers who had left the United States army, and menaced
Washington. It was necessary to meet them. On the 23d of May,
the United States troops in three columns crossed the Potomac, and
took possession of Alexandria and its vicinity, without any opposi-
tion, although Colonel Ellsworth, a young and highly popular officer,
was killed in attempting to lower a Confederate flag.
The armies of the United States and of the Confederate States
were, before the end of May, face to face, from the seaboard of Vir-
ginia to its western limit.
General McDowell with his large column covered Washington, con-
fronting a Confederate army at Manassas Junction under General
Beauregard. General Butler held Fortress Monroe, with twelve
thousand men, held in check by the Confederate General Magruder.
General Paterson was at Harper's Ferry, opposed by General J. E.
Johnston; and the United States Generals McClellan and Rosecrans
were operating on Western Virginia.
Fortifications were thrown up from the Chain Bridge to Alexandria,
forming the first line of defence of Washington ; and as the enemy had
planted batteries on the southern bank of the Potomac to prevent the
navigation of that river, Commander Ward organized a flotilla,
which, on the 29th of May, had a sharp action with Confederate bat-
teries at Acquia Creek.
Some of the earliest military operations, however, took place
in Western Virginia. As the people there were generally ad-
verse to the secession movement, they held the action of Governor
Letcher and his Legislature to be a dissolution of government in Vir-
ginia. So they called a convention, and formed a provisional gov-
**, r*)
'ſ ! }
TIIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
4.
ernment for the State. This was subsequently recognized by the
Government of the United States, and through it the new State of
West Virginia was finally formed.
When Virginia joined the Southern Confederacy, it gave command
of its forces to Robert E. Lee, son of a Revolutionary officer, and re-
lated to the family of Washington. Lee had enjoyed the confidence
of General Scott up to the action of Virginia, when he resigned his
commission in the United States army, and received the appointment
from his own State. To control West Virginia, he sent a force under
o, and
S-> x
Colonel Porterfield ; but the Union men were already organizin
General George B. McClellan was appointed to the command of the
Department of Ohio, which included Western Virginia. On the 26th
of May, Colonel Kelley, with the First Virginia Regiment, advanced
upon Grafton. Porterfield fled, but Kelley, operating in conjunction
with Ohio and Indiana troops under Dumont, planned the surprise and
capture of Porterfield at Philippi. Kelley, delayed by the darkness
and a storm, had a longer distance to march, and did not come up in
time ; but Dumont routed Porterfield, and Kelley joining in pursuit, com-
pleted his overthrow. The enemy's camp, with arms, horses, and supplies,
was captured, and confidence was at once given to all in the Western part
of Virginia who wished to adhere to the old Government of the country.
Wallace, with other Indiana troops, made a dash at Romney, and for
a time with great gallantry thwarted the movements of the enemy.
On the 23d of June, McClellan took command in person at Graf
ton, the troops organized by him numbering twenty thousand. With
these he commenced operations against General Garnett, the Confed-
erate commander. Colonel Rosecrans, Scaling the mountains, attacked
one of Garnett's divisions under Pegram, at Rich Mountain, and, in
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs.
Hº Q -
( fºr "
spite of artillery, drove them down the mountain-side with a loss of
four hundred men. As McClellan approached, Pegram fled, exposing
Garnett's rear. That commander in turn endeavored to escape into
the wild mountains of the Cheat Range, abandoning all his artillery
except one piece. The whole Confederate force was thus by a single
blow scattered. Pegram, after a vain endeavor to escape, finally sur-
rendered on the 14th, with his force almost starving. Garnett re-
treated along Cheat River, hotly pursued till he reached Carrick's
Ford. There, on the 13th of July, he made a stand, but his troops
broke before the charge of the Western troops, who crossed the river
under a heavy fire. In the endeavor to rally them, Garnett was killed.
The Confederate force was for the time broken up. A small portion,
rallied by Colonel Ramsey, reached Jackson's command beyond the
Alleghanies, but the army of Western Virginia had lost twelve hun-
dred in killed, wounded, and prisoners, and great quantities of arms and
stores. General Cox had successfully occupied the Kanawha Valley,
and for a time Western Virginia seemed secure.
Fortress Monroe, situated at the mouth of the James River, had been
reinforced, and was held by a large force under General Butler, and
armed vessels blockaded the rivers emptying into the Chesapeake,
making it easy for the United States Government to commence opera-
tions from that point. But the first operations in this part of Virginia
were ill-managed and disastrous. A force sent out to surprise a party
of the enemy at Big Bethel was repulsed with considerable loss,
When General Scott, urged by the voice of the Northern press and
people, resolved to assume the offensive, an army of thirty thousand
men, under General Irvine McDowell, moved out of the defences of
736 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
Washington. These forces were in five divisions, under Generals
Tyler and Runyon, and Colonels Hunter, Heintzelman, and Miles. The
enemy lay behind a small stream called Bull's Run, a branch of the
Occoquan, its rocky, wooded banks forming an excellent natural forti-
fication. -
On the 17th of July, Tyler, with the right wing, advanced by the
Georgetown road; Hunter, with the centre, on the Leesburg and Cen-
treville road; the left wing, under Heintzelman and Miles, by the Lit-
tle River turnpike and Braddock road. Fairfax Court-House was
occupied without a blow. The next day he made a feint with Tyler's
division against Longstreet's position at Blackburn's Ford. A sharp
engagement ensued, in which Massachusetts, Michigan, and New York
troops were matched against troops from various States of the South.
After a loss of about seventy-five on each side, McDowell withdrew
his troops to Centreville. It had been his plan to turn the enemy's
right flank, but a reconnoissance proved this to be impracticable. It
was, however, necessary to engage the enemy at once, as the term of
Service of many of his troops was expiring. An attack in front was
not to be thought of ; but he resolved to try and turn their left, force
them from the Stone Bridge, and, by seizing the Manassas Gap Rail-
way, break their connections and force them to fall back. Beauregard
on his side was preparing to attack McDowell. The War Depart-
ment at Richmond ordered Johnson to elude Patterson and join Beau-
regard.
The battle opened by Tyler's vigorous attack on Evans at the Stone
Bridge. Then Hunter made a real attack, crossing at Sudley's Ford,
at half-past nine, and marching down to take the Stone Bridge on
that side. As Evans saw his rear menaced, he fell back about a mile
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. Tº
to the intersection of the Sudley Road and Young's Branch. Here
the battle raged furiously; the Confederate line wavered under the
charge, but General Bee hastened up with reinforcements. Hunter
was supported, but the enemy's fire was carrying havoc through his
line. Hunter was borne off wounded ; Colonel Slocum and Major
|Ballou were struck down. Porter, however, came up, and again the
Confederates were checked, while over a ridge looking toward Bull
Run came Heintzelman's fresh division. Crossing above the Stone
Bridge, Keyes' division, led by Sherman, with the New York Sixty-
Ninth, crossed above the Stone Bridge, and taking in flank the Con-
federates retreating before Hunter's onset, drove them back on the
reserve under Jackson. “Form form ' ' cried Bee to his disheart-
ened men ; “there stands Jackson like a stone wall.” Form they
did, and from that time forth that cool and able commander was known
as “Stonewall Jackson.” The Confederates were, however, fast los-
ing the day. Their left had been turned, an important road gained,
and their line driven back from its original position a mile and a half.
They now held strong ground : a hight plateau admirably adapted for
defence. Before it lay McDowell's three divisions well placed, Heint-
Zelman on the right, Hunter in the centre, and Tyler on the left.
To meet the coming attack, Johnson and Beauregard called up all
the troops they could spare, leaving points in their line open to attack
by McDowell's reserves before them. At last the attack began. The
battle raged around the Robinson and Henry houses. Around
Ricketts' and Griffin's batteries, from one o'clock to three, the hostile
lines surged backward and forward. The batteries were captured and
retaken, the Robinson house gained and lost. At last the United
States troops seemed unable to carry the plateau. But the Confeder-
73S THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
ates were exhausted and dangerously exposed ; McDowell's fresh
troops were gaining their exposed positions. The day seemed lost. Their
only hope was in some fresh regiments under Early. A cloud of dust
in the direction of the Manassas Gap railroad filled them with anxiety,
as they were supposed to be United States troops. To their joy they
proved to be not United States troops, but an unexpected Confederate
reinforcement under E. Kirby Smith. This decided the day. Four thou-
sand fresh men gave a new spirit to the Confederates. Hurled once
more on the Union lines, already priding themselves on a victory,
they changed the face of affairs. The United States troops were swept
down the plateau. Regiment after regiment gave way, a panic spread ;
and it became a general rout. The right, after a gallant fight, had
been outnumbered, and was in a disorderly retreat, losing men, arms,
and artillery at every step. Hoping to cut off their retreat, Johnston
hurled Ewell on the American right at Centreville, but Davies sent
them back in utter confusion by his fearful volleys. McDowell did
what was possible to cover the flight of his right wing, but his army
was hopelessly shattered, and he fell back to the intrenchments be-
bore Washington.
In this battle, really hard fought, though by raw troops and inexpe.
rienced commanders, the Confederate loss was one thousand eight hun-
dred and ninety-seven, while that of the United States army was
much more severe. McDowell left the enemy in full possession of the
field, and lost fully three thousand men, twenty-eight cannon, six
thousand muskets, and a very large quantity of ammunition.
This victory of the Confederates decided the campaign on the Po-
tomac. All the rest of the year the two armies lay watching each
Other. - .
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 73%)
The battle of Bull Run was a barren victory for the South, except
in the enthusiasm which it excited. Both sides felt that the war was
to be a long and bitter struggle. Every means was employed to col.
lect and equip armies for the field. President Lincoln issued a call
for half a million of men, and soldiers were enlisted for the war.
The active operations that next attract attention, are those in the
border States, Kentucky and Missouri, where part of the people sym-
- pathized with the South, and the rest still adhered to the old govern-
ment of the United States.
In Missouri matters were in a critical condition; the Confederates
had virtually gained the State, and Missouri could be saved only by
an able man. It was fortunately confided to General Nathaniel Lyon.
When General Lyon succeeded Harney in command of the Depart-
ment of Missouri, Governor Jackson saw that disguise was useless with
that decisive officer. He began to collect his forces at Jefferson City,
to begin the battle for the possession of the State. Lyon moved
promptly. Sending Colonel Sigel ahead by land with the Second Mis-
souri regiment, he embarked on two steamers with the remainder of
his troops, including a few regulars, and numbering in all about two
thousand men. He entered Jefferson City on the 15th of June, to
find that Jackson and Price had retreated to Booneville, some forty
miles further up, destroying bridges and telegraphs as they went.
Lyon pushed on in pursuit, and on the 16th came upon the Confed-
erates under Marmaduke, advantageously posted about eight miles
below Booneville. Lyon at once formed his men on a rising ground,
the regulars and Blair's volunteers on the left by a field of Waving
corn; the left, of volunteers under Shaeffer, near a grove. Totten's
artillery opened the battle, and the left charged, the right also moving
740 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
steadily on. The Confederates were driven from their position, but
rallied, and again endeavored to regain the day; but the rush of the
United States forces was irresistible. The Confederates broke and
fled to Booneville, leaving their camp, provisions, arms, and stores to
Lyon. That commander occupied Booneville; but as Price had fled
to the southwest to form a junction with a Confederate force under
Ben McCulloch, he pushed on in pursuit with about three thousand
men, being compelled to leave some to hold various points. On
the 5th of July, Colonel Sigel, with the advance of Lyon's army, en-
gaged the Confederates near Carthage. There he inflicted severe loss
on the enemy, but, being unable to rout them, had to fall back upon
Lyon at Springfield. That general was no longer in full command.
General Fremont had been appointed to the Department of the West,
and General Lyon was left to his own resources. Volunteers had
swelled his little force, but before was Price's army reinforced by
Generals McCulloch and Pierce, with troops of Arkansas and Texas,
numbering in all nearly thirty thousand men. Lyon advanced to meet
the enemy, but his appeals to General Fremont for reinforcements and
supplies were unheeded. He fell back to Springfield.
The Confederates under McCulloch advanced upon that town, and
Lyon found that there was no alternative except to move out and at-
tack him in his camp at Wilson's Creek, ten miles southwest of Spring-
field. On the 10th of August, the United States forces moved upon
the Confederate camp in two columns, one under General Lyon, to
attack the northern point, the other, under Colonel Sigel, to attack the
southern. Lyon began his attack at daybreak, meeting a stubborn re-
sistance. Two or three times his troops recoiled, but were rallied, till
the enemy gave way. Then there was a lull, and McCulloch charged
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 74.1
with his whole line. Sigel had made no impression on the southern
line, and, indeed, acted with so little energy and caution that he was
surprised and routed, leaving Lyon to bear the brunt of the battle
alone. For an hour the contest raged furiously, Sometimes one side
gaining a little ground, then the other. Lyon, ever in the thickest of
the fight, while rallying some disordered troops was wounded in the
head and leg, and had his horse killed under him. Mounting another
horse, he charged at the head of the Second Kansas regiment. Almost
at the same instant, Colonel Mitchell of that regiment and General
Lyon fell, the latter dead, pierced through the breast by a rifle-ball.
But the battle kept on. The United States troops fought with the en-
ergy of despair, and at last beat back the last assault of the enemy.
Again on the battle-field the thunder of cannon and the rattle of fire-
arms died away : all was silent but the groans of the wounded. The
American officers held council as to the best mode of retreat. Sud-
denly hope sprang up. From the direction where Sigel had been sent
came a column with the American flag. They approached, but sud-
denly opened a deadly fire. Again the battle was renewed with des-
perate fury. In spite of the fierce charges of the Confederates, the United
States troops, drawn up in a favorable position, held their ground more
firmly than earlier in the day. Though attacked almost muzzle to muz-
zle, they did not flinch ; the fierce waves of attack surged upon them in
Vain, till a flank movement on the enemies' line again drove them off.
Major Sturgis, who had so ably continued the desperate battle,
Seized the oppºrtunity, and moved slowly out to the open prairie, and
unpursued gained Springfield, the enemy having been too severely
handled to molest his march. On the way he heard of the utter rout
of Sigel's command.
742 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Considering the numbers engaged, the Battle of Wilson's Creek
showed severe losses. The United States officers admitted a loss of
one thousand two hundred and eighty-five ; the Confederates, one
thousand and ninety-five—the real losses being undoubtedly much
larger, as every commander tries to make his own loss as light as
possible. But the field was left to the Confederates, with six pieces of
artillery and several hundred stand of arms. At Springfield, Sigel
appeared, and assuming command, retreated to Rolla, eluding Price
and McCulloch.
The death of General Lyon, who so thoroughly understood the
position of affairs and the plans of the Confederates, was a severe
blow to the Union cause.
The disaster at Wilson's Creek was not the only result of Fremont's
inefficiency and neglect. Colonel James A. Mulligan had been or-
dered to occupy Lexington, with a force of about twenty-five hundred
men. Here he was left utterly unsupported till a hostile force to
the number of ten thousand men assailed him before he had time to
throw up any sufficient works. Mulligan, however, never doubting
but that support would come, met the first attack, and repulsed it, so
that the enemy asked leave to bury their dead. On the 18th of Sep-
tember, a Confederate army under General Price, numbering twenty-
eight thousand, invested the place, but Mulligan refused to sur-
render. He kept up a vigorous defense for fifty-two hours, till the
last cartridge was fired. Then his troops laid down thei; useless arms,
and surrendered as prisoners of war.
This victory gave the Confederates three thousand stand of arms
artillery, stores, and nearly a million of dollars in money.
Roused to action at last, Fremont in a proclamation declared mar
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 743
tial law, and emancipated the slaves of those who should be proven
to have taken an active part with the enemy in the field. This step,
as premature, called forth a protest from President Lincoln, who or-
dered it to be modified so as to agree with an act passed by Congress
on the 6th of August, 1861.
On the 27th of September, Fremont began his march from St.
Louis, at the head of an imposing force of thirty thousand men ; but
it moved slowly. A brilliant dash was made by Major Frank J.
White from Lexington; and Colonel Zagonyi, of “Fremont's Body
Guard,” on the 24th of October stormed the Confederate camp at
Springfield, and drove them from the town with severe loss.
Price, with the main body of the Confederates, fell back rapidly, and
would have escaped without loss but for the movements of General
Lane from Kansas, which inflicted some loss on the retiring columns.
Some troops under Colonels Carlin and Plumner engaged the Confed-
rates under General Jefferson Thompson, near Fredericktown, in the
southeast part of the State, and defeated them with severe loss.
Just as Fremont was on the eve of engaging the enemy and doing
Something to justify his command, he was superseded by General Hunter.
Kentucky, like Missouri, was divided. The Governor and many of
those under him were really Confederates; but there was a strong por-
tion of the people opposed to secession. In the hope of ultimately car-
rying out his view, Governor Magoffin proposed a neutrality, agreeing
to keep the Confederate troops off the territory of Kentucky; but as
he allowed open recruiting for the Confederate army, and the occupa-
tion of some islands in the Mississippi, although the people of the
State at a special election showed their strong attachment to the Union,
the United States Government no longer hesitated, and sent in troops
744 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
under General Anderson. Magoffin still endeavored to play into the
hands of the Confederates; but when he called the Legislature together
it proved so strongly Union that the Confederates took alarm, and
General Leonidas Polk, who had laid aside his position as bishop in
the Episcopal Church, took possession of Columbus in Kentucky. The
United States forces at Cairo were now under the command of Gen-
eral Ulysses S. Grant, and he at once occupied Paducah. The Legis-
lature of Kentucky compelled the Governor to call upon the Confed-
erates to retire from the State, but they treated the request with con-
tempt, and sent General Zollicoffer to occupy Cumberland Gap, an im-
portant pass in the mountains in the eastern part of the State. Buck-
ner, Magoffin's inspector general, now, as a brigadier general in the
Confederate army, seized Bowling Green.
While Kentucky was thus preparing to become a battle-ground, some
sharp actions had taken place in Western Virginia, the shrewd policy
of the original seceding States being to have as much fighting as possi-
ble done in the Border States.
Rosecrans, the able successor of McClellan, came up with the Con-
federates under Floyd, at Carnifex Ferry, late on the 10th of Septem-
ber. A reconnoissance under General Benham, to ascertain the exact
position of General Floyd's forces, which were intrenched in a dense
forest that prevented their works being seen more than three hundred
yards, brought on a sharp action. The enemy opened fire along their
whole line, disclosing their position. Benham at once attacked with the
Tenth Ohio, Colonel Lytle, on the right, and the Thirteenth on the
left. Both attacked gallantly and suffered severely. Colonel Lowe,
leading up the Twelfth Ohio over a rugged route to attack in front, was
killed at the head of his men.
OR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 745
Before they could carry the works it became pitch dark, and General
Rosecrans suspended operations till morning. Then it was discovered that
Floyd had fled during the night, abandoning his camp and his strong works.
Other operations followed in that difficult mountain region, through
trackless woods and ranges where troops could move but slowly. Gen-
eral Reynolds' effectually held the able Lee in check at Cheat Moun-
tain Pass, a position of great strength, until, weary of acting on the
defensive, he made a bold dash on his works at Greenbriar, October 2,
1861. Soon after, General Kelley drove the Confederates under
McDonald and Monroe out of Romney, inflicting severe loss in men
and war material. Thus the war raged in that wild section, assuming
at last the most ferocious character. Guyandotte, held by a small
party of United States troops, was surprised on the 10th of November,
and every soldier was butchered, no quarter being given, and, as was
charged, the citizens of the place joining in the work of shooting down
the soldiers. In a few days, however, a large force of United States
troops under Colonel Zeigler entered the place, and, learning the facts,
burned the town.
Rosecrans was still holding Floyd, and hoped to capture his whole
force. A plan for crossing New River, at a neglected ford, was de-
feated by the sudden rise of the river ; but another plan promised suc-
cess. General Benham was sent over with orders to push on to Cas-
siday's Mill, and hold that key of Floyd's position, commanding his
only line of retreat. But neglecting this, Benham allowed Floyd to
escape, and could only inflict some damage by attacking his rear.
Still Floyd's flight put an end to the campaign in Western Virginia.
General Lee had been summoned to a more important command. Rose-
Crans, taking his position at Wheeling, had merely to hold what had
"746 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
been gained in Western Virginia, which now formally effected its sepa-
ration from the eastern portion of the State, and formed a new one
under the name of Kanawha, although that of Western Virginia was
finally adopted as the official title. ^s.
The campaign of 1861 had been on the part of the United States
Government rather defensive than offensive. §
The defense of Washington, of Western Virginia, Kentucky, and
Missouri had been the objects, and notwithstanding the terrible re-
verse at Bull Run, these points had to a great extent been gained.
Washington was safe, West Virginia firmly held, Kentucky had de-
cided for the Union, and Missouri, though leaning strongly to the
South, was held by the United States troops.
The troubles in the United States excited great interest in Europe.
The downfall of the great American Republic was considered certain,
and the Governments of Great Britain and France were swayed by
this popular feeling. Almost immediately after the commencement of
the secession movement, England and France recognized the seceding
States as belligerents. A congress of the great European powers, held
at Paris, in 1856, had proposed the abolition of privateering : the United
States Government had hesitated to accede to this unless there was a
general exemption of private property from seizure at sea. Soon
after Mr. Lincoln's accession to the Presidency, the Secretary of State
notified the European powers that the United States accepted the
action of the Congress of Paris; but now England and France required
that the articles of the Congress of Paris should not apply to the
Southern Confederacy. They held the Confederate Government fully
entitled to issue letters of marque, and send out privateers. Fngland
even went further : she permitted vessels to be built, manned, and
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 747
equipped in English ports, for service as Confederate privateers, and
no evidence could convince the British authorities of their real char.
acter. At the same time, the ports of the British islands in the West
Indies became the resort of these privateers, where they were always
protected and supplied. On the other hand, the armed vessels of the
United States were held to the strict rules governing the case of war
with a recognized power.
The ocean was soon covered with Confederate cruisers, and the
shipping of the Northern States was exposed to utter destruction.
Unable to carry their prizes into Southern ports, these privateers gen-
erally destroyed the vessels captured. President Lincoln had by proc-
lamation declared that privateers should be treated as pirates, but
the matter was beset by difficulties.
On the 2d of June, 1861, the privateer Savannah sailed from
Charleston, and the next day captured the brig Joseph, with a cargo
of sugar ; but the Savannah soon fell in with the Perry, a man-of-war,
purposely disguised. Taking her for a merchantman, the Savannah
ran down to attack her, till, discovering her mistake, she attempted to
escape. The Perry opened, and the Savannah surrendered. The
captain and crew were taken to New York, indicted, and tried for
piracy, but the jury failed to agree. A similar trial took place in
Philadelphia, where the privateersmen were convicted. The Confed.
erate Government at once took a number of United States prisoners
drawn by lot as hostages, threatening to hang them should the priva-
teersmen be executed. After a long detention, the privateersmen
Were at last treated as ordinary prisoners of war.
The only course was for the United States to pursue these vessels aſ:
Sea and capture them. This was a matter of the greatest difficulty.
748 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION,
The Sumter, escaping from New Orleans, though pursued, captured
eight vessels near Cuba, burned one, and then extended her ravages
among American shipping on the coast of Brazil, and finally ran over
to Spain. Entering the port of Gibraltar, she was blockaded there by
the United States gunboat Tuscarora, and was finally sold. The Petrei
was destroyed by the United States frigate St. Lawrence, which she
attacked unconscious of her real character.
The only approach to a regular naval battle was the attempt made
by Commodore Hollins, of the Confederate navy, to drive off the
United States fleet blockading the mouth of the Mississippi. The Con-
federates had adopted a sort of steam-ram, generally made of some
very solid tug-boat, the deck covered with a slanting roof of stout
timbers, on which iron plates or railroad iron was laid. The bow of
the boat was furnished with a solid point of timber covered with iron.
This boat could be run with all the force of heavy steam-engines
against a wooden ship, doing great damage, and yet receive no damage
from a broadside. Hollins, with the steam-ram Manassas, of this kind,
and five other vessels, during the night of the 11th of October, at-
tacked the United States fleet under Commodore Pope, injuring the
Richmond severely with the ram, captured a coal-schooner, and forced
the fleet to retire beyond the bar. Two of the United States vessels
actually got a ground, and might have been captured had the enemy
shown any judgment.
When the plans of the United States for reducing the Confederate
States assumed the offensive, one great object was to capture and hold
the chief ports, and thus prevent the issuing of privateers or men-of-
war, as well as the introduction of goods from foreign countries, es-
pecially arms and supplies for their armies.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACBLEVEMENTS. 749.
The first of these operations was an expedition from Fortress Mon-
roe, under Commodore Silas H. Stringham, with the Minnesota,
Wabash, Pawnee, Monticello, Harriet Lane, and two transports, bear.
ing a considerable land force under General Butler. The object was
Fort Hatteras, on the North Carolina coast. They arrived off Hat-
teras, on the 27th of August, and some troops and marines were
landed and the men-of-war then opened fire on Fort Clark, a smaller
Confederate work. The fort at first answered with spirit, but the fire
gradually slackened, and finally ceased. The enemy, in fact, aban-
doned it, and the United States troops entered, but could not hold it,
as it lay in range of the guns of the fleet, which were now turned on
Fort Hatteras. On the 29th, that work suffered a furious bombard-
ment, the ships pouring in effective broadsides. But the Confederates
resisted sturdily till an eleven-inch shell exploded in their bombproof
So near the magazine as to show them that resistance was hopeless.
The white flag was then raised. Commodore Barron, the Confederate
commander, sought to obtain favorable terms, but Butler would grant
none except that they should be treated as prisoners of war.
The fort was at once occupied, and expeditions from it planned
against other points. But no great result followed : a movement
agaist Chicomicomico, with a view to reduce Roanoke Island, well-nigh
proved a serious disaster.
CHAPTER II.
The War in the West—Minor Operations—Battle of Belmont—Grant's First Action—Polk Crosses
to Relieve his Men—Desperate Fighting—Grant Succeeds in Reaching his Gunboats—The Port
Royal Expedition—A Foothold in South Carolina—Operations with no Great Result—The
Slidell-Mason Affair—Commodore Wilkes—Attitude of the British Government—Slidell and
Mason Given up—Pope's Missouri Campaign—The Confederate Line in the West—Prepara
tions to Kreak it. -
THE war in the West still partook of the character of scattered uncon-
nected operations, which had no bearing on each other, or on any general
result. The following sketch will give an account of two of these minor
operations in Missouri, in which the gallant Majors Gavitt and Tan-
ner fell.
The rapid change of commanders in Missouri and the uncertain
movements of the army had given the Confederates fresh courage,
Many of the people of Missouri sympathized with them, and before
long the State swarmed with small hostile parties. These were met
in turn by United States troops and local troops, giving the war a
terrible character, desolating the whole State, and imbittering the
feelings of the people against each other. Such operations are the
unfortunate result of civil war, where neighbor is arrayed against
neighbor, and even brother against brother.
The next battle was one fought at Belmont, a little place in Missouri,
on the bank of the Mississippi. General Polk, after occupying Co-
lumbus, in Kentucky, had taken possession of Belmont, which was
our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTS.
7
5
1.
low ground, completely under the guns of a force at Columbus. General
Ulysses S. Grant, who was in command at Cairo, could not, however,
allow the enemy to hold both sides of the river, and resolved to break
up the post at Belmont. He also wished to prevent any movement
by General Polk in Missouri. On the 6th of November, he left Cairo,
with two thousand eight hundred and fifty men, on board several
steamers, and dropped down the river, landing his men, while Some of
the steamers kept on and engaged the batteries at Columbus. The
United States troops, Illinois and Iowa volunteers, pushed on till they
met the enemy under Colonel Tappan, and drove them in. A stand was
made, but they were finally routed, and retreated to their transports
at the waterside, leaving their camp in Grant's hands. When he had
destroyed their war material, he prepared to return, but the troops
had fallen into some disorder, when they were encountered by General
Pillow, who had been sent over by General Polk with three regiments.
In a few moments the battle was renewed, Polk's batteries at Colum-
bus pouring in their volleys, and fresh troops landing from that place,
first three regiments, then three more, under General Cheatham, fol-
lowed at last by Polk in person, with two other regiments. In spite
of the United States gunboats these all landed, and it seemed for a
time as though Grant could never reach his boats. But at last, after
a desperate fight, in which that general's horse was killed under him.
and a heavy loss of life, the troops reached the riverside. There the
enemy charged again furiously, but by gunboats, musketry, and artil-
lery they were at last driven off. This hard-fought battle lasted from
half-past ten in the morning to five in the afternoon, almost without
cessation, and cost the United States more than six hundred killed,
Wounded, and missing. The Confederates lost their camp, and some
752 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
artillery and small arms, and about a thousand killed, wounded, or
taken They claimed it as a victory, but at once abandoned Belmont,
so that Grant, though at heavy cost, attained his object
One of the earliest aims of President Lincoln was to secure the
Southern ports. He issued a proclamation declaring all the ports on
the coast from South Carolina to Texas to be blockaded. A subse.
quent proclamation included those of Virginia and North Carolina.
The next step was to take military possession of the chief harbors.
As the United States by its naval vessels controlled the whole coast,
it was easy to fit out expeditions and send steamers carrying troops,
well equipped and supplied, against any Southern seaboard city. Gen-
eral Butler was sent to occupy Hatteras in North Carolina. Further
south lay Fort Pickens, near the old Spanish city of Pensacola, which the
French and Spaniards had taken and retaken in the preceding century.
The stars and stripes still floated over this fort, and from it an attempt
was made to secure Pensacola. Some New York volunteers encamped
on Santa Rosa Island, near Fort Pickens, but they were surprised at
night by a Confederate force under General Anderson, on the 9th of
October, and an irregular fight ensued. . In November, the United
States squadron, with Fort Pickens, for a time bombarded Fort McRae,
which was held by the Confederates. They silenced it and destroyed
a number of houses in the town of Warrington.
We will now return to the operations near Washington. After the
disaster at Bull's Run, a reorganization of the departments was made,
and General McClellan, whose success in Western Virginia had in-
spired confidence, was called to command the army covering Washing-
ton, as well as the whole Department of Washington, and that of
Northeastern Virginia. He at once proceeded to organize the forces
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 753
ſunder his command : a better discipline was introduced ; inefficient offi-
cers removed, irregular habits suppressed, and careful drilling enforced.
At the same time, the fortifications south of the Potomac were com-
pleted under the Supervision of the best engineers.
The Army of the Potomac lay watching the Confederate movements.
The first operation against the enemy was a disaster. The Confeder-
ates began to fall back from the Potomac. Brigadier-General Stone,
commanding at Edward's Ferry, received orders to throw a part of
his force across the river.
Nineteen hundred men sent across under Col. E. D. Baker, were
crushed at Ball's Bluff by a superior force, and with their leader
killed or taken.
The reverse at Bull's Bluff, in which the United States lost a thou-
Sand men, was atoned for in part soon after by a brief action at Draines-
ville, in which General McCall defeated General J. E. B. Stuart, and
drove him from the field with severe loss, capturing a considerable
Quantity of forage.
On the 31st of October, 1861, Lieutenant-General Scott, overcome
by age and infirmities, resigned the high position which he had so long
honorably filled. The cares and anxieties of a great war had pros-
trated his failing health, and though all regretted his retirement, it
was felt that the step was indeed a necessary one.
General McClellan, already at the head of the Army of the Poto-
mac, then assumed the command of the armies of the United States.
Almost at the moment of this change, a formidable expedition sailed
from Fortress Monroe, Commodore Samuel F. Dupont, with a large
fleet, conveying an army under the command of General Thomas W.
754 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Sherman. The object was to occupy a port in South Carolina. Port
Royal, where Ribault planted his little French colony, was a fine port,
the entrance being the best channel for ships below Norfolk. Although
efforts had been made to cover the plans with the wail of secrecy, the
Confederate Government received early information, and planted
strong works at the mouth of the menaced harbor—Fort Beauregard
on Bay Point, and Fort Walker on Hilton Head. The expedition
sailed on the 29th of October, and after suffering much in a severe
gale, arrived at the channel on the 5th of November. After recon-
noitring the position of the enemy's forts and vessels, Commodore
Dupont, on the 7th, began his attack. His ships in line swept into the
harbor, delivering one broadside to Fort Walker as they passed, and
wheeling, poured another into Fort Beauregard. Round and round
went the terrible line of ships. The Confederates for a time replied,
but when the Wabash and Susquehanna for the third time poured in
their deadly broadside, Fort Walker made no response. The Confed-
erates had abandoned the fort and fled to the woods. A small squad-
rom then proceeded to invest Fort Beauregard, but that too was found
tenantless. Both works were at once occupied by the troops of the
United States, and Port Royal became a stirring and busy place, being
to the close of the war the great centre of operations against the
South. As soon as the troops landed, negroes began to flock to the
camp, bringing cattle, poultry, horses, and mules, and they soon formed
a camp of their own, occupying many of the abandoned houses. Some
of these people were employed in fishing and gathering cotton, but
most of them looked upon the war as their great deliverance from all
work. The Confederates attempted to prevent any advantage arising:
to the United States, by planting forces at the points by which they
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 755
could operate against Charleston or Savannah ; but the gunboats and
land forces, on the 1st day of January, 1862, drove off with severe
loss the troops who attempted to hold Port Royal Ferry and
Seabrook.
Meanwhile, a strange affair occurred on the ocean, which convulsed
England and America, and forced the former power to show all her
concealed hatred of the United States, which she had been masking
under the pretence of neutrality. Commodore Wilkes, in the San
Jacinto, returning from the coast of Africa, heard that Mason and
Slidell, sent out as ambassadors of the Confederate Government to
England and France, were endeavoring to reach English territory in
the British mail-steamer Trent, running from Havana. He resolved
to capture them, and, overhauling the San Jacinto, took them off,
and carried them to the United States, where they were committed to
prison. The British Government acted with great haughtiness, de-
manding the surrender of the prisoners, and reparation. The Secre-
tary of State of the United States showed that by the uniform rulings
of British courts and authors, the seizure of contraband dispatches
on a neutral was justifiable ; and that the British Government was now
taking the ground heretofore taken by Americans, and always denied
by England. Hence, as the United States had not ordered the course
of Commodore Wilkes, and could not defend it on American grounds,
they were accordingly given up. The British Government had
showed its real feeling, and it was now evident that on any slight pre-
text it would take part in the war, and assist the Confederates in
establishing their independence.
Carrying out its plan of controlling the Southern ports, the United
States attempted to close some of them by sinking vessels loaded with
756 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
stones in the main channels, adopting the plan followed by the British
Government at Boulogne and Alexandria. As a basis of operations
against New Orleans, Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico was occupied
early in December. *
Missouri continued to be the scene of military operations and gue-
rilla warfare. General Hunter, on succeeding Fremont, fell back, and
the Confederates advanced ; but Halleck, taking command of the
department, assumed the offensive, and some advantages were gained,
Brigadier-General Pope acquiring renown by a successful engagement
at Clear Creek, in which he captured a Confederate force under Colonel
Robinson, numbering one thousand three hundred, with all their arms
and supplies. Alarmed at this, General Price retreated for a time
from Springfield, but soon rallied in force at that place with reinforce-
ments from Arkansas. Against that point, in February, a combined
movement of the United States troops under Sigel, Asboth, Davis,
Curtis, and Prentiss was made. As the army under General Curtis
approached, Price abandoned his winter quarters and fled, the state of
the roads having prevented Curtis from cutting off his retreat. Curtis
pushed rapidly on, capturing many detached parties of the enemy,
who made no stand till he reached Sugar Creek, after being reinforced
by Ben McCulloch. The action there was a brief one, and Price
again fled, losing heavily in men, influence, and war material.
Kentucky was one of the Border States which showed least inclina-
tion to join the fortunes of the Confederates, although a convention of
secessionists held at Russelville, in November, passed an ordinance of
secession, and attempted to organize a government. The Confeder-
ates held Columbus and Hickman, while Buckner had a force at Bowl-
ing Green, and a Confederate force under General Zollicoffer menaced
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 757
the State from Tennessee, at Cumberland Gap. General Zollicoffer's
first movement was against Camp Wildcat, in Rock Castle County,
held by only a single United States regiment under Colonel Garrard.
Thinking to surprise it, he advanced at the head of six regiments of in-
fantry, with a large force of cavalry and artillery. But he reckoned
without his host. General Schoepf had just reached the camp with a
regiment of infantry and another of cavalry, and other troops were
rapidly concentrating there. Amid the heavy growth of timber that
covers the land, Zollicoffer approached between the London road and
the Winding Blades road, and charged with a yell on Schoepf's line,
to meet a terrible volley of musketry, which staggered and finally
drove them back. Again Zollicoffer led his men up on the London
road; but the reinforcements had come in—among the rest a battery of
artillery, which was planted on a conical hill between the roads. As
Zollicoffer charged again, covered by his artillery, this battery opened,
and again he recoiled. A third attack, planned with care, and carried
out with untold labor, was similarly repulsed. Volley after volley
swept them away in confusion.
Utterly defeated, Zollicoffer retreated to the Gap, and confined him-
self to plundering the country.
General Nelson was equally successful on the Virginia border. A
considerable force of Confederates had entered Kentucky from Vir-
ginia, and encamped at Ivy Mountain, near Pikeville. Nelson re-
solved to dislodge them, and did so on the 9th of November, with very
little loss, while a division of his force under Colonel Sill took Pikes-
ville, and the Confederate force abandoned their positions and retreated
to Virginia.
Encouraged by these minor successes, General Don Carlos Buell
7.58 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
resolved to make a movement against the enemy. In December he
pushed forward his centre, forty thousand strong, under General Alex-
ander McDowell McCook, toward Bowling Green, which was held by
General Buckner with a large army. But the Confederate com-
mander did not risk a battle : as McCook approached, Buckner fell
back to the southern bank of Green River, destroying as well as he
could the fine iron bridge of the Louisville and Nashville railroad over
that stream. McCook's advance guard, part of Willich's German regi-
ment from Indiana, crossed the river on a temporary bridge, and en-
camped near Munfordsville. General Hindman, the nearest Confederate
commander, on the 17th of December sent a Texan force of Rangers
under Terry to surprise Willich if possible. But this little party
displayed singular courage and skill. Terry failed in his repeated
charges to break or disorder their line, and was at last killed, with
many of his men, the rest retreating.
General Humphrey Marshall, once a representative of Kentucky in
Congress, penetrated into Kentucky from Virginia, with a force of two
or three thousand men, as far as Paintville, on the Big Sandy River,
among the mountains in the eastern part of the State. Here he in-
trenched himself; but when a force of United States troops under Colo-
nel Garfield advanced upon him, Marshall broke up his camp and,
destroying large quantities of stores, retreated. Garfield pursued with
energy : coming up to a part near Prestonburg, he drove them in. On
the 10th of January he engaged Marshall's main body, and after
a struggle which lasted till night, drove Marshall from all his posi-
tions.
These advantages gave the Union men in Kentucky courage, and
inspired the hope that the large army under Buell would by a vigor
oR, our country's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 7.59
ous campaign deliver the State from the presence of the Confeder-
ates, and save it from being a battle-ground for bodies of skirmishers
and a field for cavalry raids.
The plan of the campaign that was to be decisive had occurred to
several commanders, and was presented by them to the authorities at
Washington. The Confederate line had one weak point, in the fact
that the Tennesee and Cumberland were navigable rivers, where land.
and naval forces could co-operate.
They had endeavored to prevent this by erecting Fort Henry and
Fort Donelson, but those works were far from being sufficient to pre-
vent an advance. Taking note of the remarkable course of these rivers,
and knowing that during the season of high water the Tennessee
and Cumberland were navigable for large vessels to the very heart of
the South, Buell and Grant saw that if they could force open the navi-
gation of those rivers by reducing Forts Henry and Donelson, they
would not only take Columbus and Bowling Green in the rear, but
force the whole Confederate line to fall back. On the 30th of January,
1862, General Halleck gave Grant and Foote the requisite authority.
On this movement, which was to conquer the Western Border States
for the Union, all now depended.
The end of the first year of the war had been reached. Many had
looked upon it as an insurrection to be put down in a few months; a
rebellion that Government could crush at once : but now saw that with
so many States bound together in a new government, with earnest
men at the head, and armies in the field supplied with the best arms,
and commanded by officers of undisputed skill, bravery, and deter-
mination, the struggle was to be a long and deadly one, if Victory at
last was won by the United States Government.
P A R T VI.
THE CIVIL WAR CONTINUED–ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIXTEENTH
PRESIDENT—1861–5–1865.
CHAPTER III.
Buell's Campaign—Battle of Mill Spring—Zollicoffer Defeated by Thomas and Killed--The
Confederate Line Broken—Grant and Porter Move—Fort Henry Bombarded by the Fleet,
and Reduced before Grant Arrives—The Army and Fleet Moves upon Fort Donelson–The
Fleet Repulsed with Loss—Grant's Attack—Battle of Fort Donelson—Desperate Fighting
-—The Confederate Commanders—The Surrender of the Fort—The new Confederate Line—
Island No. 10 Occupied by Them—It is Reduced—The War in Arkansas—Battle of Pea
Ridge—Operations on the Coast—The Burnside Expedition—Capture of Fort Pulaski—
Butler's Expedition to Louisiana.
BUELL's army was at last properly organized and drilled to take
the field, and moved in five divisions. Two, under McCook and Nelson,
were to combine in an attack on Bowling Green, with a third under
General Mitchell as a reserve. General Thomas, with a fourth, was
watching Zollicoffer, who was near Somerset, and Crittenden, on the
right, lay near Cumberland Gap. On the 18th of January, the Con-
federates made the first movement against Thomas' position at Mill
Spring. It was a night attack. At four in the morning they rushed
on the camp of the United States forces, hoping to take it by surprise.
our country's ACIIIEVEMENTs. 7(; ;
But they were on the alert, and for three hours a fierce fight went on
amid the darkness of the forest. The men of Kentucky, Minnesota,
Ohio, and Indiana bore the brunt, and finally, by a decisive charge,
sent their assailants back in headlong flight, leaving two pieces of
artillery, and strewing the way with muskets and knapsacks. Then
General Zollicoffer, coming in the confusion on a party of United
States officers, was killed by Colonel Fry. They did not even halt at
their intrenched camp, which was entered by the victors in their pur-
suit, and taken with all its contents. In that direction Kentucky was
wrested from the Confederates, and so discouraged were they that,
fearing for all their forces in that State, General Beauregard was sent
from Virginia to take command. Their main reliance was Fort Donel-
son and Fort Henry, on the Tennessee and Cumberland, forming, with
Columbus, a chain of posts deemed almost impregnable. Against
these General Halleck had planned a movement, confiding its execu-
tion to General Grant and Commodore Foote. Early in February
they moved from Cairo, but the land force was delayed in its march,
and, in fact, Grant thought himself rapid enough. Accordingly, when,
on the 6th, Foote came in view of the Confederate work Fort Henry,
General Grant had not arrived. This fort was a bastion earthwork, on
the right bank of the Tennessee, armed with heavy guns, and inclosed
in a line of breastworks for infantry. A road led from it across to
Fort Donelson, on the left bank of the Cumberland. Without await-
ing Grant's arrival, Foote resolved to attack at the hour he had
appointed, without giving the enemy time to prepare. Advancing
with his fleet in two divisions, he opened fire on Fort Henry, keepins
steadily on till he was within six hundred yards. For a time the
Confederate guns replied with vigor, even disabling the flag-ship Essex,
"... 62 THE STORY OF A G REAT NATION.
but they soon lost all heart, as gun after gun became disabled, and most
of the garrison fled ; so that when, after a contest of an hour and a
quarter, General Tilghman found it impossible to induce the men to
continue the fight, he ordered the infantry to retire to Fort Donelson,
leaving him with his artillerists in the fort ; so that when the Confed-
erates raised a white flag, there were only the commander, General
Tilghman, and sixty to surrender.
General Grant arrived at the close of the engagement, and took pos-
session of the works, but was too late to cut off the retreat of the fugitives.
This second disaster of the Confederate cause deprived them of the
Tennessee River, leaving it open to the United States gunboats. They
were not slow to act: pushing on, they compelled the enemy to abandon
and fire nearly all their boats on the river, a few only remaining to be
captured by the flotilla, which penetrated to Florence, Alabama.
Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland, forty miles above its mouth on
the Ohio, was an extensive earthwork, on a commanding hill near
the town of Dover, scientifically constructed, well supplied with artil-
tery, and manned by at least thirteen thousand men. General Floyd
commanded it, supported by Pillow and Buckner. Here it was evident
that a desperate fight would be made. Concerting plans with Commo-
dore Foote, General Grant moved upon it, and arriving before the
fort on the 13th of February, posted his troops around it, skirmishing
only to secure important positions. The next day Foote arrived, and
with four ironclads and two wooden vessels opened fire on the fort.
But the guns of Fort Donelson were better handled. After a severe
fight, two vessels were disabled, and two seriously injured, so that he
had to suspend the attack to repair. His fire had driven the Confed-
ſerates from some of their batteries, but as the vessels drifted down
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTs. 763
the river, the Confederates rallied, and the dear-bought advantage
was lost.
General Grant intrenched to await the return of the flotilla, but the
Confederates were too wise to allow him to carry out his plan. Re-
solving to cut their way out by the Wynn’s Ferry road, they
boldly attacked his right under McClernand, on the 15th, early in the
morning. McClernand for a time stood the fierce onset of General
Pillow, but gradually yielded. Buckner supported Pillow's attack by
charging McClernand's left, the brigade of Colonel W. H. L. Wallace ;
but that brigade stood firm, and drove Buckner back to his intrench-
ments. When, however, Pillow's success uncovered Wallace's flank,
Buckner renewed the attack, and Wallace was driven back. McCler-
nand's whole division was forced from the field a mile and a half,
his headquarters captured, and five pieces of artillery taken.
A brigade from General Lew. Wallace's division, coming to his
relief, was mistaken for the enemy, and fired upon, adding to the
general confusion.
The Wynn's Ferry road was open to the Confederates, who might
have retreated by it, but, in the hope of crushing Grant's whole army,
they neglected to do so.
When General Wallace came up to save McClernand's exhausted
troops at noon, the Confederates formed on the ridge occupied during
the night by McClernand, and they now charged upon Wallace's fresh
troops with the same spirit they had shown earlier in the day. But
they found in Wallace a foeman worthy of their steel : his steady line
met their charge, and finally drove them back to their own intrench-
ments. During all this bloody work, Grant had been on Commodore
Foote's flag-ship planning a combined movement. On arriving upon
764 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
the field he saw that either side was ready to give way, if the other
showed a bold front. He seized the opportunity, and ordered an
advance of his whole line.
He threw his right, Iowa and Indiana men under General Smith, on
the Confederate left, strongly posted as it was on rising ground, with
intrenchments and rifle-pits. The movement was successful. After a
stubborn fight, the Confederates under Buckner, who had hurried to the
spot, retired from their rifle-pits to their main works, leaving to Smith
the ground that commanded the fort.
These operations, in which the Confederate troops had fought bravely,
showed them, however, that they could not hold out. The day's
engagement had cost each side two thousand men in killed and
wounded. A stormy debate ensued among the Confederate command-
ers. Floyd would not surrender, nor would Pillow. They resigned
command, and retired by night from the fort with part of the force,
leaving General Buckner in command. In the morning, that com-
mander sent a flag of truce to General Grant to propose a cessation
of hostilities, and the appointment of commissioners to agree upon
terms of capitulation.
Grant's reply was a memorable one : “No terms except uncondi-
tional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move
immediately on your works.”
Buckner, in a letter expressing his deep chagrin, accepted the terms
and surrendered.
The fighting had been close and earnest: the losses were heavy. Of
the Confederates engaged, one thousand two hundred and thirty-six
escaped with Pillow, two hundred and thirty-one were killed, and more
than a thousand wounded. Thirteen thousand surrendered, with artillery.
oR, ou R country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 765
muskets, ammunition, and supplies; but the loss to the United States
forces was five hundred killed and eight hundred wounded.
The victory at Fort Donelson had not been purchased without
severe loss, but to the Southern cause the fall of the two forts was
beyond calculation. Their military plan east and west of the Alle.
ghanies was to make lines of strong positions held by armies of their
best men, in order to compel the armies of the United States to fight
them in the border States, leaving those at the South, to a great
extent, free from the horrors of war. In this way they made Virginia
the battle-ground to the last; but by the recent victories of Halleck,
Grant and Foote, the Confederate armies found it impossible to hold
their ground in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The loss of Forts Henry and Donelson completely broke the strong
Confederate line. Bowling Green, Columbus, Clarksville, and Nash-
ville were abandoned ; many heavy cannon which could not be moved
were thrown into the river at Columbus, and great quantities of valuable
stores were burned.
General Albert S. Johnson, the Confederate commander, took up a
new line lower down, occupying Island No. 10 in the Mississippi, New
Madrid in Missouri, and Jackson in Tennessee. Here they prepared
to make another effort to check the advance of the United States forces
from the North. The Western troops, elated by their victories, ex.
pected to sweep all before them.
Tennessee having been thus recovered, and being without a gov-
ernment, the President appointed as military governor the Hon.
Andrew Johnson, who had been Senator in his own State, its repre-
sentative in Congress, its Governor, and Senator at Washington. Iſe
had earnestly opposed the secession movement, and now attempted to
766 THE STORY OF A GREAT N ATJON.
reorganize public affairs; but though East Tennessee adhered to the
Government of the United States, the Western part submitted only to
force.
The Confederates were not allowed to hold their new line undis-
turbed. Halleck resolved to break this. Early in March, General
Pope invested the position at New Madrid, the western point of the
new line. Here they had thrown up a strong four-bastioned earth-
work, outside which were the encampments of a considerable force,
the whole surrounded with a well-erected earthwork and ditch. It
was manned by more than five thousand men under General McCown, a
distinguished officer, formerly of the United States army. Although aided
by gunboats, McCown, after some days' siege, seeing Pope's lines daily
approach, abandoned his position, leaving artillery, field batteries,
tents, and stores, and retired to Island No. 10. So precipitate was the
flight, that their dead were left unburied, and candles burning in the
tents. As this post commanded the river, and was below Island No. 10,
it enabled the United States forces to cut off the enemy's retreat from
that point.
This was not the only military operation west of the Mississippi.
Curtis, following up Price, pushed into Arkansas, the Confederates
retreating until swelled by such reinforcements that they deemed it
safe to make a stand. General Van Dorn, appointed to the command
of the Confederate forces, pushed on toward Missouri, to gain Cur-
tis' rear. On the 6th of March he fell in with and attacked Sigel,
marching to reinforce Curtis. Sigel cut his way through with some
loss, and Curtis prepared to meet the enemy from an unexpected
point. On the 7th of March he drew up on Pea Ridge, to meet the
combined forces of Van Dorn and Price, who were now between him
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 767
and Missouri. Curtis threw out Colonel Carr, whose brigade fought
desperately, but was steadily driven back, losing, but regaining, some
of their guns. Colonel Osterhaus, attacking the enemy's centre, met
a similar result. Sigel held his own, but the position of affairs at
mightfall was not cheering for the United States forces.
The contending armies slept on their arms not more than three hun-
dred yards apart. Each army prepared in the darkness of night for
the decisive struggle. On a hill that towered two hundred feet high,
Van Dorn planted heavy batteries, with infantry, forming his right.
Cavalry and artillery protected his left. Sigel, opposed to Van Dorn's
right, drew up his men well, and pushing on, opened an artillery fire,
which was well sustained, and finally dislodged the enemy from the
hill. Carr and Davis had more promptly driven in the centre and left.
After a furious battle, Van Dorn retreated, pursued for twelve miles
by the victors. The fighting on both sides had been of the most des-
perate character, and the losses were large. On the side of the
United States, the loss in killed, wounded, and missing amounted to
one thousand three hundred and fifty-one ; the Confederates admitted
six hundred killed and wounded, but lost really more than their an-
tagonists. In this bloody fight, General Ben McCulloch, who had so
long been the soul of energy, was killed, as well as Generals McIntosh
and Slack. In this battle the Confederates had a number of Indians
under General Albert Pike, and many of Curtis' army were found
tomahawked and scalped by the savage foe.
The battle of Pea Ridge established the superiority of the United
States west of the Mississippi; and even the Indians, who had been
led to share the fortunes of the Confederacy, began to waver, Seeing
nothing but utter ruin before them.
768 THE STORY OF A GREAT INATION .
On the Atlantic coast, the year opened with another expedition of
the naval and military forces. This was Burnside's expedition, also
aimed at North Carolina. After severe storms, in which several ves-
sels were wrecked, he reached Hatteras Inlet on the 13th of January,
1862. Entering Pamlico Sound, Captain Goldsborough, on the 7th of
February, attacked the Confederate forts and flotilla. After a spir-
ited action, the Confederate gunboats retired under the guns of the
forts. Goldsborough then bombarded Fort Barton, at Pork Point, till
it was utterly disabled: then General Burnside landed eleven thousand
men on Roanoke Island. On the 8th, these advanced on the enemy's
position, under the command of General Foster, Burnside remaining
at the landing. The Confederates were strongly posted, but, though
well defended, it was carried by assault, the enemy flying to the
northern part of the island. There they, with all the other forts and
troops on the island, finally surrendered,
Further down the coast lay a United States force at Port Royal,
gradually and slowly gaining ground. On the 10th of April, General
Hunter's batteries, which had been planted around Fort Pulaski, the
principal work defending the port of Savannah, opened on that work.
So powerful were the cannon brought to bear on it, that in thirty
hours' fire a practicable breach was made in its strong walls, and the
Confederate commander, Colonel Olmstead, finding many of his guns
dismounted, and the rifle-shots ſast working their way to his magazine,
surrendered the fort.
This capture, due in no small degree to the engineering skill of
General Q. A. Gillmore, cost the United States only one man. Some
smaller forts, and Fort Clinch, at Fernandina, Florida, were at once
occupied, as well as Jacksonville, Apalachicola, and the ancient city'
of St. Augustine.
CHAPTER IV.
The Invasion of New Mexico by Sibley—Canby's Defence—The Fleet on the Mississippi—The
Ram Fleet under Colonel Ellet——Memphis Yields—Butler's Louisiana Campaign—Farragut's
Naval Battle—Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip—New Orleans Taken—The Fleet Ascends
the River—First Operations against Vicksburg—The Chesapeake Naval Battle between the
Merrimac and Monitor—The Confederate Government—Stanton—Shields defeats Jack-
son–McClellan's Peninsula Campaign—The Battle of Pittsburg Landing.
NEW MEXICO, a Territory lying far to the West, had from of old
been claimed by Texas, and although to reduce and occupy it would
really weaken and burthen the Southern Confederacy, an expedition
of two thousand three hundred men under General Sibley, an officer
who had shown great ability in the United States service during the
Mexican and Indian wars, marched into the Territory from Texas, in
January, 1862. The United States forces were commanded by Gen-
eral Canby, who had been in a manner abandoned to his own resources
by the authorities at Washington : but he called out volunteers, and
with his regulars prepared to defend the Territory. Sibley attacked
him at Valverde, in February. The battle was long a doubtful one,
but at last the Texans made a desperate charge, killing Captain McRae
and Lieutenant Michler at their guns, and routing the regulars and
Volunteers who formed the infantry support. A total rout ensued.
Canby fell back to Fort Craig. Sibley then advanced, routing Colonel
Slough at Apache Pass, and entered Santa Fé in triumph ; but he
found in less than a month that his victory was useless, and that he
had no choice but to evacuate the Territory or be cut off by Canby ;
and, admitting that New Mexico was not worth one quarter of the
770 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
blood expended in its conquest, he retreated to Texas in Kſay, 1eaving
his sick and wounded.
After the evacuation of Island No. 10, Commodø/e Foote moved
down the Mississippi as far as Fort Pillow, where the Confederates
were again ready to contest the mastery of the great river. Not only
was the fort strong and well supplied with guns and mortars which
replied with accuracy to Foote's fire, but a ram with gunboats came
up the river to attack his fleet. An action took place May 4th. The
ram Mallory struck the Cincinnati in spite of her broadside and mus-
ket fire, crippling her so that she began to sink; but Commander Stem-
bel killed the Confederate pilot, and managed to run his vessel on a
shoal ; and the St. Louis ran the Mallory down, sinking her in turn.
The gunboats of the Confederate flotilla fared badly; one was burnt,
another blew up.
Fort Pillow was soon after evacuated, and the fleet kept steadily
Oſl.
Colonel Ellet had meanwhile organized a fleet of rams to meet those
of the Confederates. Commodore Davis, reinforced by this ram fleet,
moved down the river, and when approaching Memphis, June 6th, came
in sight of the Confederate fleet lying at the levee. It at once moved
down the river, then turned and came up in line of battle. After a
distant cannonading, two of the Confederate rams pushed out, when
Ellet, with his rams, the Queen of the West and Monarch, made for
them. The Confederates sought to elude them, but the Queen was too
adroit, and took one of them, fairly crushing her to a wreck ; which, as
soon as the Queen backed, sank. The other Confederate ram mean-
while dealt the Queen a blow which disabled her, but was in turn
struck and sank by the Monarch. That vessel was now attacked by
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 771
the Beauregard, which, however, did her no injury, while the Monarch,
using the ram, crushed in the Beauregard's sides, when her boiler ex-
ploded, pierced by a ball from a gunboat, and she floated away a wreck.
The Little Rebel next succumbed to the Monarch. The Confederate
fleet under the broadsides of the United States gunboats was as badly
handled. Of their whole force only one armed vessel, the Van Dorn,
escaped down the river. This extraordinary naval conflict had lasted
from five to seven o'clock in the morning. Not a man was killed in
the United States boats, and no one wounded but Colonel Ellet.
The people at Memphis, with the Confederate force occupying it
under General Jefferson Thompson, watched the fight with deep interest,
As he saw the day going against them, Thompson sent off his troops,
and at the close of the battle galloped out of the city, which sullenly
yielded.
The United States Government meanwhile pursued its course in re-
capturing the great Southern ports. The most important movement to
secure any of these important points was that against New Orleans. As
early as December 4th, 1861, Ship Island, one of a long line of small
sandy islands between New Orleans and Mobile, was occupied by a
small force under General Phelps. On the 15th of February following,
a fleet left Hampton Roads, bearing an army of fifteen thousand men
under General Butler. They did not reach Ship Island till March 25th,
Then General Butler with Commodore Farragut planned an attack on
New Orleans. The fleet was to reduce the two forts, Fort St. Philip
and Fort Jackson, which commanded the river ; and across the Missis-
sippi just at that point ran a great raft or boom of cypress-trees fast-
ened to chain cables. Behind this was a fleet of ironclad rams, gun-
boats, and fireships, commanded by Commodore Whittle ; while New
772 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION
Orleans itself was held by a force under the command of General
Lowell.
On the 18th of April, 1862, Porter's mortar-boats were in position
and opened on Fort Jackson, which replied steadily till five in the
afternoon, when flames were seen bursting from the fort, the wooden
buildings within having been set on fire by the shells. But the next
day, and the next, the fort held out.
Then, under cover of night, Farragut sent up the Pinola and Itasca,
which cut the boom and cables, and on the 23d he prepared to sail
up the river past the forts. The next night the whole fleet in three
lines moved up, Farragut with his largest ships near the western
bank, to engage Fort Jackson ; Captain Bailey along the western side;
Captain Bell keeping in the middle of the river with the rest. Bailey
ran by with little injury ; Bell's division was less fortunate. The
Itasca was disabled, and with the Winona and Kennebec dropped down
to their old anchorage. Farragut, as he anticipated, had a hard fight.
The Hartford and Richmond replied steadily to the fire of the fort.
The Brooklyn ran on to one of the hulks of the boom, and was then
attacked by the steam-ram Manassas, but evaded her blow and a bolt
aimed at her steam-chest. Another Confederate steamer then came
up in the darkness, but Captain Craven gave her such a warm recep-
tion that he set her on fire, and she drifted down, lighting up the scene.
Reaching Fort St. Philip, he poured in such broadsides that he drove
the gunners from their pieces, and pushing on, engaged gunboats fur-
ther up the river. For an hour and a half he was constantly under fire.
The Cayuga, after passing Fort St. Philip, was engaged by the whole
Confederate fleet, but, holding her own, had forced three of the smaller
Vessels to strike, when the Varuna and Oneida came to her relief
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 773
*
The Varuna was at once surrounded, but her fight is one of the most
memorable in history. She blew up or drove on shore four of the
hostile gunboats in succession : but at six was encountered by the iron-
clad ram Morgan, which by a raking fire killed or wounded thirteen
of her men, and then struck her with the ram. But the Waruna re-
turned her fire so hotly, that the Morgan, partially disabled, drifted out
of the fight. Another ironclad ram then struck the Varuna, the second
thrust crushing in her side—but not with impunity ; Captain Boggs,
aiming at her uncovered part, crippling her and setting her on fire. But
the Varuna was going down ; so he ran her into the bank, still keep-
ing up his fire on the Morgan, till the water rose on the sinking vessel
Over the gun-trucks. Then he got his crew ashore, and the gallant
vessel sunk ; but not before Boggs beheld the Morgan surrender to the
Oneida, which had come to the assistance of the Waruna, but had been
sent against the Morgan by Boggs.
In this desperate fight, the fleet, without losing more than a hundred
and fifty men, had overcome all obstacles. New Orleans was at the
mercy of the United States forces. General Lovell, who had witnessed
the action, attempted to raise a desperate force to attack the fleet;
but finally sent off his munitions and provisions, and retreated, setting
fire to all the shipping, steamboats, cargoes of cotton, etc., at the
docks. As the fleet approached the city, batteries opened on the
ships, but were soon silenced ; and at one o'clock in the afternoon of
the 25th the fleet anchored in front of New Orleans, its wharves one
mass of fire. The city refused to surrender or haul down the Con-
federate flag, and the Stars and Stripes hoisted over the Mint was
torn down by the mob. Porter, meanwhile, renewed the shelling of the
forts, which surrendered on the 28th, the garrison mutinying ; the naval
774 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
officers, however, towed out the ram Louisiana into the stream, and
loading her guns, fired her, sending her down into Porter's fleet ; but
she blew up and sank. The rest of the Confederate fleet surrendered,
except one vessel which was scuttled.
General Butler then advanced with his transports to New Orleans,
and on the afternoon of May 1st began to land his troops, amid the
curses and shouts of the mob. Butler took up his quarters at the St.
Charles Hotel, and soon convinced the city authorities that he was
master. The insults of the women to the officers and soldiers so ex-
asperated General Butler, that he issued a famous order which called
forth the greatest indignation throughout the South, and in the British
Parliament, its secret ally. He sent the mayor to prison, abolished
his municipality, and caused Mumford, who had torn down the flag
from the Mint, to be arrested and tried. On his conviction he was hanged.
Baton Rouge and Natchez surrendered to the fleet early in May.
The advance of the United States squadron under Commander
S. P. Lee encountered no opposition until it reached Wicksburg,
which defiantly refused to surrender. Farragut came up bearing a
small land force under General Williams. A bombardment was opened
on the 29th of June, but with little effect. Farragut then ran past
and met Commodore Davis, who had fought his way down from Cairo.
The attempts on Wicksburg all failed, and that city was destined
to be long a source of annoyance to the American commanders.
Williams returned to Baton Rouge, and was there attacked on the
5th of August by a Confederate force under General Breckinridge.
The fighting was fierce on both sides, advantage being gained and
lost ; and at night Breckinridge drew off, having lost three or four hun-
dred men, including General Clarke, left mortally wounded in the
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 775
hands of the United States forces. On their side the loss had been
severe. Every officer of the 21st Indiana was killed, and General
Williams was shot down while leading it in a final charge. The Con-
federates had counted on the co-operation of the ram Arkansas,
which came down from Wicksburg for the purpose ; but her machinery
gave way, and she was unable to reach Baton Rouge. The next day
she was attacked by Commodore Porter in the Essex, who shelled her
till her crew set her on fire and abandoned her.
In November the President assigned General Banks to command
the Department of the Gulf, and that commander reached New
Orleans on the 14th of December and assumed command. Butler,
who had gone down with thirteen thousand seven hundred men, and
not been reinforced, turned over to General Banks an army of seven-
teen thousand eight hundred men, including three regiments and two
batteries of negroes. Jefferson Davis, as President of the Confeder-
ate States, had, after Butler relinquished command at New Orleans, is-
sued a proclamation declaring that that general and his officers should,
if taken, be executed as robbers and criminals.
Meanwhile a most extraordinary scene occurred in Chesapeake Bay,
a contest that gave the world a new theory of naval warfare.
When the Gosport navy-yard was abandoned, the steam-frigate Mer-
rimac was one of the vessels abandoned and sunk. This the Confed-
erates raised, and transformed into a formidable war-vessel of novel
‘construction. The hull was cut down nearly to the water-line, and a
sloping roof like that of a house placed on it. This was made of
heavy timbers, and plated with bars of railroad iron three inches
thick. Her smoke-stack and pilot-house alone appeared. She was
strengthened fore and aft, and plated with steel, while at the bow ran
776 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
out a ram of steel, designed to cut into the side of any vessel she
might engage. She carried twelve eleven-inch navy-guns, and a hun-
dred pounder at her bow and stern. A fleet of United States men-
of-war, the Cumberland, Congress, Minnesota, St. Lawrence, and Ro-
anoke, lay near Fortress Monroe, when, on the 8th of March, the Mer-
rimac steamed out of Norfolk, with two steamers, the Yorktown and
Jamestown. As she approached the Cumberland and Congress,
those vessels gave her full broadsides, but the cannon-balls slid off
from her roofing without doing the slightest damage. Though stag-
gered by the shock, she kept on, and dashed upon the side of the
Cumberland, laying it open, and pouring in a broadside. The Con-
gress, engaged by the Yorktown and Jamestown, lost Captain Smith,
her commander, and, attempting to run on shore, grounded. In this
position the Merrimac came down upon her with a fire that raked her
fore and aft. She struck, and the Confederates took off some pris-
oners, but were finally driven off by the land batteries, which set the
vessel on fire, and she burned to the water's edge. The Cumberland
did not strike, but kept up the unequal fight most gallantly, her com-
mander, Lieutenant Geo. W. Morris, firing his guns as she went down,
and keeping his flag flying to the last.
The other vessels of the fleet in endeavoring to come into action
grounded, and became disabled. Universal panic prevailed, as it was
evident that none of them could cope with this new craft so strangely
equipped.
Relief was to come from a most unexpected quarter. In those days
every one was offering Government inventions and plans. A floating
battery, called the Monitor, had been designed by Captain Ericsson,
an experienced Swedish engineer, long resident in America. The
oR, our Count RY's ACHIEVEMENTS.
7
7
7
Government had built a vessel according to his plan, but little confi-
dence was placed in it. The vessel was below the water : almost on
the water-line was a shell-proof deck : from this rose a round turret,
which revolved by machinery, and which contained two eleven-inch
columbiads, very heavy cannon.
This vessel had just been completed, and ordered to the Chesapeake :
an order countermanding this came fortunately too late, and the Moni-
tor reached Fortress Monroe on the 8th of March, to find all in con-
sternation.
Her arrival was hailed with joy; and the old navy officers, who had
slightingly derided the cheese-box on a raft, now felt that here was
perhaps a match for the Merrimac.
As the haze cleared on the morning of the 9th, the Merrimac was
seen coming out for a second raid on the fleet. The Minnesota, which
had. grounded, was evidently her point of attack, and the little Moni-
tor lying in her shadow was unnoticed. As the Minnesota opened
with her stern guns on the dangerous enemy, the little Monitor ran
out and laid herself alongside the Merrimac. In vain the Confeder.
ate ironclad poured her broadsides on the little battery : the balls flew
off; while she, steaming around, sent her raking shots through the stern
or through the ports. Finding that she could make no impression on
the Monitor, the Merrimac opened fire on the Minnesota, doing some
damage ; but again the Monitor interposed and drove her off. Then
the Merrimac grounded, and was at the mercy of the Monitor, and got
off only to steam toward Norfolk, pursued by the Ericsson battery.
In vain the Merrimac turned on her little antagonist, and attempted
to get at the Minnesota : the day was lost. Sullenly, and discomfited,
she with her consorts steamed back to Norfolk.
778 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
The Monitor came off without the least injury; the Merrimac had
two guns broken, two men killed and eight wounded. Such was the
great fight of the ironclads in Hampton Roads. In Europe and Ameri-
ca the battles of the two days were read with the deepest interest,
and it became evident that the old navies of the world must give place
to ships of new form and strength.
Congress, in its regular session, made provisions for the great war
raging in the land. The Government issued notes known as green-
backs, which were to pass for all uses except the payment of duties to
Government. To meet the immediate expenditure entailed by the
army and navy, direct taxation was resorted to, and taxes were laid
on liquors, tobacco, and other articles, and a tax on all incomes over
six hundred dollars. These steps caused a complete revolution in the
money affairs of the country. The banks suspended specie payment,
and gold became an article of trade, being bought and sold at rates
exceeding the paper dollar. This rate fluctuated with military success
and other causes, and at one time the gold dollar was worth two dol-
lars and seventy cents in paper. Twelve years after the commence-
ment of the war, and eight after its close, the gold dollar was worth
fifteen cents, or nearly one-sixth more than the paper dollar.
This caused an increase in prices of all goods, commodities, and
labor. The risk from privateers made imported goods higher,
although nearly all imports were brought in on the ships of other
countries, England especially profiting by the difficulty which she had
created by recognizing the Confederate privateers. Bills were passed
abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, and making compensa-
tion to the owners, and for a similar step in the Slave States if they
chose to accept it; but the Border States still adhering to the United
OR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 779
States Government all declined it. Notwithstanding the express words
of the Constitution prohibiting acts of attainder, an act was passed
confiscating the property of any one adjudged guilty of treason ; but no
one was ever brought to trial on that charge and convicted.
Meanwhile the Southern Confederacy had installed a regular govern-
ment under the constitution adopted. Eleven States took part in the
Presidential election, casting one hundred and nine votes, which were
given unanimously for Jefferson Davis as President, and Alexander H.
Stephens as Vice-President. They were inaugurated at Richmond, at
the base of the great Washington statue, on the 22d of February,
1862, prayer being offered by Bishop Johns of the Protestant Episco-
pal Church. Davis' cabinet was composed of Benjamin, as Secretary of
State ; Randolph, Secretary of War ; Mallory, of the Navy, and Mem-
minger, of the Treasury.
At Washington, the beginning of the new year was marked by the
resignation of Mr. Cameron as Secretary of War, and the appoint-
ment of Edwin H. Stanton, a man of great energy and determination,
who to the close of the war discharged his duties with singular vigor
and resolution.
He became virtually commander-in-chief, new military divisions
were created, and orders were issued directly in the President's name.
Many arbitrary acts followed, such as the arrest and long imprison-
ment of General Stone, which gave rise to strong protests in Con-
gress.
From this period to the close of the war, the Shenandoah Valley in
Virginia became the battle-ground of contending armies, and it would
require volumes to detail all the battles and skirmishes that filled that
beautiful valley with blood and carnage. In the first movement, Gen-
780 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
eral Banks drove General Jackson back toward Johnston's army; but
General Shields, with the advance of Banks' army, resolved to decoy
Jackson to a weak point. In pursuance of this plan, he fell back to
Winchester, and took up a strong position. Jackson followed and
began the attack (March 21st). Shields, though wounded by a frag-
ment of a shell which broke his arm, retained command, and drew up
his men. On the 22d, however, Jackson gave no token of his pres:
ence, and many thought he had not come up, when he suddenly
appeared in force, endeavoring to turn Shields' left flank and enfilade
his position. Shields, fully aware of the skill of his antagonist, had
been on the alert. He repulsed the attack, and when Jackson, massing
his men, attacked the right, Shields was ready, and with a competent
force drove Jackson back through the Woods, leaving the United
States troops in possession of the field, three hundred prisoners, two
guns, and a thousand stand of arms. Night alone saved Jackson, who
retreated five miles from the battle-field. Shields in this battle fought
after being severely wounded, displayed the character of a hero and a
general, and has the high honor of having inflicted on Jackson one of
the few defeats he ever sustained.
Banks followed up this victory by occupying the valley, Jackson
retreating to Gordonsville.
About this time the Confederates abandoned Manassas and the line
of the Potomac, and fell back nearer to Richmond, on a line extend-
ing from Gordonsville to Yorktown. General McClellan, after advan-
cing to Manassas, left General McDowell to guard that line, and pre-
pared to make a grand movement from Fortress Monroe on Richmond.
Early in April he embarked an army of a hundred and twenty thou-
Sand men on a fleet of transports at Washington and Alexandria, and
OR, our CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 78 i
landing near Hampton, moved toward Yorktown. The Confederate
lines here were held by General Magruder. McClellan's army arrived
in face of them on the 5th. Instead of an attempt to storm them,
McClellan prepared for a regular siege, and on the 30th opened with
his siege batteries on Yorktown and Gloucester, and the Confederate
shipping in the river.
The enemy for a few days replied with vigor, but on the 2d of May
evacuated their works and retreated. McClellan immediately pursued
on land, and sent Franklin's division and other troops up the York
River—the James, owing to danger of attack from the Merrimac, not
being at his command.
The Confederates made a stand at Williamsburg, where they had
thrown up another series of intrenchments. General Hooker, with the
advance of McClellan's army, arriving before Fort Magruder, at the
junction of the Yorktown and Hampton roads, early on the morning
of May 5th, began the attack; but the enemy, unassailed at other
points, massed their troops at the menaced point, and Hooker's attack
was repulsed with heavy loss. Kearney’s division at last came up to
his support, and the battle was renewed. When night closed the fight
they had at last gained some advantage, while Hancock on the right
by a brilliant bayonet charge carried two redoubts.
McClellan was not on the field, and arrived only on the following
morning, prepared to renew the fight; but the enemy had evacuated
their works in haste, leaving seven or eight hundred wounded behind
them. Their loss in killed and wounded is not known, but was pro-
bably fifteen hundred in all. McClellan reported four hundred and
fifty-six killed, one thousand four hundred wounded, and three hun-
dred and seventy-two missing.
782 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
McClellan advanced in pursuit of the enemy, and on the 22d made
his headquarters at Coal Harbor, fairly arrayed against the main Con-
federate army at Richmond. But he labored under the mistaken idea
that this army was far superior to his own in numbers and equipments,
and instead of a vigorous attack, began to fortify his position, calling
meanwhile for reinforcements.
His advance, and the success of Burnside in North Carolina, left
Norfolk no longer tenable by the Confederates, and they accordingly
evacuated it, destroying the dry-dock and the Merrimac, as well as the
bridges leading from the city. General Wool at once took possession
of the place.
In the West, Commodore Foote had on the 15th of March begun
the bombardment of Island No. 10, but it was found to be a strong
position. By means of a canal, however, he ran past and joined Gen-
eral Pope, who was on the west of the river; and Colonel Buford, by
dispersing a Confederate force at Union City, Tennessee, completely
hemmed in the Confederates on the island. They attempted to escape
after sinking their vessels, but it was too late ; they were driven into
the marshes and forced to surrender. Three generals, seven regiments,
and a very large supply of cannon, muskets, tents, horses, and wagons
were lost to the Confederacy on the 7th of April, 1862.
While these operations were in progress, General Grant with his
army of sixty thousand men had pushed on to Pittsburg Landing,
an insignificant place on the Tennessee River, eight miles above Savan-
hah. His object was to give battle to the Confederate force under Gen-
eral Albert Sidney Johnston, which had concentrated at Corinth. It
equalled Grant's in numbers, and was strongly intrenched.
While Grant was leisurely preparing to cut off the retreat of this
OR, OUR COUNTRY'S ACHIEVEMENTS. 783
force and effect its capture, leaving his own army meanwhile without
the ordinary pickets, and making no reconnoissances, General Johnston
was preparing to attack him.
Moving silently out of Corinth on the 3d of April, and steadily
approaching over wretched roads with every precaution, he approached
Grant's unsuspecting lines early on the morning of the 6th, Major-
General Hardee leading, supported by Generals Bragg and Polk,
General Breckinridge holding the reserve.
When day broke, the pickets of Prentiss' division came rushing into
the camp, as shot and shell told that the enemy were on them. The men,
dressing, washing, cooking, were swept down and routed before they
had time to form. Sherman saw one brigade similarly scattered, but
for a time held the rest of his division steady ; but he too gave way,
heaving his camp, tent, and equipage to the enemy.
McClernand's division coming up, found Sherman's going, its best
officers killed or wounded ; the batteries taken or useless. Prentiss
finally drew his men up, but so badly that they were flanked and
utterly routed. McClermand, with Sherman beaten on one side, and
Prentiss on the other, faced along the Corinth road, and for a time held
it by his batteries, but by eleven o'clock he too was driven back.
Stuart, on the extreme left, although supported by a brigade of W. H.
L. Wallace's division, was also driven from his position from ridge to
ridge. Three of the six divisions were routed. Grant reached the
battle-field at eight o'clock to find his army beaten; but he set to work
to regain the day. He formed his three remaining divisions, and in-
fused new courage into his men. Hurlbut's division stood its ground
for five hours. Thrice the Confederates charged, and as often they
were hurled back, the Confederate commander, General Albert Sidney
784 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
Johnston, being mortally wounded in the attack ; but Hurlbut too gave
way. Then W. H. L. Wallace's division, after seeing its gallant leader
fall mortally wounded, fell back into line with Hurlbut's new position,
losing only one gun, the carriage of which was disabled. General
Lew Wallace, summoned to the field, found the enemy in posses-
sion, and had to take a circuitous route.
The rest of Grant's army was crowded on the riverside. Half the
artillery was lost or disabled, the hospitals full, the loss in men enor-
mous, whole regiments broken up and disorganized. The Confederates,
had they known the state of affairs, might have swept all before them,
They hesitated. Colonel Webster massed all the cannon he could find.
with volunteer gunners, to cover the roads approaching the defeated
army. When the enemy came up they were received with such
warmth that they recoiled, especially as the gunboats also opened
upon them. They had lost the moment for the decisive charge. All
through the night the artillery kept up its thundering volleys.
While General Beauregard, who succeeded Johnston, was telegraph-
ing to Richmond news of his victory, General Buell came up with the
Army of the Ohio. He found proofs of desperate need, and sent on
General Nelson, who formed near Webster's guns just at nightfall.
During the darkness, Crittenden and McCook's divisions came up and
crossed.
Daylight saw the scene change. Lew Wallace's fresh division and
the three from Buell's army, with the remnant of the shattered divisions.
now confronted Beauregard's men flushed with victory, but fearfully
reduced by the day's battle and by straggling. He too expected aid
from Van Dorn and Price, but it did not come.
The second day's battle was opened by the advance of Nelson's
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 785
division, on which the whole force of the enemy concentrated, so that
its loss was terrible : but they drove them in ; and when, later, Critten-
den's and McCook's opened fire, they forced the enemy back to
McClernand's old camp, and retook some of his cannon.
On the right, Grant threw forward Lew Wallace, Sherman, and
McClernand, who steadily fought their way through obstacles of
every kind.
Beauregard’s army, now on the defensive, had been forced back to
Shiloh Church, where it stood grim and undaunted, with heavy bat-
teries to check any assault. But at one o'clock, finding his effective
force reduced more than half by actual loss in killed and wounded
and by stragglers, he resolved to draw off, and retired unpursued to
Corinth.
In this battle, one of the most fearful ever fought on the continent,
the losses were terrible. The armies of Grant and Buell lost one
thousand seven hundred and thirty-five killed, seven thousand eight
hundred and eighty-two wounded, and three thousand nine hundred
and fifty-six taken prisoners by the enemy. That of the Confederates,
admitted to be nearly as many in killed and wounded, was in all pro-
bability fully as great. In fact it may be safely stated that the loss on
each side was about fifteen thousand men, one-third of all who went
into action on that terrible field. This battle is called in Northern
accounts the battle of Pittsburg Landing, while the South spoke of it
as the battle of Shiloh.
CHAPTER. W.
McClellan's Campaign against Richmond—Operations in the Shenandoah Valley–The Seven
Days' Battles—Mechanicsville—Fair Oaks—Gaines' Mill—White-Oak Swamp–Malvern
Hill–McClellan Retires to Harrison's Landing—Halleck made General-in-Chief—McClellan
Embarks for the Potomac—Pope's Wainglorious Promises—Banks Worsted at Cedar
Mountain–Jackson in Pope's Rear—Second Battle of Bull Run–Pope not Supported by
McClellan–He Retreats to Washington and Resigns—Colonel Cantwell—Lee Enters Mary-
land—Outgenerals McClellan and takes Harper's Ferry—Battles of South Mountain and
Antietam—Lee Retreats—McClellan Pursues—He is Relieved.
The new management of the War Department soon led to a disas-
ter in the Shenandoah Valley. The President and Secretary of War,
with no military training, were endeavoring to carry out campaigns
without a plan. General Banks, pursuing Jackson, was near Harri-
sonburg. Milroy and Schenck, with the van of Fremont's army, were
advancing from Monterey to Staunton : a small force under Kenly was
at Front Royal. While the United States forces were thus isolated,
Jackson, reinforced by Ewell and Johnston, moved with his usual
rapidity. Leaving Ewell to hold Banks in check, he pushed on to cut
off Schenck and Milroy, and took up his position on Bull-Pasture Moun-
tain. On the 8th, Schenck failed in a desperate attempt to dislodge
Jackson, and after losing two hundred and fifty-six men, retreated to
Franklin, destroying his stores. Jackson pursued for a time, then
crossed the mountains, and on the 23d Swooped down on Kenly, whom
he almost annihilated, capturing his train and nearly his whole force.
Banks learned to his dismay that Jackson was pressing forward to
Winchester, in his rear, with a force nearly four times his own. In his
attempt to reach that city he encountered Jackson, but, after despe-
rate fighting, managed to reach Winchester, and retreat through it to the
Potomac. There his army could draw breath. Jackson had swept it
; :
•º.
QUR Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 787
completely from the valley, with a loss of several thousand men, arms,
artillery, and stores.
From Washington, new movements were directed to intercept his
retreat ; but the able Confederate commander eluded Fremont at Stras-
burg, and Shields at Masamitten Mountain, and they were not able to
bring him to action till they came to Cross Keys, where Ewell took up a
position selected by Jackson's keen military eye. Fremont (June 8th)
attacked, but the action was indecisive although the loss was heavy.
Jackson himself the next day attacked Shields' advance at Port Republic,
defeating it with severe loss, and made good his escape. “Considering
the perils he braved, and the odds against him, his campaign was one
of the most brilliant of the war, and stamped him as a true military
genius.” The great object of this movement was to compel the United
States Government at Washington to keep troops near the Potomac,
instead of co-operating with McClellan, and in this the Confederates
succeeded.
McClellan's army, after occupying Williamsburg, and pushing on
toward Richmond, fought its first battle at Hanover Court House,
where, on the 27th of May, General Fitz John Porter defeated Gen-
eral Branch, capturing his camp with arms and railroad trains. This
position was important, as it opened communication with McDowell's
army expected from Fredericksburg. When, however, Keyes' corps
reached Seven Pines, crossing the Chickahominy, and that stream was
swollen on the 30th by sudden rains, General Johnston, the Confeder-
ate commander, resolved to crush the isolated corps before it could be
Supported.
Longstreet and Hill attacked Casey in front, while Huger assailed
his right flank, and Smith his left, almost the whole Confederate army
88 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
before Richmond, some fifty thousand men, being employed in these
movements under the eye of Jefferson Davis, who was on the field
with General Lee, while Casey was cut off from immediate support.
and General McClellan was at a distance. Hill's attack in front, at one
o'clock, took Casey by surprise, his men dropping intrenching tools to
form in line of battle ; then Rains came up on the left, and in spite of
Casey's efforts gained his rear. Under the terrible cross-fire, the
officers and men were dropping so fearfully, that the whole division was
driven back in disorder upon Couch's division, losing six guns, which
were at once turned upon them. In vain did part of Couch's force
endeavor to stay the onward course of the Confederates: they too were
swept back, till Sumner, having with great difficulty crossed the
swollen Chickahominy, checked them in that direction.
Heintzelman, a little after three, came up to the aid of Couch's right.
General Abercrombie held a position of the utmost importance at
Fair Oaks, where the Richmond and York River railroad crossed the
Nine-mile road. Here the fighting was deadly : but Abercrombie
held his ground; General Johnston, the Confederate commander-in-
chief, falling seriously wounded, and the next in command, General
Smith, being struck down with paralysis. One of the last charges on
Abercrombie's inflexible line was led by Jefferson Davis in person.
Just before sunset, Sedgwick's and Richardson's divisions of Sumner's
corps reached the field as the Confederates had turned Couch's left.
They completely swept the field, and saved Abercrombie, who was
beginning at last to waver. But the Confederates did not yield the
field till eight o'clock. They were then in possession of Couch's and
Casey's camps, and retained possession next day, sending their con-
tents to Richmond.
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 789
In the morning a desultory engagement followed, but at nightfall the
Confederate army fell back to Richmond, McClellan making no effort
to pursue them with his fresh troops, or take advantage of their con-
dition.
This battle, fought on the Confederate side with skill, judgment, and
earnestness, was on the American side desultory, guided by no direct-
ing commander, in which divisions brought up one after another were
subjected to the attack of superior forces. The loss on each side was
about six thousand men, in this Battle of Fair Oaks, which was fought
on the last day of May and first of June.
Hooker pushed on the next day to within four miles of Richmond,
and an advance by McClellan might have taken the city ; but he called
for reinforcements and waited. Meanwhile Stonewall Jackson, after
baffling Fremont and Banks, and keeping McDowell at Manassas in-
stead of marching to co-operate with McClellan, joined the main Con-
federate army at Richmond ; and General Robert E. Lee, now in com-
mand of that army, summoned reinforcements from all quarters, so
that he had an army of nearly seventy thousand men, much inferior
to McClellan's in numbers, although from the first that general per-
sisted in believing that he was outnumbered.
On the 25th of June, Lee had completed his plans, and again the
Confederates prepared to attack and turn McClellan's right at
Mechanicsville, held by General Fitz John Porter with twenty-seven
thousand men. Against him Lee sent A. P. Hill, followed by D. H.
Hill, supported by Jackson, leaving only twó divisions in front of
McClellan's centre and left, and thus again accumulating all his avail-
able force to crush one corps. The Hills and Longstreet advanced
rapidly and resolutely, but were repulsed with carnage in the attempt
790 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
to turn Porter's left, while Jackson failed to come up as early as was
expected to assail his right. Night put an end to the contest, and the
Confederates lay near by the American lines ready to renew the battle.
But McClellan ordered Porter to fall back to Gaines' Mill. There the
battle was renewed at two o'clock on June 27th, Lee's whole force
nearly being brought into action—a general advance from left to right,
made under a terrible fire of musketry and artillery. Porter's position
was a strong one. But it was the same old story of delay in support-
ing him, reinforcements arriving slowly and in small numbers, while
McClellan's main army made no offensive movement to assail the
enemy's lines or divert his attack on Porter.
His reserve under McCall had long been in action, supporting his
overpowered front, when Slocum's division came up ; but it was not
enough. Porter, massing all his artillery to cover the retreat of his
infantry, had checked the Confederates, when General Cooke's cavalry,
attacking without orders, were sent in headlong confusion into Porter's
line, causing fatal disorder. French's and Meagher's brigades in-
deed came up, and Porter's men, rallying behind the two fresh bri-
gades, advanced up the hiii, down which they had been driven; but the
Confederates, seeing fresh troops, did not renew the attack, but halted
on the field which they had won. Porter lost not much less than eight
thousand men and twenty-two cannon ; the Confederate loss exceed-
ing five thousand.
During the night, McClellan withdrew Porter's forces, and his whole
army was concentrated between the Chickahominy and his works
before Richmond ; he abandoned his line of supplies on the York; his
vast stores of munitions and provisions at White House were destroyed;
his cavalry fled down the Peninsula; and he himself, with a hundred,
oR, ou R country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 79;
thousand men, exceeding Lee's by at least one-fourth in numbers, pre-
pared, not to fight, but to retreat to the James. On the 28th of June
the movement began, the enemy in vain expecting an attack on their
position before Richmond. When they found he was retreating they
gave chase, and attacked him in White-Oak Swamp, where a sharp
action took place, resulting in another defeat of McClellan.
The next stand was made at Malvern Hill, on the James, which
McClellan's wasted, way worn army reached on the morning of July 1st,
closely pursued by Lee. McClellan's army was drawn up in a strong
position, and massed so that each corps could be easily supported.
For the first time the whole army was to meet the Confederate army
in battle ; but it was sadly shaken by the previous engagements, and
it had no commander to encourage and inspirit them by the magnetism
of his presence and confidence. Lee, filled with confidence by the
previous successes of his army, resolved to make an attack on McClel-
lan's concentrated army. Jackson, with his own division and three
others, pushed on by the Quaker road, the line of McClellan's retreat,
while Magruder from Richmond, by the direct roads threatened his
left; Longstreet's and A. P. Hill's divisions, which had suffered most
in the previous battles, were held in reserve. McClellan's army was
rawn up in the following order: At the foot of the hill and on its ris-
ing side was Porter's corps, forming the left with Couch's division of
Keyes' corps; Heintzelman and Sumner's corps further up the hill,
formed the centre ; Franklin the right; while McCall and the cavalry
formed the reserve.
At three o'clock the battle opened. Jackson's men, with a yell and
a rush, charged on Couch's and Griffin's divisions, but were hurled back
with heavy loss as Porter's massed batteries and solid infantry poured
792 THE STORY OF A G REAT NATION :
in their deadly volleys. Through the woods poured Magruder, and
others on the left, charging up to the very guns, to be sent back in dis-
order. Reserves were brought up, and again and again was the charge
renewed, till night put an end to the conflict—McClellan holding his
ground without losing a cannon, though at a fearful sacrifice of life.
At last the Confederates withdrew, their army being in the utmost dis-
order, while the gunboats in the James, hailing shells among them, in-
creased the confusion. The Confederate army in this rash attack must
have lost nearly ten thousand men. McClellan had at last won a vic-
tory; but instead of pushing on and taking the offensive so as to enter
Richmond, he gave orders the next day to continue the retreat, and
withdrew his army to Harrison's Bar. The seven days' battles had
cost him twenty thousand men, artillery, arms, and stores. An army
far exceeding that of the enemy had never begun the attack or fol-
lowed up an advantage, and finally retreated without attempting te
effect the object for which it was sent. -
A change was now made in the direction of the armies. General
Halleck was in July made general-in-chief of the armies of the United
States.
President Lincoln, chagrined at this result of such immense prepa-
rations, hastened to Harrison's Bar, and though he found McClellan
with eighty-six thousand men still ready for action, ordered that gen-
eral to withdraw his army to the Potomac, and McClellan did so, after
a reconnoissance under Hooker, which, properly supported, might have
carried Richmond. The withdrawal of the army was carried out
slowly, undisturbed by the enemy; but while this powerful army was
thus leisurely returning, new disasters befell the arms of the United
States.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEVEMENTs. 793
The success of General Pope in the West induced the President to
confide to him the defence of Washington and the Shenandoah Valley,
with an army composed of the corps commanded by Generals Fre-
mont, Banks, and McDowell. This army of fifty thousand men was
also to co-operate with McClellan, and at one time McDowell was
almost near enough to join in any movement. When McClellan was
forced back to Harrison's Landing, Lee took the offensive against
Pope. General Banks, at Cedar Mountain with six or eight thousand
men, was attacked August 9th by Stonewall Jackson, at the head of
at least twenty thousand veterans. Banks, stung by the taunt of one
of Pope's staff, fought desperately till he was fairly crowded off the
field by numbers, after losing two thousand in killed and wounded ;
Jackson admitting his loss to be more than thirteen hundred. Pope,
learning Banks' condition, sent up Ricketts' division to aid Fremont's
corps, now commanded by Sigel. But Jackson did not renew the fight,
and finding his rear menaced, retired rapidly across the Rapidan pur-
sued by cavalry.
Having captured dispatches which showed him that Lee's whole
army was advancing, Pope retreated across the Rappahannock, and
being ordered by Government to maintain communications with Fred-
ericksburg, saw his danger if reinforcements were not sent. On the
22d of August the Confederate cavalry under Stuart surprised his
headquarters with his papers. Heintzelman's corps of McClellan's
army reached Warrenton Junction three days after, and Franklin was
announced as at hand. But Lee resolved to crush Pope before McClel-
lan came up in force. He sent Jackson across the Rappahannock to turn
Pope's right, and strike the railroad between him and Washington.
The emergetic Southern general carried out the plan, and while Pope
794 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
was watching in front, captured Manassas Junction, with guns, loco-
motives, trains, and stores to an immense amount. In vain Colonel
Scammon, with two Ohio regiments, tried to regain the point : in vain
General Taylor, with four New Jersey regiments of Franklin's divis-
ions pushed forward to regain the lost fight. Jackson held his own.
Pope, astounded at this, next tried to concentrate his forces at Gaines-
ville and force a battle there, and Hooker drove Ewell back on Jack-
son at Manassas. Pope endeavored to close in on Jackson, and crush
him before Lee could come up ; but the orders of Pope were not
heartily obeyed by some of his subordinate generals. Jackson escaped
to Thoroughfare Gap, where McDowell met him in a sanguinary com-
bat which lasted till night, Jackson having the advantage. The next
day, August 28th, Longstreet came up to the Gap on the other side
to save Jackson, and McDowell and King, unable to drive him back,
retreated to Manassas.
The Southern army was now united and well in hand : Pope was in
a position of difficulty. Sigel, who was nearest the enemy, began the
action early on the 29th ; then Kearney's division of Heintzelman's
corps came up on his right by the Sudley Springs road, Reno supporting
the centre, and Reynolds taking position on the left. In the after-
noon, General Hooker's division came up to support the right.
Pope was now facing his antagonist with an army well drawn up.
Late in the afternoon he ordered Fitz John Porter to go into action on
the enemy's right, while Kearney and Hooker renewed the battle,
gaining advantage, though at last forced back a little by Longstreet.
This battle, fought on the old Bull Run battle-ground, had been a series
of actions in which it is supposed seven thousand men were killed or
wounded on each side. Pope was really beaten : he had failed to over-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 795
©
whelm Jackson ; and his army, brought into action in divisions and
brigades, had been severely handled. His opportunity was gone.
The next day, August 30th, he had only about forty thousand men
ready for action, almost out of food, and with no forage for his horses.
His call for reinforcements and supplies met no response. He could
not retreat safely ; he had no choice but to fight. He ordered Porter
to attack Lee's right, while Heintzelman and Reno advanced on his
left. Porter attacked in vain, and was finally thrown back in confu.
sion ; but the attack on Jackson, who was on the Confederate left, was
bravely made, and only when Lee's centre under Longstreet opened
on them did the United States troops recoil. Jackson at once charged,
and his movement, supported by the whole Confederate line, forced
Pope's army back.
Pope saw that all was lost, and ordered the corps to fall back delib-
erately to Centreville, Reno covering the retreat across Bull Run.
Here he found Franklin and Sumner's corps of McClellan's army, who
had been as it were idle spectators of his defeat.
Lee, too wise to attack Pope in front, sent Jackson to turn his flank
near Chantilly. General Reno met him, and a sharp action ensued, in
which, though the United States lost General Philip Kearney and Gen-
eral Isaac I. Stevens, Lee's plan was baffled. Pope's whole army drew
back within the intrenchments along the Southern bank of the Poto-
mac, and he resigned his command, having lost in that bloody August
full thirty thousand men, at least double what Lee suffered.
This series of victories on the Confederate side had almost com:
pletely swept the troops of the Union from Eastern Virginia; and
flushed with triumph they menaced Washington and the Northern
States. In this emergency General McClellan was once more called
796 THE STOIRY OF A GREAT IN ATION.
to command all the troops for the defence of the capital. He at once
concentrated the two armies to watch Lee's plans. Finding that the
Confederates had disappeared from his front, he left General Banks to
defend Washington, and pushed on to Frederick, which he entered just
as the Confederate rear was leaving it. Here he learned Lee's plans,
one of which was to capture Harper's Ferry, held by a United States
force of more than ten thousand men under Colonel Miles. Apparently
believing that officer strong enough in men and position to hold his
own, McClellan, instead of overwhelming General McLaws, whom Lee
had detached against Harper's Ferry, pursued Lee's main army. The
able Confederate general saw that McLaw's success depended on his
delaying McClellan so that he could not relieve Harper's Ferry. He
accordingly occupied the passes of South Mountain ; and McClellan,
swerving from the Potomac, moved for the passes. While the mass
of Lee's army was covering McLaw's operations, the small force under
Hill, holding Turner's Gap, was attacked by McClellan. Hill held his
own with remarkable tenacity till Longstreet came to his support.
Cox and Reno led the attack on the Confederate position, and, after
killing General Garland, by a stubborn fight won the left of the pass:
then Hooker came up with Rickett's, Hatch's, and Reno's divisions,
and the battle was renewed, Hooker finally flanking and worsting the
Confederate left as night fell, though Reno on his left was killed.
Meade on the right, with the Pennsylvania reserves, reached the sum-
mit after a fight, and then the centre of the army pressed on the turn-
pike and reached the top of the pass.
It had been a hard-fought battle, but Lee fought only to keep
McClellan at bay, and had succeeded. While McClellan's whole force
was thus occupied by Lee, McLaws had invested Miles at Harper's
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIII EvžMENTs. 797
Ferry ; and that old army officer, instead of evacuating, or taking post
on the heights and intrenching, acted most strangely. He had, though
ordered to do so, never fortified Maryland Heights, and, when the dan-
ger came, sent Colonel Ford there without intrenching tools, so that he
was soon forced from it. He even paroled Confederate prisoners,
and let them go to the enemy’s camp to report his position. Seeing
his resolution to give up the place to the enemy, the cavalry left Har-
per's Ferry, and, capturing Longstreet's ammunition train, escaped ;
but Miles refused to permit his infantry to withdraw. When the
enemy opened with artillery he raised the white flag. The fire was
kept up, however, mortally wounding Miles himself before Jackson
could believe that the post really surrendered. Then eleven thousand
men, with seventy-three cannon, thirteen thousand small arms, and a
large quantity of supplies, fell into the Confederate hands. The victo-
rious Jackson with the rest of McLaw's force at once hastened to re-
join Lee, and that general, satisfied with the result of his movement,
fell back from Turner's Pass.
McClellan had no alternative but to pursue and attack Lee's army,
now concentrated and exultant. On the afternoon of September 15th
his advance under Richardson came up to the Confederates strongly
posted beyond Antietam Creek, in front of the little village of Sharps-
burg. McClellan soon arrived with three corps. The whole of Lee's
force had not yet come on—Hill and McLaws were still on the march;
but McClellan, instead of attacking at once, waited till morning. And
even the morning of that day was lost in artillery fire at long range.
At last, in the afternoon, Hooker, backed by Sumner, Franklin, and
Mansfield, attacked the enemy's left and centre, but only to open the
battle. At daylight next morning it began in earnest. Hooker was
798 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION,
opposed to Ewell and Jackson, whom he drove from their position witn
loss in men and officers, till fresh Confederate troops enabled Jackson
to regain the lost ground, but only for a time, as Hooker, aided by
Mansfield, who fell mortally wounded, again checked the enemy, and
forced them back, till he himself, constantly exposing his person, was
severely wounded. Each side now sent fresh troops to this point,
where the issue of the day seemed to lie. The slaughter was fearful
on both sides, as the tide of battle rolled back and forward. At last
Franklin's corps by a gallant rush swept over the long-disputed ground
and held it.
Richardson's division, with Caldwell's and Meagher's brigades, had
meanwhile crossed the Antietam, and steadily fought their way up from
the creek toward Sharpsburg, capturing many of the enemy, and de-
feating all attempts to flank them. While directing a battery near Dr.
Piper's house the gallant Richardson fell, and was succeeded by Hancock.
Meanwhile, Porter's corps in the centre and Burnside's on the
left had not been engaged, Porter's force having been weakened by
detachments; but Burnside—ordered at eight in the morning to cross the
Antietam and attack—moved slowly, and did not till three in the after-
noon actually attack in force Lee's feeble right. He soon carried the
heights, but his delay had been fatal. Hill's division now came up
from Harper's Ferry, and, covered by a heavy fire of artillery, charged
his extreme left, which, confident of success, had fallen into disorder.
General Rodman was killed, and his men driven back toward the
Antietam, till the enemy were checked by the American batteries
beyond. Then they retired to their lines on the heights, having lost
General Branch in the charge.
So closed indecisively the bloodiest day that America had yet
oB, ou H COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 799
‘seen. Of eighty-seven thousand men whom McClellan sent into
action, more than two thousand were killed, nearly ten thousand
wounded, and a thousand missing. Lee left two thousand seven hun.
dred dead on the field, and lost thirteen guns, many colors, six thou-
'sand prisoners, and fifteen thousand stand of arms.
Hard fought as the battle of Antietam had been it was not decisive.
During the night Lee moved off quietly across the Potomac, leaving
his dead on the field and two thousand of his desperately wounded,
and retired to Winchester by way of Martinsburg. *
McClellan pursued slowly, and early in November reached Warren-
ton, when he was relieved of his command, and never again took any
part in the War
CHAPTER WI.
The Operations in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi—Advance of General Bragg—Battles,
of Richmond and Mumfordsville—A Confederate Governor of Kentucky Inaugurated—
Buell in the Field–Bragg Beaten at Perryville—Retreats through Cumberland Gap—Rose-
crans Defeats Price at Iuka, and Van Dorn at Corinth—Rosecrans' Winter Campaign—
Morgan's Raid–Bragg Defeated at Stone River—Minor Operations. .
THE Confederate plan of the year comprised an invasion of Ken- .
tucky like that of Maryland by Lee. Bragg's army, swelled to forty-five
thousand men by conscription, formed three corps, under Generals
Hardee, Polk, and Kirby Smith. Crossing the Tennessee near Chat.
fanooga, he traversed the mountains, and, after a feint on McMinnville,
pressed on into Kentucky. Cumberland Gap was abandoned at his.
approach ; but at Richmond, General Manson made a stand with raw
troops against Kirby Smith. He unwisely left a strong position, and
attempted to turn Smith's right, but was defeated, while the Confeder-
ate left, under General Churchill, turned and routed his right. .* He fell
back to his original position, where the battle was renewed, and
though some reinforcements came up, and General Nelson took com-
mand, the army of the United States was utterly defeated. Nelson.
being wounded, Manson resumed command, and attempted to retreat,
but his rear was gained by the enemy's cavalry and light troops, his
force was scattered in confusion, he himself, with many more falling
into the enemy's hands, having lost nine hundred killed and wounded,
and several thousand prisoners. Smith pushed on to Lexington, fill-
oUR countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 801.
ing Louisville, and even Cincinnati, with the wildest confusion and
alarm. . - - -
Guerilla operations were carried on in the West, with little regard
to the rules of war that govern civilized nations. Even the sick and
wounded were butchered. Thus fell a noble soldier, who had faced
death on many a field.
General Bragg, having completely flanked Buell's left, advanced in
force, and enveloped a United States force of four thousand under
Colonel Wilder, at Munfordsville, which, after a brief struggle, Surren-
dered September 17th. Bragg then addressed the people of Kentucky,
urging them to join the Confederate cause; but it was too late. Yet
he pushed on to Frankfort, the capital, where he inaugurated as Gov-
ernor of Kentucky, one Richard Hawes; but even the South laughed
at the farce. :
Buell, meanwhile, was moving slowly, waiting for reinforcements and
supplies, although his army really outnumbered Bragg's. An order
relieving him from command induced him to advance. Bragg then
slowly retreated with his immense train of plunder gathered in Ken-
tucky, and finally concentrated his forces at Perryville. Here, on the
8th of October, Buell came up with him. McCook, in the advance,
had posted his divisions, and was consulting with Buell, when Bragg
suddenly began the attack, Cheatham's division rushing with terrific
yells upon General Jackson, who held the left of McCook's line. In a
moment Jackson fell dead ; Terrill, next in command, endeavoring to
steady the line, was killed ; Colonel Webster, commanding the other
brigade, fell, and the whole division gave way in utter panic. Rous-
seau's division, composed of Harris and Lytle's brigades, then received
the shock, and stood it like heroes, fighting steadily for three hours, but
.** |
802 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
at last fell back to a stronger ground. Gilbert's corps was then attacked
in flank, but Generals Mitchell and Sheridan not only repulsed the
charge, but turning their guns on the portion of the enemy which had
driven Rousseau, advanced on the Confederates, whom they broke and
drove through Perryville, capturing trains and ammunition wagons,
the artillery keeping up a hot fire as they advanced. Gooding, sent to
McCook's aid, for a time checked the Confederate General Wood, but
Gooding was taken, and his brigade fell back. Then night closed the
strange battle.
The battle of Perryville was one in which individual valor was
more displayed than any generalship; it was on both sides a battle
without a plan, or any attempt to do more than attack or repel attacks
as each best could.
Buell was not on the field, and learned the state of affairs late in
the day. He prepared for a general engagement the next day; but
Bragg, who had lost some four thousand men, and had three of his
generals wounded, resumed his retreat, leaving many of his wounded,
and abandoning more with his sick at Harrodsburg, with large quanti-
ties of stores which he could not carry away in his flight. He finally
reached Cumberland Gap, and so escaped into Tennessee, Buell failing
to overtake him.
The result of these operations was a great disappointment to the
people of the North, who had expected Buell to defeat Bragg utterly,
and prevent any similar invasion.
The Government at once (October 30) removed Buell, and con-
fided the command to General Rosecrans. That general had just
displayed great ability. Left in command of Northern Mississippi
and Alabama, his force had been greatly weakened by Buell,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 803.
ſ
when he learned from General Grant that a large Confederate force
was advancing. He took the field, and finding that Price had oc-
cupied Iuka, concerted with Grant a plan for crushing him. On the
19th of September, Rosecrans moved in light marching order on Iuka,
expecting an attack on the opposite side by General Ord from Grant's
army ; but Ord, deluded by a Confederate demonstration upon Corinth,
never came up. Rosecrans, finding he must attack alone, handled his
small force with wonderful ability. After the most desperate fighting
he inflicted such loss on Price, that the Confederate commander, who
had eleven thousand men, after losing nearly fifteen hundred men, as
many stands of arms, and ammunition, abandoned Iuka, destroying great
Quantities of stores. Rosecrans, who had in action only two thousand
eight hundred men, had, from want of expected co-operation, failed to
capture Price, but he had utterly routed him.
Rosecrans, made a major-general, was placed in command at Cor-
inth, Grant returning to Jackson. Price, united with Van Dorn who
had so deluded Ord, now prepared to attack Rosecrans, and they
adroitly masked their design by feints on other points.
General Rosecraus prepared for either event, with his army well
in hand : his batteries were planted at points where they could com-
mand the approaches, and his whole army was drawn up, not on the old
Confederate fortifications, but on a smaller series suited to his numbers
Van Dorn and Price began the attack early in the morning of October 3d
General Lovell assailing Colonel Oliver's hillside position : Rosecrans
supported him, but the full weight of the Confederates, crushing back to
their inner lines McArthur and McKean, showed that the attack on
Corinth was a real one and not a feint. In spite of desperate fighting.
Van Dorn had gained a little, and exultingly telegraphed to Rich,
804 TIIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
mond that he had won a great victory. He little knew the man he
had to deal with. At three next morning the battle opened again
from Van Dorn's artillery, and shot and shell came hurtling into Cor-
inth. Then Battery Williams replied, and silenced the Confederate
guns. Meanwhile the rapid fire of skirmishes along the line showed
that both were active. At half-past mine, from the woods east of the
Memphis and Charleston railroad, a vast column of gleaming bayonets
came in sight, and in the form of an immense wedge came down the
Bolivar road. In vain Rosecrans' guns tore through the Solid mass of
Price's men : on it came, till within musket-shot. Then from Rose-
crans' whole line poured out volley after volley; but the Confederates
never faltered. Up the hill they poured, and before their charge
General Davies gave way. Rosecrans rushed to the spot, rallied the
men, and checked the enemy. Guns were taken, but the 56th Illinois
charged, and retook them. Then Rosecrans charged with his whole
line, and Price was hurled back, broken, and driven down the hill,
through swamp and thicket, to the depths of the forest from which
his troops had so grandly issued.
Van Dorn, impeded by the ground, was later than Price in attack-
ing, and Fort Williams and Fort Robinett commanded his approach,
but he led his men bravely on. They charged to the very ditch, mown
down by hundreds. Then the infantry fire cut them to pieces, yet the
survivors rushed furiously on : for a moment it was hand to hand, but
the next Van Dorn's shattered force was in flight.
Rosecrans did not pause. He at once pursued with five fresh regi-
ments that came up under McPherson, inflicting heavy loss at every
step, while Hurlbut and Ord, sent on by General Grant from Bolivar,
struck the Confederate advance at the Hatchie, adding to their disor-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 805
ganization and dismay. Rosecrans wished to push on, and if possible
annihilate the whole force, but Grant recalled him, and the Govern-
ment Summoned him to take command of Bueil's army. His loss at
Corinth was two thousand three hundred and fifty-nine, in killed,
Wounded, and missing ; that of Price and Van Dorn, nine thousand
three hundred and sixty-three.
Fighting against an army of more than double his numbers, Rose-
crans at Corinth achieved one of the most decisive victories of the
W3. I’.
Congress, meanwhile, was debating the great question of slavery, out
of which the war originated. As the Southern States were no longer
represented in Congress, the result was clear. On the 16th of April,
1862, the first step was taken toward the universal emancipation of
the slaves, by the passage of an act abolishing slavery in the District
of Columbia, and providing for the payment of three hundred dollars
for each slave. Bills to extend this plan to the Border States were
opposed by the Democrats, and failed. But an act was passed abol-
ishing slavery forever in any Territory. Then came other acts, passed
in July, confiscating the property and liberating the slaves of all who
took up arms for the Confederate Government or abetted it in any
Way.
It was very evident that slavery was doomed. The South, after
more than a year's struggle, had not secured the Border States or
crushed the Northern States that still adhered to the Government of
the United States; and nothing but such a triumph could save
slavery.
Rosecrans, on taking command of Buell's force, now called the Army
of the Cumberland, found it sadly disorganized—without supplies,
806 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
horses, or means to take the field. Before he could put it into a posi-
tion to take the field, Bragg, recovering from his late overthrow, had
marched around, and appeared in force before Murfreesborough, while
bands of Confederate cavalry, under Morgan and Forrest, had with
the utmost boldness raided through all parts of Kentucky, destroying
at pleasure, capturing trains and Small parties.
Rosecrans organized his army of forty-six thousand men into three
divisions, under Generals McCook, Thomas, and Crittenden, and on the
26th of December moved out of Nashville. They found the Confed-
erate general in position on the bluffs beyond Stone River.
Each general formed his plan of attack. Rosecrans arranged to
attack the enemy with his left and centre ; but Bragg, early on the
31st, suddenly attacked McCook, on Rosecrans' right, in front and
flank, routing completely one of his divisions, although the others,
under Generals Jefferson C. Davis and Sheridan, held their ground till
most of the division and brigade commanders were killed, wounded,
or taken. By eleven o'clock the day was apparently lost, McCook's
corps was virtually demolished, the enemy's cavalry was on their rear.
But Rosecrans pushed up Rousseau from his centre, and hurried up
Wan Cleve's and other divisions from the left, and when Wan Cleve
fell, led a charge which finally arrested the Confederates, and repelled:
their advance on his right. The centre, well handled by Thomas, bore
the brunt of the Confederate attack, but its flanks were exposed, and
it gradually fell back from the cedar woods to more open and favora-
ble ground, his artillery on a ridge. This position he held firmly,
defeating with slaughter all attacks. On the left, Woods held his own.
against Breckinridge—Rosecrans, as ever, at the point where a.
commander was needed, his friend and chief-of-staff Garesché being:
oR, our Count BY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 80'ſ
killed here by his side. At night, Rosecrans' army had lost half the
ground it occupied, one-fourth its men, and the enemy's cavalry was
busy in his rear. But he had no thoughts of retreating. He still had
ammunition, and prepared for another day's fight. That night he
drew up his force so as to profit by every advantage of ground, and
prepared to fight it out. Rifle-pits and hasty defences were thrown
up on both sides. New Year's Day passed in preparation. The next
morning, Bragg's artillery opened, and while Van Cleve's division by
Rosecrans' order gained a bluff, Bragg made his fierce and combined
attack, hurling Breckinridge's corps covered by Polk's fire on Rose-
crans' centre. It yielded to the shock : in vain the reserves came up ;
they too were borne back, and the Confederates swept on till Crittenden's
guns and Negley and Davis' men took them at a disadvantage, hurl-
ing them back in disorder, leaving guns, colors, and prisoners in the
hands of Rosecrans.
The next day he drove Bragg's sharpshooters from the woods in his
front, and planted his batteries to open upon the Confederate lines.
But Bragg had had enough. His cavalry, operating in Rosecrans’ rear,
had cut off trains and stores, crippling his power of pursuit; so the
Confederate commander, cautiously gathering up his men and guns, .
retreated near midnight on the 3d of January. He had lost, as he
admitted, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, ten thousand men out of
thirty-five thousand ; but his army and his loss were in all probability
much larger. The loss of Rosecrans was about nine thousand out of
thirty-seven. Such was the battle of Stone River, gallantly, obsti-
nately, desperately fought, and won by the skill, energy, and indomita-
ble spirit of Rosecrans.
On the 31st, when this great battle opened, Forrest, with his cav--
308 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION,
alry, attacked and nearly captured Colonel Dunham, with a 2.x.a.
brigade, at Parker's Cross Roads ; but just as Dunham was sum moned
to surrender, General Sullivan came suddenly up, utterly routing For-
rest, who lost six hundred of his men, with arms and horses, and fled
across the Tennessee. Morgan was more successful, destroying the
railroad and bridges at Elizabethtown and Bardstown, Kentucky.
Then the United States adopted the same course, and General Carter
dashed into East Tennessee, destroying bridges in various parts, and
even penetrating into Virginia.
Wheeler with his Confederate cavalry attacked Dover on the 3d of
February ; but the Illinois Colonel Harding, though he had only six
hundred men against thirty-five hundred, prepared to fight, after send-
ing for reinforcements. He kept up the struggle so judiciously, that
four gunboats, hearing of his position, came up at eight o'clock at night,
and by a raking fire sent Wheeler's force in rapid flight, leaving a
hundred and fifty dead, and as many prisoners, and losing four hun-
dred wounded. In his flight he was struck by Colonel Minty, who
reduced his force still more.
The war in that portion of the country was confined for a time to
small and indecisive operations, one of the boldest being that of Colo-
nel Sleight, who swept through Northern Alabama and Georgia, doing
great injury to the Confederate cause, till he was surrounded, and
being out of ammunition, surrendered. The Confederates regarded his
men as prisoners of war, but treated him as a felon.
CHAPTER VII.
9perations against Vicksburg—Grant's First Attempt Defeated by Van Dorn's Capture of
Holly Springs—General Sherman Aided by Porter's Gunboats—Attempts to Storm it, but
is Repulsed with Heavy Loss—Grant's Various Attempts—He goes down the Itiver—Bat-
tles of Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills, Big Black—Vicksburg Invested
—Pemberton Surrenders—Grant Drives Johnston from Jackson—Fight at Milliken's Bend
—Operations in Louisiana and Texas under General Banks—His Repulse at Port Hudson—
Second Attack—Gardiner Surrenders—Minor Operations.
ALL these operations, East and West, although they entailed great
loss of life, had not given the United States Government command of
a single Southern State, nor of any decisive point. The Mississippi
was still held with a firm hand by the Confederates, who had made
.Vicksburg a place of great strength, and from that point controlled
the navigation of the great river. It lies on one of the highest bluffs
on the river, and had been fortified with great diligence and skill.
The necessity of reducing it had early been felt by the United
States. General Grant, in November, 1862, began operations against
it, but his depot of arms, provisions, and munitions at Holly Springs,
left under the care of Colonel Murphy of Wisconsin, with a thousand
men, was captured by Van Dorn, almost without striking a blow.
This disconcerted all Grant's plans; but General W. T. Sherman,
with the Army of the Tennessee, descending on Commodore Porter's
gunboats, on the 26th of December made an assault on Vicksburg
from the north ; but the defences were impregnable to simple assault.
A garrison there might be surprised or starved out : if it did its
'810 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
duty, the place could never be stormed. The bayous and swamps so
covered it that there were only four points where it could be reached,
and these were defended with all the best engineering skill. Yet
Sherman trusted that valor could triumph. On the 26th and 27th of
December, he landed his men on the South bank of the Yazoo, and
pushed them forward in four columns, driving the enemy to the bluffs.
But Chickasaw Bayou could be passed only at two points. General
Steele found his way barred by an impassable swamp ; Morgan
pushed on to the bluff; Smith came to a sand-spit swept by the enemy's
fire ; farther to the right was A. J. Smith's division. The next day
the assault was made, and never did men go more gallantly into the
fight. But Pemberton's rifle-pits were lined with sharpshooters: his
artillery, covering every approach, rained grape and canister on the
advance. Human nature could not stand it : slaughtered as they
Two thousand men had been sacrificed in this desperate assault.
Sherman was baffled, but did not despair : he concerted with Por-
ter an attack on Drumgoold's Bluff; but before he could carry it out,
General McClernand, his senior in command, arrived.
That general led the army to a new field. He sailed down the
Mississippi and ran up the Arkansas, to attack Fort Hindman at the
point known from the early French times as the Post of Arkansas.
On the 11th of January, the attack was begun by Hovey, Thayer, and
Smith, supported by the artillery. At three the guns of the fort were
silenced, and a general assault was ordered ; but the Confederate Gen-
eral Churchill saw that resistance was useless. He raised the white
flag just as the 120th Ohio was swarming over his intrenchments.
McClernand had carried the fort, and taken some five thousand pris-
struggled through morass and quicksand, the troops at length recoiled."
(>
OR, OUR cornTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 81 ||
oners. After destroying the works, and all that he could not remove,
he returned to Milliken's Bend. Just at Wicksburg is one of the
great bends of the Mississippi. Grant's next project was a ship-canal
across it, so that boats could run up and down without passing Vicks-
burg: but after long toil, this proved utterly useless, and was aban-
doned. A smaller canal to Lake Providence proved of some service.
An attempt of General Ross to flank the defences of Wicksburg by
way of the Yazoo Pass failed, the gunboats in March being unable to
silence or take the enemy's works. Then a passage by Sunflower
River was tried, but this too was well defended by nature and art.
Meanwhile, the Queen of the West ran past the Wicksburg batteries,
and ascending the Red River, did considerable damage to the Confed-
erate cause, till a treacherous pilot ran the vessel ashore. The com-
mander, C. K. Ellet, and his crew, had to abandon the Queen, and in
the Era reached the ironclad Indianola. That fine ironclad, ascending
the Mississippi, was attacked during the night of February 13th by
the Confederate rams Webb and Queen of the West, which they had
refitted, and two smaller gunboats. They attacked the Indianola with
great energy and skill, butting with their rams, until at last the Webb,
striking her for the seventh time, stove in her stern. The Indianola
in a sinking condition was then surrendered and run ashore.
This gave the Confederates control of the Mississippi from Wicks-
burg to New Orleans: but they lost their advantage by a queer trick
of Commodore Porter. He fitted up an old flat-boat with clay furnace
and smoke-stacks of pork-barrels to look like some new and terrible
ram, and set her afloat. As the tide carried her past Wicksburg, ali
the batteries opened on her, and warning was sent to the Webb and
Queen. Both fled in all haste ; the Indianola, which they were repair-
812 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
ing, was blown up, and the river was again clear : but all attempts of
real gunboats above Wicksburg to pass below failed—all that tried the
experiment being lost.
Grant resolved on another attempt. As soon as the roads were
practicable, in March, he took the field and pushed down to Hard
Times; then Porter ran the batteries, with his gunboats well protected,
and pouring into the Confederate batteries as they passed a furious
broadside ; but the transports were not so fortunate : the Clay was
burned, the Tigress sunk, the Forest Queen disabled.
To confuse the Confederates, Grant sent Colonel Grierson, with a
body of cavalry, to sweep as far as possible through the country. In
a forced march of sixteen days he traversed six hundred miles, burn-
ing railroad bridges, cars, stores, arms, and munitions, capturing five
hundred prisoners, with the loss of only twenty-seven men. The
enemy sent out troops in all directions to head him off, but he baffled
them all, and rode into Baton Rouge in safety, after fighting four times
in the last twenty-eight hours of his daring ride.
On the 29th of April, Grant resolved to try the batteries at Grand
Gulf. Porter opened on them with his gunboats, but the enemy's
works were too high. Despairing of success here, Grant fell down the
Mississippi to Rodney, and crossing there on the 30th, pushed on the
13th Corps to Port Gibson, in the rear of Grand Gulf, the 17th Corps.
following close. Sherman, who had been left above, now with some of
the gunboats that had not run down made a feigned attack on Haines’
Bluff, a strong position on the Yazoo above Wicksburg, and kept it up
till Grant summoned him to join the other corps below.
Grant's advance under McClernand was met on May 26, near Port
Gibson, by a Confederate force under General Bowen, but, in spite of the
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OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACIIIEveMENTS. 813.
difficult nature of the ground, McClernand, finally defeated him with
heavy loss, and drove him into Port Gibson, which was abandoned that
night. The strong works at Grand Gulf were also evacuated by the
Confederates, leaving Grant master of the situation. A river, the Big
Black, which passes near Vicksburg, emptied into the Mississippi at
Grand Gulf. Up the left bank of this river Grant advanced, McPherson's
corps nearest the river, McClernand's on the ridge, Sherman in the rear
Near Raymond the Confederate General Gregg attempted on the
12th to check the advance, but the fight was a short one. The furious
Southron charge was met with a terrible fire of grape and canis-
ter under which it broke and fled, leaving nearly a thousand dead,
wounded, and prisoners. McPherson then pushed on to Clinton, on
the Southern Mississippi Railroad, and began to destroy it from that
point to Jackson, where it joins the Mississippi Central Railroad. But
he was not to reach Jackson without a fight. A force of South Caro-
lina and Georgia troops under General Walker, had come up, and dis-
puted the passage. McPherson charged. His whole line swept for-
Ward, driving the enemy into Jackson. Artillery was soon planted to
open on the capital of Mississippi, but the Confederates evacuated
it ; and McPherson entered, Sherman reaching it almost simultaneously
by the road from Raymond.
Wicksburg was now cut off from all supplies or reinforcements by
railroad.
General Pemberton was in position near Edward's Station, and
Grant resolved to attack him before Walker's troops from Jackson
could reach him. General Johnston, the Confederate commander-in-
chief, equally anxious to effect a junction with Pemberton, ordered that
commander to march on Clinton ; but when he reached Champion Hill,
'814 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Hovey's division in Grant's advance met him. McPherson supported.
but McClernand did not come up. Unequal as the numbers were, Hovey,
though crowded back again and again, massed his artillery, and finally
drove the Confederates back, losing in the long and desperate strug-
gle, one-third of his force, while McPherson by a brilliant charge
gained the enemy's rear, and cut off one division, which fled south-
Ward.
Grant at once pursued. Pemberton made a stand at the Black, but
Carr's division carried an important point, and the Confederate gen-
eral fled across the river by bridges he had made of steamboats and
now destroyed, leaving eighteen guns, one thousand five hundred pris-
oners, and quantities of arms and stores ten times more valuable to
him than to Grant. *
Before Grant could force a passage, Pemberton was safe within the
intrenchments of Wicksburg, which was completely invested by Grant
on the 19th of May. Porter at once attacked Haines' Bluff, but the
enemy fled, leaving guns, forts, munitions, tents, everything in fact, to
fall into the hands of the fleet. Yazoo City, a great naval depot and
workshop, was then taken.
Grant was now before Wicksburg, and felt that no time was to be
lost, as Johnston, the able Confederate commander, was in his rear,
receiving reinforcements from Bragg's army. A general assault was
ordered on the 19th of May. Blair's division actually planted its
colors on the enemy's works, but the advantage gained was too slight,
and the troops were recalled. On the 22d the assault was renewed.
Again Blair led the storming party, but no troops could stand the
deadly fire poured on them. The survivors recoiled. In vain did
Ewing, Giles, and Kilby Smith try at various points. Flags were
oR, ou k cot. NTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. - 815
planted on the works, and men mowed down like grass, but at night
the troops were withdrawn : there was no success sufficient to balance
the heavy loss. -
McClernand had carried a couple of works, but was taken as in a trap.
The other assaults were fruitless. At eight o'clock the men were re-
called from the more advanced positions, and the assault ended, having
cost Grant nearly three thousand men.
He now determined on a regular siege, which Pemberton, driven
into the city after a defeat, was in no position to continue long, as he
needed provisions and ammunition. But he held out gallantly. Grant
drew his siege-lines nearer, and ran mines under the main works. The
first of these was sprung on the 25th of May ; then came another
assault, that failed : and so the siege went on, fort after fort being
mined ; Pemberton trying by countermines to defeat Grant's plans. The
citizens, exposed to furious bombardment from the land side and the
river, lived in caves dug into the bluff, with famine staring them in the
face. At last, after forty-five days' siege, Pemberton, seeing that John.
ston could not relieve him, hoisted a white flag. Grant at first de-
manded an unconditional surrender, but finally agreed that Pember-
ton's men should be paroled and marched out of his lines, arms, public
stores, and munitions to be surrendered. On the 4th of July, Grant
entered Wicksburg, so long the object of the United States: the Con-
federate arms were stacked ; the cannon looked idly on the river,
where along the wharves lay the American gunboats. But this tri-
umph had not been gained without blood. Nearly nine thousand was
the fearful loss of the army from its landing below Grand Gulf. To
the Confederate cause the fall of Wicksburg was a terrible blow. In
the siege and the various actions, their loss in killed and wounded was
816 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
ten thousand, and in prisoners thirty-seven thousand; besides their
strongest post with all its war material.
Johnston, watched by Sherman, had been endeavoring to cut his way
into Wicksburg. On him Grant now turned his strength. Sherman
with an army of fifty thousand men at once pursued that Confederate
general, driving him into Jackson. There Sherman invested him, but
Johnston, eluding him after a brief action, fled across the Pearl, destroy-
ing bridges as he went.
Another fortress fell soon after. General Banks had been operating
in Louisiana, with a view to recovering Texas, but a series of disas-
ters on the coast of that State baffled his projects. His force was too.
small to occupy all necessary points and invest Port Hudson, where
the Confederates lay in strength. He began some operations on the
Atchafalaya, but as Farragut proposed to run the Port Hudson bat-
teries, he was summoned to attack that fortress. Farragut got past
with part of his fleet, but the frigate Mississippi ran aground, was cut
up and set on fire, floating down the great river at last one mass of
flame. His other vessels suffered severely, and a land attack was aban-
doned. Banks carried out his original campaign, breaking up Gen-
eral Taylor's operations, capturing two thousand men and twenty-two.
guns. About the middle of May, on Grant's offer of aid, he proceeded
to invest Port Hudson. This he effected May 26th, General Augur
joining him from Baton Rouge, after defeating a force sent out by Gen-
eral Gardiner, the Confederate commander. A gallant assault was made
the next day, but though the fleet aided, and caused the Confederates
great loss, Banks' columns were hurled back with severe loss by the
unseen enemy, who poured down grape and canister and volleys of
musketry. A loss of nearly two thousand men was the result.
oR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. : 817
A regular siege began, and after weary days of digging in the
trenches, a second assault was made on the 10th of June, with no im-
portant success. Gardiner was at the last extremity, nearly starving,
and Banks' mines ready to blow up his citadel, when, on July 6th,
news came that Wicksburg had fallen. When convinced of this, Gardi-
ner at once opened communication with General Banks, and on the 8th
surrendered the post with his garrison as prisoners of war. While
Banks was operating before Port Hudson, the scattered posts in Lou-
isiana were suddenly attacked by General Dick Taylor. Most of the
commanders displayed incompetence and cowardice. Post after post
was taken almost without a blow, no serious resistance being made ; but
when Port Hudson fell, Taylor abandoned his conquests as rapidly as
ſhe had made them, and retreated toward Texas.
That State, by the wish of the Administration, was to be the scene of
the next operations of the United States forces. An expedition under
'General Franklin, consisting of four thousand men, was sent with sev-
eral gunboats under Lieutenant Crocker to attack Sabine Pass. In-
stead of landing his troops and marching on the enemy's works,
Franklin let Crocker attack the fortifications. He lost two vessels, a
third ran aground, and his killed, wounded, and prisoners equalled
the whole Confederate force engaged. Such was the affair of Septem-
ber 8th, after which Franklin returned to New Orleans. Other re-
verses followed at Morganzia and Opelousas.
Banks, meanwhile, prepared a new Texas expedition, which he led
in person. Landing at Brazos Santiago on the 2d of November, he
took successively Brownsville, Point Isabel, Aransas Pass, and in-
vested Fort Esperanza at Matagorda Bay. This was all he detmed
it prudent to do with the force he could spare. General Dana, left in
818 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
*
command, scoured the country, secured Indianola, and asked to be
allowed to move inland and crush the Confederate forces in the State,
but he was overruled. -
The frontier bordering on Mexico was now, however, in the hands
of the United States Government for the first time since the commence-
ment of the War.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Army of the Potomac under General Burnside—He Crosses the Rappahannock and At-
tacks Lee's Position at Marye's Heights—He is Repulsed with heavy Loss, and IRecrosses the
River—Removed when about to Renew the Attack—General Hooker takes Command—He
Crosses the Rappahannock—Battle of Chancellorsville—His Right Wing Turned by Jack-
son, who is Killed—Desperate Fighting—Hooker Stunned by a Cannon-ball at Chancellors-
ville–Sedgwick, Operating below, Attacked by Lee's whole Force and Driven across the
River—Hooker Recrosses—Longstreet—Lee Flanks Hooker's Right—Milroy Surprised at
Winchester—Lee Crosses the Potomac—Hooker, unable to Obtain the Garrison of Harper's
Ferry, Resigns—Meade placed in Command—Movements of the Armies—They come in
Collision at Gettysburg—The Battle—General Reynolds Killed and his Corps Driven
through the Town—The Halt on Cemetery Hill—Sickles takes a wrong Position—Hancock
–Meade Arrives—Sickles Driven back—The Terrible Charge of Lee's whole Line—Its Re-
pulse—Lee Retreats—Manassas Gap—Warren and Hill—The Armies Resume their old
Positions—Mine Run–Droop Mountain.
GENERAL BURNSIDE, when placed in command of the Army of the
Potomac, immediately commenced preparations for a movement of
his forces down the Rappahannock to Frederick, Lee following on
the opposite side of the river. Sumner, with the van, attempted to
cross at Fredericksburg on the 17th of November, but failed, the
Confederates having burned the bridge, and pontoons failing to arrive
from Washington. The United States gunboats ascended the river,
but were driven back, and the channel effectually closed by bat,
teries. - -
Fredericksburg refused to surrender, and having been occupied by
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 819.
sharpshooters who annoyed the American troops, was bombarded and
greatly damaged.
At last pontoons came, and the army crossed between the 10th
and 12th of December, in spite of the constant fire of Confederate
sharpshooters, whom not even the fire of Burnside's batteries crashing
into the houses could dislodge. At last a call was made for volun-
teers to cross in small boats. Robert H. Hendershot, drummer-boy
of the 7th Michigan, sprang into a boat, and, when compelled to
leave, clung to the stern and crossed. Just as he landed, a fragment of
a shell knocked his drum to pieces, but he soon found a musket, and
returned to camp at the close of the day with one of the few prisoners
brought off.
£ee was drawn up behind the bluffs of the Rappahannock, as far
down as the Massaponax. His army was divided into two corps,
Jackson on the right, Longstreet on the left. Jackson was confronted
by Franklin's division, forty thousand strong, while Hooker and Sum-
ner were on the right, with at least sixty thousand. -
The attack began on the 13th of December, Couch's division mov-
ing up Marye's Hill, through a storm of artillery and musketry, only
to be confronted by a stone wall from which a perfect hurricane of
fire poured on them. Hancock's corps, including Meagher's Irish bri-
gade, charged with all the gallantry of their race against this wall of
fire, till only two hundred and eighty men were left out of one thou-
sand two hundred. Never was life so ruthlessly wasted. But fresh
troops were sent up again, till the terraces and slopes leading up to the
Confederate works were piled with dead and wounded. Franklin on
the left lay inactive meanwhile, awaiting explicit orders, and, though
he gained at last some advantage, fell back, when Lee, having repulsed
820 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
every assault on Marye's Height, could turn his whole force against
him. Night fell at last on this scene of unmilitary slaughter, in which
the army of the United States lost fifteen thousand men, including
many officers of high merit, like Major-General George D. Bayard,
Brigadier-General C. F. Jackson, and Colonel Heenan. Lee's loss
was less than half that of Burnside, as his men fought behind defences
and used their artillery effectively. -
Yet Burnside wished to renew the attack the next day, and was with
difficulty dissuaded. He remained two days in Fredericksburg, to see
whether Lee would come out of his stronghold to fight him—then re-
crossed the river.
He prepared plans for a new flanking movement, but his army was
thoroughly disorganized. His subordinate generals remonstrated to
Washington against him, and while he was about to dismiss several of
them, he was himself relieved from command on the 28th of January,
1863, ending his brief and unsatisfactory C2, I’ééI’.
Major-General Hooker was then appointed to the dangerous post, to
find the efficiency of the army almost destroyed. Desertion and cor-
ruption prevailed : the enemy's cavalry were raiding all around the
army. The first work was to reorganize, and to this Hooker devoted him-
self for two months, infusing new spirit into his officers and men, and
creating confidence in himself as commander. In April, he sent Gen-
eral Stoneman with the cavalry to cross the river to strike Fitzhugh
Lee's Confederate cavalry near Culpepper Court House, and then to
push on toward Richmond, destroying bridges, crippling railroads, and
impeding in every way the retreat of Lee. t
Then, by a masterly movement, deceiving Lee completely by throw-
ing troops across at Franklin's and Pollock's Mill, below Fredericks-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 821
burg, Hooker silently pushed his main body up the river to Kelly's
Ford, and crossing there, moved on Chancellorsville, driving in Gen-
eral Anderson.
Lee at once, leaving a small force to face Sedgwick below and hold
the heights of Fredericksburg, advanced with all his forces to meet
|Hooker.
That general was in a difficult country of woods and thickets of
which he knew nothing. His movements were uncertain. He could
not tell his antagonist's force at any point. Sykes, leading the Fifth
Corps, advanced toward Fredericksburg, but soon met the enemy in
superior numbers, and was ordered to fall back. Sickles’ corps, the
Third, had been posted in reserve at the centre : Slocum and Howard
held the right. Thus the army stood on the morning of May 26.
Sickles soon saw Lee's troops passing toward the right, and charged
them, capturing many, but the movement was continued further off.
He pushed on, cautious and watchful ; but his warnings had been un-
heeded by General Hooker as well as by Generals Howard and Slo-
cum, who had not even thrown up earthworks or batteries.
At six o'clock, as the winter day was closing, the movement was ex-
plained. Stonewall Jackson, with twenty-five thousand men, attacked
the Eleventh Corps on three sides. It was not in line, and was scat-
tered in a moment, every general and colonel disabled or taken, and
the whole corps driven in wild confusion on Chancellorsville.
Sickles, finding at last that the Eleventh Corps was routed, called on
Hooker to sustain him, but that general could not even send him a divis-
ion of his own corps. Sickles, with two divisions of his corps, was left to
hold out as best he could. He was well posted ; and Pleasanton coming
with a small body of cavalry, arrested Stonewall Jackson's charge on
822 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Sickles’ corps, which he hoped to treat as he had Howard's. But
Keenan, with the 8th Pennsylvania, died like heroes, to give Pleasanton
time to get into position, while Sickles gathered all the fugitives he could
to swell his force. Suddenly from the woods burst the Confederate
line with all the fury of their usual charge : but the ground was cov-
ered by Pleasanton's guns double shotted with canister, and the yell-
ing masses were hurled back to the woods. Three times was the
charge repeated, and as often repulsed, General Thomas Jonathan
Jackson, the famous Stonewall, being mortally wounded. When the
respite came, Sickles and Pleaanston strengthened their position, and
even regained some of Howard's lost ground. But General Hooker
ordered Sickles to fall back.
In the morning, his corps bore the brunt of Lee's first attack, made
with utter recklessness by J. E. B. Stuart, reinforced again and again,
until Sickles began to yield. He called upon Hooker for reinforce-
ments, but the commander of the army lay senseless at the Chancel-
lorsville House, a cannon-ball, striking a pillar, having dashed him to
the ground. No one assumed command. Sickles fought on, repelling
five charges, French and Hancock charging the enemy's left, and reliev-
ing Meade, who was hard pressed.
At last, General Couch ordered the whole army to fall back toward
the river. -
Meanwhile, Sedgwick had pushed on, entered Fredericksburg, and,
with some loss, carried the heights, so fatal to Burnside. Then he
moved forward on the Chancellorsville road. By this time, Lee, having
seen all fighting cease at Chancellorsville, detached forces to meet
Sedgwick. Before that general lay a strong position, which it became
more and more difficult to carry, while his own position became critical.
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 823°
Hooker had recovered, and taken command again ; but he did not
attack Lee, who, seeing all safe in that direction, turned his whole force
on Sedgwick, and drove him across the river with the loss of five
thousand men. Hooker then recrossed, and the strangely fought battle.
ended.
Hooker had lost full eighteen thousand men, with a host of able and
experienced officers, among whom may be mentioned Generals Berry
and Whipple. The Confederates made no statement of their losses,
but from the reckless bravery of their assaults it was probably as
great, and the loss of Stonewall Jackson was a terrible blow.
Stoneman's cavalry movement effected some little damage, but was:
an utter failure so far as the cutting off of Lee's communications with
Richmond was concerned.
While this battle was fought, General Longstreet, with part of Lee's.
army forty thousand strong, was besieging Suffolk. But General Peck,
aided by gunboats, though his force never exceeded fourteen thousand,
kept Longstreet at bay, and even captured one of his batteries, men and
guns. At last, after losing nearly a month, and two thousand men,
Longstreet retired.
For a time the two armies lay watching each other, when Lee de-
cided on a bold move. He resolved to elude Hooker, and strike north-
ward. Leaving a small force in Fredericksburg, he pushed on to the
Shenandoah Valley, unperceived by Hooker, or by the officers in com-
mand there. Winchester was held by General Milroy, with ten thou-
sand men; when the approach of the enemy in force was reported, he
derided it, but on the 14th of June was attacked by Ewell. He at-
tempted to escape, but it was too late—the enemy were in his rear, and
cut off his flight; not half his force reached Harper's Ferry.
824 TEIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
The Government now took alarm. Pennsylvania called out her
militia; New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and West Virginia were
called upon by the President to send militia to the relief of the
threatened State. But the country was disheartened by the length
and errors of the war, and its bravest men were in the army, or dead
on the countless battle-fields. Not more than fifty thousand responded
to the call.
General Hooker, on the day of the attack on Winchester, began his
march northward; but the Confederate cavalry swept along in Lee's
front, and were already in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, levying con-
$ributions. General Ewell, pursuing Milroy, entered it on the 16th of
June. Hooker at last covered Washington, and reinforced by part of
the troops in the defences at Washington, had at last a hundred thousand
men to meet Lee, who marched through Hagerstown with ninety-one
thousand, and six thousand cavalry, while at least five thousand cav-
alry were spreading havoc through Pennsylvania. Hooker, with the
eye of a general, resolved to secure the mountain passes, and cut off
Lee's line of retreat through the Cumberland and Shenandoah Valleys,
and for this purpose wished to use the troops near Harper's Ferry.
But General Halleck, as general-in-chief, would not permit him to add
to his army the garrison at Maryland Heights. On this, General
Hooker asked to be relieved of his command, and General Meade was
appointed to command the Army of the Potomac, which thus changed
generals on the very eve of a battle.
Major-General George C. Meade, thus suddenly and unexpectedly
raised to the command of the army when he actually expected to be
arrested on charges preferred by Hooker, was a native of Pennsyl-
vania, and, from an early period of the war, connected with the re-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 825,
serves of that State. He was the very reverse of the bold and dar-
ing Hooker; he was cautious, judicious, careful. General Hooker, on
retiring, truly styled him “a brave and accomplished officer, who had
nobly earned the confidence and esteem of the army on many a well-
fought field.” He had displayed his ability at Gaines' Mill, Malvern,
South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.
When he assumed command of the Army of the Potomac, Lee, who
had been levying heavy contributions on the people of Pennsylvania,
was rapidly concentrating his troops at Gettysburg, intending to march
on Harrisburo -
S-> y
Meade had either to meet Lee at Gettysburg, or draw him to ground
and not yet aware that Hooker was almost in sight.
of his own selection. The choice was not left to him. His cavalry, in
the advance under General Kilpatrick, encountered Stuart's Confeder-
ate horse near Hanover, and a sharp fight ensued, in which Kilpatrick
drove his antagonists off only when Custer came to his aid. General
Buſord, moving from Gettysburg, at Willoughby Run, two miles from
town, encountered the van of Lee's army, Heth's brigade of Hill's
corps. General John F. Reynolds, with the First and Eleventh Corps,
Wadsworth's division in the van, were near at hand, and the First press.
ed rapidly forward through Gettysburg, and forcing back Hill, seized
and held the ridge overlooking the place. Reynolds was with the ad-
vance, and saw that it was the place for battle. He sent back for the
other corps to support him, but while reconnoitering was struck by a
sharpshooter's bullet, and fell forward on his face dead. Thus opened,
on the 1st of July, the battle of Gettysburg.
That pretty little old-fashioned village lies on the northern slope
of a hill, Stevens' Run winding through the valley below, and a
college and seminary dotting the opposite hillside. When Reynolds
826 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
fell, General Abner Doubleday took command ; but the Eleventh Corps
did not come up, and Hill pressed Wadsworth back. But that general
yielded without confusion and with a purpose, for when the eager pur-
suers under Archer were pressing on him, he suddenly swung around
his right division, and caught Archer, and nearly a thousand men, the
whole of Davis' Mississippi brigade, in a perfect trap, the cut of an un-
finished railroad.
When Doubleday reached Seminary Hill, Howard came up with the
Eleventh Corps, and taking command of the First, put Schurz at the
head of the Eleventh. Here the battle was renewed : the two corps,
well posted, repelled all assaults till one o'clock, when the Confederates
saw Ewell's corps coming to their aid from the direction of York.
They came rapidly into the fight, and threw their whole force on the
Eleventh Corps. It was routed and sent back on Gettysburg, carrying
with it the First, which had hitherto done so well. The two corps, suffering :
terrible losses, were driven through the town, but were at last rallied
on Cemetery Hill, west of the village, reduced to one-half their numbers.
Sickles, with the Third Corps, was at Emmettsburg, halting by
Meade's order; but on Howard's call he pressed on, leaving a part
of his force at Emmettsburg. Just as Howard had taken post on
Cemetery Hill, Sickles came up and took post on his left. Meanwhile
Meade, at Taneytown, learning that the battle had unexpectedly
opened, sent on General Hancock to assume the chief command, and
that general stationed Wadsworth's shattered division on Culp's Hill,
at his right; and part of Slocum's Twelfth Corps, which now came up,
he ordered to Round Top on his left. Meade, satisfied now that Get-
tysburg was the place for battle, ordered up all the corps. During the
night, Hancock's corps, the Second, under General Gibbon, came up,
or, otº cott NTRY's AcIIIEvKMENTs. 827
and Sedgwick's, the Sixth, was alone wanting ; but was rapidly ap-
proaching, having thirty-six miles to march. His right, consisting of
the Twelfth Corps and Wadsworth's division of the First, on Culp's
Hill; the Eleventh, with Robinson's and Doubleday's divisions of the
First, held Cemetery Hill ; left of them lay Hancock's Second Corps;
while the Third, under Sickles, formed the left wing, running from Han-
cock to Round Top.
Lee, too, drew up his army. Hill's corps formed his centre, Ewell's
the left ; the right to be held, when he arrived, by Longstreet. The
day was nearly spent in these manoeuvres, and Meade had just posted
Sedgwick, who had arrived with the Sixth Corps, when the battle
opened. Sickles had injudiciously advanced, exposing himself greatly.
Lee ordered Longstreet to attack him ; while Ewell assailed Slocum,
who held the right. Sickles was crushed back, and the Confederates
pressed on to gain Little Round Top, a position of vital importance to
Meade. They had almost carried it when Sykes, sent by Meade to
save it, came up, and it cost a fierce and bloody struggle. Sykes suc-
ceeded ; but Humphreys, on Sickles' right, assailed in front and flank,
only by a most heroic and skilful fight was able to fall back to the
position which Sickles should never have left. Then came a deadly
struggle for Round Top.
Slocum, on the right, weakened by detachments, lost some ground
under Ewell's stern pressure; and Lee closed the day by an ineffectual
attack on Howard's corps, which held the face of the hill.
Lee was hopeful and confident. Three of Meade's seven corps had
been terribly reduced ; Reynolds was dead; Sickles had lost a leg ;
Zook, one of his brigadiers, was dead ; while of the rank and file the
loss must have been nearly twenty thousand men.
828 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
All prepared for the morrow, when the decisive struggle must be
made. The garrison of Maryland Heights, which had been refused to
Hooker, were not called on by Meade, who here yielded to the ideas
of others. There was no reserve, no reinforcement to help him. He
must fight out the battle as he was. º
Cemetery Hill was the centre of Meade's line. Early had in vain
attacked it the first day. On it Lee now turned the fire of no less
than a hundred and fifteen heavy guns posted along Seminary Ridge.
It was the greatest artillery combat ever seen in America. Meade's
guns, inferior to Lee's, were at last silent. Then Lee charged with his
whole line, three or four miles long, and the Confederates rushed furi-
ously on, attacking Meade's whole line as it lay wailed in smoke from
the Round Top, where Sykes held out, to the Cemetery, where Han-
cock was grimly awaiting them. On they came in three lines, with
the disciplined steadiness of veterans. The first line was swept away
by the cannonade and musketry of Meade ; but the second line
pressed on, driving in his lines, bayoneting the gunners at their pieces:
but where they gained an advantage like this, artillery would open
an enfilading fire, and again they were swept away, or so isolated that
they had no alternative but to lay down their arms and surrender.
Whole regiments, and even a brigade, thus yielded to Hancock's sturdy
corps.
In spite of their terrible earnestness, their splendid drill and
bravery, the Confederate troops failed to carry a single point of
Meade's line, heavy as his loss was in officers and men. Lee gathered
up the broken fragments of his splendid force, formed his lines, and
marched away. The day was won. The Army of the Potomac could
boast of one decided and decisive victory.
oR, our COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 829
But Meade was without ammunition or fresh troops to renew the
struggle and profit by his victory. Sykes pushed on, indeed, recov-
ering the arms, and wounded left in Sickles' repulse, and capturing
Some prisoners.
The battle of Gettysburg, in desperate and continued fighting, had
as yet been unequalled in the war. Meade left nearly three thou-
Sand dead on the field, while his wounded and missing numbered
twenty thousand. Lee's losses were fully as great, and included many
generals and higher officers ; he left, too, over thirteen thousand pris-
oners in Meade's hands, and twice that number of arms.
In this battle, Henry Shaler, a boy attached to an Indiana regiment,
took more prisoners than any other. On the morning of the 4th,
noticing a party of Confederates near where he was, he went out with
his poncho over his shoulders, and they mistook him for one of their
own army. He told them to lay down their arms for a minute, and
come help carry some wounded off the field. They followed him with-
out mistrusting ; but when he got them some distance, he rode up to
the lieutenant in command, and ordered him to surrender, which, with
a revolver pointed at his head, the officer did. Henry then marched
officer and men into camp.
During the 2d and 3d, the cavalry of the two armies had several
slight collisions; but on the 3d, the Confederates, under Hood, made a
vigorous effort to turn Meade's left on the Emmetsburg road ;
but this was defeated by Merritt's cavalry and Farnsworth's bri-
gade.
Though urged by some of his officers to make a general advance,
Meade only sent out bodies of cavalry on the 4th, who returned with
prisoners, reporting the Chambersburg road strewn with wounded and
S30 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
stragglers, ambulances, and caissons, showing the enemy to be in full
retreat and greatly demoralized.
On the 5th, Sedgwick was at last sent in pursuit of Lee with the
Sixth Corps. Near Funkstown, his advance under Howe and Buſord
came upon the enemy. Although, from Meade's cautious policy, they
sought to avoid a general engagement, they took up a strong position,
which the Confederates attacked ; but Howe's troops were remarkably
good—they quietly repulsed the Confederates twice, and the third time
sent them in full retreat back into Funkstown. Lee, by showing a
bold front to Sedgwick at Fairfield Pass, prevented an attack, and at
last, by what must be deemed a marvellous escape, reached the Poto-
mac at Williamsport. But his troubles were not ended. General
French, who had lain idle at Frederick, had sent a cavalry force to
Falling Waters, which captured Lee's guard and destroyed his bridge.
Lee was forced to prepare for an engagement, for Meade was in full
force near him. He drew up his army to make a desperate fight; but
on Meade calling a council of his corps commanders, he found that a
majority, and among them the oldest and most experienced, opposed
the plan of attacking Lee. Meade yielded to their advice, and stood
still while Lee crossed the Potomac, no attempt to molest him being
made, except a cavalry charge by General Kilpatrick, about two miles
from their bridge at Falling Waters. In this skirmish the Confeder-
ate General Pettigrew, commanding Lee's rear-guard, was killed, with
a hundred and twenty-five of his men, fifteen hundred being cap-
tured. g
General Meade crossed the Potomac at Berlin, on the 18th, and
pushed on to Warrenton, resuming the line of the Rappahannock,
which the army under his command had left hardly two months before
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 831
—and a most eventful two months they had been. He had outstripped
Lee, and seized the passes through the Blue Ridge, preventing the
Confederate commander from coming out of the Shenandoah Valley in
that direction ; but that energetic general soon reached his old lines
South of the Rappahannock.
The two armies were thus in the same position which they had so
long occupied. Lee soon after sent part of his forces to reinforce
Bragg ; and Meade having by cavalry expeditions under Buford, Kil-
patrick, and Pleasonton, ascertained this, crossed the Rappahannock,
and took post at Culpepper Court House, throwing forward two corps
to the Rapidan, and was about to cross it when he was ordered to send
the Eleventh and Twefth Corps, under Hooker, to aid our army at Chat-
tanooga. On receiving reinforcements, Meade again advanced, but
Lee pushed boldly upon him. Then, on the 13th of October, Meade
retreated to Cattell's station and Centreville, pursued so rapidly by
Lee's cavalry that they actually got into the midst of his army. A
sharp action occurred on the 14th, near Bristow Station, between
Hill's corps and General Warren's, the Second Corps of Meade's army,
in which the United States troops repulsed the Confederates, and held
the field till evening, when they followed the rest of the army, whose
retreat they had covered.
Then Lee, having with an inferior' force chased our army almost up
to Washington, destroyed the railroad by which it received its Sup-
plies, and large quantities of valuable stores, and taken two thousand
prisoners, recrossed the Rappahannock.
At the same time, Imboden's cavalry had dashed through a gap in
the Blue Ridge and captured Charlestown, near Harper's Ferry, with
four hundred and twenty-four men, and valuable stores.
8
3
2
THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
Eager to retrieve his credit, Meade wished to attack Fredericks-
burg, but Halleck overruled himt. Then he made an attack with Sedg-
wick's Fifth and Sixth Corps on Lee's position at Rappahannock Sta-
tion. The attack was gallantly made on the 7th of November, by
General David A. Russell's division, the 6th and 20th Maine
and 5th Wisconsin leading. It proved perfectly successful, carrying
the works, while the 121st New York and 5th Maine swept down.
on the right, cutting off the retreat of the Confederate garrison, cap-
turing sixteen hundred of them, with four cannon and two thousand
muskets. - -
At the same time, the Second and Third Corps, under General
French, crossed on a pontoon bridge at Kelly's Ford, General de Tro-
briand leading, and captured the 12th Virginia regiment.
Lee, thoroughly worsted, fell back to Culpepper, and the next night
crossed the Rapidan. *S.
Meade, after some delay, pushed on cautiously, and with his army
of seventy thousand men, on the 27th of November, came up to Lee,
who had his fifty thousand posted at Mine Run. Meade's first attack was
delayed by French's corps failing to come into line in time. Lee kept
strengthening his already formidable position, so that Meade found it
rash to attack him in front, which was bristling with abattis, parapets,
and batteries. After a careful reconnaissance, an attack directly in
front was negatived by the majority of the generals. Then Warren
was sent Southward, with the Second and Sixth Corps, to feel the
enemy's flank and turn it. On his report that an attack was practica-
ble at that point, Meade massed several corps there, and prepared for
a battle, Sedgwick to attack on the right as soon as Warren began.
Artillery and skirmishes opened the action early in the morning of
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 833
November 30th, but soon word came from Warren that Lee's defences
were too strong to attack with any hope of carrying them.
Meade hastened to the spot, and concluded to desist for the day.
The next day he fell back beyond the Rapidan; and thus terminated
the campaign of the Army of the Potomac in 1863.
It seems strange that the army made no attempt to bring Lee to
battle ; but Meade was not one who liked to assume too great a re-
sponsibility, he was hampered by orders from Washington, and the
corps commanders, from motives of their own, always decided against
active measures.
The only other operations in Virginia at this period were cavalry
raids, sometimes successful, sometimes repulsed. Late in the fall,
General Averill, with a force of five thousand men, engaged the Con-
federates under General Echols, on the top of Droop Mountain, in
Greenbrier County, and routed him with heavy loss. West Virginia
was by this blow delivered from the Confederates, who never after-
ward attempted to occupy it, contenting themselves with occasional
raids.
CHAPTER IX.
Morgan's Raid through Indiana and Ohio—The War in Tennessee—Rosecrans flanks Bragg,
and drives him to Lafayette—Bragg Faces—Battle of Chickamauga—Rosecrans Defeated
—Grant succeeds him—Bragg sends Longstreet against Burnside—Campbell's Station—
Longstreet Repulsed—Cavalry Raids—Grant's Campaign—Hooker Crosses the Tennessee—
Wauhatchie——Lookout Mountain—Mission Ridge—Sherman——Cleburne checks Hooker at
White-Oak Ridge–Knoxville Relieved—The War in Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian
Territory—Marmaduke at Springfield, Hartsville, Batesville, and Cape Girardeau—Coffey's
Operations—Quantrell’s Cruelties—Indian Operations—The Sioux War.
THE West was at this time the theatre of one of the wildest and
boldest affairs of the war.
This was Morgan's celebrated raid into Ohio. Morgan was a great
partisan cavalry leader in the Confederate service, and had already
given the United States commanders infinite trouble in Kentucky and
Tennessee, by the boldness and celerity of his movements. This bold
rider, who will long be remembered in the West, started from Sparta.
at the end of June, and crossed the Cumberland, with some two thou-
sand men and four pieces of light artillery. Every preparation was
made for rapid movement, his men and horses being cf the best. His
first operation was not ominous of success. On the 4th of July he
came upon two hundred men of the 25th Michigan, under Colonel
Moore, at Tebb's Bend of Green River, and summoned them.
to surrender. Moore replied that, being the glorious Fourth, he
couldn't entertain the proposition. Morgan at once assaulted, but
Moore had hastily and well defended his position. For several hours
he kept Morgan at bay, killing fifty of the assailants, including sev-
eral of Morgan's best officers, and wounding two hundred and fifty.
At last the Confederate commander drew off.
OUR Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 835
At Lebanon he was more successful. With some loss, he defeated
Colonel Hanson, and firing the place, compelled him to surrender.
Then he pushed on to the Ohio, and seizing two steamboats, crossed
over, his original force being swelled to four thousand men by recruits
from Kentucky Secessionists. Reaching the northern shore, he moved
irregularly to avoid pursuit, knowing that General Hobson was after
him. He galloped through Corydon, Greenville, and Palmyra, captured
three hundred and fifty Home Guards at Salem, Indiana, destroyed
railroads, bridges, telegraphs, and depots, exacting contributions as he
went, and sweeping off horses. The militia at Old Vernon turned out
so formidably that he avoided an action, and sweeping around Cincin-
nati, reached the Ohio at Buffington Island, expecting to cross and
escape to West Virginia.
But Hobson had resolved to head him off, and had sent to Louis-
ville to have the river patrolled by gunboats, and the people in Ohio
obstructed the roads leading to the river, so as to impede Morgan.
When the Corfederates attempted to cross at Pomeroy, they were
received by a volley, and a gunboat opened on them, while three
heavy-columns of infantry opened fire on their rear and right. There
was little time for deliberation : leaving his guns and wagons with six
hundred sick, wounded, and dismounted men, Morgan fled up the river
to Belleville, and began to cross, when Hobson and Shackleford were
on him again, and gunboats confronted him. Some three hundred got
over, retreated to a high bluff, and for a time held out ; but the strug-
gle was hopeless. Morgan and a small band managed to escape, but
the rest surrendered. The commander himself, continuing his desper-
ate flight, was hemmed in by militia and home guards near New Lis-
bon, and surrendered July 25th. His raid of nearly a month had
* - a
'836 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
thrown the whole State into confusion, and the destruction of property
was considerable ; but of his whole force of four thousand, only four
hundred escaped back to the Confederate lines, and at least five hun-
dred were killed and wounded. So exasperated were the people, that
Morgan and several of his officers were taken to Columbus, confined
in the penitentiary, and treated as felons; but Morgan, with six others,
dug their way out, and escaped to Kentucky, where they found friends
who aided them to reach the Confederate lines.
The great operation of the war in the West was the advance of
Rosecrans. Bragg lay before him, superior in cavalry, with abundant
railroad lines of supply or retreat in his rear ; while Rosecrans, infe-
rior in cavalry, depended on one line, which, running through a country
favoring the Confederate cause, had to be protected by troops at almost
every step. When Rosecrans obtained from the reluctant authorities
at Washington the cavalry and horses he needed, he prepared to ad-
V8,D.Cé. -
Bragg's army was in three divisions. Polk was in a formidable
position at Shelbyville, with another intrenched camp at Tulla-
homa. Hardee was on his right at Wartrace with twelve thousand
men ; while Buckner was near Knoxville and Chattanooga.
Rosecrans resolved to force him out of his strong position by a flank
movement, and a feigned attack on Shelbyville. On the 24th of June
he began his march, although heavy rains made the roads almost im-
passable. General McCook, with the 20th Corps, pushed on to-
ward Shelbyville, and carried Liberty Gap by a vigorous attack,
Thomas pushing on Manchester, with the 14th Corps, carrying
Hoover's Gap with Wilder's mounted brigade. On the 27th, Rose-
crans had his headquarters in Manchester, and Bragg, overpowered and
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 837
deceived, had been forced back to Fairfield. Granger and Stanley
then carried Guy's Gap, the Confederates retreating to their rifle-pits
near Shelbyville. Although at the risk of being overwhelmed by
Superior numbers, Granger and Stanley pushed on, and at six o'clock
in the afternoon carried Shelbyville itself, with five hundred prisoners
and a large store of provisions.
Rosecrans at once sent Wilder with his cavalry to destroy Elk
River bridge in Bragg's rear, and proceeded to flank the Confederates
at Tullahoma; but Bragg, completely outgeneralled, decamped, and fled
so hastily, that Rosecrans, having to guard his lines, could not pursue
him ; and though some blamed him, all who knew the country and its
condition justified the wisdom of his course.
In nine days, at a loss of only five hundred men, he had cleared
Middle Tennessee of the enemy, capturing one thousand six hundred
prisoners, with arms, artillery, and stores.
By the 25th of July, Rosecrans had collected the provisions re-
quired for an advance through a sterile and exhausted mountain
region. He then moved on Chattanooga, the remaining Confederate
stronghold in Tennessee. Upon this Rosecrans now moved with great
rapidity, and yet with caution. Sheridan, Reynolds, McCook, and
Brannan crossed the Tennessee at points selected by Rosecrans,
where they would be least observed ; Crittenden pushed on to Look-
out Mountain, and looked down into Chattanooga, while Thomas pushed
across Mission Ridge to the Chickamauga Valley. Bragg was again
outgeneralled : he relinquished Chattanooga, and saved his army, re-
tiring South to Georgia, drawing up at Lafayette. There he concen-
trated and called for aid. Buckner, eluding Burnside, hastened to his
Support from East Tennessee ; Lee, holding Meade inactive, sent to
S38 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
Bragg's aid Longstreet with his veterans; militia were sent up to aid
him in guarding bridges, depots, etc.
Rosecrans, who supposed him retreating on Rome, pushed on to
meet an army of nearly a hundred thousand men, the finest army the
Confederates ever massed west of the Alleghanies.
On the 10th of September, the van of Rosecrans' army, under Crit-
tenden and Thomas, found the enemy in force at Tunnel Hill and
Dug Gap. McCook, flanking Bragg, found that he was no longer in
retreat. Rosecrans had been informed by General Halleck that Bragg
had sent part of his army to reinforce Lee, and was thus misled—find-
ing Bragg not weakened, but greatly reinforced.
Aware now that he had been deceived and misled, he saw that he
must concentrate and fight. Bragg, his inferior in generalship, had
failed to entrap Rosecrans.
The American general's army, as now concentrated, was drawn
up with seven divisions forming the main line, ranging from right to left
from Gordon's Mill northward–Gordon Granger in reserve in the
rear of the left, covering the roads to Chattanooga. Bragg attempted
to turn and crush the left, while Polk pressed Rosecrans' front at Gor-
don's Mills, and Hill covered his left flank.
The battle opened on the 19th of September, at Reed's and Alex-
ander's bridges over the Chickamauga, Thomas attacking : the Confed-
erates, however, soon sent up fresh troops, and a long and fierce strug-
gle ensued, as each side was reinforced. By four o'clock, Thomas had
repulsed the assaults, killing the Confederate General Preston Smith,
but he prepared for fresh attack. This time it came on his right, a
charge so impetuous that his men recoiled, till General Hazen, of
Crittenden's corps, massing his artillery on a ridge, sent the enemy
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. S$39
s]
back in disorder. Cleburne, indeed, again led up the Confederates; but
when night fell, Thomas held his ground.
On the right, Rosecrans had done well. McCook had met and sus-
tained firmly the charge of Hood.
When night came, Rosecrans had lost no ground, but he saw that
he was outnumbered, and could expect no reinforcements, while Bragg
was constantly receiving them. He drew up his line to the utmost ad-
vantage, and at daylight galloped along the lines, and ordered some
changes of position. The battle on Sunday, the 20th, began by Breck-
inridge making a flanking movement across the Rossville road. Rose-
crans sent up to support Beatty and Baird, and Breckinridge was
driven back in disorder. Other Confederate corps came up succes-
sively, but Thomas stood like a wall of iron : Bragg failed to turn his
flank and get between him and Chattanooga.
Rosecrans ared badly, however, on the right, which had been weak-
ened to support Thomas : at an unfortunate moment, when a gap was
left in the front by a misconceived order, Longstreet charged, Hood,
supported by Buckner, crashing through Rosecrans' line, separating
five brigades from the rest of the army, cutting off nearly half of
them, and sending the rest in confusion toward Chattanooga. Rose-
crans rallied and reformed the commands of Sheridan and Davis at
Rossville, and then hastened to Chattanooga, to prepare for a desperate
effort to hold it, if the worst came to the worst.
The main body of the army was under Thomas, and could not be in
better hands. Brannan and Hood had been posted on Mission Ridge
in his rear, while Gaw massed all the reserve artillery. Thomas thus
provided for any attack on his rear. Gordon Granger, at Rossville,
finding no enemy in his front, and hearing the battle going on, re-
840 s TELE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
ported at three o'clock to Thomas, bringing in what he greatly needed,
a small supply of ammunition. At that time the enemy were press-
ing him in front and on both flanks, and Hindman was creeping up a
gorge to assail his right in flank and rear. By a vigorous charge,
Granger hurled him back, taking the gorge and a ridge beyond it.
Bragg, furious at the stubborn resistance which seemed to sweep away
a victory already gained, made a general attack on all points of
Thomas' line at four o'clock; but in vain did Longstreet, McLaw, Pres-
ton, Breckinridge, Cleburne, Hindman, and the flower of the Confeder-
ates pour down on his line. Thomas withstood and repelled assault
after assault till the sun set. Then, by order of Rosecrans, he began
to withdraw from the position he had so gallantly held. A part of the
Confederate force appeared, but was charged with such effect that it
was repulsed, leaving many prisoners in his hands. There was no pur-
suit. Thomas retired, and took up the position at Rossville appointed
by Rosecrans. So ended the fiercely fought battle of Chickamauga.
Bragg admitted a loss of eighteen thousand, sixteen thousand in killed
or wounded. Rosecrans lost about eleven thousand in killed and
wounded, and seven thousand five hundred prisoners, thirty-six guns,
and eight thousand arms. Bragg had won an undoubted victory,
but that was all. Rosecrans held Chattanooga, and was a commander
with an army not to be despised. Though defeated, the hero of Iuka
and Corinth had secured the great strategic object of the campaign.
The authorities at Washington, themselves responsible for the event,
made Rosecrans the scapegoat, and on the 19th of October that able
general received an order removing him from command. He at once
took leave of his companions in arms, and General Thomas became the
general of the Army of the Cumberland.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 841
While Rosecrans had been conducting a life-and-death struggle with
Bragg, General Burnside, at the head of a small independent army,
had overrun East Tennessee, hailed with delight by the Union men,
and finding no enemy in the field to oppose. Neither he nor his supe-
rior, General Halleck, seem to have suspected that the Confederate
troops had all been sent to aid Bragg. So that, instead of reinforcing
Rosecrans, General Burnside, after capturing General Frazier with two
thousand men in Cumberland Gap on the 9th of Sep ember, scattered
his forces, having an occasional skirmish with some isolated Confeder-
ate band. Had he joined Rosecrans, the result would have been dif.
ferent.
As it was, Bragg, after forcing Rosecrans back to Chattanooga, sent
Longstreet to crush Burnside. Longstreet, advancing silently and
rapidly, fell upon Colonel Wolford, at Philadelphia, on the 20th of
October. Wolford escaped with difficulty. The surprise was com-
plete. Six hundred and fifty men, six pieces of artillery, and a great
stock of arms were taken. Burnside, roused by the tidings of danger,
concentrated all his available forces at Campbell's Station. Here he
made a bold stand, and by means of his artillery checked Longstreet;
falling back to another ridge when the Confederate general endeav-
ored to flank him. When his trains had a fair start he resumed his re-
treat to Knoxville. By the 17th of November, Longstreet was before
him ; but Burnside had not been idle. Formidable earthworks cover-
ing heavy batteries were not to be carried without heavy loss. Long-
street's first assault carried a hill on Burnside's right ; and on the
28th he assaulted, with a storming party of three brigades, Fort San-
ders on the left of Burnside's line ; but General Ferrero repulsed the
attack, and Longstreet drew off, after sacrificing eight hundred men
S42 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
in his rash attempt. By this time his opportunity was lost. He could
no longer serve Bragg, and retreated rapidly into Virginia.
When Rosecrans was removed, Halleck telegraphed to Grant to take
command of the army, and ordered troops from all parts to Chatta.
nooga : but Grant was sick at New Orleans, and meanwhile Bragg's
cavalry under Wheeler had captured in Sequatchie Valley Thomas'
train of a thousand wagons loaded with supplies; then another train at
McMinnville, besides destroying railroads and bridges to prevent re-
lief reaching him. Thomas was reduced to terrible straits. When
Grant at last reached Louisville, October 18th, he telegraphed to
Thomas to hold Chattanooga at all hazards, and that general replied :
“I will hold on till we starve.” Grant, on arriving at Chattanooga on
the 23d of October, proceeded with General Thomas and his chief en-
gineer to examine the river. It was decided that Hooker should
cross at Bridgeport, where he was, and advance on Wauhatchie, in
Lookout Valley. This he did on the 28th, while four thousand men
under Brigadier-General W. F. Smith dropped down the river by night
and seized the heights at Brown's Ferry, and in the morning completed a
pontoon bridge. Grant had thus gained the shortest line for concen-
trating his troops, and a convenient road for supplies. With scarcely
a skirmish between pickets he had made Chattanooga safe.
Law's division of Longstreet's corps on Lookout Mountain had
watched Hooker, occasionally sending a shell into his line. He was
not strong enough to fight Hooker by daylight, but hoped to surprise
part of his force in the woods, and at least cripple him by capturing
a train. At one o'clock in the morning he attacked Geary with a
wild yell, charging on three sides at once. But Geary held his own ;
and Schurz came up to his aid, while Tyndale's brigade gallantly car-
&
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 843
tried a hill on his left, and the 73d Ohio charged up a hill still farther
behind. Foiled and badly shattered, Law's line recoiled into the dark-
ling woods, leaving one hundred and fifty-three dead and more than
a hundred prisoners. Hooker followed up his success by clearing Rac-
coon Mountain of the enemy.
Bragg, weakened by the absence of Longstreet, made no further at-
tack, but held to his strong line along the western and northern slopes
of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, and across the valley at the
mouth of Chattanooga Creek.
Sherman, ordered by Grant to join him, had marched from Vicks-
burg with his corps, harassed all the way by the enemy ; but Grant
ordered him to use all dispatch, and on the 15th of November he re-
ported in person. Grant at once sent this new force to threaten
Bragg's extreme right; but when he had engaged Bragg's attention
there, he quietly crossed at the pontoon bridge, and moving around
Chattanooga, took position on Thomas' left. On the 23d, Thomas ad-
vanced with Granger's corps, Sheridan, Wood, and Palmer. With one
bold rush they carried Orchard Ridge, taking the Confederate rifle-pits
and many prisoners. Then Hooker moved on Lookout Mountain,
which was held by General Stevenson with six brigades, and soon re-
inforced. But Hooker pressed on, seizing a bridge here, building one
there. Then he opened with all his artillery, and Wood and Gross,
dashing across, joined Geary, and swept down the valley, driving the
enemy before them up the mountain, and following at full speed over
ledge and chasm ; while Geary swept round the summit and pressed
on. Hooker, for fear of surprise, had ordered them to halt at the sum-
mit ; but they kept on, driving the shattered remnant of the enemy
down the eastern side of the mountain. At two o'clock so dense a
844 THE STORY OF : A GREAT NATION :
cloud enveloped the mountain that no further movement was possible :
but Hooker made good his position by good though hasty works.
About sunset the enemy made a final effort to gain the mountain;
before morning they abandoned it, leaving rations by the thousand,
and abundant camp equipage. A difficult mountain position, held by a
brave enemy, with brave troops had been carried. - -
While he was resting, Sherman was busy crossing, and by noon had
bridges across the Tennessee and Chickamauga, eight thousand men
over, and the rest crossing, eager to join in the hot work of the day.
The firing soon began. A sharp struggle was made for Mission Ridge,
but Sherman planted himself there, and soon made his line too strong
to fear attack.
Thomas pushed on to join the advanced positions of Sherman and
Hooker, while Thomas' cavalry under Colonel Long swept along
Bragg's rear, burning Tyner's Station, capturing wagons, and destroy-
ing stores—playing the same game on Bragg that he had played be-
fore on Rosecrans. Bragg was beaten out of his strong line : he
abandoned Lookout Mountain ; but Hooker pressed on, delayed by
the destruction of bridges. While Osterhaus swung around Mission
Ridge on the east, and Geary on the west, Crufts moved upon the
enemy's front, well protected as it was by breastworks. At a charge
they swept on, bearing the Confederates before them, flanked as they
were by Osterhaus and Geary, who captured all who attempted to
t escape. At Sunset, Hooker had cleared the mountain, and encamped
amid the rocky heights he had so nobly won.
Sherman met harder work as he advanced down one mountain-slope
and up another in face of the enemy. A long, stubborn fight ensued,
actually hand to hand ; but Corse could not carry the enemy's works,
OR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. - 845
which were held by General Cleburne, under Lieutenant-General
Hardee. But Smith and Loomis flanked the enemy's works; and
though the reserves were driven back by a fierce artillery fire, Sher-
man lost no ground, but was held by the stubborn resistance of his
antagonist. Generals were disabled and carried from the field ; but
though the fight went on, no success had been gained at three
o'clock.
Thomas was already in movement. Driving the Confederates under
Anderson from their rifle-pits at the foot of the mountain, his men
pursued them under a fearful volley of grape and canister up the hill-
side, no wavering in his long line till he reached the summit, captur-
ing prisoners, cannon, and ammunition. Only on the left was any
resistance made by General Bates. Then the enemy, at the railroad
tunnel in front of Sherman, gave way, and were captured or driven
across Chickamauga Creek. So rapidly were all these movements
made, that large bodies of Confederates, in endeavoring to retreat,
were caught in between different portions of Grant's army and cap-
tured.
By midnight the whole of Bragg's strong position on Lookout Moun-
tain, Chattanooga Valley, and Mission Ridge, was in Grant's posses-
sion, with prisoners, artillery, and small arms in great number; and
as he confessed, he owed the escape of his army only to his own
thorough knowledge of the country, and Grant's comparative igno-
rance of it.
Grant, sending off Granger to relieve Knoxville, let Sherman and
Hooker at daylight, on the 26th, pursue Bragg, who was in full retreat
on Greysville and Ringgold. Many prisoners and some guns were
taken in this pursuit; but the stubborn Cleburne made a stand at the
S46 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
Gap, in White-Oak Ridge, losing a hundred and thirty men, but de-
laying Hooker, and causing him a loss nearly four times as great.
The pursuit was not continued beyond Ringgold, as Sherman too turned
toward Knoxville, and by a forced march compelled Longstreet to
raise the siege.
In this glorious series of battles, which effectually broke the Confed-
erate power in that section, Grant lost, in killed, wounded, and missing,
about fifty-six hundred men, capturing more than six thousand pris-
oners, forty cannon, and seven thousand stand of arms. Bragg lost in
killed and wounded about three thousand, but his loss in war material
was very heavy ; and the spirit of his army was broken.
The operations west of the Mississippi were occasional movements
of Confederate forces from Arkansas, which was one of their strong-
holds, upon Missouri, where they were always sure to find sympathizers
and recruits. These campaigns served only to fill Missouri with des-
olation and ruin, and did not contribute materially to the final results
of the war. When the Confederates lost the control of the Missis-
sippi by the battle of Belmont, the loss of Fort Henry, Donaldson,
and Island No. 10, as well as of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and
New Orleans below, and finally, by the loss of Wicksburg, their armies
west of the Mississippi were completely cut off from those which were
fighting the great contest on the east.
Early in 1863, four thousand men under General Marmaduke issued
"from Arkansas, and avoiding General Blunt, struck at Springfield. But
General Brown, in command there, was a man of resolution and re-
source. Although he had only militia at his command and men of the
118th Iowa, and some convalescents, or, as the soldiers called them,
“the Quinine Brigade,” he fought Marmaduke so bravely and skil-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 847
fully, all through the 8th day of January, that the Confederates at
night drew off, having lost two hundred men.
Marmaduke then moved on Hartsville, but was confronted by Colo-
nel Merrill, and again repulsed after a spirited fight, in which he lost
several prominent officers. Fearing that General Blunt would be
upon him, Marmaduke retreated to Arkansas, and was soon after at-
tacked at Batesville.
Fayetteville was the chief outpost of the United States forces on
the Arkansas frontier. It was held by Colonel Harrison, when, on the
18th of April, it was attacked by General Cabell at the head of two
thousand mounted men. But the cavalry charge of the Confederates
was met by a determined and skilful resistance, and Cabell withdrew
as rapidly as he advanced.
Two days later, Marmaduke again entered Missouri at the head of
an army swelled by reinforcements from Price's corps. The object of
his expedition was Cape Girardeau, on the Mississippi, where there
was a large depot of army stores. General John McNeil, seeing his
aim, pushed for the same point from Bloomfield, with twelve hundred
men and six guns, and took command of the post, where he found only
five hundred men. Sending off all the stores he could remove, he pre-
pared to fight. Marmaduke summoned him to surrender, giving him
only thirty minutes to decide. McNeil at once opened, and though
again summoned, was too busy to talk, but kept on firing. Marma-
duke, who had not expected such a warm reception, lost severely, and
seeing gunboats approach with troops on board, again made for the
Arkansas frontier.
Down in the Indian Territory there was also fighting. At the be-
ginning of the war, the agents of the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws,
848 TEIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION }
and Chickasaws were Southern men, and many of the Indians, who
had adopted white ways, favored the cause of the seceding States.
The Indians were easily persuaded that the United States Government
was overthrown, and that their only hope was to join the South. When
the Confederate government was organized, Albert Pike was ap-
pointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, treaties were made with the
tribes, and many Indians took up arms on the Confederate side. Be-
fore the end of the first year, however, many began to see that they
had acted rashly. Two parties at once arose, some siding with the
United States, while the rest adhered to the enemy. On the 20th of
May, 1863, Colonel Phillips, who held Fort Blunt in the Creek
Nation, with eight hundred white soldiers and a regiment of Creek
Indians, was beset by a large Confederate force under Colonel Coffey ;
but after driving off some cattle, they retired, and were soon pursued
by Phillips, who drove them across the Arkansas with loss.
On the 1st of July, a wagon-train of supplies for Fort Blunt,
although guarded by a cavalry force, and eight hundred negro soldiers
and five hundred Indians, was attacked at the crossing of Cabin Creek
by a force of Texans and Indians under Standwatie, a Cherokee. But
the attack was as badly managed as it was rashly planned, and Stand-
watie was driven off.
This was a curious battle, from the mixture of races. The Confed-
erates from the commencement of the war employed the negroes in
building fortifications, throwing up earthworks, and even occasionally
as soldiers. As the armies of the United States penetrated into slave
territory, numbers of negroes flocked into camp, and it was soon found
necessary to employ them. General Hunter at Hilton Head began to
organize them as soldiers. This excited some protests in Congress, but
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 849
his course was sustained. General Phelps did the same at Ship Island,
and, when General Butler forbid it, and required him to use them only
in menial labor, resigned his commission : yet Butler himself was soon
forced to adopt the same course. The Confederate Government viewed
this step with alarm and rage : the President of the Confederacy, Jef-
ferson Davis, by an order of August 21st, 1862, declared Hunter and
Phelps outlaws, and directed any officer who had been engaged in
drilling or organizing negro soldiers, to be treated as a felon when
taken, and not as a prisoner of war.
But this threat did not deter any one. Negro regiments were
formed, and rendered essential service on many occasions. An act
of Congress was passed July 16th, 1862, formally authorizing it ; and
when volunteers began to decrease in number, and it was found neces-
sary to resort to the unpopular course of conscription or drafting, so
repugnant to every Anglo-Saxon community, no further difficulty was
made about accepting negro soldiers.
President Lincoln, at a later date than that of which we are treat-
ing, July 30th, 1863, issued an order directing that a Confederate sol-
dier should be executed for every negro prisoner put to death by the
Confederates; and a Confederate soldier put to hard labor in retalia-
tion for every negro soldier sold or enslaved by the enemy.
The Indians employed in the contending armies did some service,
but the tribes suffered terribly. Their country was ravaged, the tribes
were divided into factions, and their progress in civilization checked,
while all their bad qualities were called out by war. Those in the
army gained something perhaps by the habits of subordination and
system which they acquired, but when thrown back into the tribes
were not improved.
850 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
These operations around Fort Blunt roused General Blunt to take
steps to protect that advanced post. Having ascertained that the Con-
federate General Cooper lay at Honey Springs with six thousand men,
awaiting reinforcements before advancing, Blunt resolved to attack him.
at once. Marching at midnight with three thousand men, he crossed
the Arkansas, and on the 17th of July came upon Cooper's encamp-
ment. He charged instantly, and with such a dash that he carried
their position though well covered. The Confederates held their ground,
fighting well for two hours, but then broke and fled in disorder, having
lost nearly seven hundred men. While Blunt was pursuing them,
Cabell came up with the Texan reinforcements, but he did not attack
Blunt, and that commander was too prudent to risk his battle-worn
men with a fresh foe. By morning, however, when they were ready
to meet the enemy, Cabell had disappeared. Blunt pursued him in
vain into the Choctaw Nation, and, after taking Fort Smith, was nearly
captured by Quantrell, a sanguinary guerrilla leader, while returning
with a small escort. The guerrilla captured and butchered in cold
blood many on this occasion, eighty in all being killed.
A Confederate attack on Pineville, in the southwest of Missouri,
was repulsed by Colonel Catherwood with the Missouri cavalry; and
Coffey, after suffering severe loss in men and supplies, retreated.
About this time the sanguinary leader who went by the name of
Qmantrell began a series of raids. His first blow was struck at Law-
rence, Kansas, which had from the time of the old troubles been a
place hateful to the South. At early dawn on the 21st of August,
Qantrell surprised this place, killed every negro and German who
could be found, and many others—in ali, one hundred and forty unre-
sisting persons; he then plundered the place, and burned a hundred.
OR, ou R country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 851.
and eighty-five buildings. He retreated in all haste, and managed to
Outstrip his pursuers, although some of his party were killed.
After the surrender of Wicksburg, a force under General Steele was
sent to reduce Little Rock. With a force from Missouri under Gen-
eral Davidson, Steele had nearly twelve thousand men at his command.
Davidson took the advance, and, after a series of skirmishes, reached
Bayou Fourche, five miles from Little Rock, on the 9th of September,
after crossing the river. Here Marmaduke was drawn up in a strong
position to oppose him with a force of cavalry, infantry, and artillery.
Steele, on the other side of the river, galled Marmaduke by an artillery
fire, and then Davidson by a resolute charge broke Marmaduke's line;
and the United States troops, sabre in hand, rushed into the city as the
Confederates fled through and beyond it. The capital of Arkansas
was then formally surrendered, but steamboats and railroad cars had
been destroyed by fire by Price before evacuating.
In these operations Steele lost few men by death or wounds in bat-
tle, yet his force was reduced nearly one-half by sickness, marching
as they did through low swampy lands late in the summer.
The Confederates endeavored to retrieve their loss by an attack on
Pine Bluff; but Marmaduke was again unfortunate. His force of
twenty-five hundred men was repulsed by Colonel Powell Clayton,
who held the place with only six hundred men. Marmaduke's shells.
fired the town, but he utterly failed to carry it, and finally drew off,
after losing nearly two hundred men. -
Then Shelby and Coffey made a dash into Missouri. They reached
Booneville, only to begin a hasty retreat. General Brown was at their
heels, and finally overtaking them at Arrow Rock, on the 12th of Oc-
tober, fought them till nightfall, and lying on his arms during the night,
852 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
in the morning completely routed them, with the loss of all their artil-
lery and baggage, and some three hundred in killed, wounded, and
prisoners. General McNeil joined in the pursuit, and was soon after
appointed to command the Army of the Frontier. -
It was not only among the Southern Indians that the Confederates
had exerted an influence. Agents from their side, and from the Brit-
ish possessions, had roused the Sioux against the white settlers. That
warlike and treacherous nation of Indians needed little to stimulate
them to a war. On Sunday, the 17th of August, 1862, while the
frontier towns were in peaceful repose, the Sioux began the work of
blood. Five persons were murdered at Acton. Then, as if maddened
at the sight of blood, or following out the concerted plan, they fell next
day on settlers in the fields and roads, and even lured into an ambus-
cade a party of troops under Captain Marsh, killing him with many of
his men. The old scenes of terror so familiar in New England, Wy-
oming, Cherry Valley, and Kentucky, were revived. Men fled from
their newly formed homes, happy if they reached a large village in
safety. New Ulm was crowded with fugitives, and had just organized
a force for defense, when, on the 19th, a body of three hundred In-
dians assailed the place, killing some of the people, firing houses, and
wayiaying all who approached the town. But the resistance was
sturdy, and when Captain Flandreau came dashing down upon them
with a mounted troop, killing many of the dusky warriors, the Sioux
drew off, and hastening across the country, nearly surprised Fort
Ridgeley, where treacherous half-breeds had rendered the guns use-
less. For three days they kept up the attack, but were steadily re-
pulsed. - .
Then they once more tried to take New Ulm. There not a moment
s
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 853
had been lost—the place was made extremely strong; but the Indian
force had swelled in numbers, and came on with great fury. The
pickets are driven in ; the first houses reached and fired ; the Sioux
are actually in the town, their deadly rifles bringing down man after
man : but Flandreau by a bold dash drives them out of the town.
All day long the fight goes on, and the next day—half the place is in
ruins. A small force arrives at last to help them : but all agree to
retire and leave the town to its fate. Around that beleaguered place,
in settlements, and in deadly fight, nearly five hundred people
had fallen. Fort Abercrombie was furiously assailed by another band,
who were driven off with loss. Here their success ended. The peo-
ple were thoroughly alarmed and on their guard. Troops were con-
centrating from various points. The Indians, retreating in all haste,
are overtaken by General Sibley at Wood Lake. There Little Crow
was utterly routed, and fled with a part of his tribe to Dakota. Five
hundred Indians were taken, and a court martial at once proceeded to
determine their fate. Three hundred were sentenced to be hanged ;
but of these only some forty were actually executed.
The next summer, General Sibley followed up his success, defeating
the Sioux at Missouri Couteau, Big Mound, Dead-Buffalo Lake, and
Stony Lake, killing a hundred and fifty, while Sully, in September, 1863,
routed a band at Whitestone Hill, killing many, and capturing a hun-
dred and fifty prisoners. The remnant fled across thr Missouri and
eluded pursuit. This virtually ended the Sioux War.
CHAPTER X.
Operations from North Carolina to Florida in 1862–3–Capture of Fort Pulaski–Jackson.
ville taken and abandoned—Hunter repulsed at Secessionville—The Nashville—-Dupont
Repulsed—Ironclad Raid from Charleston—Attack on Fort Sumter—The Swamp Angel—
Wagner taken–Hill at Newberne—Wallandigham's case—The Draft-Riots in New York—
Negro Soldiers. .
ON the Southern coast some operations had meanwhile taken place
which did not reflect any great credit on the arms of the United
States. The occupation of Port Royal had not led to any important
result, the expeditions to various points having gained no decisive vic-
tory. In June, General Hunter planned an attack on Secessionville, a
strong post on James Island held by Colonel Lamar. At early dawn,
on the 16th, a force of six thousand men under General Wright ad-
vanced on these works. Over a narrow neck of land swept by grape
and canister pressed the United States columns, led by General
Stevens; but a ditch and high parapet faced them, and the brave men
of Michigan, and the New York 79th, Highlanders, were mercilessly
mowed down. In half an hour half the force lay dead and dying ; and
so fierce was the struggle that, with all their defenses, more than two
hundred of the Confederates were struck down. *
Wright drew off, leaving his dead and wounded on the field; and
thus ended General Hunter's attempt to capture Charleston.
General Mitchell, the astronomer, who next took command, planned
a movement to break the railroad connection between Charleston and.
OUR count RY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 835
Savannah. But he was soon after prostrated by disease. Then
General Brannan attempted it, and pushed on to Pocotaligo, where the
Confederates under Walker met and checked his advance, until Bran-
man saw that troops were coming up from Savannah and Charleston,
and that he must retire to avoid capture. Gunboats had meanwhile
run up the Coosawhatchie, and Colonel Barton landing, attacked a
train bearing troops from Savannah, and after dispersing it, advanced
on Pocotaligo, but he too was forced to retire, and the whole object of
the expedition was missed.
Fort McAllister, on the Ogeechee, was a strong Confederate work
guarding the navigation of that river, interrupted here by piles driven
in the channel. Under its guns lay the Nashville, ready to Sail as a war
vessel. On the 27th of February, Captain Worden, in the Montauk,
ascended the river to attack and destroy her. In spite of the torpe-
does in the channel and the fire of the fort, he ran within less than a
mile of his antagonist and opened fire, sustained by three consorts
which could not approach so near. Before long a shell exploding in
the Nashville set her on fire, flames burst from every part, her guns
exploded, and her magazine at last blew up, shattering the vessel to
fragments.
Elated by this, Commodore Dupont attacked Fort McAllister, with
the Passaic, Patapsco, Montauk, Ericsson, and Nahant, all ironclads;
but this action of March 3d showed that if ironclads could stand the
fire of forts, forts built of sand cannot be injured by ironclads. After
a tremendous expenditure of ammunition on both sides, lasting for
hours, not a man was killed on either side, and no material injury
done.
Soon after the Confederates captured the United States steamer Isaac
$56 THE STORY OF A (; I? EAT N AT (). N.
Smith, sent up the Stono, and taking heart at their recent successes,
on the 31st of January sent out from Charleston two ironclads, the
Palmetto State and Chicora, with three steamboats as tenders, to at-
tack the blockading fleet, having learned by spies that the Powhatan
and Canandaigua, the two largest men-of-war, were at Port Royal coal-
ing. The Palmetto State ran into the Mercedita, and sent a seven-
inch shell through her steam-drum, completely disabling her, and com-
pelling her to strike. Then she attacked the Keystone State, setting
her on fire with a shell. Captain Leroy drew off to extinguish the fire,
and then tried to run the Palmetto State down ; but his steam-chests
were also pierced, and the rifled shells tore through his vessel. The
fleet now bore down and rescued the two vessels; upon which the Confed-
erate gunboats sailed back—and General Beauregard and Commodore
Ingraham issued a proclamation declaring that the blockading fleet
had been sunk, dispersed, or driven off, and that therefore the port
was open and the blockade raised.
The United States Government then resolved to make a serious
effort to reduce Fort Sumter and the other defenses of Charleston.
Twelve thousand men, Foster's 18th Corps, were sent down from North
Carolina, and Commodore Dupont prepared his ironclads and gun-
boats for action. On the 6th of April, a beautiful morning, with a
slight haze hanging over the scene, the fleet steamed in. They passed
Morris Island, and kept on toward the channel between Fort Sumter
and Sullivan's Island, when at last the fort opened upon the Weehaw-
ken. The plan had been to pass beyond Sumter and attack the north-
west face, but this was soon found impossible : the channel on each side
was closed by rows of piles or hawsers with torpedoes attached. The
fleet had then to engage the fort on its strongest sides, uuder the fire
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 857
of all the batteries erected by the Confederates on the land side.
The Keokuk, Captain Rhind, ran gallantly up to within five hundred
yards of Fort Sumter, and kept up a steady fire till she was riddled
and sinking. The Catskill and Montauk, close up to her, the Nahant,
Passaic, Nantucket, and Ironsides, all poured in their broadsides; but
the artillery of the fort, hundreds of the best rifled guns, fired with
careful aim, proved too much for the fleet of the United States. Con-
vinced at last of the uselessness of the attempt, the ships drew off, but
the Keokuk sank just as she got outside, the wounded having been re-
moved, the well swimming for their lives.
This tremendous artillery fire had caused little loss of life on either
side : the Confederates had two guns dismounted, and had crippled and
sunk one vessel.
A movement with troops under General Truman Seymour was
abandoned on the failure of the ironclad attack.
The next work for the navy was to capture the Atlanta, an old
blockade-runner, which had been transformed into a sort of Merrimac
ironclad at Savannah. On the 17th of June she came out of the
Wilmington River, with two steamboats, the latter loaded with ladies
and gentlemen from Savannah, who came to see a victory won. The
Weekawken, Captain John Rodgers, seeing the ironclad, ran up to en-
gage her. The Atlanta opened fire, but Rodgers kept steadily on till
within three hundred yards, when he opened with his heavy fifteen-inch
gun. His terrible balls went crashing into the Atlanta as he advanced.
A port-hole shutter is shattered ; the pilot-house swept away like chaff;
the iron and wood fly in splinters, as a ball tears through from side to
side, killing and wounding fourteen men before it dropped into the
water. Fifteen minutes' fight, and the White flag is raised : the steam-
858 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
boats steal away crest-fallen, with grave doubts about the speedy
raising of the blockade. :
General Gillmore and Commodore Dahlgren next took command
of the army and navy before Charleston. In the plan of operations
devised by General Gillmore, the first point was to establish himself
firmly on Morris Island. To effect this, he began a series of opera-
tions to bewilder the Confederates: he sent out expeditions in various
directions; General Terry made a demonstration on James Island ;
while Colonel Higginson ascended the Edisto as if to renew the old
attempt to cut off communications between Charleston and Savannah.
While the enemy's attention was thus distracted, Gillmore cautiously
threw men and guns upon Folly Island, where General Vogdes was
already posted.
On the 8th of July, Terry again ascended the Stono, while Strong with
two thousand men pushed up in boats to the junction of Light-house
Inlet. At daybreak, Vogdes' batteries, forty-seven guns in all, opened
on the Confederates in their front, and the ironclads running up can-
nonaded Fort Wagner. Then Strong threw his men ashore in spite
of a heavy fire of artillery and musketry. By nine o'clock he had
carried all the Confederate batteries on the south end of Morris Island,
giving the United States forces possession of three-fourths of that
island.
The next morning, General Strong attempted to carry Fort Wag-
ner by assault ; but the gunboat cannonade had not weakened it or
disconcerted its defenders. Strong's columns were met by so fierce a
fire that they recoiled. It was clear that the place was too strong to
be captured except by regular siege.
The Confederates saw the danger of the advantage gained, and at
OR, OUR Co UNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. S 5%
conce prepared to thwart Gillmore. Terry was attacked with great spirit
on the 16th of July, but he was on the alert, and aided by the gun-
boats, easily repulsed the assault.
Two days after, the bombardment of Fort Wagner began. All day
long the land batteries and ironclads poured in shot and shell, till
the United States commanders believed the place a wreck and the
garrison disheartened and scattered.
The next day the assault was made, Colonel Shaw leading with his
Massachusetts regiment of colored men. Under a heavy fire the
column pushed on till they reached the ditch, when cannon and mus-
ket opened at short range a perfect hurricane of fire. On pressed the
assailants up the rugged face of the fort, and the Stars and Stripes are
planted on the top. In a moment of deadly struggle, Shaw fell dead,
General Strong was mortally wounded, and officer after officer went
down, till at last, to stop the slaughter, Major Plympton, the highest
surviving officer, drew off the remnant of the brigade—Shaw's regi-
ment, commanded by a lieutenant, Higginson, himself a mere boy.
Fearful as the slaughter had been, the United States commander did
not despair. Another assault by the second brigade, led by Putnam's
New Hampshire regiment, was as nobly made and as gallantly repulsed.
Fifteen hundred men in the uniform of the United States lay dead or
wounded on the parapet and slopes of Wagner or the line of ap-
proach.
…” Failing in this attempt to carry Wagner by storm, Gillmore, a good
engineer, pushed on his siege-works, defending his parallels well
against a sudden sortie from the fort, into which the Confederates
could easily throw a large force from Charleston for any such move-
ment. Gillmore had not only to meet the fire of Wagner and Battery
860 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
Gregg behind, but also to protect himself against the cross fire of Fort
Sumter.
To check the latter, he planted batteries of very heavy guns within
two miles of that renowned fort, and these, manned by Admiral Dahl-
gren, soon began a fire that told on the stout walls of Sumter, although
Commander George W. Rodgers, of the Catskill, was killed.
This did not satisfy Gillmore. A marsh west of Morris Island
seemed to him a spot from which Charleston itself could be reached
by shot and shell. To plant a battery amid the mire and ooze, at
least sixteen feet deep, seemed impossible ; but he drove down piles
to reach the firm sand, and on them built a heavy-gun platform. On
this he established the Marsh Battery, protected by a sandbag parapet
and epaulement. One single gun, an eight-inch rifled Parrott, was
planted here, and all looked eagerly to see what it would effect.
On the 17th of August the bombardment of Wagner and Sumter
was renewed, and all day long the thunder of artillery resounded, as
batteries and ironclads replied to the forts. By the 23d, nearly all
the barbette guns of Sumter were dismounted, its walls were masses
of ruin ; so that the Confederates removed many of the cannon.
Then Gillmore summoned Beauregard to abandon Morris Island and
Sumter, threatening to bombard Charleston if he refused. As no re-
ply came, Gillmore opened from the Marsh Battery, whence the
“Swamp Angel,” as the soldiers called the piece placed there, soon
sent shells into the startled streets of Charleston.
Wagner, however, was not surrendered ; so Gillmore pushed on his
works till he reached a narrow neck within two hundred and forty
yards of the fort. Before him the ground was filled with torpedoes,
and the 'approach was covered by a concentrated fire of the fort.
oR, our CouxTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 861
Trenching could go no further. Up then to the front came mortars
and rifled guns, and powerful calcium lights enabled them to work
steadily on while blinding the enemy by their glare.
On the 5th of September these batteries and the ironclads opened,
and the besieged were driven to their bombproofs. Then the sappers
plied their implements, till the guns of the fort were completely under
range of a battery as soon as it should be placed.
The Confederates had contested the place long and well. Now the
end had come, and while Gillmore was preparing to storm it in the
morning, the garrison escaped silently by night, and moved so stealthily
that only seventy men fell into Gillmore's hands. This sand fort had
stood a fearful cannonade from the heaviest artillery known, yet the
bombproofs were unharmed. -
The next day, September 8th, Commander Stephens, with thirty
rowboats of Dahlgren's fleet attempted to take Sumter ; but the men
clambering over the ruined wall were fired upon by Major Elliot, the
Confederate commander, and their boats were destroyed by the Con-
federate land-batteries. Of the two hundred gallant tars sent upon
this rash expedition some eighty were killed, the rest made priso-
The I’S. -
The Swamp Angel had done little real damage to Charleston, but
Wagner and Battery Gregg were now turned on the city, and new
batteries of mortars and rifled guns planted on the island brought half
the city under fire.
Charleston, the city where Secession was first proclaimed, was thus
at last made to feel the realities of war. The profitable blockade run-
ning ceased ; and day by day shot and shell came hustling in...o the
city, spreading destruction and making a part of it a desert.
869 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION .
But the people did not yield. The barriers still prevented the approach
of the United States ironclads. Sumter was still theirs, and they en-
deavored to remount guns, but this only drew on the ruined fort a new
bombardment, which was renewed whenever any signs of activity
were perceived amid the ruined works. Then attempts were made to
destroy the shipping by torpedoes, but this too failed, and for the rest
of the year the condition of affairs remained unchanged, Gillmore's
great and well-won advantages not giving the cause as yet either Sum-
ter or Charleston, two points on which the heart of the North was
Set.
In North Carolina there had been no important operations. Gen-
eral D. H. Hill was indeed sent by the Confederate government to
recapture Newberne ; but his large force was easily held in check till
reinforcements came up. .
Washington in that State was his next point. On the 30th of March
he appeared before that place. Fortunately for the cause of the
United States, General Foster, commandant of the department was
there, and prepared for a vigorous defence, although he could not pre-
vent Hill from securing several important ridges commanding the
town.
Hill, however, acted feebly, losing valuable time and enabling Fos-
ter to strengthen his works.
At last the bombardment began, Hill opening with fourteen heavy
guns to which Foster steadily replied, and even endeavored to capture
Hill's battery on Rodman's Point.
Meanwhile a small fleet of gunboats came up with a land force of
three thousand men under General Prince, who refused, however, to
attack the Hill's Point battery. Foster nearly out of ammunition was
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 863
thus almost reduced with abundant reinforcements near him. Row-
boats by night alone enabled him to obtain ammunition to keep up the
fight, till at last a steamboat bravely ran the gauntlet of the Confeder-
ate batteries, and debarked at the fort the Fifth Rhode Island. Fos-
ter at once protecting the steamboat's works with hay, ran down to
Newberne, and brought up seven thousand men stationed there under
General Palmer, and taking up Prince's men, landed to attack Hill's
Point. Hill, however, did not wait to receive him ; he abandoned his
works and was in full retreat when Foster came up.
Some minor operations took place during the summer, a bold dash
of Colonel Jones, with some Massachusetts troops on a Confederate
outpost at Gum Swamp in May ; and cavalry raids to break up the
Weldon and Wilmington railroads at different points being the only
events worth noticing.
The war at first was carried on by militia, and the few regulars con-
stituting the United States Army ; then volunteers were called out
from the several States. The same course had been followed in the
Confederate States, although they had no regular army to begin with.
As the war which few at first supposed likely to last more than a
few months dragged along, and became a gigantic struggle, in which
the whole strength of two great sections of the country was arrayed
in arms, it became evident that neither side could long depend on vol-
unteer enlistments, which after the first enthusiasm gradually decreased
in numbers. Large bounties were then offered, and this brought in a
new class of enlistments. The South having less resources, was the
first to adopt a system of conscription or drafting, similar to that in
France. By an act of the Confederate Congress, passed April 16th,
1862, all able-bodied white males between the ages of eighteen and
864 - THE STORY OF A GRE_\T NATION.
thirty-five were made liable to enrollment in the army for the period
of the war. This enabled the South to fill up its sadly-thinned ranks.
The government of the United States was not slow in following the
example thus set, and which made a similar course necessary. On the
3d of March, at the very close of a session, Congress passed an act
by which provost marshals and other officers were to enroll all able-
bodied white citizens, and aliens who had declared their intention to be-
come citizens. Those between the ages of twenty and thirty-five con-
stituted the first class, all others the second class. The President was,
authorized to draft at his discretion after July 1st the number needed
for the army. Any one drafted had to pay a commutation of three
hundred dollars or report himself for service within a given time un-
der penalty of being treated as a deserter.
Such a step was unheard of ; it was repugnant to the whole feelings.
of the people, England even never having resorted to such a measure in
any of her wars. It accordingly excited throughout the country the most
indignant protests. The Supreme Court in New York and in Penn-
sylvania declared the act unconstitutional, but the Administration.
prepared to enforce it at all hazards. To strike down opposition by a
bold blow, Clément L. Wallandigham, a prominent Democratic politi-
cian of Ohio, who had in recent speeches denounced with unsparing
Severity the acts of the Administration, which he deemed in violation
of the Constitution and laws of the United States and the rights of the
States, was arrested by military authority at night while in bed in his own
house in Ohio, for words uttered by him in a speech at Mount Vernon.
It was one of the gravest violations of the rights of a citizen that
had ever occurred in the United States, and one that must ever be
deplored.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 865
º
This civilian, in no way connected with the army, was brought be-
fore a court martial, and of course denied a trial by jury. The farce
ended by his conviction on a charge of expressing sympathy for those
in arms against the government, and he was sentenced to close con-
finement to the end of the war, General Burnside designating Fort
Warren in Boston harbor as the place of his confinement.
President Lincoln recoiled from this, although he confirmed the pro-
ceedings ; but he directed Mr. Wallandigham to be sent through the
military lines of the United States into the Southern Confederacy,
ordering that if he returned he was to be confined as directed by the
Court. A United States Judge applied to for a habeas corpus refused
it.
Torn from his home and sent into the scene of military operations,
Mr. Wallandigham made his way to Wilmington in North Carolina, and
thence by way of Nassau to Canada. In vain meetings were called
in various parts to protest against an act which struck at the very
vitals of American liberty; the Administration, conscious of its
strength in the support of an immense army, overruled all opposition.
It was very evident that it would enforce the obnoxious Draft Act.
The 13th of July was appointed for its enforcement in the great city
of New York; everything foreboded trouble. The drawing at
the corner of Third avenue and Forty-sixth street had gone on for
about half an hour, when the mob which had gathered attacked the
house, scattering officers and clerks, tearing up all the documents con-
nected with the draft. The building was then set on fire. The police
and draft officers were powerless to check the rioters, who had in-
creased in numbers to thousands, and drove off a small force of the
invalid corps sent to check them. Almost immediately the spirit of
866 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
riot spread throughout the city; the great factories and public works
stopped, and the rioters swelled by constant accessions. Many, who
had beheld at first in the resistance to an unjust law only a course
similar to that of our fathers in 1776, recoiled at the Scenes of vio-
Hence and bloodshed that now disgraced New York. The rioters pur-
sued all negroes whom they saw, hanging several in the streets, driv-
ing others out of their houses, and destroying all they possessed. The
Colored Orphan Asylum was in this way attacked and burnt to the
ground after the complete destruction of all its contents. Everywhere
houses were pillaged and property destroyed. The mob ruled the
city. The public conveyances stopped running ; business ceased ; peo-
ple kept in their houses, or vainly endeavored to escape from the city
in their panic. This terrible state of affairs lasted for three days, and
spread even to Brooklyn, where a fine grain elevator was destroyed
by a mob. -
Gradually military came in, militia were called out, and a series of
battles in various parts of the city took place, one of the most impor-
tant being on Third avenue, where the rioters made a decided
stand against Captain Putnam of the Twelfth regulars. This was on
Thursday, and that night, and the next day, saw the city filled with
a military force able to overawe all opposition. -
The series of battles in the streets of New York during the Draft
Riots were attended with great loss of life, so great that every effort
was made to suppress details. Yet there can be little doubt that
nearly a thousand people were killed or mortally wounded.
The City Government at once raised money to procure men to fill
up the quota demanded from New York, and thus prevented a repeti-
tion of the bloody work.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 867
The obnoxious act called out similar but less organized and bloody
opposition in Boston, Jersey City, Troy, Jamaica (N. Y.), and in parts
of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The ensuing elections showed that a majority of voters in the
Northern States were resolved to sustain the Administration in all
measures, and the Republican party ruled with a stronger hand than
ever ; the courts were filled up with judges who decided with the pre-
dominant party, and it was evident that, according to the old Roman
maxim, “amid arms the laws are silent.”
CHAPTER XI.
An Offer of Amnesty—Gillmore's Operations in Florida–Seymour defeated at Olustee. A
Convention at Jacksonville in favor of the United States—Unsuccessful Operations in
South Carolina—A Stirring Campaign in North Carolina on Land and Water—Bank's Red
River Expedition—He retires–The Fleet carried over the Rapids by Engineering Skill–
Operations in Texas and Arkansas–Rosecrans in Missouri—Price's last Attempt to carry
the State—Battles at Pilot Knob, Little and Big Blue, Little Osage and Newtonia.
WHEN the Congress of the United States opened on the 7th of
December, 1863, President Lincoln sent in his annual message accom-
panied with a proclamation of amnesty in which he offered a free par-
don to all engaged in the opposition to the government of the United
States, on condition of their taking an oath to support the Constitution,
and to “abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed
during the existing rebellion, having reference to slaves.” As all the
leaders on the Confederate side, whether civil or military, were ex-
cepted, no notice was taken of this Amnesty, and only in rare cases
did any one come forward to profit by its terms.
Matters remained in the same position before Charleston, but when
868 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
Dahlgren refused to attempt to fight his way up to the city with his
ironclads, Gillmore, not to remain idle, opened the operations of the
year 1864 by sending a force into Florida in twenty steamers under
the command of General Truman Seymour.
Jacksonville was occupied without opposition on the 7th of Feb-
ruary, and the next day Seymour's advance, under Colonel Henry,
pushed on to surprise Finnegan's Confederate force eight miles west
of Jacksonville. The camp was captured, most of the Confederates
having retired ; Baldwin was next taken, with large amounts of muni-
tions and provisions, some guns and camp equipage. Still pushing on,
he captured Sanderson with more spoil, and at eleven o'clock on the
morning of the 9th, he came upon Finnegan in a strong position. He
fell back to await Seymour's arrival with the main body. Finnegan,
however, fell back to Olustee, and when Seymour came up, he started
in pursuit in direct contravention of the orders of General Gillmore,
who had come to Florida, but returned. -
On the 20th of February, Seymour's little army, wearied out with a
toilsome march, came upon Finnegan covered by a swamp and pine
forest, with his flanks well protected. Seymour threw his troops upon
the enemy, pushing his guns up to the very edge of the woods. The
men went down like chaff; regiments were cut to pieces by a fire from
an enemy whom they could not see. Seymour fought with reckless
bravery, rushing from point to point to rally his men, but showing lit-
tle generalship. Colonel Montgomery, by a charge of the 54th Mas-
sachusetts, and 1st North Carolina, checked and repulsed a Confeder-
ate attack and saved the army from a rout. Then under fire of his
remaining guns Seymour began to retreat, having lost fifteen hundred
in killed and wounded on his ill-advised advance.
or, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 869
Destroying property as he retired, he at last reached Jacksonville.
There a Convention was called, but it was a mere farce. The attempt
to restore Florida to its rank as one of the States had utterly failed.
The defeat at Olustee destroyed all hopes of gaining the State, and
beyond the destruction of some salt works near St. Augustine, and at
Lake Ocola, which supplied the Confederate army, the operations of
the United States army in the ancient land of Florida were perfectly
fruitless.
Similarly mismanaged was an expedition for South Carolina, in
which four brigades were sent in July to attack the Confederates at
Legareville. The troops had no artillery, and coming upon a Con-
federate battery well supported, sent a negro regiment to attack it,
and when in five spirited charges it had lost nearly a hundred in
killed and wounded the whole force retired from the Battle of Bloody
Bridge.
The operations in North Carolina were more stirring. The foothold
gained there by the United States forces had been retained and that
was all. But this was galling to the Confederates, who early in 1864,
resolved on a vigorous effort to dislodge them. On the 1st of Febru-
ary, the Confederate General Pickett suddenly attacked and carried
by assault an outpost at Bachelor's Creek, near Newbern, and men-
aced that city, a part of his daring men in boats gallantly boarding
the United States gunboat Underwriter, lying at the wharf under the
guns of two batteries. When these opened the captors fired their
prize and retreated. Plymouth was held by General Wessels with
twenty-four hundred men, composed of New York, Pennsylvania, and
Connecticut men. His position was well fortified, and three gunboats
were anchored in the river. The Confederates advanced upon the
870 TEIF STORY OF A G REAT N ATION.
place so stealthily, that General Hoke, with seven thousand men, was
within two miles of the place before Wessels was apprised of his dan-
ger. Fort Warren, the highest outpost up the river, was first attacked,
and a gunboat going to her assistance was disabled : then Fort Wes-
sels below was surrounded and forced to surrender. Meanwhile, the
Albemarle, a Confederate ram ran past Fort Warren, and sinking the
gunboat Southfield, so cut up the Miami, killing her commander and
many of her men, that she fled down the Neuse, leaving the Albemarle
in command of the river to co-operate with General Hoke in his at-
tack on the town. -
Next morning Hoke made his grand attack. Ransom, with one
brigade on the right ; Hoke himself with two on the left, in the face
of a murderous fire carried two forts, taking the whole garrison pris-
oners. The town was then easily carried. Wessels still held Fort
Williams, and was pouring in grape and case-shot with deadly aim, till
he was so enfiladed that resistance was hopeless. He at last surren-
dered, with one thousand six hundred effective men. Hoke's loss.
was very severe, but his victory was gallantly won.
Washington at the head of Pamlico Sound was then evacuated.
So that almost in a moment all the posts gained by the United States
arms were swept away, and little left of them but Newbern and Ro-
anoke Island. Hoke prepared to follow up his advantage, but a re-
Verse came. The Albemarle ran down with two consorts to attack the
United States gunboats at the mouth of the Roanoke. The gunboats
Soon drove her consorts out of the fight, and a struggle began between
the Albemarle and her three antagonists. After a cannonade that did
no harm on either side, though at short range, the Sassacus ran the
Albemarle down, sending her hull under water with the shock, but not
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 871.
sinking her. Then the cannonade was renewed, the Sassacus at every
opportunity sending a shot into some vulnerable point, till a Confeder-
ate bolt pierced one of her boilers, completely disabling her; yet she
kept up the fight, and as the steam lifted from the scene, she saw the
Albemarle retiring from the fight, badly injured ; the Sassacus, crippled,
as she was, followed, keeping up her fire. Hoke's hopes of besieging
|Newbern were based on the co-operation of the Albemarle. He en-
deavored to repair her, and bring her again into action, but Lieuten-
ant Cushing, in October, ran up in a steam launch and fired a torpedo.
boat which sunk the Albemarle behind her barricade of logs, Cushing
and his men refusing to surrender when their launch was disabled by
the Confederate batteries, but managing to escape and reach the ves-
sels in the river below. - -
Hoke had meanwhile been summoned to Virginia, and Commander
Macomb, running up the river, recaptured Plymouth, taking some
prisoners, guns, and stores.
The year wore away without any more real fighting in North Caro-
lina, although General Wild, in October, led a force of colored troops,
into Camden county, which returned to Roanoke Island with twenty-
five hundred slaves, and a great many horses and cattle.
On the Atlantic coast little had been gained if anything at all dur-
ing this year. From North Carolina to Florida things remained as
they were : the people showed no disposition to yield, or to abandon
their new Confederacy for the old Union. What the United States.
could hold by its troops, that bent to its sway and no more.
In the Southwest there were some important operations, which failed,
however, to produce the expected results. General Halleck formed a
plan for a campaign on the Red River, in which ten thousand men.
372 * THE STORY or A GREAT NATION ;
from Sherman's army under General A. J. Smith, were to capture
Tort de Russy, and then push on to Alexandria, where General Banks
was to meet him with fifteen thousand men from New Orleans. The
combined army was then to move on Shreveport, to which General
:Steele from Arkansas was also to march with fifteen thousand men.
The plan was badly concerted, and prepared for a disastrous failure.
Smith's force in transports conveyed by Admiral Porter's ironclads,
ascended the Red River to Simmsport, which the Confederates evacua-
ited, falling back to Fort de Russy. The gunboats removing obstruc-
tions in the river, kept on to that fort as Smith did by land. With
remarkable energy, he started from Simmsport at daylight, marched
forty miles, built a bridge, and finally reaching Fort de Russy, as-
saulted it and carried the place, taking ten guns and nearly three hun-
dred prisoners, and accomplished it all before sunset.
The Confederate force under General Walker, retreated up the
river. Porter's vessel then reduced Alexandria, on the 16th of March,
and General Lee, with the cavalry of Franklin's command in Banks'
force, entered that place on the 19th, and on the 20th, his whole force
arrived. Steele, however, was still far away ; and part of Smith's
command was called to Wicksburg, while the necessity of establishing
a depot of supplies, and guarding it still further, reduced Banks' effec-
tive force. The enemy were not going to let Shreveport fall without
a struggle. Troops from Texas and Arkansas came on, so that Gen-
eral Kirby Smith confronted Banks with a force somewhat superior
to his in numbers. Still Banks pushed on, and met the enemy at
Sabine Cross Roads, three miles below Mansfield ; the main body of
the Confederate line, being hidden in pine woods beyond the crest of
a hill. Franklin was in the rear, and the advance was outflanked by
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. - 873;
the Confederates and forced back. At five o’clock Franklin came up,
and a new line was formed, but the Confederates, elated with their first
victory, again flanked Banks, and charging desperately crowded his
army back, capturing nearly a thousand men and ten guns, as they
became crowded in the narrow road. Nearly the whole baggage and
supply-train of two hundred and sixty-nine wagons fell into the hands
of the enemy. A general rout ensued, unequaled since the field of
Bull Run. In vain did Generals Banks and Franklin endeavor to rally
their men. Fortunately, General Emory, hearing that the battle was
lost, drew up his command at Pleasant Grove, four miles in the rear,
carefully selecting his ground, and posting his men, Banks' men came
upon them in wild confusion and were allowed to pass, and reform if
possible. The Confederates came rapidly on. Emory reserved his
fire till they were close, and then gave a terrible volley. The Con-
federates were staggered ; General Mouton, and a host of their
bravest were dead or dying ; but they had a great Superiority in num-
bers, and until daylight ceased they continued to charge with reckless
bravery on Emory's division ; but it stood firm and saved the army
from annihilation, and with it the fleet which could not have escaped
from the shallow river. -
Falling back to Pleasant Hill during the night, Banks found Smith.
there, and now with a forcé of fifteen thousand men, prepared to re-
new the battle, his line drawn up across the road.
At eleven in the morning, the Confederates came up, and cautious
skirmishing began. The day wore on, and Banks thinking that no.
general action would take place, had begun sending to the rear, artil-
lery and trains guarded by most of his cavalry, when at four o'clock
in the afternoon, the Confederates in two heavy columns, charged or
-**
874 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
his left centre, crushing back after a desperate resistance Benedict's
brigade of Emory's division. The other brigades surrounded on three
sides were also forced back ; but Smith now led up his veterans, and
the Confederate column was hurled back, and driven for nearly two
miles, losing men and guns in their flight; but the charge was not
without its loss to the United States forces, the brave Colonel Bene-
dict wounded in the opening of the action, here falling mortally
wounded as he saw the day retrieved.
Banks had won a victory, but he had lost four thousand men ; he
was without water, his ammunition was on the transports: So the next
day he fell back to Grand Ecore. Porter's fleet which had reached
Springfield Landing, near Shreveport, was recalled, and his passage
down the shallow dangerous river, was under a constant fire from Con-
federate batteries and sharpshooters, and at last by regular attacks of
infantry and cavalry, which were driven off by a furious cannonade,
inflicting such severe loss that they abandoned all hope of intercept-
ing them.
On the 13th, several of the vessels got aground at Compte, but
Banks sent up troops to their relief. At Grand Ecore the large ves-
sels were aground, and much time was lost in getting them afloat. The
Eastport sank; and although raised and repaired, grounded again and
again, till at last she was fired and blown up, just as a large Confeder-
ate force appeared. Too late to capture the Eastport, they made a
rush at the Cricket, but were driven off by volleys of grape and can-
ister, Fort Hindman and another gunboat also joining.
Banks was already far ahead, and his retreat was thus covered.
The fleet kept on undisturbed till the vessels reached Cane River.
There the Confederates had planted a battery, and as the United
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 875
States fleet rounded a point, the picket leading the line, the fire
opened on them with well aimed guns. The shells tore through the
Cricket, disabling her aft gun, and killing or wounding every man at
it ; and almost as promptly and effectually the after gun. Her decks
were completely swept, but Admiral Porter who was on board put
negroes at the gun, and with an impromptu engineer, placed himself
in the pilot-house and ran her past. The Juliet also ran down, but the
Bindman could not till after dark. The Champion was disabled, set
on fire, and destroyed.
Porter had run down meanwhile to bring up an ironclad, but he got
aground, and on reaching the Osage ironclad found her engaged with
another Confederate battery; the Lexington, her consort, having
already suffered severely.
After this terrible ordeal of fire, the fleet reached Alexandria. The
river had been ingeniously used by the Confederates to embarrass the
United States gunboats. It was the season when the water is high,
and Porter so expected to find it, but the Confederates by damming
up the outlets of several lakes that feed the river, kept the water at
an unprecedentedly low state ; giving Porter great difficulty, and
occasioning the loss of some of his boats.
General Banks was at Grand Ecore, but hearing that General Bee
had taken post at Cane River, with eight thousand men, in hopes of
checking Banks' army completely, the United States general, on the
22d of April, suddenly moved at daybreak, and halted at night ready
to attack Bee in the morning. Then Emory assailed the Confederates
in front, while General Birge moving up the river, flanked Bee's right,
and in a gallant charge led by Colonel Fessenden completely worsting
the enemy. Bee abandoned his position and all attempt to assume the
876 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
offensive, and retreated hastily toward Texas by the Fort Jessup
road.
Banks had driven off his antagonists on land, but it seemed impossi-
ble to save his gunboats. The river was so low that the fleet could
not be got down the falls. Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey, en-
gineer of the nineteenth corps, was, however, equal to the emergency,
and will ever be remembered for his ability. On one of the battle
fields, he had suggested to General Franklin a plan, which General
Banks Sanctioned, although Admiral Porter did not show much faith.
in it.
However, Bailey, now that the time of action had arrived, set to
work and began to build a dam across the river below the falls, so as
to give the fleet water enough to float down. After eight or nine days’
severe toil, a dam 758 feet long, of wood and stone, was run across the
river; but on the 9th of May the current swept part of it away.
Porter convinced of the success of Bailey's plan sent the Lexington
down. She went smoothly over the falls, and flew like the wind
through the opening in the dam, hung for a moment on the rocks, and
then swept safely into the deep water below amid the cheers of the
army.
The Neosho was next sent down, but her pilot faltered, and she did.
not get through unharmed. A hole was knocked through her bottom.
The Hindman and Osage fared better, and glided through fearlessly
and safe. The heavier gunboats were still above. But Bailey encour-
aged by the success already obtained, went to work again on his dam,
and in three days more had the consolation to see the Mound City,
Carondelet, Pittsburg, Ozark, Louisville, and Chillicothe, pass safely.
down the falls and dams.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 877
But the Confederates still checked navigation below Alexandria by
their batteries. On the 5th of May they riddled the gunboat Coving-
ton, and compelled the gunboat Signal, and the transport Warren,
with four hundred troops on board to surrender. The City Belle,
another transport, was soon after captured.
Banks evacuated Alexandria to march to Simmsport. At Mansura,
he encountered the enemy, and a battle ensued. Emory with Banks'
right and A. J. Smith with his left, flanked the enemy's position, and
after a sharp struggle, drove them from their position, recapturing
some of the prisoners taken on the vessels.
Crossing the Achafalaya, Banks after repulsing an attack on his rear,
made by Prince Polignac at Yellow Bayou, turned over the army to
General Canby, who had been appointed to command the trans-Missis-
sippi Department, and returned to New Orleans. Smith returned to
his own Department, and Porter's fleet resumed its watch on the Mis-
sissippi. The Red River expedition had been to all intents a failure.
For the vast expenditure of labor and life, there was no result except
the cotton seized by the fleet or collected by speculators.
Although Banks was able to withdraw his army with little compara-
tive loss, this was not the case with Some of the smaller armies that
were co-operating with him. General Steele, with seven thousand
men, had marched on the 23d of March from Little Rock to join Gen-
eral Banks, and General Thayer with the Army of the Frontier, about
the same time marched from Fort Smith, with a view to form a junc-
tion with Steele at Arkadelphia. The Confederates retarded both
these commanders, and at Prairie d’Anne, Steele had a brisk action.
with General Sterling Price, who after a desperate dash at nightfall to
carry Steele's guns drew off. But Steele had begun to hear of Banks'
:878 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
reverse, and instead of pursuing Price marched to Camden. Here he
learned to a certainty that Banks' Red River expedition had been a
failure. His own position had now become one of peril, as the Con-
federate forces were closing in around him rapidly. He moved at
once. His trains sent out to forage were cut off; first one, then
another. Lieutenant-Colonel Drake made a gallant fight at Mark’s
Mill, but he was overpowered by General Fagan's Confederate force
six thousand strong, and his whole command killed, wounded, or cap-
tured ; the negroes with the force, even servants of the officers, were
shot down in cold blood after the surrender. Steele on this continued
his retreat, but at the crossing of the Saline, on the 30th of April,
was attacked at daybreak by a powerful Confederate army under Gen-
eral Kirby Smith.
In the miry-wooded bottom, where men and horses sank at every
step, the troops who had been toiling all night were in no trim for
fighting. The wild Confederate rush swept back Colonel Engelmann's
and Rice's brigades, but could not break the line. Three assaults
were repelled with great slaughter. Then troops which had already
crossed came to their relief; and the 43d Illinois, and 40th Iowa,
crossing Cox's Creek, prevented a flanking movement on the
right. -
Then gathering up for a final charge, Kirby Smith hurled his com-
pact masses on Steele's centre and left : it yielded, but was at once
supported, and at noon had completely repulsed Smith, and driven
him a mile from the field. Steele now crossed quietly, having lost
seven hundred men in this fierce infantry fight; the Confederate loss
amounting to three times as many.
A Confederate force under Fagan was between Steele and Little
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 879
Rock, but the United States general avoided it, and with almost in-
credible hardship reached Little Rock on the 2d day of May.
After this all through the summer there were partisan encounters
and raids, which it would take long to describe. The fortune of war in
these operations varied ; here a Confederate force would be captured ;
there troops of the United States. The fight on Big Creek was a curi-
ous one. The 56th United States, a regiment of negroes, was attacked
on July 26th, by a large Confederate force under General Dobbins.
Brooks stood firm, but Dobbins was preparing for a decisive charge,
when he was startled by the clattering of cavalry. Major Carmichael
going down the Mississippi on a steamboat, with a hundred and fifty
of the 15th Illinois, hearing the cannonade, had landed in Dobbins'
rear to take a hand in the fighting. He came upon the Confederates
rear at a charge, and swept through their line, enabling the hard-
pressed troops whose gallant Colonel had just fallen, to drive Dobbins off.
On the whole, the United States lost in these operations beyond the
Mississippi. Arkansas had been recovered, a legislature organized,
and a new State government installed ; but Steele's reverses gave two-
thirds of the State to the Confederates, and they restored their own
government, and their cavalry swept through the State, shutting up
the United States forces in the posts held by them, and filling with
terror all who had professed any attachment to the government at
Washington. * *
The Confederate success in Arkansas had inspired them with the
hope of at last wrestling Missouri from the hands of the United States,
and attaching it forever to the fortunes of the Confederacy. Price was
gathering his army for an invasion, and a secret Society in Missouri,
which numbered thousands, was ready to join him as soon as he ap-
880 THE STORY OF A G REAT NATION :
peared. General Rosecrans, who had been assigned to the Depart-
ment of Missouri, found on his arrival at St. Louis, at the close of
January, 1864, that in a State disaffected within, menaced from with-
out, he had scarcely any force at his command except militia, Some of
whom would certainly join Price as soon as he reared the Confederate
standard on the soil of Missouri. He appealed to the President for
aid, but the only step taken by General Grant, was to send to Mis-
souri General Hunt, who considered that there was no danger, and no
need of reinforcements. Even when Rosecrans arrested the State
Commander, and several prominent members of the secret “Order of
American Knights,” he received an order to liberate the Commander.
At last he was allowed to raise some twelve months’ men. While he
was thus battling with the obstinate incredulity that prevailed at
Washington, the crisis was approaching. On the 3d of September,
General Washburne commanding at Memphis, warned General Rose-
crans that Shelby was at Batesville in Arkansas, ready to join Price
and invade Missouri. Then at last they began to believe. General
A. J. Smith then moving up the Mississippi river, was ordered to
proceed to St. Louis.
On the 26th, Price had made his way to Pilot Knob, and with his
army of ten thousand men invested General Hugh S. Ewing who held
it. Rude as his works were Ewing showed fight, and in an obstinate
resistance repulsed two assaults in which Price lost full a thousand
men. But when night came, Ewing who saw that he could not hold
out with one thousand men against nine times his number, Spiked his
large guns, and blew up his magazine making good his retreat to Har-
rison, where he was attacked by Shelby, and again fought obstinately
till relieved.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 881
Rosecrans remained at St. Louis, overawing the disaffected and
gathering his forces. Price moved rapidly, his men being nearly all
mounted. He destroyed bridges and railroads to prevent pursuit.
But Smith was on his trail, and others were gathering in his van. As
he menaced Jefferson City, Generals McNeil and Sanborn reached it
in time to make a defence : Price did not attack but marched
westward. -
Pleasanton, who took command of the United States forces, sent
Sanborn in pursuit, and that officer brought him to action at Versailles,
hoping to delay him till Smith came up. Price was now in great dan-
ger as superior forces were closing around him ; but he eluded them
and started southward.
Pleasanton brought him to action on the Big Blue, and after a bat-
tle lasting from seven in the morning till one in the afternoon, routed
him. Smith, sent off his right track, could not reach Price's line of re-
treat in time. But Curtis, from Kansas, and Pleasanton brought him
to action again, at Marais des Cygnes and Little Osage. The last ac-
tion was particularly disastrous to Price, who lost eight guns and
more than a thousand of his men were taken prisoners, including Gen-
erals Marmaduke and Cabell, and great quantities of arms and
trophies.
After this it was a mere flight ; Price retreated in the utmost haste,
strewing the roads with the wrecks of his wagons and his stores.
The last action was at Fayetteville in Arkansas, where Colonel Brooks
held out against Fagan's command, and then against Price's army till
Curtis came up and raised the siege.
Price with Shelby and the Missouri recruits had in his operations in
this campaign at least twenty-five thousand men ; of these in this last
882 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Confederate invasion of Missouri, he lost two thousand in prisoners,
and more in killed and wounded. There was no general rising, as he
had anticipated, among the Secessionists of the State, and his force as
he retreated dwindled Sadly.
CHAPTER XII.
General Grant in Virginia—He takes Command of the Armies—The Army of the Potomac.
reorganized—Kilpatrick sent against Richmond—Death of Dahlgren—Grant fights the
Battle of the Wilderness——Spotsylvania—Hancock storms the Lines—His Captures—Sheri-
dan and J. E. B. Stuart——Butler operating south of the James—Action at Port Walthall
Junction—Beauregard attacks Butler—Gunboats blown up—Grant at the North Anne–A
sharp Action—Burnside defeated—Repulse at Cold Harbor—Butler's Operations against
Petersburg–Meade at the Weldon Railroad—Defeat of Hancock and Gregg–Close of the
Campaign of 1864—Jones and Avery in the Shenandoah Valley–Early threatens Washing-
ton—Sheridan sent against him—Battles of Opequan and Fisher's Hill—Early surprises
Crook at Cedar Creek——Sheridan's Ride—A Defeat turned into a Victory by a single Man.
THE government had now resolved to confer a higher rank and
greater powers on General Grant, investing him with the command
of all the armies of the United States. In February, 1864, an act
was passed reviving the grade of Lieutenant-General, never conferred
on any one but the Father of his Country. President Lincoln at once
approved the act, and nominated General Grant.
Summoned from the West by telegraph, he proceeded to Washington,
and received his commission as Lieutenant-General, commanding all
the forces of the United States. General Halleck, who had so long
directed the operations of the war, became Chief-of-Staff of the
Army.
Lieutenant-General Grant on taking command announced that his
headquarters would be in the field, and for the time being with the
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 883
Army of the Potomac. A new military division, that of the Missis-
sippi, comprising the Departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the
Tennessee, and the Arkansas, was created, and General W. T. Sher-
man assigned to it, General McPherson assuming command of the
Department of the Tennessee.
The Army of the Potomac, which was now to do active service.
under the eye and direction of the Lieutenant-General, was now re-
organized and formed into three corps, the Second under General
Hancock, the Fifth under General Warren, and the Sixth under
General Sedgwick. Burnside then joined it with his, the Ninth Corps,
swelling its effective strength to more than a hundred thousand men.
The operations began by cavalry expeditions. General Custer, at
the end of February, with fifteen hundred horse crossed the Rapidan,
and moved rapidly down to Charlottesville, where he was met by a
superior force, and retired, followed by hundreds of negroes, having
done considerable damage to the railroads, depots, and bridges. But
his main object was to divert attention from a raid under Kilpatrick,
who about the same time crossed the Rapidan, and pushed on through
Spotsylvania Court House, Beaver Dam, across the South Anne to
Rilby Station, and so on till he got within the defenses of Richmond,
passing the first and second cities, and for several hours attacking the
third. He encamped, the night of March 1st, between Richmond and
the Chickahominy, but being attacked, moved down toward Fort
Monroe, from which General Butler sent out a force to meet him.
Another expedition, under Colonel Dahlgren, was to strike Richmond
on the south, but lost its way, and did not appear before the inner for-
tifications of that capital till the 2d, when he was repulsed with loss,
and was checked at Dabney's Mills, on his retreat, by local militia, who
884 - THE STORY OF A GREAT IN ATION.
killed him, and dispersed his command, capturing many. Young Dahl-
gren, a brave officer and gentleman, was treated when dead with the ut-
most indignity, and the Confederate authorities refused to give him up
for burial, pretending that most incendiary documents were found on him.
Butler, too, menaced Richmond with his army, so that the Con-
federates were obliged to look to the safety of their capital as well as
confront Grant. - -
On the 4th of May, the Army of the Potomac, under Meade, crossed
the Rapidan on Lee's right; Warren and Sedgwick at Germania. Fords;
Hancock at Ely's ; followed next day by Burnside. They were mov-
ing on Chancellorsville. The district was known as the Wilderness,
and well deserved its name. A rocky table-land, cut up by deep
ravines, and covered with dwarf trees and dense bushes, with few
roads through it, and those of the most primitive character. Lee re-
solved to keep Grant here, and moved out of Mine Run, to open the
terrible and bloody campaign, in which Lee's generalship and tact
were matched by the stubborn Grant's plan, which was to flank Lee's
right, and force him to leave position after position in the hope of find.
ing a battle-ground where he could give him a decisive defeat. This
he hoped to do between the Rapidan and Chickahominy, but Lee was a
consummate general.
The first battle in that campaign was that of the Wilderness, fought
from the 5th to the 12th of May.
On the 5th, as Grant's army was marching to the positions he had
selected, Lee struck them in force. Warren and Sedgwick, on the
right of Grant's army, were met by Hill and Ewell between the Old
Wilderness Tavern and Parker's Store. Hill repulsed the attack of
Warren, and was charging Warren's left flank when Hancock with his
or, OUR CountRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 885
divisions came up, and after a stubborn fight checked the enemy.
Ewell, attacking Sedgwick, had lost Generals Jones, Stafford and
Pegram, and suffered severely without any real gain.
The next day, Grant made an advance of his whole line, but Lee
was already in motion, who first struck Sedgwick attempting to flank
him. At eight o'clock Lee made a charge on Grant's whole front,
turning to account their thorough knowledge of the ground, and en-
deavoring to push in between our different corps, and attack them in
flank. But Grant's line stood firm, and Hancock on the left actually
forced Hill back across the Brock road, till Longstreet, coming to Hill's
relief, for a time threw Hancock's front into disorder. But Burnside
came up, and the battle raged furiously. Lee's army, better arranged
to move men to support the weak points, kept sending up fresh troops.
Gathering up for a fresh onset, Lee again charged, and Hancock and
Burnside were forced back to their intrenchments and abatis on the
Brock road, and there lost the brave General James S. Wadsworth,
who had been in service from the commencement of the war.
Grant's line was again formed, Hancock on the left, then Burnside,
then Warren, then Sedgwick, at the right. After a lull Lee charged
again with Hill and Longstreet's corps, and forcing back one of Burn-
side's brigades pushed through to attack on the flank. But Hancock
was on the alert. At a word Colonel Carroll's brigade sprang for-
Ward, the flanking Confederates struck in flank, themselves were
driven back with heavy loss, and again the Army of the Potomac
stood grimly awaiting another onset, but none came. After a long
lull, however, just as night was falling, Lee, suddenly massing his men,
struck Swiftly and well on Grant's right, surprising and routing two
brigades, and getting off in the coming darkness with many prisoners.
886 TIII. STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
So ended the second day's battle, in which many a brave man
breathed his last, but in spite of the slaughter neither side had gained
any advantage. Yet Grant had sacrificed full twenty thousand men,
Generals Wadsworth and Hays were killed, Hancock, Getty, Gregg,
Owen, and several other generals wounded. Lee, in spite of his being
the assailing party, seems to have lost much less ; they admitted only
eight thousand loss, but Generals Jones, Stafford, and Jinkins were
killed, Longstreet severely wounded, with many others.
The next day (Sunday), the 8th of May, Grant moved out of the
Wilderness, slowly making his way through the intricate passes of that
desolate district. As he emerged, he found Lee's troops in all favor-
able positions to check his advance. Skirmishing at once began, but
the next day Grant had the whole army of the Potomac, under Meade,
drawn up around Spottsylvania Court House, Warren in the centre,
Hancock on the right, and Sedgwick on the left. The last of these
generals was placing his guns, and bantering some soldiers who shrunk
from the bullets, when he was struck in the face by a ball and fell
dead, and Grant was thus deprived of one of his best corps command-
ers, at the very moment when he was about to fight a serious battle.
General Wright succeeded to the command of the corps, and Burnside
coming up took post on his left.
Grant now became the assailant. He attempted to turn Lee's left
flank, but failed ; and his charge on Lee's line, though made with all
possible skill and bravery, failed to break them, till Wright's division
by a gallant charge carried part of the Confederate works, capturing
nearly a thousand prisoners with many guns. The day closed, how-
ever, without any material success, the field strewn with dead and dy-
ing. It was from this battle-field that Grant sent a dispatch contain-
oR, ou R COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 887
ing an expression that became a by-word : “I propose to fight it out
on this line, if it takes all summer.”
Again Grant rearranged his line so as to assume the offensive when
day came. Amid a fog that hung over the scene, Hancock pushed
forward upon an earthwork before him, held by Johnson, one of
"Ewell's division generals. Swiftly and silently, Hancock swept over
the rugged wooded space before him, and dashed with a cheer over
the Confederate works, capturing Generals Johnson and Stewart,
three thousand men and thirty guns. He had nearly captured Lee
himself, and cut the Confederate army in two. Roused to despair,
Lee accumulated troops to crush Hancock or drive him back; but
Grant too hurried up his men. Warren and Burnside charged, though
in vain, the works before them, able only to keep the Confederates
there from reinforcing the centre. There Lee was straining every
nerve to overwhelm Hancock. Five times his men charged with all
their Southern dash, and all the firmness of veterans that they were.
Flags were often planted on opposite sides of the same breastwork.
Hancock, striving not only to hold his own, but to push on, met their
assaults with frightful carnage, and charged in turn. Though rain set
in, it was not till midnight that the noise of battle died away and Lee
withdrew, leaving Hancock in possession of his dear-bought advantage.
But he fortified a new line, and awaited attack.
Grant, however, kept to his purpose. Fight he would, if he
must, and at any sacrifice of men, but he was pushing on to Rich-
mond.
On the 18th and 19th of May were fought the last battles around
Spottsylvania Court House. They had cost Meade's Army of the
Potomac fully twenty thousand men.
S88 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
On the night of the 20th, moving by the left, Grant resumed his
march.
Again the cavalry was sent out. Sheridan captured Beaver Dain
Station, liberating four hundred United States soldiers, destroying the
railroad track, and immense stores for Lee's army. Though Stuart
came dashing down with all his wonted gallantry, he could not check
Sheridan, who next destroyed Ashland Station, and pushed on
toward Richmond.
Stuart had massed his cavalry at Yellow Tavern, and was ready to
meet him. One of the fiercest cavalry fights of the war followed, but
Stuart fell mortally wounded, and his force was driven off. Again the
cavalry of the United States dashed within the outer defenses of Rich-
mond, sweeping off prisoners under its very guns, and then returned
to Meade's army.
The war was now crowding down toward Richmond, and Petersburg
became a point of great importance, as all the railroad lines by which
Lee could obtain men or supplies from the South centred there. To
secure this as part of Grant's operations, Butler, in May, advanced up
the James, with Smith's and Gillmore's corps, the Eighteenth and
Tenth, with Kautz's cavalry. Ironclads escorted the transports, and
all seemed to promise success. Fort Powhatan and City Point were
seized, but owing to a want of harmony, and mistakes, the great prize
was missed. Meanwhile the Confederates had taken alarm. Lee
could spare no troops, so Beauregard was summoned from Charleston,
and came hastening up as fast as railroads could bring him and the
troops he gathered. While Butler supposed Beauregard at Charles-
ton, that general suddenly on the 16th of May hurled Whiting's divis-
ion on Butler's right, in the attempt to turn it. Smith's men gave,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 889
but Gillmore finally checked the movement, and repulsed the as-
Sault.
Butler was now convinced that the Confederates were in force be-
fore him. Smith, with no time to intrench, resorted to a stratagem,
which in a foggy morning was singularly successful. Finding a lot
of telegraph wire at hand, he stretched it between the trees along his
front, about two feet from the ground. This strange preparation was
Scarcely made when the Confederates, yelling and whooping, rushed on
his front. Charging blindly on, the soldiers tripped over the wire,
and went down to be shot or bayoneted before they could rise.
But Beauregard again endeavored to turn Smith's right, and that gen-
eral fell back, Gillmore doing the same. Beauregard, who had lost.
nearly as many men as Butler, then advanced cautiously, and ran a
line of works across the peninsula.
“We are bottled up,” wrote Butler to Grant, and the phrase be-
came a by-word. The great object of his movement was indeed lost,
and Petersburg was, as we shall see, to cost Grant many months and
thousands of lives before it was reduced.
Meanwhile Grant was pushing sturdily on to Richmond. From
Spottsylvania Court House, he moved by another flanking movement
to the North Anne. Lee, watching him from the high ground, made
one attack and then fell back to confront him at the crossing. As War-
ren came up to Jericho Ford, he encountered a fierce attack in the
usual Confederate style, made on his right flank by General Brown,
with three brigades of Hill's corps. In his furious charge, Brown
swept back Cutler on his right, and Griffin on his left, but was
checked and routed by McCoy's 83d Pennsylvania, one of whose
men seized Brown by the collar, and dragged him into the United
S90. THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
States lines, where nearly a thousand of his men bore him company as
prisoners.
Hancock carried a bridge-head, and Grant thought that he had
triumphantly crossed the river; but Lee had merely left the river-bank
to draw up on a height in a sort of horse-shoe shape that was almost
impregnable. “Grant paused and pondered, studied and planned ;”
but it was useless to waste lives there, so he kept on his march, and
on the 28th of March, crossed the Pamunkey.
Lee had of course not lain idle. Having a much shorter road, he
was in advance of Grant, and already in position—his front holding
both railroads, and the turnpike to Richmond, so as to make it next to
impossible for Grant to cross the Chickahominy on his right. But
there was no alternative, Grant had to try it. Reconnaissances along
the front of Lee's line showed it to be almost impregnable : so
Wright's Sixth Corps was pushed across the Chickahominy, near Cold
Harbor, where they were soon joined by General Smith, with ten
thousand men from Butler's army. *
On the 2d of June, the battle of Cold Harbor began, Grant carried
a good part of the Confederate advance line of rifle-pits, with many
prisoners; but failed to carry the second line, in front of which they
bivouacked, having lost two thousand in the brave but fruitless
Struggle.
w On the 3d of June, Grant resolved upon a general assault on the
Confederate lines—well as Lee was posted—defended by the natural
advantages which led his military skill to select it, and strenghtened
by the works which he at once threw up. At sunrise the attack was
made by Hancock, Wright, and Smith, with all the intrepidity of the
bravest : Barlow's division gained some advantage, but were hurled
OR, OUR COUNTRY S ACHIEVEMENTS. 891
back; Colonel McMahon planted his colors on the Confederate works
only to fall mortally wounded. Burnside swung round into action,
but all in vain.
The old battle ground where McClellan had fought, with Gaines'
Mill in view, was again uselessly dyed with blood. A fiercer battle
has seldom been known. In twenty minutes after the first shot was
fired, ten thousand soldiers of the United States lay dead and
wounded before Lee's works, while his loss had been only a
thousand.
Meade under Grant's direction, ordered the attack to be renewed,
but the men refused to obey.
Lee, encouraged by his success, made a night attack on Grant's line,
and though repulsed, renewed it two nights later.
Grant adhering to his plan, resolved now to cross the Chickahominy
and James, and attack Richmond from the South. While preparing
for this, he sent Sheridan out with his cavalry around Lee's left. Once
in the saddle, that dashing commander swept around to the rear, tear-
ing up the Virginia Central Railroad ; then the Fredericksburg road,
then the Central road again at Trevilians, hard as Wade Hampton
tried to prevent him, and so on down to Louisa Court House, where
the Confederates had gathered in force to surround him. But he swept
back to Trevilians, where he had to fight again for very existence, and
galloped off to Grant's camp.
That commander had crossed the Chickahominy almost unmolested
by Lee, and reaching the James, at Charles City Court House,
crossed to the South on the 14th and 15th of June.
Just before this, on the 8th, Butler had made another attempt
on Petersburg; Kautz's cavalry having actually entered the place, but
892 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
being unsupported by Gillmore—who had halted within two miles of
the city, after driving the Confederate skirmishers into it—had to
retire.
When Grant arrived, he ordered Butler to send Smith's corps—which
had been restored to him—against Petersburg, to capture it before
A. P. Hill could occupy it with his corps. Smith carried the outer line
of rifle-pits, but halted ; and Hancock, who came up had received no
orders, so there they lay with the prize in their grasp, leaving Hill
with his veterans to march in, fortify the place, and defy them to at-
tack. That night's delay cost months of time and torrents of blood.
By daybreak, the silent works before them were manned by the grim
veterans of Lee, whose disciplined bravery handled by skilful officers,
made them a match for ten times their numbers. The armies that had
faced each other at Gettysburg, fighting steadily all the way down across
Virginia, were here again confronted.
In Grant's army Smith was under Meade on the right, resting on the
Appomattox, Warren on the left, with Hancock and Burnside in the
Centre.
At six o'clock in the afternoon of June 16th, a general assault was
made. The three corps moved on to the assault under a terrible fire.
Birney of Hancock's corps carried the ridge before him, Burnside at
daybreak took an outwork with four guns and four hundred prisoners:
but the assault at other points failed, and when night came on, Lee
concentrated all on Burnside and drove him out.
To divert Lee if possible, Butler moved on Port Walthal Junction,
but Longstreet forced him back, and the point was soon made impreg-
nable.
On the 18th, Grant ordered another general assault only to find
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 893
that Lee had evacuated his former line to occupy a still stronger and
better one in front of the beleaguered city. This was attacked on
the afternoon of the 18th, but only to cover the ground with the
corpses of his gallant men; Grant had lost already ten thousand human
lives before Petersburg.
He accordingly began to intrench, while the Second and Fourth
Corps were sent to turn Lee's right. As usual, a large gap was left
between the two corps ; and the Confederates aware of this system in
the United States armies, resorted to their usual tactics : Hill charged
through the gap, taking each corps successively in flank, throwing them
into disorder, and capturing guns and men. Meade restored order,
and advanced to the Weldon Railroad, where Hill again attacked,
taking the advanced regiments in flank. Without any material gain,
Grant had here sacrificed four thousand more. His cavalry under
Wilson and Kautz did some service by destroying part of the Weldon,
Lynchburg, and Danville roads; but they were repulsed at Stony
Creek, and signally defeated at Reams' Station, losing guns, trains,
prisoners, and horses, and barely escaping to Grant's lines. Even
cavalry expeditions after this were suspended.
, Butler was at Deep Bottom, within ten miles of Richmond, and
Sheridan with his cavalry operating on the same side. But active
operations on Grant's were nearly suspended ; his armies, which in
eight weeks had lost seventy thousand men, needed rest and reinforce-
ment, or at all events discipline for the raw recruits sent to fill up the
decimated ranks.
Lee who had suffered less, took the offensive, and made two attacks
on the 24th and 25th of June, which were, however, easily repulsed.
Then he attacked Foster's post at Deep Bottom, but was again defeated,
894 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
f
Grant then sent the Second Corps to his right, and while Foster kept
the Confederates engaged in front, Hancock turned their flank, cap-
turing their outpost with four guns. The Confederates retreated, but
held on to a strong work opposite Fort Darling. Sheridan manoeuvred
to take this work in the rear, so that Lee to secure it drew five of
eight divisions from Petersburg. Then Burnside, who had mined a
Confederate fort in his front, blew it up on the 30th of July; but there
had been confusion as to the party to charge into the crater after the
explosion ; precious time was lost, an incompetent officer went in, and
though supported by a black division, was finally driven out by the
Confederates, who even including their losses by the mine, had sacri-
ficed less than a thousand men, while Grant's killed, wounded, and
prisoners, amounted to four thousand four hundred. So ended what
Grant himself terms, “a miserable affair.”
Another attack on the 12th, made by Hancock on Lee's lines, and
a night attack on the 18th, alike failed. g
The only advantage gained lay in the fact, that Lee was forced to
concentrate his troops near Richmond. Taking advantage of this,
Warren on the 18th, struck at the Weldon railroad, and holding it,
pushed on toward Petersburg. But the Confederates saw the danger,
and were at their old flank movement. Taking a road unknown to
Warren, they came suddenly on him, taking a Maryland brigade in
flank, and hurling it back. But Warren arrested the charge ; repelled
"the Confederates; and fortifying his position, held the Weldon railroad
at last.
But the usual slow movements nearly proved disastrous to Warren.
He was without support, and at a distance from the rest of the army.
The space between should have been filled by General Bragg, whom
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 895
Warren again ordered to occupy it. Before it was done, Hill charged
in, according to the uniform Confederate plan, striking Crawford on the
flank and rear, and capturing twenty-five hundred men. Two of
Burnside's brigades came up, however, and the lost ground was re-
gained. But three days after, Warren saw the struggle coming. Lee
was massing troops to crush him, and open the road. A terrible ar-
tillery fire opened upon him, and then on his front and left, the Con-
federates came Swooping down with desperate courage. But Warren
stood like a wall of iron, not only repulsing the assault, but driving
them from the field, where they left their dead, and many men to fall
as prisoners into Warren's hands. While this battle was going on,
Hancock, who had been busy tearing up the road at Ream's Station, a
few miles from Warren, was attacked by Hill. Heth, the Confederate,
after three unsuccessful charges, at last carried Miles' position on Han-
cock's right ; Gibbons failed to retake it, and was in turn driven from
his breastworks, and, unsupported, Hancock was at last forced from the
road with heavy loss.
As the summer had passed, and winter was approaching, Grant re-
solved to push Lee vigorously. Another general advance was made.
On the 29th of September, General Butler with Birney's corps, the
Tenth and Ord's : the Eighteenth fought the battle of Chapin's Farm,
assaulting and taking Fort Harrison, with fifteen guns, and a long line
of intrenchments. He failed to take Fort Gilmer, which General
* Field held too firmly. Fort Harrison was too important to be lost
without a struggle to regain it. The next day, Field assaulted it on
one side with three brigades, while General Hoke charged on the
other. But the long dread struggle died away with the day, leaving
the battle field strewn with dead and wounded ; Field drew off, having
896 • THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
failed to accomplish his purpose ; although he subsequently surprised
General Kautz on the Charles City Road, and captured five hundred
of his men.
On the 1st of October, Warren pushed westward to Squirrell Level
Road, and intrenched after defeating and killing General Dunnovan.
He at once threw up works to connect this position with that on the
Weldon road. For a time the two armies lay in front of each other,
the thunder and booming of cannon along the lines being the only
movement.
At last Grant resolved on another attempt. While Butler attacked
on the left, Meade's Army of the Potomac was pushed forward to
turn Lee's right flank. Warren, on the 27th of October, pushed for-
ward with the Ninth and Fifth Corps upon the enemy's works at
Hatcher's Run ; while Hancock reached and crossed the Boydton
Plank Road. Warren could not carry the Confederate works before
him, and Hancock and he were as usual separated, and in their
ignorance of the country, did not know each other's positions. The
old opportunity was afforded to the Confederates, and they did not
neglect it. Down through the woods came, silent and swift, Heth's
division of Hill's corps. Drawing up, it burst with a yell on Mott's
division of Hancock's corps, which gave way; but Egan, without wait-
ing orders at once faced, and as the Confederates emerged from the
Woods in pursu't of Mott, Egan swept down with two brigades taking
them in flank, recapturing Mott's guns and taking a thousand priso-
ners. Heth fought like a hero, but his men were hurled back, and
two hundred more retreating from Egan's terrible charge, ran into
Crawford's lines and were taken. Had Crawford advanced none of
Heth's division could have escaped.
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 897
Meanwhile Hancock's left and rear were assailed by Wade Hamp.
ton, with five brigades of cavalry, and Gregg's cavalry only with great
difficulty held their ground. At last the battle ended. Hancock had
held his ground, but as reinforcements might not come up in time, he
determined to fall back. Grant's line thus extended to the Squirrel
Level road.
This action closed Grant's active operations of the year against
Lee. In this bloody half-year, between the 5th of May, and 28th of
October, his loss had been fully a hundred thousand men, seven
hundred and ninety-six officers, and nearly ten thousand men killed ;
about fifty-four thousand wounded, and twenty-four thousand taken
prisoners from the Army of the Potomac, the losses of Burnside and
Butler swelling it to the fearful hundred thousand.
Lee's losses were probably about half that amount.
When Grant began his operations against Lee's main army, he had
directed Sigel to move up the Valley of the Shenandoah ; but Sigel
handled his army so badly, that he was routed at Newmarket by Gen-
eral Breckinridge, who captured seven hundred men, six guns, a
thousand stand of arms, Sigel's hospitals and part of his train.
General Averill with his cavalry, attempted to destroy the lead-
works at Wytheville, but he was defeated by Morgan and failed.
General Crook, did indeed defeat McCausland at Dublin Station, but
was soon forced to retreat ; and the whole movement in the Valley
proved a failure.
Hunter, succeeding Sigel, found an easier task at his hand, Breckin-
ridge, and many other commands, having been ordered to reinforce
Lee. On the 5th of June, Hunter brought General W. E. Jones to
action at Piedmont near Staunton. In the Spirited and Well-fought
898 THE STORY OF A GREAT INATION.
action Jones fell dead, pierced through by a minie ball, and his army was
utterly routed ; Hunter gathering up fifteen hundred prisoners, three
thousand stand of arms, and three pieces of artillery.
General Hunter then pressed on toward Lynchburg, by the way of
Lexington, at the head of an army of twenty thousand men. But this
was no part of Grant's plan, who expected Hunter to move to
Gordonsville.
General Hunter's error was soon manifest, Lynchburg was too in-
portant a city for the Confederates to lose. Anxious as he was to use
every man, Lee detached troops to save Lynchburg; and Hunter find-
ing formidable forces gathering around him, retreated, sharply pursued
to Salem. Thence he made his way through Newcastle into West
Virginia, exposing the Shenandoah Valley.
Early, who had been sent to relieve Lynchburg, saw his opportunity,
and marched in all haste to the Potomac. Sigel fled at his approach,
abandoning valuable stores ; while Early destroyed the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad, levied contributions, burned part of Williamsport, and
carried his raids into Pennsylvania. In fact, he produced such a panic
that, President Lincoln called on Pennsylvania, New York, and Mas-
sachusetts, for militia.
Meanwhile General Lewis Wallace was gathering troops to meet
Early, and at last with very inferior forces engaged him at the
Monocacy. Early charged him on the morning of the 9th of July ;
but though outnumbered, Wallace repulsed not only that, but another
assault by Early's second line. Reinforcements had been promised
him, but when at four o'clock, Early again advanced, he fell back,
Colonel Brown gallantly holding a bridge which saved his force.
While Early's cavalry menaced Baltimore, and a part under Gil-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 899
mor burned the bridge over Gunpowder Inlet, capturing the passen-
ger trains ; Early's main force pushed on to within six or seven miles
of Washington City. There General Augur engaged him on the 12th,
and the place became too hot. He found that he had to escape at
once if at all, as troops were approaching from Grant's army, and
Hunter might block his way; Wright's corps, the Sixth was the first to
give chase, but he moved feebly, for Early on the 20th of July, hay-
ing reached the Shenandoah, and feeling as if on his own ground,
turned on Wright with such impetuosity, as to drive back his
advance. Crook, succeeding Wright, followed Early to Winchester,
but on the 23d of July, was furiously attacked by the able Confeder-
ates, who routed him, killing among other eminent officers, Colonel
Mulligan, the hero of Lexington, whose merit never won him a pro-
motion. Crook, having lost twelve hundred men retreated north of
the Potomac. Early was complete master of the valley, and his cav-
alry raided in all directions, levying contributions. Chambersburg
in Pennsylvania, unable to pay the hundred thousand dollars in gold
which he demanded, was burnt by his cavalry under McCausland.
Early had already in his first raid, burned Governor Bradford's, and
Mr. Blair's residences near Washington.
Averill at last drove the incendiaries across the Potomac ; and near
Moorfield, on the 4th of August routed them, capturing their guns and
wagons, and five hundred prisoners.
It was evident that a General of more comprehensive mind and
greater powers was required. Grant, therefore, sent General Sheri-
dan to take command of the Middle Department, and troops amount-
ing to thirty thousand men were placed at his command. It took
some time to collect and arrange this force which he found widely
900 TII: STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
scattered, but Grant at last authorized him to assume the offen-
sive.
Sheridan waited for a moment when he could strike a blow to put
his army in good Spirits, and fill them with confidence. On the 13th
of September, he saw his opportunity, and suddenly took Kershaw's
division in flank, capturing a colonel and nearly two hundred of those
South Carolina troops.
The next morning at two o'clock, he was on the move to attack
Early’s strong position on the west bank of the Opequan. By ten,
Ricketts and Grover in the van, pushing through woodland and hill,
rushed so resolutely on Early's first line that it was carried, General
Rhodes being killed, and three of his Confederate colonels taken.
Early, prompt as his antagonist, drove Grover and Ricketts back
with fearful loss, but the shattered regiments rallied, and with the
guns that came up, held an important pass, till, as the exulting Confed-
erates renewed their charges, other troops coming up took them in
flank and front, and almost annihilated them.
Then Sheridan charged with his centre, while the cavalry and
Eighth Corps turned and struck Early's left flank. Sheridan's centre
fired their last cartridges, but as Early's line still stood, charged with
the bayonet. A height in the rear held out, but was soon taken by
Crook, and Early thoroughly beaten fled, having lost three thousand
prisoners, and many dead and wounded. Sheridan's loss was about
three thousand, including General David A. Russell.
Early made a stand at Fisher's Hill, eight miles south of Winches-
ter, but here Sheridan striking him on the flank and rear with his
Eighth Corps, and breaking his centre by a vigorous front attack again
won a complete victory.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 901
Early, hotly pursued, fled to the mountains, while Sheridan pushed
on to Port Republic, and his cavalry captured and destroyed army
supplies, and broke up railroads and bridges.
On his return, Sheridan, under orders from General Grant to leave
nothing in the valley that could invite the enemy to return, laid it
waste with an unsparing hand. The destruction of Chambersburg,
the bushwhacking of all his small parties, the murder of his engineer
officer, Lieutenant Meigs, had steeled him. He destroyed more than
two thousand barns full of grain and hay and seventy mills : he seized
and issued to his troops three thousand sheep and a drove of four
thousand cattle, and great numbers of horses.
The South was filled with dismay and rage. The Confederate pa-
pers clamored for the burning of New York, Boston, or some Northern
city, and an attempt was actually made by Confederate agents to de-
stroy the city of New York, by a general conflagration.
As Sheridan retired from the valley, Early followed, and a few
collisions occurred. Sheridan, however, deeming Early thoroughly
beaten, proceeded to Washington. Meanwhile Early had been gath-
ering his forces, and at nightfall of the 18th of October, moved silently
out of his camp, and cautiously advanced flanking on both sides
Crook's army of West Virginia, which lay in front of the 6th and 19th
corps. Before dawn, the men of the South occupied the positions se-
lected by the master-mind of the Confederate general. At the first
light of dawn, they opened a tremendous musketry fire, and charged,
completely surprising the United States forces, many of the soldiers
not even having their muskets loaded or time to charge them. In
fifteen minutes the Army of West Virginia was a rabble of fugi-
tives.
{
902 THE STORY OF A GRE AT NATION.
Emory’s Nineteenth Corps, after in vain endeavoring to arrest
Crook's disordered flight, met the charge of Early's victorious troops,
and held out till one-third of the men were either killed or wounded.
The Sixth Corps, next assailed, retired steadily, leaving Early in pos-
session of their camps, equipage, artillery, and numbers of prisoners,
hale and wounded.
Such was the tidings which reached Sheridan at Winchester. He
at once leaped into the saddle, and rode like the wind. By ten o'clock
he reached the front of his crushed and defeated army. He at once
stopped the retreat, and drew up his army again for battle, and for
two hours studied the ground, and prepared for action. “Boys if
I had been here this would not have happened,” he cried, and they
believed him. His new line was defended quickly, as well as time
would allow, and every advantage taken of position.
Early, eager to finish up the complete overthrow of the United
States army, again attacked at one o'clock, but Emory on the left, in a
dense wood, repulsed him with loss.
At three, Sheridan charged along his whole line. Early's front line
was carried, and Gordon, on Early's left, flanked and driven by the
Nineteenth Corps.
There was a pause in the thunder of artillery, and rattle of mus-
ketry volleys, then came Sheridan's second charge, more determined
than the first, with cavalry on both wings. Early could not stand the
troops, well handled at eve, whom he had routed when badly-generaled
at dawn. He gave way, and, pursued through Strasburg by the cav-
alry, fled southward again, his army virtually destroyed ; Sheridan's
war-worn men slept again in their camps, having lost three thousand
men, but recovered many of their prisoners, taking fifteen hundred of
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 903
Early's men. They recovered their guns, and took twenty-three more,
with caissons.
This spirited action closed the operations in the wasted valley of the
Shenandoah.
CHAPTER, XIII.
Sufferings of Prisoners—Andersonville—Forrest's Raids—He takes Fort Pillow—Fearful
Atrocities—He routs Sturgis—Is beaten by A. J. Smith–Various Actions--Morgan's last
Raid—Pursued and killed—Sherman's Campaign against Johnston–His three Armies—
Hooker takes Resaca——Davis takes Rone—Fight at Pumpkinvine Creek—New Hopes—Dal-
(as—Allatoona—Sherman repulsed at Kenesaw—Again flanks Johnston–Hood supersedes
Johnston—He twice attacks Sherman and is repulsed—Stoneman’s Failure—Hardee de-
feated—Hood abandons Atlanta—Sherman occupies it, and expels its Inhabitants—PHood
endeavors to draw. Sherman out of Georgia—French defeated by Corse at Allatoona—
Thomas sent to defend Tennessee—Sherman prepares to march to the Sea.
THERE were great numbers of prisoners taken on both sides, and
the Confederates, from the disaster at Bull Run to the end of the war,
always had thousands of United States prisoners in their hands. These
prisoners fared badly. They were hooted at and reviled in the towns
as they passed, and when the place of confinement was reached they
were treated with great severity. The Northern papers were filled
with accounts of the sufferings endured by the United States Soldiers
confined in Libby Prison, Castle Thunder, and other dungeons.
The Confederate prisoners at Elmira, and other points in the North,
complained as bitterly, and charged that the prisoners at the South
fared no worse than the Southern troops. Some Southern prisoners
to escape their harsh treatment entered the United States army to
serve against the Sioux, who had begun to massacre the whites.
The authorities at Washington were at first not disposed to recog-
nize the Confederate government so far as to agree to exchanges of
904 THE STORY OF A next NATION ;
prisoners, but after the disaster at Bull Run, when so many prisoners
fell into their hands, a greater willingness was shown. Finally a cartel
was made by which prisoners were to be exchanged at Richmond on
the East, and Wicksburg on the West. Various questions arose. The
United States would not at first recognize privateersmen as prisoners
of war, and to the very end of the war, the Confederates refused to
regard as such any negro soldiers who fell into their hands. Every
negro taken by them was treated as a slave, even if born free in a
Northern State. All such prisoners were sold as slaves, and many of
them were held in slavery even after the close of the war.
The lot of the white prisoners was a terrible one. The experience
of the Bull Run prisoners filled the North with the terrors of prison-
life at the South ; and at first every effort was made to effect ex-
changes, but the Confederates raised difficulties, and toward the close
of the war the United States showed as little desire to relieve the
brave fellows who were wasting away in the filth and starvation of §
prisons.
The prisoners taken from the Confederates were kept confined at
various points in the North, Elmira in New York, and Johnson's
Island in Lake Erie, among the number. They were both healthy
localities, and the food supplied to the prisoners was good and suffi-
cient, but great severity was required, especially at Johnson’s
Island, as plots were constantly on foot within and without, Cor
federates in Canada planning to liberate them, and the prisoners
themselves conspiring to escape to the British province. The boldest
attempt of the kind was that made by a party of twenty men
who got on board the Philo Parsons, at Malden, in September, 1864,
while on her way from Detroit to Sandusky. They seized the boat,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 905
captured another steamer, the Island Queen, which they scuttled, and
ran in toward Sandusky, where by the aid of Confederates in that city,
they hoped to capture the gunboat Michigan, but as their signals were
unanswered, they ran over to the Canada side, and abandoned the
vessel near Sandwich. •
It would be tiresome to follow all the minor operations of the war
in the West, or to tell how Hurlbut's cavalry raided to Grenada, in
Mississippi; how Forrest dashed into West Tennessee, and made good
his escape with more men and better horses than when he entered ;
how Sherman's grand move to Meridian came to naught; to tell of
General W. Smith's race to Memphis, with Forrest at his heels.
On the 11th of March, there was, however, a brisk fight in the
streets of Yazoo City, then held by one white and two colored regi-
ments. The Confederates, under Ross and Richardson, dashed into
the place in superior numbers, and a desperate battle was fought in
the streets, in which the Confederates were rapidly gaining possession
of the town, when cheering told the arrival of reinforcements of
United States troops. The Confederates withdrew, but soon had the
satisfaction of seeing the place evacuated by the American forces.
Then again we hear of Forrest raiding in March into Tennessee, cap-
turing a cavalry regiment at Union City, and finally investing Fort
Anderson at Paducah. But Colonel Hicks, with his Illinois boys,
prepared to make fight. In vain Forrest made assault, after assault,
Hicks repelled every charge, so that Forrest at last drew off.
Then Buford summoned Hicks to surrender, but the Confederate
was too wise to risk an assault. {
But Forrest was not always unsuccessful. Before Sunrise, on the
12th of April, he appeared before Fort Pillow, a post about forty
906 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
miles above Memphis. It was commanded by Major Booth, and gar-
risoned by five hundred and fifty men. Major Booth held out, and
the fight went on sharp and furious till nine o'clock, when Booth was
killed. Major Bradford, however, kept up the fight, the gunboat “New
Era,” giving him some little aid ; but when she drew off, the Confeder-
ates stole down two ravines leading to the fort, and by a sudden dash
entered it. Then ensued a scene of blood that is almost unparalleled
in the annals of civilized warfare, and will form forever the darkest
blot on the escutcheon of the Confederates. As the garrison with the
women and children in the fort rushed down the slope toward the
river, they were slaughtered without mercy, or dragged back to be
wantonly put to death with refinements of cruelty known only to sav-
ages. Not a negro was spared. Major Bradford was taken and mur
dered several miles from the place. They slew the negroes under the
rules adopted ; and the whites for fighting for negroes. This horrible
crime was attempted to be palliated by Forrest, and his superior officer
Lee, but the stigma is ineffaceable, and even the British Parliament,
which in other days thanked God for Cromwell's massacre at Drog-
heda, did not try to excuse the massacre of Fort Pillow, the bloodiest
page in the Civil War.
Forrest lost, he says, less than a hundred men, and butchered more
than three hundred. He retreated in haste from the scene of murder,
to safe quarters in Mississippi.
An ineffectual attempt at pursuit was made by General S. D. Stur-
gis, and somewhat later, an army of twelve thousand men under the
same General, was sent against Forrest. He came up to the Confeder-
ates at Guntown, on the Mobile railroad, on the 10th of June.
Grierson's cavalry opened the action, and the infantry were hurried
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 907
up to their support without rest or judgment. A total rout was the
consequence, Sturgis lost all his train and nearly one-half his men.
Mortified at this disgraceful defeat, the authorities in the West sent
another army of twelve thousand men under General A. J. Smith,
against Forrest, The Confederates impeded his progress by cavalry
skirmishes, till Smith reached Tupelo, where Forrest had fourteen
thousand men concentrated. He did not wait to be attacked, but three
times in succession assaulted Smith's lines, sustaining such heavy loss
that he drew off, leaving his dead and dangerously wounded on the
field.
This was on the 14th of July; but Smith did not pursue Forrest.
He returned to Memphis, and soon after, again marched to the Talla-
hatchie. The active Confederate General had, however, given him the
slip, flanking him by night, and, dashing into Memphis, at dawn on the
21st of August, made directly for the Gayoso House, where he hoped
to capture several of the United States generals. He did indeed cap-
ture some officers, but was repulsed at Irving prison, where the Con-
federate captives were confined. He lost two hundred men in his two
hours' stay, but destroyed a large amount of property, and carried off
some three hundred prisoners.
These Confederate cavalry raids were not confined to the banks of
the Mississippi. Wheeler swept down on a supply train from Chatta-
nooga to Knoxville, and captured it easily near Charleston, on the
Hiwassee, although it was almost immediately retaken by Colonel
Long, who came clattering up with his Fourth Ohio cavalry.
Morgan too was again in the field. He had to cope with Sturgis,
whom Forrest had so well drubbed, and drove him back at least thirty
imiles. On the 1st of June, Morgan dashed into Kentucky, at the
908 THE STORY OF A GREAT IN ATION.
head of two thousand five hundred men, and eluding the watchfulness
of General Burbridge, captured Mount Sterling, Paris, Cynthiana, and
Williamstown, burning trains, tearing up railroad tracks, and sending
Small parties in all directions. One of these, only three hundred
strong, captured General Hobson with sixteen hundred well-armed
soldiers. But General Burbridge was now in full pursuit of Morgan,
and on the 9th of June, defeated him at Mount Sterling. Then Mor-
gan's band divided ; part, dashing through Lexington, burned the rail-
road depot, while another part set fire to the town of Cynthiana. On
the 12th Burbridge was again up to Morgan, and attacked his camp
while the men were at breakfast, killing, wounding, and capturing
seven hundred with a thousand horses, and liberating many prisoners.
The Confederate raider fled towards Virginia, but, while endeavoring to
form a new corps, was surprised at Greenville, in East Tennessee, by
General Gillem. Morgan, in the confusion, attempted his escape, but
he was intercepted and killed.
Then the fortunes of war swayed to and fro. Burbridge, advancing
to destroy the Confederate saltworks at Saltville, near Abingdon, was
defeated on the 2d of October by General Breckinridge, and re-
treated, leaving his dead and wounded on the field. To counterbal-
ance this reverse, General Gillem, on the 28th of October, attacked
and completely routed a Confederate force under Vaughan and
Palmer, capturing four hundred men and four guns; but, while rejoic-
ing over this victory, was in turn surprised at night by Breckinbridge,
on the 13th of October, and utterly routed, losing his battery-train, and
almost all his arms.
These were the minor operations of the war. The great movement
in the West, was that made by General Sherman, simultaneously with
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oR, ou R countRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 909,
Grant's movement upon Lee. Sherman had under his control, the
Army of the Cumberland, of sixty thousand men commanded by Gen-
eral Thomas; the Army of the Tennessee, about twenty-five thousand
men commanded by General McPherson, and the Army of the Ohio,
commanded by General Schofield, which numbered thirteen thousand.
He had thus a force of near a hundred thousand men, with two hun-
dred and fifty cannon. The Confederate army before him was proba-
bly not more than fifty thousand strong, but it was commanded by
General Johnston, the army corps being those of Generals Hardee,
Hood, and Polk.
The reinforcements which Rosecrans had asked in vain, were here
given to Sherman, who was thus enabled to advance from Chattanooga,
over the difficult country before him, and overwhelm his Opponents.
Johnston lay at Dalton, his front covered by a mountain pass, called
Buzzard's Roost Gap, so fortified that no army could force it. Sher-
man was too wise to attempt such a step, but while General Thomas
made a show of attack in front, McPherson flanked Johnston's left,
moving down toward his rear by Ship's Gap, Villanow, and Snake
Gap, and actually menacing Resaca. Johnston, though he repulsed
Thomas' charges, which were vigorously made in front, fell back on
Resaca. Here Sherman again prepared to flank him, when Johnston
turned furiously on Hooker and Schofield still on his front and left.
The campaign opened with a hard-fought fight on the 15th of May, but
Hooker drove the Confederates from several hills, and Johnston,
abandoning Resaca by night, retreated, Hardee covering his rear.
Thomas followed sharply, with Schofield on his left, and McPherson on
his right. Johnston endeavored to make a stand in his strong works.
before Adairsville, but as Jefferson C. Davis, in Thomas' van, had taken
910 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Rome with its founderies and guns, he continued his retreat. His
only hope was the strong mountain country in his rear, where
the natural defenses would put him more on an equality with
Sherman. º
On the 19th of May, Sherman found him in a strong position at
Cassville, but this was not Johnston's battle ground. He again re-
treated, and at last drew up in a very strong position, covering the g
Allatoona Pass, in a rugged, difficult, mountain tract. When Sher-
man came up, he saw that it was too strong for a front attack. So he
moved well to the right, intending to concentrate his army at Dallas;
but Johnston was on the alert ; he swung round so that when Hooker
reached Pumpkinvine Creek, the Confederate was there confronting
him in line of battle. Again the din of battle rang out, but Hooker --
failed to break the stubborn Confederate line, which the next day was
seen to be well intrenched in very difficult ground, extending from Dal-
las to Marietta. Nor was Johnston disposed to stand on the defen-
sive. Just as Sherman was about to try another flank movement, he
was himself attacked on his right.
But McPherson had intrenched, and his men defended by breast-
works repulsed the impetuous charge of the Confederates. Sherman
then in turned charged, and Howard's line swept down upon the Con-
federates, but Cleburne was never at fault, and he sent Howard back
to his lines. &
Sherman at last so enveloped the Allatoona Pass, that Johnston
was compelled to evacuate it. Sherman at once placed a strong gar-
rison here, making it a base of supplies. He had thus far, by sturdy
fighting and generalship, forced his antagonist back, but it had cost
him the lives of many brave men. Fortunately at this moment, Gen-
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 911
-eral Frank Blair arrived with part of the Seventeenth Corps and a
brigade of cavalry.
Once more Sherman began his march through the rugged land, till
he came in sight of Kenesaw, Pine, and Lost mountains, towering in
rugged bulk before him. There lay Johnston, his long line defended
in part by nature ; where too his veterans had reared defenses, or
were still busy strengthening them. It seemed a desperate venture
to attack such men well handled, and so defended ; but Sherman at
last, on the 14th of June, attempted to force a passage between Kene-
saw and Pine mountain. As the battle opened, Johnston and his gen-
erals gathered to watch events. The group caught the eye of Thomas,
who ordered a battery to open upon it. The Confederate generals got
out of range, but General Polk in his anxiety to watch the battle,
ventured out, when a three-inch shot struck him on the side and tore
him to pieces. sº.
Sherman kept crowding on, losing heavily in men, but gaining -
ground. A day's fighting made Pine mountain and Lost mountain un-
tenable by the Confederates. Kenesaw, however, held out, the artil-
lery hurling its iron hail on the approaches, and Hood even charged
on Sherman's line.
Weary at last, the United States general, on the 27th of June,
made a vigorous attack on Johnston's lines south of Kenesaw. But
in vain did Thomas and McPherson sweep nobly up to the enemy's
breastworks. Their position was unassailable, and the American flag
was borne back in the recoil, General Harker, General Daniel
McCook dead, and three thousand gallant officers and soldiers stretched
dead, or wounded on the rugged mountain-side. -
Without pausing over this costly repulse, Sherman pushed forward
912 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
his right, moving McPherson rapidly down to the Chattahoochee, at
night fall. Johnston saw his danger, and through the long summer
night, troops moved swiftly through rock and woodland. When the
sun rose the position had changed. Sherman's troops held the sum-
mit of Kenesaw, and Johnston's army was passing out of Marietta.
Sherman was soon in pursuit, hoping to take Johnston at a disad-
vantage at the crossing of the Chattahoochee, but his antagonist was
prompt and cautious. He was at the river-side, well intrenched, when
Sherman came up, and held him at bay, while the army crossed the
deep and rapid river, leaving only a few troops to hold the bridges,
which were covered by works. To attack these was Sherman's first
object ; and he soon forced Johnston to abandon them, destroying the
bridges; then Sherman, with pontoons, threw his army across, and
was at last, after long and almost unintermittent marching and fight-
ing, face to face with Johnston before Atlanta—the first great object of
his campaign. The Confederates must now fight for it.
But the Confederate Government was dissatisfied. It chafed under
Johnston's cautious policy, by which he had been steadily forced back,
till a United States army had planted the American flag once more in
the heart of Georgia. There was a clamor for a bolder man, who
would attack instead of waiting to be attacked. The Confederate
Government repeated the United States blunder in the case of Pope.
General Hood, a dashing, but conceited and boastful commander,
superseded Johnston.
The new General acted promptly. Sherman, on the 22d of July,
crossed the Chattahoochee, to close around Atlanta, the enemy's skir-
mishers contesting the ground. McPherson on the extreme left, was
breaking up the railroad, Schofield on his right, had reached Decatur,
oR, our count RY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 913
and Howard's divisions of Thomas' army were closing on Schofield,
when Hood suddenly appeared in force, bursting upon Howard's,
Hooker's, and Palmer's corps. It was a surprise, but the troops stood
firm. Terrible was the struggle, but the Confederates at last recoiled,
leaving Generals Stevens, Featherstone, Armistead, and Pettus, with
five hundred more dead on the field, and wounded men to thrice that
number.
The next day, Sherman reconnoitring Hood's lines found them
deserted. He pushed on towards Atlanta, only to meet a much
stronger line of works near the city. To attack these defenses, and
Atlanta itself was the work now before him, and he set about it.
Blair had carried a hill, and was planting batteries to sweep the city,
when it was found that Hood had outwitted them. The strong lines
were held by a mere handful, while Hood, with his main army, march-
ing by night, had turned Sherman's flank, and was already with Har-
dee in the van, pouring down like a torrent on Sherman's left and
rear. In a moment McPherson, one of the best generals lay dead,
Smith's division of Blair's corps was crushed back, eight guns were
lost; but Blair at last found a strong ground and held it, able ere long
to repulse the Confederates by striking their right. tº
Again Hood renewed the attack, pushing through the Fifteenth
Corps, till Schofield by concentrating his batteries, drove them back
by his shells. Then at Sherman's command, the Fifteenth Corps swept
forward to retrieve its honor, and recover its lost ground and guns,
succeeding in recapturing all these but two.
Hood recoiled, and retired within his works; having lost twenty-
two hundred killed, his wounded and missing swelling his loss to at
least eight thousand.
914 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
Soon after a great cavalry expedition under General Stoneman, sup-
ported by McCook's and Rousseau's divisions, started from Sherman's
camp. Its object was a grand one ; it was not only to break up rail-
road lines, but to capture Macon, and then push on to Andersonville,
there to liberate the thousands of United States soldiers held as pris-
oners with such severity if not cruelty.
McCook captured a valuable train belonging to Hood's army, but on
reaching Lovejoy's, the appointed rendezvous, could learn nothing of
Stoneman. That cavalry general, disregarding his orders, made no
attempt to join McCook, and on approaching Macon, was driven off by
a hastily collected force. Panic-struck, he fled, and dividing his force,
was at last captured with a thousand men by Iverson, who had not
half that number.
While this movement was in progress, Sherman was again at work
near Atlanta. He transferred the Army of the Tennessee, under Gen-
eral Howard, from his left to his right, with a view to flank Hood out
of Atlanta, but the Confederate general, on the 20th of July, struck
out heavily from his left at Howard's lines. Logan's, the Fifteenth Corps,
held the crest of a wooded ridge. He had improved every moment.
to throw up a rough breastwork of logs and rails. After a brisk
cannonade, Hood's infantry, under Hardee and Lee, swept bravely up
to. Howard's right flank; but a deadly fire swept their line; back they
were hurled, but again and again they re-formed and advanced, till
nearly seven hundred lay dead, and thousands fell wounded. Hood,
having sacrificed several thousand men, withdrew once more within
his fortifications at Atlanta. - -
Closer and closer Sherman drew his lines, pushing them to East
Point, shelling Atlanta, and menacing the railroads on which Atlanta
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 91 5.
depended for subsistence. Hood sought to avert the final blow by
dispatching Wheeler with his cavalry to operate in Sherman's rear.
The United States commander sent Kilpatrick at once to break up
the West Point and Macon railroads, which was done pretty effect-
ively. Then he abandoned the siege of Atlanta, and sending his sick
and his wounded, with his surplus wagons, to the Chattahoochee, he
put his whole army in motion, and before Hood penetrated his design,
was behind Atlanta, thoroughly destroying the railroads on which
Hood depended. That general now divided his army. Hardee, with
one portion, advanced to Jonesborough. Here, on the 31st of August,
he came upon Howard, with the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seven-
teenth Corps. Howard had covered his front with a breastwork, and
calmly awaited attack. It was made with great courage and skill, but
after two hours of terrible struggle Hardee retreated, leaving his dead
and wounded.
Sherman then came up, with Thomas and Schofield, who had been
breaking up the roads, and by a vigorous attack carried the Confeder-
ate lines at Jonesborough, capturing General Govan, with his brigade
and batteries. Hardee retreated in haste. Hood, cut off from sup-
plies, with his army scattered and beaten, blew up his magazine and,
destroying his stores, evacuated Atlanta and fled, on the 1st of Sep-
tember.
Sherman, pursuing Hardee, found him well intrenched near Love-
joy's, between Walnut Creek and Flint River. To attack him would
entail a useless waste of life. But before he took any other course.
rumors came that Hood had fled : then a courier dashed up from Gen-
eral Slocum, announcing that he himself was actually in Atlanta.
Without making the attempt to pursue and capture any of the
916 . THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
scattered divisions of Hood's army, Sherman concentrated his whole
force at Atlanta. He ordered the removal of all the remaining inhab-
itants, allowing them to go North or South as they preferred. This
severe measure, which General Sherman deemed imperatively neces-
sary, as he could not supply the inhabitants with food, and none would
be sent to Atlanta while he occupied it, drew from the South the most
unsparing condemnation. -
While Hood's cavalry was raiding into Tennessee, Hardee had
effected a junction with Hood near Jonesborough, and the defeated
army was reinforced, and visited by Jefferson Davis, who sought to
rouse the enthusiasm of the soldiers, in the gloomy days that had be-
fallen them. Hood then crossed the Chattahoochee, and tearing up
the railroad, menaced Allatoona : but General Corse, a sturdy man,
was already there with his brigade to defend the valuable stores in
the place. General Sherman, on the first tidings of Hood's move-
ment, dispatched General Thomas to Nashville, to check any Confed-
erate movements in that State, and now himself started in pursuit Of
Hood. Before he could reach Allatoona, French, one of Hood's gen-
erals, had invested the place on the morning of the 5th of October, and
opened a sharp cannonade, which echoed through the mountains, and
reached Sherman's ears as he pressed eagerly on. From mountain-
peak to peak, flags carried to Corse the cheering news that aid was at
hand. “He will hold out,” cried Sherman ; “I know the man.”
When Corse refused to surrender, French assaulted with all his
forces, rushing again and again to the very parapets; but Corse, his
face streaming with blood from a bullet-wound, hurled them back at
every onset, his brave men thinning, till at last, French, finding Cox
approaching, retreated, leaving his dead on the field.
oR, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 917
Hood, anxious to draw Sherman out of Georgia, pushed northwest
to Kingston, and then on to Resaca, followed steadily by Sherman,
who in vain endeavored to bring him to action. But Hood no longer
cared to fight, he eluded Sherman and made off. Then Sherman halted
at Gaylesville, Alabama, and sending most of his cavalry and the
Fourth Corps to Thomas, prepared for a march towards the sea, gath-
ering up all his garrisons, destroying all railroads, foundries,
mills, etc. .
CHAPTER XIV.
The Confederates on the Sea—The Oreto, Alabama, Florida—Capture of the Revenue Cutter
Chesapeake—Aid given by England and her Provinces—Capture of the Florida and Japan
—Engagement between the Alabama and the Kearsarge—The Alabama sunk—Farragut in
Mobile Harbor destroys the Confederate Fleet.
WE will leave the land operations for a time to follow the move-
ments of the armed vessels on the seas. Confederate cruisers, or rather
English war-vessels under the Confederate flag, still ravaged the Amer-
ican shipping on the ocean. The steamer Oreto, in spite of the efforts
of Mr. Adams, the United States Minister in England, was allowed to
escape from Liverpool, and though she put in at Nassau, the English
authorities disregarded the remonstrances of the Americans, and she
was allowed to depart. |Under British colors, she ran into the harbor
of Mobile, through the neglect of the blockading squadron, and on the
27th of December, 1862, sallied out on her work of destruction, com-
manded by John N. Maffit. The Alabama, also fitted out in England,
and commanded by Raphael Semmes, was also soon on the ocean.
Both these vessels used the British as well as the Confederate flag, and
918 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION . .
at British ports were always received with the warmest welcome.
Early in May, 1863, the Florida, one of these cruisers, with the brig
Clarence, which she had captured and fitted out as a privateer, ran
along the Atlantic coast, capturing and destroying vessels. Reed, the
commander of the Clarence, transferred his flag first to the bark
Tacony, and then to the schooner Archer, in which, on the 24th of
June, he boldly entered the harbor of Portland, Maine, and at night
cut out the steam revenue-cutter Cushing. This bold act roused the
place. Volunteers at once manned two merchant steamers, and gave
chase. The Cushing was soon overhauled, and her captors took to
their boats, and blew her up. The boats were soon captured, and the
Archer forced to strike, and Reed and his comrades lodged in prison.
Another bold act in the same waters, was the capture of the Chesa-
peake, a steamer plying between New York and Portland. On the
6th of December, 1863, sixteen of the passengers proclaimed them-
selves Confederates, and seized the vessel, putting the captain in irons,
and murdering an engineer. The captors then ran her into Sambro
harbor, Nova Scotia, but two United States gunboats, the Ella and
Anna, ran in and recaptured her. The Confederates were handed.
over to the British authorities at Halifax, but were at once rescued by
a mob, the people of all the British provinces showing, throughout the
war, the most bitter and hostile feeling to the United States. The
judicial authorities, however, restored the Chesapeake to its owners.
In 1864, three new British cruisers sailed from England, the Tallahas.
see, Olustee, and Chickamauga. The ships destroyed by these cruis-
ers up to January, 1864, were estimated at more than thirteen mil-
lions of dollars, but the ravages after that time increased with fearful
rapidity.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 919
The Florida, after a successful cruise, ran into Bahia, in the midst
of a Brazilian fleet, and under the guns of a fort. The United States
steamer Wachusett, Captain Collins, had just discovered her, and with-
out any regard to her being in a neutral port or well protected, he ran
in, compelled her to surrender, and making fast a hawser, towed her
out to sea, unharmed by the guns which the fort opened upon him.
Captain Collins resolved to rid the sea of the Florida, even if it cost
him his commission. Though pursued by the Brazilian fleet, he reached
Hampton Roads, Virginia, with his prize. On the complaint of the
Brazilian Government, he was, however, suspended from command.
The Japan, another vessel built at Greenock, sailed from English
waters in April, 1863, and assuming the name of Georgia, destroyed
many ships, and returned to England. Sailing out again as a British
merchantman, she was captured by the Niagara, Captain Craven, in
August. -
The most famous of these cruisers, the Alabama, Captain Semmes,
continued her ravages till June, 1864, when the Kearsarge, Captain.
Winslow, overhauled her. The Alabama was in the harbor of Cher-
bourg, France, and on the 15th of June steamed out to meet the
Kearsarge, firing three broadsides from her eight guns, before Wins-
low replied. The Kearsarge endeavored to board, but Semmes, who
evinced great cowardice, leaving his coin and chronometers on shore,
and having a British yacht, the Deerhound, at hand to succor him in
need, steamed rapidly away. The Kearsarge kept pace with her, fir-
ing slowly and surely, while the Alabama's gunners, picked men from
British men-of-war, shot wildly. The chase became a circle. Seven
times the Kearsarge steamed around, narrowing in each time, disa-
bling one of Semmes' guns, blocking up the engine-room, and cutting .
920 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
up the hold and rigging. The Alabama, after half an hour's fight,
tried to reach the French shore, but as she was sinking, hauled down
her flag, but kept up firing, while Semmes and his men attempted to
reach the Deerhound in their boats. He succeeded in doing so, with
forty of his men, and escaped to England. His vessel soon went
down. The Alabama had lost nine killed, twenty-one wounded, and
sixty-five taken by the Kearsarge, which had three men wounded,
one, the gallant William Gowin, mortally. y
This victory caused the greatest exultation in the United States, the
ships having been equally matched, and the triumph complete and un-
deniable. &
The United States Navy was now so increased as to be able to close
all the Southern ports except Wilmington, in North Carolina, and Mo-
bile, in Alabama, where forts prevented a blockading squadron from
approaching, so as to cut off blockade-runners.
In August, 1864, Rear-Admiral Farragut prepared to force a pas-
sage in spite of Forts Morgan, Powell, and Gaines, assisted by the
ironclad Tennessee and other Confederate gunboats under Admiral
T}uchanan. Farragut had four ironclads, and fourteen wooden ves-
sels. He took post in the main-top of his flagship, the Hartford, and
pushed in, the Tecumseh leading and engaging Fort Morgan, but she
soon caught on a torpedo, which exploded, sinking her almost at once.
In spite of this, Farragut pushed on, silencing the fort, and coming to ac-
tion with the Confederate fleet. The latter opened fire, and the Ten-
nessee bore down on the Hartford, while the gunboats poured broad-
sides into her. Farragut then cast off the Metacomet, which was
lashed to the Hartford, and ordered her to engage the Selma. A stir-
ring fight ensued between the two, but after an hour, Murphy, the cap-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 99 F.
tain of the Selma, having lost his lieutenant and five men killed, and
being wounded himself, as were many of his crew, struck. The other
Confederate gunboats, the Morgan and Gaines, fled to the cover of the -
fort-guns, and the Morgan finally escaped to Mobile, while the Gaines
was run ashore and burned. sº
But the Tennessee resolved to make one bold attempt to retrieve
the day. Under a full head of steam, she dashed at the Hartford. The
United States fleet closed around her. The Monongahela struck her
in the side, coming at full speed, but the blow, and the broadside, left
her unharmed. Again the Monongahela drew off, and came on, crush-
ing in her own beak; then the Lackawanna ran crashing on, to recoil
shattered by the shock. The Hartford tried to strike her, but slid
along. Then the Chickasaw and Manhattan, monitors, attacked her
at the stern, battering her considerably. The Tennessee had bravely
stood all this tremendous pummelling, but her smoke-stack, her steer-
ing-chains, her port-shutters were all disabled ; it was useless to pro-
long the contest, so seeing the Hartford, Lackawanna, and Ossipee,
all about to ram her, Admiral Buchanan, severely wounded himself,
surrendered.
Farragut's loss had been heavy, but the Confederate fleet was gone.
His complete victory cost him in killed and drowned, a hundred and
sixty-five, while a hundred and seventy were wounded. -
The remaining forts were now to be reduced, but in the night. Fort
Powell was evacuated and blown up ; and the next day Fort Gaines.
was so effectively shelled that it surrendered, though Colonel Ander-
son was bitterly reproached by General Page, and generally in the
South, for yielding. Yet Page himself held out only one day in Fort
Morgan. With its fall the outworks of Mobile passed into the hands.
‘922 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
of the United States, the Confederacy losing a fleet, three forts, a hun-
dred and four guns, and nearly fifteen hundred men as prisoners of
*Wal’.
CHAPTER XV.
The Presidential Election—Movements for Peace—The Negotiations at Hampton Roads—
Forrest's last Raid—Hood advances, and Thomas falls back to Nashville—Bloody Battle at
Franklin—The Battle at Nashville—Thomas attacks Hood on the right and left, and car-
ries his first Line—He storms Overton's Hill—Hood routed and driven across the Tennessee
—Breckinridge driven into North Carolina—Saltville taken.
THE year 1864, amid all the din of war, was the period for a new
Presidential election, and party feeling was strong. A Radical Con-
vention held at Cleveland, in May, nominated General John C. Fre-
mont for President, and General John Cochrane for Vice-President,
but both these soon withdrew. The Union National Convention of
the Republican party met at Baltimore in June, and renominated Abra-
ham Lincoln for President, while for Vice-President they put forward
Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, a man of much ability and experience.
It was a curious circumstance, that a party arrayed against the South
thus selected as its candidates natives of Southern States.
The Democratic Convention did not meet till August when General
George C. McClellan was nominated as President, and George H.
Pendleton of Ohio, as Vice-President.
Both parties prepared for the election by stirring appeals, but the
general voice was evidently in favor of the Republican party. When
the election came off, the vote in the States which were not under
Confederate control, and in which alone the election was held, gave
Mr. Lincoln two million two hundred thousand votes, and McClellan
s
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 923
one million eight hundred thousand ; but he secured the votes of only
three States, New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky, which gave
twenty-one votes; all the rest giving two hundred and twelve votes
for Lincoln and Johnson.
With their power thus confirmed, the Republican party, at the next
Congress, passed, 31st January, 1865, a Constitutional Amendment
abolishing and forever prohibiting slavery.
This bloody war had desolated the country for four years, and at
last efforts were made to negotiate and restore peace. President Lin-
coln showed an inclination to meet the Confederate leaders, and he
went down to Fortress Monroe, where, on the 3d of February, a confer-
ence was held between him and Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State,
and three Confederate delegates, Alexander H. Stephens, John A.
Campbell, and Robert M. T. Hunter. The restoration of the Union
was the point on which Mr. Lincoln insisted absolutely, but to which
the Southern delegates would not listen. They, unfortunately were
led by their feelings, and threw aside a favorable opportunity to se-
cure terms such as nothing but a series of Victories could win for
them.
Meanwhile, hostilities had gone on in the field. Forrest, in the lat-
ter part of September, with a cavalry force, invested Colonel Camp-
bell, at Athens, and that officer pusillanimously surrendered, just as
troops arrived for his relief, only to be captured also. The alarm was,
however, given, and Rousseau on one side, Steedman on another, and
Morgan on another, endeavored to cut off the daring cavalry leader
of the South, but all in vain : Forrest eluded them all, and, carrying
on his work of destruction to the last, crossed the Tennessee at
Bainbridge, and made off.
92.4 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Hood, meanwhile, after advancing almost to Chattanooga, moved
westward upon Decatur, an important point, where several railroad
lines crossed. General Gordon Granger was posted here, and Hood
pushed up his lines of rifle-pits, threatening an assault; but Granger,
in a sortie, flanked his rifle-pits on the left, and carried a battery on his
right. Nettled as he was at this, Hood durst not waste time, but
pushed on, and crossed the Tennessee at Florence, while Forrest, again
in the saddle, made a dash at Johnsonville, a place where important
stores had been accumulated. It held out bravely, but so fierce was
the attack that the besieged fired their gunboats and transports, the
flames spreading to the town, destroying a million and a half dollars'
worth of supplies, which Thomas greatly needed. Part of Taylor's
army from Louisiana now joined Hood, and it was clear that Nash-
ville was his object. Thomas pushed forward the Fourth Corps, Gen-
eral Stanley, and Twenty-Third Corps, General Schofield, to Pulaski,
to check his march. These, numbering twenty thousand men, with
eight thousand cavalry, constituted his army, while Hood was advanc-
ing on him with forty thousand infantry, and twelve thousand most
effective cavalry, Sherman's march to the sea relieving him from all
fear of attack from that general.
As Hood advanced, Generals Schofield and Granger fell back on
Nashville. On the 30th of November Schofield took up a position on
the southern verge of Franklin, in a bend of Harpeth River, and throw-
ing up a breastwork, prepared to fight in order to give his trains time.
to get well on towards Nashville. Hood soon came up with his van,
but seeing the strong line, waited till all his force arrived. Then, with:
Stewart on his right, and Cheatham on his left, and Forrest's.
horse on either side, he prepared for a decisive charge. “Break.
oR, our COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 925.
those lines,” shouted the Confederate general to his men, “and
there is nothing more to withstand you this side of the Ohio River !”
With a wild cheer they dashed on. Over Schofield's advanced works
they poured like a torrent, hurling back in disorder two brigades.
which held them, and then breaking through Schofield's centre, captured
Carter's Hill with eight guns, planting the Confederate flag on the
breastworks. The day seemed lost, and men began to stream back in
flight. But behifid the hill stood Opdycke's brigade, and above the
din rang out its commander's clarion voice : “First brigade, forward to
the works | * With the last rays of sunset gleaming on their levelled
- bayonets, they swept up to the scene of disaster, and in a few moments.
stood victorious at the old line, with not a Confederate in sight except
dead, wounded, or prisoners; recapturing the guns, and holding as
trophies ten of Hood's battle-flags, so sudden and unexpected had been
his charge. -
But Hood was not defeated. Till ten o'clock at night he sent his
brave men into action, now on Schofield's right, then on the flank; but
every assault was repulsed, and his veterans recoiled with steadily
decreasing lines. At midnight the noise of battle died away. Scho-
field's trains were well on their way, So he drew out his men, and
marching steadily on, by noon drew up within Thomas' lines of works
defending Nashville.
Hood lost in this sanguinary battle Cleburne, one of the best South-
ern generals, with four brigadiers killed, his death-roll running up to
seventeen hundred, his total loss to more than six thousand, while
Schofield's loss in killed was less than two hundred.
Hood at last confronted Thomas at Nashville, but the odds were
against him. His army of forty thousand Was faced by Thomas’ force,
926 'THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
which every day strengthened. The passing steamboats landed
A. J. Smith's command from Missouri; the railroad trains rattled up
with Steedman's force from Chattanooga. On the 14th of December
Thomas began the battle, Steedman, on his left, attacking Hood, to mis-
lead him, while in the morning, Smith, with Wilson's cavalry, struck
Chalmers in flank, and after a severe fight, routed him, taking Hood's
whole line of defense, and forcing him back to a new line. But Hood
was not easily beaten ; so that Thomas, pushing on again, confronted
him, Smith in the centre ; Wood and Steedman, on the left; Schofield
and Wilson on the right. Wilson's cavalry soon reached Hood's rear,
while Wood and Steedman assailed Overton's hill, but as they strug-
gled over abatis, were mowed down with volleys of musketry, can-
ister, and grape. Smith and Schofield, more successful, carried the
works before them; and when their loud huzzas rang out, and Wilson
was known to be in the rear, Wood and Steedman again charged, and
in spite of the murderous fire, swept all before them. Hood's army
fled broken and disorganized to Franklin, Chalmers' cavalry holding
the road for a time, till Spalding carried it with the 12th Tennessee
horse. Then the pursuit was renewed: eighteen hundred wounded
were taken, and two hundred United States soldiers were recaptured
at Franklin. The pursuit was kept up for several days, till heavy
rains made the roads impracticable, and the rivers too deep for an
army to cross without pontoons.
The victory was complete, Huntsville, Athens, and Decatur were
again reoccupied.
Stoneman then, in a brilliant campaign, drove Breckinridge into
North Carolina, and captured Saltville, destroying the salt-works, loco-
motives, and rolling stock.
CHAPTER XVI.
Sherman's March to the Sea—Mode of Proceeding—Fights on the way—Before Savannah—
Hazen storms Fort McAllister—Sherman meets Foster and Dahlgren–Savannah evacuated—
Sherman's Christmas-present to President Lincoln—Operations to co-operate with him—
He crosses the Edisto—Actions at Branchville, Orangeburg, and on the Congaree—Co-
lumbia surrendered—The Conflagration—Hardee evacuates Charleston—The Stars and
Stripes raised at Sumter—Sherman enters North Carolina––Fayetteville—Actions at Averys-
borough and Bentonville–Goldsborough—The Expeditions against Fort Fisher—It is car-
ried at last—Fall of Wilmington—Hoke's Repulse——Wilson's brilliant cavalry Campaign
in Alabama—Canby reduces Mobile.
WE will now return to General Sherman. When he left Thomas to
cope with Hood, he prepared to march to the sea with the Fourteenth,
Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Twentieth Corps, organized in two grand
divisions under Generals Howard and Slocum, with cavalry on the
flanks, General Sherman marching and camping alternately with each
wing, which moved, at some miles distance apart. They were to live
on the country, and did so, sending out foraging parties which swept
the State like a swarm of locusts. On the march, they demolished
railroads, bridges. and all military stores and supplies that were not
needed for their own use.
Milledgeville was entered without opposition on the 23d of Novem-
ber, 1864. Pushing on from this, the first opposition of any moment
was encountered by General Kilpatrick, who, while attempting to
reach and liberate the United States prisoners held at Milden, was at-
tacked by General Wheeler, and compelled to dismount, and throw up
a breastwork for his defense.
9.28 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Sherman crossed the Ogeechee on the last day of November, and
his two columns, sweeping on their relentless course of desolation,
brushing aside all the small parties of the enemy, at last united before
Savannah. The Confederates had been in uncertainty at what pre-
cise point he was striking, and he kept them in doubt by his course,
Kilpatrick engaging Wheeler at Briar Creek, on the 4th of December.
Six days after, Savannah was completely beleaguered, and Hazen
was in front of Fort McAllister, and Sherman and Howard opened
communication with Admiral Dahlgren, and General Foster on the
fleet outside.
Then Hazen attacked the fort. Over torpedoes and abatis, his gal-
lant fellows rushed, the fiery volleys never checking their line as they
poured over the parapet, and took the fort. The garrison surren-
dered, with twenty-two guns and ammunition. -
When Sherman saw the Stars and Stripes floating over McAllister,
he went down and congratulated Hazen, and the next day met Dahl-
gren on board the Harvest Moon.
Heavy guns were then brought up to bombard Savannah. Gen-
eral Sherman formally summoned Hardee, the Confederate general in
the city, to surrender, but he refused. The siege-guns were then
placed in position, but it was soon discovered that on the dark and
Windy night of the 20th, Hardee crossed the Savannah on a pontoon
bridge, and retreated towards Charleston, so silently as to escape the
notice of Sherman's pickets. He had destroyed his iron-clads and
other vessels, with much ammunition, but left his cannon and cotton
intact. -
Sherman had thus swept across the South, and taken one of the
great cities and ports with no loss but that of sixty-three men killed;
OR, our Count RY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 929
and two hundred and forty-five wounded. He telegraphed to the
President :
“I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah,
with one hundred and fifty heavy guns, and plenty of ammunition,
and also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.”
During his march several movements had been made to distract the
enemy's attention. Two from Wicksburg, sent out by General Dana,
and a third under Grierson, from Memphis. Various engagements
occurred, the hardest fight being at Egypt, on the 27th of December.
Foster on the sea-coast had, though suffering from an unhealed wound,
kept the Confederates on the alert, by movements against the Charles-
ton and Savannah railroads.
After remaining a month at Savannah, to refit his army, Sherman
resumed his march. On the 1st of February, his whole army moved
riorthward in two columns. South Carolina felt that her hour of des-
ołation was come, but she would not submit tamely. Governor
Magrath called out as militia every able-bodied white man not already
in service ; the slaves, who had not yet had a chance to escape to
Sherman's army, as thousands had done in Georgia, were driven in
gangs to work at felling trees to impede the roads. But Sherman
came on relentless as fate, his men marching knee-deep through
swamps, routing the first opposition at the Salkehatchie, and driving
the Confederates beyond the Edisto. By menacing Augusta and
Charleston, he kept the Confederate forces divided, and went on tearing
up the railroads.
Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, was reached on the 17th,
and as Wade Hampton fled it surrendered without a blow, but after
Sherman's army passed through, much of the city was reduced to
930 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
ashes. Who fired it is one of the disputed points of history. Sher.
man says that the Confederates under Hampton fired their cotton,
which set fire to the houses. The Confederates and their allies, the
British Government and people, charge that Sherman's army set it on
fire. It was a time of terror and humiliation for the haughty capital
of South Carolina. An enemy holding the city, flames on all sides,
the air like a furnace, the streets impassable, frightened men, women,
and children running in all directions.
The fate of Charleston was now decided. General Hardee pre-
pared to evacuate the cradle of Secession. Every building, ware-
house, or shed stored with cotton, was fired by a guard detailed for
the purpose. The fire thus kindled proved nearly as disastrous to
Charleston as Wade Hampton's did to Columbia. The powder in the
northwestern railroad depot caught and exploded, killing no less than
two hundred people. From this point the fire spread rapidly, laying
several squares in ashes. - -
Sherman entered the fire-scourged city on the 18th, and the United
States flag was at last raised again on the ruins of Fort Sumter.
Sherman's march through Georgia, had been one of devastation ;
but through sparsely settled South Carolina, it was even more destruc-
tive. It has been well said that no other State or section has, in mod-
ern times, been so thoróughly devastated in a single campaign, signal-
ized by as little fighting as was South Carolina by that march.
Fayetteville, North Carolina, was Sherman's next point. On the
way, Kilpatrick, after deluding and battling Wheeler, was suddenly
attacked by Wade Hampton, surprised and routed, with the loss of his
guns. He rallied, and charging on foot, recovered his guns, and
turned them on the late victors, who in turn fled in all haste as:
oR, ou R count RY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 931.
Mitchell came up to Kilpatrick's relief with a brigade of in-
fantry.
At Fayetteville, Sherman destroyed the United States arsenal with
its machinery. He rested here three days to reorganize his army.
The Confederates were now gathering in force around him. Hardee,
with the troops from Savannah and Charleston ; Beauregard from
Columbia, Cheatham from Tennessee, Wheeler and Hampton's cav-
alry, with militia from North Carolina, now formed an army of forty
thousand men, with the able General Joseph Johnston at its head.
Sherman pushed on to Averysborough, where a battle was fought on
the 10th of March, but Hardee was defeated with loss, the Twentieth
Corps, under Williams, and the Fourteenth, winning laurels by their
gallantry. i
On the 18th of March, Slocum, driving in Debbrell's Confederate
cavalry near Goldsboro’, was assailed by Johnston's whole army.
Carlin's brigades were hurled back with the loss of three guns. Slo-
cum saw his peril, and throwing up such intrenchments as he could, stood
on the defensive in a well-formed line, with Kilpatrick on his left. Then
Johnston charged furiously; six times in succession his men rushed on
to the assault, but the fire of artillery and musketry mowed them.
down. In vain did Johnston strain every nerve to crush Slocum be-
fore relief could reach him. Finding this impossible, he drew off, and
intrenched in a strong position, a sort of triangle facing Slocum on one
side, and on the other Howard, who had come up to Slocum's relief.
Sherman, meanwhile, sent Schofield to gain Johnston's rear and cut off
his retreat, but Johnston was not to be caught. He decamped at
night, and retreated on Raleigh.
Sherman then pushed on to Goldsboro’, whence, leaving Generals,
& p } <>
'932 THE STORY OF A GREAT N ATION .
Terry and Schofield in command, he ran on to City Point, to confer
with President Lincoln, and Generals Grant and Meade. He had
fought his way through the very heart of the Confederacy, taken sev-
eral of the most important Southern cities, and was now with a victo-
rious army, ready to co-operate in any plan of the Commander-in-
chief. His stay was brief, and on the 30th of March he was again at
the head of his army in North Carolina. Some other operations had
meanwhile been undertaken in North Carolina, from Grant's army.
To seize Wilmington, and cut off the supplies received by the Confed-
erates through that port was an important object. To attain it, an ex-
pedition under General Butler proceeded on Commodore Porter's fleet
in December. After an abortive attempt to blow up Fort Fisher, a
Confederate work commanding the main channel at the New Inlet
leading up to Wilmington, Porter bombarded it with the ironsides
Canonicus, Mahopac, Minnesota, and other large ships. In Seventy-
five minutes he silenced its guns, set it on fire in several places, and
blew up two magazines. The fire was renewed on the 27th of Decem-
ber, and Butler then landed to assault the fort, but finding it too
strong, abandoned the attempt. General Terry was next sent
down by Grant with fresh troops. Again the ironclads rained their
missiles on the fort ; then, on the 14th of January, Terry landed.
The next day, a terrible fire from the fleet drove the Confederates
to their bomb-proofs, and then two thousand sailors and marines,
who had gradually worked their way up to within two hundred
yards of the fort, rushed up by the flank along the beach. But
as the fleet's fire ceased, the Confederates sprang to their works, the
Sailors were swept down by canister, grape, and musketry ; though
Some gained the parapet, they were repulsed. On the left Curtis' bri-
or, our countRY's ACHIEVEMENTS, 933
gade drove the Confederates from the heavy palisading, and while
most were fighting the sailors, gained part of the works. Reinforce-
ments came up, and the fight went on, the Confederates, animated by
their commander, Major-General Whiting, resisting with stubborn
courage. At last they were driven out of the fort, and attempted to
escape, but were forced to surrender, their commander receiving his
death-wound before he yielded. Terry took over two thousand pris-
oners, and one hundred and sixty guns, losing one hundred and ten
killed, and five hundred and thirty-six wounded in the desperate as-
sault. - -
Fort Caswell, with other works, was then abandoned and destroyed
by the Confederates.
General Schofield, with his Twenty-third Corps, was then ordered
from the West by Grant, and sent down to Terry, who at once ad-
vanced on Fort Anderson, the chief remaining work between him and
Wilmington. Hoke, the Confederate general, hastily abandoned it,
and fell back to Town Creek, where he intrenched ; General Cox, who
had been thrown over the Cape Fear, pursued and routed him, then
pushed on towards Wilmington. General Terry, on the peninsula, had
been unable to carry Hoke's works before him, but Wilmington was won.
Hoke retreated, destroying two privateers, steamers, cotton and stores
to a large amount. He was soon pursued, but turning suddenly on
Colonel Upham, captured seven hundred of his men, though in attempt-
ing to attack Schofield, he found it too dangerous, the attempt resulting
in very heavy loss. Hoke then resumed his retreat, and soon reached
Johnston's army, while Schofield entered Goldsboro’, just before
Sherman reached it, as we have already seen.
A great and brilliant cavalry campaign in the West under General
934 THE STORY OF A GREAT INATION.
Wilson, had captured important Confederate towns, and at last routed
Forrest.
Wilson crossed the Tennessee on the 18th of March, with a splendid'
body of light armed and equipped cavalry, numbering in all fifteen
thousand men. Selma, in Alabama, was the first point aimed at, and
Forrest was found strongly posted on Boyle's Creek, with about five
thousand men. Wilson attacked with Long's and Upton's divisions.
Long, on the right, charged and carried the guns before him, while
Upton, on the Maplesville road, made short work there. In a brief
struggle, the hitherto victorious cavalry officer of the Confederacy
was driven from the field with heavy loss in guns and men, and did not
halt till he was twenty miles from the field. He made a stand at
Selma, by order of General Dick Taylor, but Wilson pursued him
rapidly, and on the 3d of April, attacked him in his new lines. Long
fell at the head of his men, but they swept on over the Confederate
intrenchments, driving Forrest's men pell-mell into Selma. There
they rallied again with stubborn energy, but Upton charged in his
turn, and Selma was taken, with thirty-two guns, and twenty-seven
hundred prisoners. The butcher Forrest, with about three thousand,
escaped by night, after burning twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.
Wilson sacked the town, destroyed the arsenal, factories, foundries,
and all the cotton that was left.
After repairing bridges, Wilson pushed on, and early in the morning
of the t2th of April entered Montgomery, Alabama, where the Con-
federate Government was first organized. It was ablaze with burn-
ing cotton, no less than a hundred and twenty-five thousand bales hav-
ing been burned there by Wirt Adams, the late Confederate com-
mandant. At Columbus, Georgia, which he reached on the 16th, Wilson.
or, OUR country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 935
#
had a sharp fight, but finally took the place, destroying the Confeder-
ate ram Jackson, which lay there, locomotives, cars, and thousands of
bales of cotton.
The same day, a detachment under Lagrange took Fort Tyler, at
West Point, killing General Tyler, the commander, and capturing his
whole force.
Wilson kept on his career till April 21st, when he was informed by
General Howell Cobb that the war was virtually ended.
Further south, General Canby had prepared to reduce Mobile, and
on the 28th of March, Spanish fort was invested by the Sixteenth and
Thirteenth Corps, the fleet joining in the siege, although two vessels,
the Metacomet and Octorara, were blown up by torpedoes. After a
tremendous bombardment, the guns of the fort were silenced on the
8th of April, at midnight, and at two o'clock in the morning the
American troops entered unopposed, most of the garrison escaping,
although six hundred and fifty-two, with thirty heavy guns, fell into
the hands of the United States forces. Forts Tracy and Huger were
then attacked, but they were speedily evacuated. But Generals
Thomas and Cockrill held Blakely, with three thousand Confederates
and abundant artillery. General Garrard led the assault on their
works, under a fearful storm of shell and shrapnel, and carried them,
while Rinnekin’s and Gilbert's brigades, turning the Confederate left,
captured Thomas and a thousand men, who were endeavoring to eS-
cape. On the right, colored troops shouting “Remember Fort Pil-
low !” swept over the Confederate works.
Fort Blakely was won, but at the cost of a thousand killed and
wounded. The Confederates lost five hundred killed and wounded,
three thousand prisoners, thirty-two cannon, four thousand muskets.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Close of the War—Grant begins operations—The Confederate Rams in the James—Sher-
idan in the Valley again—He crushes Early—Wheels around Lee's Lines and reports to
Grant—Lee's bold Dash—He takes Fort Steedman—Grant's Advance on the Confederate Lines
—Sheridan at Five-Forks—General Assault by Grant—Forts Gregg and Alexander carried s—
Lee defeated, and A. P. Hill killed—He telegraphs to Davis that Richmond must be evac-
uated—The Confederate Capital in Confusion and Flames—Weitzel enters it—Lee's Retreat
—Sheridan heads him off—Grant proposes a Surrender—Lee hesitates—Appomattox Court
House—Surrender of Lee's Army of Virginia.
THE great Civil War was now verging to its close. Even those in
Europe who had encouraged the Confederates, in the hope of seeing
the great Republic broken up and ruined, began to see that the United
States Government would ultimately reduce the revolting States.
Every great port from Norfolk to New Orleans was once more
under the flag of the United States. The only large armies of the
Confederates were now in Virginia and North Carolina, but they were
confronted by armies superior in numbers, arms, and material of war.
In Virginia, the first operation in 1865 was the descent of the Con-
federate iron-clads, Virginia, Fredericksburg, and Vicksburg, with
five wooden steamers, and three torpedo-boats. Breaking General
Butler's chain at Dutch Gap, on the 25th of January, the Fredericks-
burg passed through, the Drewry stuck fast and was soon abandoned,
and then blown up by a shell from the land batteries. The Virginia
was pierced by a bolt which killed several, and after a battle which
lasted all day, the Confederate fleet retired to Richmond.
On the 5th of February Grant opened his campaign, endeavoring
OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 937
to turn Lee's right at Dinwiddie Court House, with the Fifth Corps,
while the Second charged in front. A sharp action ensued, in which
Lee, endeavoring to take Grant's column on the left and rear, drove
back Gregg's cavalry, as well as Ayres' and Crawford's divisions, with
a loss of two thousand men. Grant, however, had gained ground,
extending his left to Hatcher's Run.
Three weeks later, Sheridan, in the Shenandoah Valley, dashed out
of Winchester, with ten thousand mounted men, and, galloping down,
surprised Early at Waynesborough, capturing sixteen hundred out of
twenty-five hundred men, with cannon, arms, and wagons. Then
sending back his prisoners under guard, he pushed on towards the
James, destroying military stores and depots. Unable to reach Grant's
left, he swept around Lee's army, destroying bridges, railroads, and
canals, till he reached White House, and on the 27th of March re-
ported to Grant in front of Petersburg.
There the great struggle had already commenced. Two days before,
at dawn, the Confederates, under Gordon, had dashed like a lightning
flash upon Fort Steedman, the very centre of Grant's line. The sur-
prise was complete : nearly the whole garrison were taken on the spot;
the adjacent batteries were abandoned, and the guns were all turned
on Grant's astonished troops.
But the Confederate forces did not press up to support Gordon, the
decisive moment was lost, when Grant's line might have been cut
through. The United States troops rallying, so encircled Gordon as
to cut off his escape, and two thousand were taken. Then Meade,
without loss of time, pushed the Sixth and Second Corps forward,
carrying Lee's intrenched picket-line, which had been left slightly
guarded.
938 - THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
On the 27th, Grant pushed forward Warren's corps (the Second).
and Humphrey's (the Fifth), across Hatcher's Run, to strike Lee's right,
while Sheridan was still further to the left with his cavalry. Through
rain and mud they pushed on, Warren fighting steadily, till they
found the enemy strongly posted at Five Forks. Lee, alive to his
danger, at ten the next morning dealt Warren a staggering blow,
Striking Ayres' division heavily in the flank and rear, routing it and
Crawford's. Griffin's division saved the corps, and with Humphrey's
Corps finally repulsed Lee's charges, though they could not carry his
position. Sheridan, meanwhile, had made another dash at Five Forks,
which he carried, but Lee struck out, driving Devin and Davies back,
and cutting them off from Sheridan, who finally centred his command
at Dinwiddie. *
Sheridan, the next day, prepared to carry Five Forks, and ordered
Warren to assail the enemy's left in full force. This was done so
slowly, that he impetuously relieved Warren from duty, putting Grif-
fin in command of the corps. . -
The Confederates, Pickett's and Bushrod Johnson's divisions, were
unable to resist the concentrated attack. Ayres and Griffin carried
their works, capturing two thousand five hundred prisoners. Crawford
had taken them in the rear, cutting off their retreat, so that Ayres
and Griffin soon drove all the remaining Confederates in disor-
derly flight westward, and before night Sheridan had carried the
łong coveted position completely, having taken in all five thousand
prisoners, his own loss all told not exceeding a thousand.
Lee's right wing was demolished. Grant then opened a furious can-
nonade on Lee's works before Petersburg, and next morning made a
grand attack. Parke, with his Ninth Corps, carried the outer works -
OR, OUR Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 939
before him; Wright, with the Sixth, drove everything before him on
the left, sweeping down the rear of the intrenchments, Ord's corps
forced Lee's position at Hatcher's Run, and finally carried Forts
Gregg and Alexander, but not till Harris's Mississippi brigade, holding
the former, was reduced to thirty men. ſ
Humphrey and Sheridan had not been idle on the left. It was a
bitter day for Lee. Longstreet came up from Richmond ; A. P. Hill,
on the left, endeavoring to regain the lost works on his left, was killed.
Lee saw that he could not hold Petersburg much longer. Ten thou-
sand of his gallant men had fallen, with one of his ablest generals, in
the vain attempt to maintain his lines. At half past ten on that eventful
day (Sunday, April 24), he telegraphed to President Davis, at Rich-
mond : “My lines are broken in three places: Richmond must be
evacuated this evening.” It reached him while in church. He at once
left the temple of religion. The news spread, and the city which had
for nearly four years been the capital of the Confederacy became a
scene of the wildest confusion. Government officials were removing
archives, treasury, stores, arms; citizens were endeavoring to fly with
property ; bands of lawless desperadoes roved about plundering ; then
Ewell set fire to the great tobacco warehouses ; the rams were blown
up, all the shipping at the docks scuttled or fired ; as well as the
bridges. With flames spreading on all sides, the city soon became
one vast conflagration, as tongues of flame leaped from street to street.
Before the elaborate defenses of Richmond lay only Weitzel, with
two divisions, unaware of what was going on So near, till Lieutenant
de Peyster, from the signal tower, reported that the city seemed on
fire. At four in the morning, a negro drove in in a buggy, announcing
that Richmond had been abandoned.
940 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
Only at daylight did the troops dare to advance through the intri-
cate works, thick set with torpedoes. Then Weitzel and his staff, at
six o'clock in the morning, rode into the suburbs of the city, amid the
roar of exploding shells and falling walls, welcomed by the shouts of
negroes. The flag of the United States was at once raised over the
Capitol, the city was placed under military rule, and every effort
made to check the conflagration, but it burned out the very heart of
Virginia's capital; warehouses, post-offices, banks, in fact one-third of
the city, before it was extinguished. -
Petersburg also was evacuated, and as the telegraph bore the news.
throughout the North, the day became a holiday of public rejoicing;
bells rang out, and cannon thundered forth the exultation of the
people.
The Confederate Government was now a fugitive affair, making its
first temporary stand at Danville.
Lee's army, now reduced to some thirty-five thousand men, was in a
critical position. His progress southward was prevented by Grant's
extension of his line. He pushed on to Amelia Court House, hoping
to receive supplies from Lynchburg and Danville, but Sheridan inter-
cepted them. Lee then retreated west, pursued by Meade and
Sheridan. In vain he turned from time to time to fight. They cut
off wagons and guns: Ewell's corps was cut off from Lee, surrounded,
and taken. General Read, with a small force, struck the head of Lee's.
line, and endeavored to check its progress: he was killed in the des-
perate rush of the Confederates, but though Lee managed to cross the
Appomattox, at Farmville, his men were fainting and falling by the
Way, his horses dying of hunger.
During the night of the 6th the general officers of the fleeing army
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OR, OUR CountRY's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 94 I
met around a bivouac fire in council. A capitulation was decided
upon, and they informed General Lee of their conviction.
The next day came a letter from General Grant, asking Lee to Sur-
render, and avoid a hopeless struggle and useless effusion of blood.
Lee, after repulsing an attack made by Humphreys, replied, asking the
terms. Grant stated but one condition ; that the officers and men sur-
rendered should be disqualified from taking up arms again against the
government of the United States, until properly exchanged.
Again the retreat and pursuit went on. The army of Virginia
made its last charge on the 9th, to repel Sheridan, but when behind it
were seen the serried lines of Grant's main army, the white flag was
raised. Hostilities were suspended. General Grant and General
Lee met immediately at the dwelling house of W. McLean, near the
Appomattox Court House. The interview was not prolonged. Com-
missioners were appointed. General Grant agreed to parole the offi-
cers and men : the arms, artillery, and public property to be packed,
and stacked, and turned over to his officers. Then each officer and
man was to be allowed to return home. Twenty-seven thousand men,
the remnant of Lee's army of a hundred and fifty thousand, were includ-
ed in this capitulation, but probably not more than ten thousand had
retained their arms in the flight.
The parting of Lee with the officers and soldiers who had so bravely
and devotedly fought under his orders was a sad one. Receiving ra-
tions and transportation, the almost starving soldiers of the Lost
Cause started for their homes; the army which had for four years
menaced Washington, and held the vast power of the United States
at bay, melted away, and General Lee, with the reputation of one
of the greatest generals of his day, retired to private life.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Abraham Lincoln's Second Term—His Inauguration—He receives the News of the Fall of
Richmond—He visits that City—His last Proclamations—He is assassinated in Ford's
Theatre, Washington, by John Wilkes Booth—Simultaneous Attempts to assassinate Mr.
Seward, the Secretary of State—Death of Mr. Lincoln—Effect throughout the Country—
Its terribly disastrous Consequences to the South.
ON the 4th of March, 1865, Mr. Lincoln was for the second time in-
augurated as President of the United States. His address was brief,
solemn, and full of religious thought. Of the war, which might be re-
garded as closed, he said: “Both parties deprecated war ; but one of
them would make war, rather than let the nation survive ; and the
other would accept war, rather than let it perish—and the war came.
Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration
which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of
the conflict, Slavery, might cease with or even before the conflict itself
should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less
fundamental and astounding.”
He made no change in his cabinet, and in a short time after his in-
auguration proceeded to General Grant's headquarters, everything
announcing that the final struggle was at hand, and no doubt being
entertained of the result.
From the 24th of March, till Richmond fell, he was almost con-
stantly at City Point, and on the 4th of April, he accompanied Ad-
miral Porter in a gunboat up to Rockett's, a mile below Richmond.
OUR country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 943
There he landed, and attended by the Admiral and a few sailors, he
walked up to the house recently occupied by Jefferson Davis. The
soldiers, recognizing him, cheered, the negroes caught up the cry.
After holding a levee, or reception, he drove through the city, and re-
turned to City Point. Two days after, he paid another visit, and met
some of the adherents of the late Confederate Government. To his
moderation and magnanimity, the South now looked for generous
treatment in its fallen fortunes. President Lincoln returned to Wash-
ington, to prepare for the great work now before him, and on the
12th of April issued two proclamations, one aimed at those foreign
governments which had done so much to aid the Confederates. In this
proclamation, he demanded for the ships of the United States in for-
eign ports, on penalty of retaliation, those privileges and immunities
which had for the last four years been denied them.
The next day an order from the War Department put a stop to all
drafting and recruiting, and all further purchases of arms and army
supplies.
On the evening of the 14th of April, the President, with his wife
and two others, drove to Ford's theatre, in Washington. While seated
in a private box, at about half-past ten, and looking towards the stage,
he was shot in the back of the head. The assassin, John Wilkes
Booth, an actor, had presented a card to the President's messenger,
and after standing for a few moments entered the vestibule of the box,
and closed the door, securing it from the inside. Then with a pistol
in one hand and dagger in the other, he entered the box, and placing
his pistol close to the back of the President's head fired the fatal
shot.
The report startled the house, and Major Rathbone, who was in the
944 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
box, grappled with him, but Booth burst from him, and shouting “Sic
semper tyrannis ' " sprang over the front of the box to the stage,
where he fell, his foot catching in the American flag. Though his an-
kle was sprained, he rushed across the stage, and out at the rear, to
a horse in waiting for him. Mounting it in haste, he rode off in the
gloom.
Meanwhile, men gathered around the fallen President. The ball
had crossed the brain, and lodged back of the right eye. Mr. Lincoln
fell forward when shot, his eyes closed, but he uttered no cry. The
surgeons, who were at once summoned, found him insensible, and saw
that it was beyond the power of man to save his life. The dying
President was then borne from the theatre across the street to the
house of a Mr. Peterson, and there laid on a bed. His breathing was
regular, and he did not seem to struggle or to suffer pain. His wife
and son, with physicians, and a clergyman, surrounded him, but no
sign of recognition, or even of consciousness was given by the dying
Iſla, Il.
At twenty-two minutes past seven, on the 15th day of April, 1865,
Abraham Lincoln expired. His remains were then removed to the
President's house, and while the terrible tidings flashed on the tele-
graph wire to all parts of the country, preparations were begun for
his obsequies. -
Two Presidents had already died in office, but the long war that
marked his administration, and the murderous circumstances attend-
ing the death of Mr. Lincoln, made it deeply impressive. A general
gloom pervaded the whole country. Flags hung at half-mast, public
buildings and private residences were draped in black.
His body was embalmed, and in solemn funeral borne to the Capi-
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 945
tol, where it lay in state till the 21st, when it was removed to be car-
ried to Springfield, Illinois, the place of his abode when raised to the
presidential chair. At Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and other
cities on the Way, it was received by a procession, and escorted on with
funeral pomp. He was laid in his final resting-place on the 3d of
May.
His early life had been rough, and not favored with the education
and culture that fall to the lot of so many, but his vigorous mind had
raised him to eminence. As President in a most difficult period, he
had evinced no animosity or rancor ; he was opposed to extreme
measures, and yielded reluctantly to the force of circumstances in
many of the acts which he finally adopted. For the South he enter-
tained the most kindly feelings, and they soon learned how terrible
a loss they had sustained in his mad assassination.
CHAPTER XIX.
ANDREW JOHNSON, SEVENTEENTE PRESIDENT, 1865–1869.
Sketch of President Johnson—His Inauguration—Investigation into Lincoln's Assassination
—Pursuit of Booth, his Capture and Death—The Attempt to Assassinate Mr. Seward–A
Conspiracy—Arrest of several—The bloody Court-martial—Hanging—The Conclusion of
the War—The Surrender of Johnston—Other Confederate Bodies-—Jefferson Davis attempts
to escape—Pursued and captured—Imprisoned, but never tried—The Confederate Flag on
the Ocean—The last of the British-built Ships—President Johnson and Congress—Their
different Views as to the Treatment of the South—A Series of Collisions—Bitter Feeling
of the Republican Party against the Man whom they had raised to Office—President John-
son's Vetoes—Congress disregards them—Assumes to be the Government—One House of
Congress impeaches the President, whom they had treated with every Dishonor—The other
tries him—The great Impeachment Trial—Acquittal of the President—The South ruined
by oppressive Reconstruction Acts—Fenian Affairs—Attempts to invade Canada--Prompt
Action of Government—The Atlantic Cable—Close of Johnson’s Administration.
By the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, Andrew
Johnson, who had so recently been inaugurated as Vice-President,
became President of the United States. He was a man of the people,
who had risen by his own merit, and who had held many important
offices, giving him great experience in the direction of public affairs.
All this seemed to promise an administration peculiarly happy in its
results, but so little can we judge of the future, that his short term
will be long remembered in the history of the country as in many re-
spects one of the most unfortunate.
Andrew Johnson was born at Raleigh, in the State of North Caro-
lina, on the 29th December, 1808. He was deprived of a father's care
when he was a mere child, and in his tenth year he was bound out to
OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 947
learn the tailor's trade. He plied this humble calling for several
years in South Carolina, but he was ambitious, and during that time,
by his own unaided efforts, learned the rudiments of a plain English
education. He fortunately married one who had enjoyed greater ad-
vantages, and by her aid was able to extend his studies. Having re-
solved to emigrate to the West, he settled at Greenville, Tennessee,
and entering into public affairs, soon gained the respect of his fellow-
citizens. In 1830, the poor tailor-boy of North Carolina was Mayor
of Greenville. He was elected a member of the State Legislature in
1835, and took his seat in the Senate of Tennessee in 1841. He was
one of the representatives of that State in Congress, from 1843 to
1853, his constituents during a period of ten years constantly return-
ing him. He then became Governor of the State, and in 1857, was
chosen United States Senator. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he
opposed the Confederate movement with great energy, and did much to
save that State. President Lincoln appointed him military governor
of Tennessee in 1862, and he was, as we have seen, elected Vice-Presi-
dent in 1864.
After Mr. Lincoln expired, the oath of office as President was
quietly administered to Mr. Johnson in his rooms at the Kirkwood
Hotel by Chief Justice Chase, in presence of the Cabinet and sev-
eral members of Congress, his inauguration being without any parade.
President Johnson entered at once on the discharge of the duties
of his important post, making no change in the Cabinet. William H.
Seward was thus Secretary of State; Edwin H. Stanton, Secretary of
War ; Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury ; John P. Usher,
Secretary of the Interior ; William Dennison, Post-Master General;
and James Speed, Attorney-General.
$948 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
At the moment Washington was a scene of terrible excitement.
The body of the late President lay on its bloody bier. The Secretary :
of State, Mr. Seward, was not expected to live, for on the same night
that Mr. Lincoln was shot, Lewis Payne Powell forced his way to the
bed where Mr. Seward lay, having been thrown from his carriage and
seriously injured. Felling young Frederick Seward to the ground,
Payne rushed on the Secretary with a bowie-knife, and gave him three
terrible stabs in the face and neck, but was fortunately secured by an
invalid soldier, named Robinson, who was in attendance as a nurse.
It was at once felt that the assassinations were part of a plot, and
while hot pursuit was made after Booth, several persons were arrested
as principals or accessories in the plot. Booth and Harold, an associ-
ate, fled across the Potomac, and through Virginia to Bowling Green,
in Caroline County, where they were overtaken in Garrett's barn.
Harold surrendered, but Booth, attempting to fire on his pursuers, was
shot through the head by Boston Corbet.
On the 2d of May, the President issued a proclamation, in which,
after stating that the assassination had been incited by Jefferson Davis,
Jacob Thompson, and other prominent members of the Confederate
Government, or its agents in Canada, offered a reward of a hundred
thousand dollars for the arrest of Mr. Davis, and smaller sums for the
others.
The same day, by another proclamation, he declared that the United
States would refuse hospitality to all nations who gave hospitality to
Confederate cruisers, and had virtually violated their treaties with the
United States by their treatment of its vessels in their ports.
The investigation into the assassination of the late President, and
the attack on Secretary Seward, led to the arrest of George A.
oR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 949
Atzeroth, Edward Spangler, the carpenter at Ford's theatre, Samuel
Arnold, Michael O'Loughlin, and Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, the owner of
a hotel called Surrattville, where Booth stopped in his flight, and ob-
tained arms and liquor.
In the panic which had seized upon the public mind, government
dared not bring these people to trial before the ordinary courts of law.
It was therefore determined, by the advice of the Attorney-General,
to create a new tribunal, and President Johnson, on the 1st of May,
ordered a Military Commission to be convened for their trial.
It was a terrible step to take, fraught with the greatest danger to
the liberties of the country. If citizens not belonging to the army
and navy, or engaged in any rebellion against constituted authority,
can be tried by a military tribunal, and deprived of trial by jury when-
ever a President chooses to order their arrest, no one is safe, the lives
of all are at the mercy of the President.
By order of Mr. Johnson, the Assistant Adjutant-General selected
Major-Generals Hunter and Lewis Wallace, with Generals Kautz,
Howe, Foster, Ekin, Harris, and two officers of lower grade to sit in
judgment on Payne, Harold, and those already named, to whom was
added Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, who had set Booth's leg during his flight.
The accused were allowed to have counsel, but the temper of the court
was shown at the outset by the remark of the presiding General Hun-
ter, to the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, the counsel of Mrs. Surratt. “The
day has passed,” said General Hunter, “When freemen from the North
were to be bullied and insulted by the humbug chivalry of the South.”
The proceedings of the Commission began on the 13th of May, in
the Old Penitentiary, the prisoners, even Mrs. Surratt, being heavily
loaded with irons.
950 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
On the 5th of July the Commission completed its labors, finding all
the accused guilty, and sentencing Payne, Atzeroth, Harold, and Mrs.
Surratt to death, O'Loughlin, Spangler, Arnold, and Mudd, to impris-
onment for several years or for life. They signed a recommendation
of mercy in behalf of Mrs. Surratt, but Judge Advocate Holt sup-
pressed it, and it was not laid before the President. An attempt made
in behalf of Mrs. Surratt, to have her tried before a Court of Justice,
was met by President Johnson's order suspending the Writ of Habeas
Corpus especially in her case. Only three days were given them to
prepare for death, and on the 9th of July they were all exe-
cuted.
Mrs. Surratt's execution excited great feeling throughout the country,
and for years those concerned in her death endeavored to shift the
responsibility on each other.
At the time the feeling of indignation among the whole people was
So great, and the horror of the crime so deep, that the severest penal-
ties on all who had been in any way associated with Booth was imper-
atively demanded. Payne, Atzeroth, Harold, and O'Loughlin were
undoubtedly implicated, and, in fact, admitted their crime.
The treatment of the United States prisoners at Richmond, Belle
Isle, Andersonville, Millen, and Salisbury, had filled the Northern
States with such a deep feeling of indignation and horror, that the
popular voice demanded a victim. The barbarities practiced were cer-
tainly known to if not encouraged by the Confederate authorities, but
government did not venture to bring any of them to trial on a charge
of high treason. But as the Confederate officers placed over the pris-
ons appeared to have been selected for their brutal capacity, to carry
out a system of malice, government resolved to bring to trial Cap-
or, our count RY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 9.j }
tain Henry Wirz, who had been jailer at Andersonville, and who was
accused of great cruelty. Again the fearful Military Commission was
called together. Wirz was tried, and found guilty. He was hanged
on the 10th of November, 1865, and public feeling was ap-
peased.
The war was yet to be closed on land. General Stoneman had, on
the 12th of April, defeated and scattered to the winds a Confederate
force under Gardiner, which attempted to check him near Salisbury,
where many United States prisoners were held. Two days before
Sherman had moved upon Johnston's lines at Smithfield, but the Con-
federate general, aware of Lee's surrender, retreated. However, on the
14th, when near Salisbury, he wrote to Sherman proposing a suspension
of operations. This led to the signing of a basis of agreement in which
many points were embraced that Sherman, as commander of an army,
had no power to settle. The President at once rejected it, and General
Grant in person proceeded to General Sherman's headquarters. On the
26th, Johnston surrendered on the same terms that had been granted
to General Lee. This event was followed, on the 4th of May, by the
surrender of General Taylor's forces in Alabama to General Canby.
The important armies of the power which had so long ruled the
South thus passed out of existence, and the smaller corps scattered
rapidly. A semblance of government was kept up by Jefferson Davis
and his fugitive cabinet, but as he hastened through the South, one
after another fell away, his cavalry escort dwindled down ; the proc-
lamation offering a reward for his arrest as a murderer, transformed
the late powerful President into a mere fugitive. His only hope was
to get to seaboard and escape, or reach one of the armies still exist-
ing beyond the Mississippi. But on the 7th of May, he was surprised
952 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
and captured at daybreak by Lieutenant-Colonel Pritchard of the
Fourth Michigan cavalry.
He was at once conveyed to Savannah, and thence by sea to Fortress
Monroe, where he was subjected to a long and rigorous imprisonment.
Vice-President Stephens and Secretary Reagan were also captured,
and confined in Fort Warren, near Boston.
Thus fell the Confederacy, and the war, which had so long desolated
the fairest part of our country, came to an end.
Although the Confederate Government had ceased to exist, and its
armies had surrendered or dispersed, the flag yet floated on the ocean,
on vessels built and fitted-out in England. The powerful iron-clad
Stonewall, closely watched by the Niagara and Sacramento, dodged
from one friendly port to another, and finally running into Havana,
was taken in charge by the Spanish authorities, and transferred to the
United States.
The Shenandoah, built at Glasgow, was in the Pacific. After receiv.
ing, in Australia, a perfect ovation in February, 1865, she sailed north-
ward, and her captain, Waddell, though informed of the surrender of
Lee and Johnston, and the capture of Davis, kept on his piratical
course, capturing twenty-nine whalers, all of which he burned except
four, and then returned to England, and in due form surrendered his
English-built vessel to the English Government. The United States
most unwisely accepted the vessel at their hands, for, as she had never
entered a Confederate port, but was built, and officially registered as
English, was equipped, cleared from, and returned to English ports,
she was thoroughly English, and the responsibility for her work should
have been left with the English people.
On the 2d of June, General Grant, in a patriotic General Order,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 953
announced to the army the termination of hostilities. “Your marches,
sieges, and battles, in distance, duration, resolution, and brilliancy of
results, dim the lustre of the world's past military achievements, and
will be the patriot's precedent in defence of liberty and right in
all time to come. In obedience to your country's call, you left your
homes and families, and volunteered in her defence. Victory has
crowned your valor, and secured the purpose of your patriotic hearts:
and with the gratitude of your countrymen, and the highest honors a
great and free nation can accord, you will soon be permitted to return
to your homes and families, conscious of having discharged the high-
est duty of American citizens.”
The immense army of the United States, numbering nearly a mil-
lion of men, was rapidly mustered out of the service, and in a few
months this mighty multitude was lost among their fellow-citizens,
each man resuming his profession, employment, or trade, taking his
place as a citizen to increase the wealth and well-being of the country
for which he had so gallantly fought.
President Johnson was anxious to see the whole country in the way
of prosperity, and studied deeply the best method of reconstructing
the Southern States, which were actually without State governments,
courts, or civil organization. On the 29th of May he issued the first
proclamation of amnesty, excepting from its provisions all who held
office under the Confederate Government ; all who held offices or com-
missions under the United States, or, after receiving an education in
its Military or Naval Academy, had gone over to the Confederacy ; all
engaged in destroying American commerce, and all who had taken
part in the war, and were worth more than twenty thousand dollars.
9.j4 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
Some of the Southern States had already been reorganized by Pres-
ident Lincoln. Carrying out the same plan, Johnson appointed pro-
visional governors of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas.
About the same time, with a view of studying the subject on the
spot, General Grant made a tour of the Southern States, and was favor-
ably impressed by the disposition shown to accept the result of the
war. Slavery was finally abolished by the adoption of the Four-
teenth Amendment, and everything seemed to promise a speedy and
harmonious restoration.
But the President's course was singularly displeasing to the more
violent members of the Republican party, who wished the South treat-
ed with the utmost harshness and severity. The meeting of Congress
showed how deep this feeling was. A majority of both houses declared
their disapproval of the President's plan of reconstruction. They ap- :
pointed a committee of fifteen to consider the whole matter, and laid
on the table the credentials presented by the members returned from
the reconstructed States. They passed the Civil Rights Bill, and one
extending the powers of the Freedmen's Bureau, and though Presi-
dent Johnson returned them with his veto, they passed both by the
majority necessary to make them laws.
The Supreme Court of the United States decided against some test
oaths which had been introduced, but Congress insisted on extreme
measures, disregarding the highest tribunal in the land.
The Thirty-ninth Congress adopted a plan of reconstruction of its
own, which the President did not approve. The Southern States re-
fused to accept the severe conditions under which alone they could
regain their position in the Union. *
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 95.5
The Fortieth Congress met in March, 1867, but showed no signs of
relenting in severity. On the contrary, it prepared to bind the
South in fetters of iron by new and stringent laws. The Military
Bill, which is now admitted to have been utterly unconstitutional, was
amended over the President's veto. The Attorney-General, having
given an opinion unfavorable to the Act, Congress passed new acts ex-
plaining and enforcing it, so as to secure to the Republican party the
control of the States engaged in the war, or deprive them indefinitely
of self-government and a voice in Congress.
The country was now in a strange position. The President was ac-
tually, by the circumstances of the case, shorn of all the powers con-
ferred upon him as the Chief Executive of the country. A Congress
with an overwhelming majority against him, could pass any law it
pleased, and deprive him of all power.
Nor was this opposition confined to the halls of Congress. The
T’resident soon found that his cabinet did not share his views. Post-
master Dennison, Attorney-General Speed, and Harlan, Secretary of
the Interior, had resigned, and were succeeded by A. W. Randall of
Wisconsin, Henry Stansberry of Ohio, and O. H. Browning of Illinois.
The country was in a most unhappy state. Just after a desolating
war, when all energies should have been bent to restore peace and
prosperity, the Congress was in direct opposition to the President,
passing laws to which he was compelled to withhold his sanction. For
the time being the presidential power was gone, and Congress ruled
Supreme.
Nebraska was admitted as a State, by an Act which contained pro-
visions as to voters that President Johnson disapproved, but the Act
was passed over his veto on the 9th of February, 1867.
956 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Soon after, in March, the ruling majority in Congress adopted their
measures for reconstructing the South. None of the State govern-
ments were to be recognized : all the States which had been engaged
in war against the United States were considered as out of the Union,
only to be admitted as new States, When they adopted constitutions
acceptable to the ruling power in Congress, that is, which gave the ne-
groes entire control of their affairs. In the meantime they were divided
into military districts, and made subject to military law and rule. As
the President was known to be opposed to this violent and unrepubli-
can course, all power in the matter was taken out of his hands, and
the acts of the District Commanders were made subject only to the
General of the Army, General Grant, who was now in perfect accord
with the radical portion of the dominant party. The President thus
ceased to be the Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
Two of the States, Mississippi and Georgia, endeavored to avert
their doom. They applied to the Supreme Court to restrain the Pres-
ident from enforcing the Act; but the court, by the Chief Justice,
Chase, decided that it had not sufficient power to arrest the action of
the army acting under the orders of Congress.
So limited had the Presidential power become, that he was forbid-
den by law to remove any member of his cabinet, without consent of
the Senate. This act was passed to maintain Mr. Stanton in his office
of Secretary of War, in spite of the wishes of Mr. Johnson, to whom
he stood in an attitude of personal and defiant hostility.
Resolving to bring his strange position to a test, President Johnson,
on the 12th of August, suspended Mr. Stanton, and appointed General
Grant as Secretary of War, ad interim, and things remained in this
position till Congress met, when, no action being taken to remove Mr.
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTs. 95.7
Stanton, General Grant yielded the office up to him. The President
then, on the 21st of February, 1868, formally removed Stanton, and
appointed General Thomas Secretary of War.
The most violent excitement ensued. The House of Representatives
three days after impeached the President, and prepared charges
against him. On the 5th of March, 1868, President Johnson was ar-
raigned as a criminal before the Senate, Chief Justice Chase presid-
ing. The strange spectacle was thus presented to the world, of the
President of a great nation arraigned by one antagonistic branch of
the Government, the other branch, equally antagonistic, sitting as
judges. Never, perhaps, was the great cause of human liberty in
greater jeopardy. The trial was long and exciting, but on the 26th
of May the vote was taken. Thirty-four senators pronounced him
guilty, but as nineteen voted him not guilty, there were not two-thirds
against him, and he was thus acquitted.
The President's right to remove his obnoxious Secretary was thus
sustained. Mr. Stanton at once retired from the post, and Johnson
appointed General Schofield Secretary of War.
During the administration of Mr. Johnson, the United States re-
mained at peace with foreign nations. Throughout the country there
was a strong feeling against England for the part she had taken dur-
ing the recent war, in fitting out ships for the destruction of American
commerce. As soon as peace was restored, steps were taken to de-
mand from the English Government compensation for the property de-
stroyed by these cruisers. The English nation at first ridiculed the
idea of their paying any indemnity, or admitting that they were at all
in the wrong. But the question in Congress was treated in a manner
that showed that the United States was not to be trified with in the
958 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
matter. A speech of Senator Sumner excited special indignation in
England. But a new affair came up that modified English views.
The people of Ireland, whose separate Legislature had been suppressed
in 1800, had long been restive under the English rule. Agitation fol-
lowed agitation, and about this time a vast organization called the
Fenians was formed, having branches not only in Ireland, but in Eng-
land, Canada, and the United States. Its object was to begin a revo-
lution for the liberation of Ireland.
Large amounts of money were raised by Fenian leaders in the
United States, men were organized so as to be used as regiments; it
was proposed to run out of the ports of the United States vessels
which would hoist the Fenian flag as the English cruisers did the Con-
federate flag. When a Fenian invasion of Canada was talked of Eng-
land took alarm, although Canada had enabled the Confederates to
make a raid into Vermont, where they plundered the town of St.
Albans, and killed several people. In that case the United States
Government remonstrated, but the guilty men were not punished, nor
was the property restored.
In April, 1866, a Fenian gathering at Eastport, Maine, showed an
evident intention to cross over and commence operations in New
Brunswick, making Campo Bello Island the basis of operations. The
Government of the United States, however, acted promptly and pre-
vented it.
In June some two hundred Fenians under General O’Neill crossed
at Niagara, but were soon confronted by a body of Canadian volun-
teers under Colonel Booker. The battle of Limestone Ridge was
fought, several were killed on both sides, but the Fenian plans were
defeated. Again the United States Government interposed, and broke
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 959
ap the movements, as they did a subsequent attempt in Vermont. Gen-
eral O'Neill was finally arrested and imprisoned.
The English Government could not but admit that the United States
had acted more vigorously and honorably than they had done. A
treaty on the Alabama claims, as they were called, from the vessel
which did most damage, was negotiated by the Hon. Reverdy Johnson,
as Minister of the United States, but the Senate refused to confirm it
and it fell through. The Alabama question remained a subject of
warm and often angry discussion during the rest of Johnson's adminis-
tration.
The North, relieved from the strain of the war, entered on a career
of commercial and industrial prosperity. Great public works like the
Pacific Railroad were pushed through, and emigration again flowed
westward, to till the fertile plains yet unbroken by the plough. The
great fire at Portland, in July, 1866, caused by an explosion of fire-
works on the 4th, was the only great draw-back. The conflagration
raged for two days, and laid much of the city in ashes, involving an
immense destruction of property.
During the American Civil War, England, France, and Spain, una-
ble to obtain satisfaction from Mexico for claims against that republic,
sent a joint expedition against her. After taking Vera Cruz, England
and Spain withdrew, but the French continued the war. Reinforce.
ments were constantly sent over, and the French captured city after
city, and finally took Mexico. The Mexicans under Benito Juarez as
President, however, maintained the struggle against imperial power.
At last the intention of France became evident. Counting on the suc-
cess of the Confederacy, the Emperor Napoleon III. aimed to over-
throw republicanism in Mexico, and to erect a monarchy there as a
960 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
check to the growth of republics, and especially as a balance against
the influence of the United States, whether it became two republics
or remained one. A Congress of Mexican notables, meeting in the
capital, and acting under French influence, resolved on a monarchy,
and offered the crown to the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, a
prince who, as governor of Lombardy and Venice, had evinced many
good qualities as a ruler.
After much hesitation, Maximilian, on the 10th of April, 1864, ac-
cepted the dangerous position of Emperor of Mexico, and came out to
America. A part of the nation rallied around him, and the French
troops supported him on his throne, with some Mexican and foreign
troops forming his own army. He endeavored in vain to induce Juarez
to acknowledge the empire or join him in his attempt to give Mexico
a better government.
The United States protested sternly against the whole movement,
but as long as she was herself rent by a civil war, France paid little
heed to her remonstrances. When, however, the Confederate cause,
though encouraged by England and France, was lost, the whole position,
of affairs changed. The campaign in Mexico had cost France immense
sums of money without any corresponding return. Her victories were
barren of result, and after a time even of glory, being confined to
mere skirmishes with guerrillas. With peace at home, the Govern-
ment of the United States became more urgent. France resolved to
withdraw her army, and this was done more precipitately than was at
first announced or intended.
Maximilian, who had shown great wisdom and moderation in his
management of affairs, was left in a precarious and dangerous position.
Yet he resolved to face the difficulty as became a man of honor : but
OR, OUI: COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 961
Juarez, when he had the French no longer to keep the people in awe,
Soon gathered to his standard a large army. Maximilian advanced to
meet him, but was betrayed by one of his generals, who led a large
part of the army over to Juarez. His lines being thus exposed, Max-
imilian's headquarters were surrounded at night, and on the 15th of
May, 1867, the Emperor, with several of his prominent Mexican gen-
erals, surrendered to General Escobedo, the commander of the Repub-
lican forces. According to the sanguinary policy which has charac-
terized all Spanish-American warfare, they were tried by court-mar-
tial and condemned to death. The United States in vain used its in-
fluence to save them, but Juarez, who owed so much to the attitude of
this country, turned a deaf ear to its intervention. Maximilian and
his generals were shot on the 19th of June, the last words of the un-
fortunate prince being, “ Poor Carlotta,” showing that he grieved for
his wife rather than himself. She became a maniac, and was conveyed
to Europe to linger for years devoid of reason. The overthrow of
Maximilian destroyed all hopes entertained in Europe of crushing
out republicanism in America, and before many years France and
Spain, two of the countries that took part in the attempt to overthrow
the republic of Mexico, themselves rejected royalty and became re-
publics.
About this time success crowned a new effort to connect America
with Europe by means of a submarine telegraph cable. The first at-
tempt to lay a cable at the bottom of the sea was made in 1850, with a
view to connect England and France. In 1858, as we have seen already,
one was run across from Ireland to Newfoundland, which from some
'cause ceased to work almost immediately. Means were raised to lay
a new cable, and take up and repair the old one. The Great Eastern,
9
6
2
THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
an immense steamer, was fortunately adapted to this use. She sailed
from Valentia Bay, Ireland, on the 13th of July, 1866, and on the
27th, reached Heart's Content, Newfoundland, without accident, laying
the cable as she went. The other was then examined and repaired,
and telegraphic communication between the two countries became per-
manently established, so that the morning papers gave all the Euro-
pean news of the day before. Samuel F. B. Morse, an American ar-
tist, and the inventor of the first successful magnetic telegraph, lived
to see this wonderful application of his invention, which drew on him
honors at home and abroad.
This leads to the mention of other American inventions of this
period, some of which acquired a world-wide renown. McCormack's
reaper and mowing-machines enabled farmers to cultivate large tracts
which it would have been impossible to manage, had the gathering of
crops depended on the cradle and scythe, wielded by human hands.
The success of these inventions led to other machines for facilitating
almost every branch of agricultural labor.
The Sewing-Machine, invented by Elias Howe, not only facilitated
work in large factories and workshops, but even in private families
to a great extent replaced the needle. Being easily worked, it en-
abled a seamstress to sew in a few moments what under the old plan
would have required hours.
Not long after the close of our civil war, troubles began in the ad-
jacent island of Cuba, a colony of Spain. The United States could
not view the matter without interest, as the trade with the island was
very extensive and valuable. Sugar, and tobacco, and cigars, were
imported from it in great quantities, and the island took in return
American manufactures and provisions.
oR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 96.3
The people of Cuba had long wished to be free from the Spanish
yoke, and the Government of the United States had long showed a de-
sire to purchase the island. Spain, however, was unwilling to give
up So rich a colony; she would neither sell it nor allow it to become
independent.
Many young Cubans, educated in the United States, were thoroughly
republican in feeling, and repeated attempts at revolution were made,
but suppressed with great cruelty by the Spanish Government. Dur-
ing the administration of Mr. Johnson, Cuba again rose, and formed
a republican government. The Spaniards, though holding the large
cities, and surrounding the island with fleet and powerful steamers,
were unable to crush the Cubans, or to prevent arms and men being
landed from time to time on the island. Mr. Johnson, through his
officials, checked as far as possible all efforts to aid the Cubans, but
occasionally a vessel would get out with supplies. This state of
things lasted for several years. The Spaniards were cooped up in the
large cities, while the interior of the country was held by the Cubans.
Every now and then the public mind in the United States would be
shocked by some Spanish barbarity, but the nation carefully adhered
to its neutrality. One of the bloodiest chapters in the war was the
execution of a number of boys, medical students in Havana, who were
accused of having scratched a glass in the tombstone of a Spaniard
in the cemetery at Havana.
China had long maintained a spirit of reserve, keeping aloof from
all other powers. Anson Burlingame, sent from the United States, led
the Emperor to adopt a more cordial policy, and in June, 1868, he ar-
rived in the United States at the head of a Chinese embassy, Chiku-
han and Swunkiasing, two chief mandarins, and others or inferior
‘964 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION :
grade, being associated with him. After negotiations with the United
States looking to a closer relationship the embassy proceeded to Eu-
rope.
Several eminent Americans passed away during this period. General
Scott, so long at the head of the United States army, Survived the great
civil war; he died in June, 1866, after a brief illness, and was interred
at West Point. Mr. Buchanan, whose presidency saw the commence-
ment of the civil war, and who had so long served his country in dip-
lomatic and cabinet positions, died at Wheatland, Pennsylvania, on
the 4th of June, 1868.
The stormy administration of Andrew Johnson was drawing to a
close, and both the political parties began to prepare for the coming
election. The Republican party, with its immense power in Congress,
resolved to let the Southern States into the Union only in such a way
as to vote for its candidate. Negro suffrage being made imperative,
and multitudes of whites being excluded by stringent oaths, Arkan-
sas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida
were admitted in June, 1868, and those States fell under the sway of
the ignorant negro population, led by a few unscrupulous Northern
whites, who were styled “carpet-baggers.” The result was disastrous
in the extreme. The Legislatures ran up the public debt in these
States to enormous amounts, the public moneys were Squandered,
taxes increased ten-fold, property sank in value, and the White land-
owners saw nothing but ruin and destitution before them, with no
means under heaven of obtaining the slightest relief. Many in despair
formed secret leagues called Kuklux, but their acts of violence against
the negroes only embittered the hostility to the whole body of unfor-
tunate Southern white people.
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 965
The National Republican Convention met at Chicago, and put for.
ward as the candidates of the party Ulysses S. Grant of Illinois, and
Schuyler Colfax of Indiana. The Democratic Convention nominated
Horatio Seymour of New York, for President, and General Frank
Blair for Vice-President.
The result of the election could not be doubtful. Three States,
Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas, were excluded from voting by the
action of Congress; of the remaining twenty-six voted for Grant and
Colfax, only eight casting their votes for Seymour.
CHAPTER XX.
ULYSSES S. GRANT, EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT, 1869–1877.
President Grant—His Cabinet— Reconstruction of Virginia—Mississippi and Texas — The
Fifteenth Amendment—Proposed Annexation of St. Domingo—The great Conflagration at
Chicago—Settlement of the Alabama Claims—The Presidential Election—Death of Mr. Greeley
—The Modoc War—Trouble with Spain in regard to the Seizure of the Virginius and Murder
of her Crew and Passengers at Santiago de Cuba—The Louisiana Troubles—Centennial
Exhibition at Philadelphia—Colorado admitted as a State—Trial of Belknap, Secretary of War
—Nez Percés and Sioux War—Presidential Election—Disputed States—Electoral Commission.
GENERAL GRANT had from the close of the war been rising steadily
in popularity, and his election was a complete triumph. Sprung from
an early New England settler, and identified with the West, he
pleased both sections. All expected from the great soldier, a firm
vigorous, and honest administration.
After the war, his duties as general of the army employed General
Grant, till President Johnson called him temporarily to assume the
duties of Secretary of War.
The accession of General Grant to the presidency gave hopes of a
speedy return of prosperity. His vigor as a general, his kindly feel-
966 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
ing to the South, his moderation in politics, all induced men to expect
a return to the old harmony and good feeling.
He was duly inaugurated on the 4th of March. His cabinet was
not immediately organized to his satisfaction. He chose as Secretary
of State, E. B. Washburne of Illinois ; J. D. Cox, of Ohio, as Secre-
tary of the Interior ; Adolph E. Borie, of Pennsylvania, as Secretary
of the Navy; John M. Schofield, of Illinois, as Secretary of War;
J. A. J. Creswell, of Maryland, as Postmaster-General ; and E. Rock-
wood Hoar, as Attorney-General. As Secretary of Treasury, he fixed
upon A. T. Stewart, an eminent New York merchant, but as he
proved to be ineligible, G. S. Boutwell, of Massachusetts, took that
important position. Mr. Washburne was soon after appointed minister
to France, and during a great part of General Grant's administration,
Hamilton Fish, of New York, was Secretary of State. General J. A
Rawlins, and W. W. Belknap, were successively Secretaries of War,
and George M. Robeson of New Jersey, became Secretary of the
Navy.
Congress was convened almost immediately, and on the 10th of
April, an act passed for the reconstruction of Virginia, Mississippi,
and Texas. Under its provisions elections were held, and a constitu-
tion adopted and ratified by Virginia in 1869, and by the other States
in 1870.
The Fifteenth Amendment, guaranteeing suffrage or the right of
voting to the negroes, was passed this year, and adopted by many
States during 1869, and by enough in the following to make up the
number required. It then became part of the Constitution of the
United States. The States recently reconstructed, were admitted only
on their acceptance of the Fifteenth Amendment. Senators and Rep-
oR, our Country's ACIIIEVEMENTS. 967
* }-r
resentatives from those States were admitted in 1870. But the
passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, and acts to enforce it, exaspera-
ted the South still more, and stringent measures were proposed, which
took shape in the Ku-Klux Bill, passed in 1871.
One of the earliest projects of General Grant was the annexation
to the United States of Dominica, a part of the Island of St. Domin-
go, which, throwing off the Haytian, or negro rule, had maintained its
existence as a separate republic. Under General Grant's authority,
a treaty, of annexation was signed at the city of St. Domingo, Novem-
ber 29, 1869. But the matter was not favorably regarded, and the
treaty, when submitted to the Senate, was, after a sharp debate, re-
jected.
The island is rich and fertile, and in proper hands would be very
productive, but under the negro rule of Hayti, and the constant revo-
lutions that disturb the Republic of Dominica, all trade and industry
languish. General Grant showed great earnestness in endeavoring to
carry out the annexation, but though a commission was sent out to ex-
amine Dominica the whole affair fell through.
A man who never held any public position, but who was known and
honored in England, the philanthropic American banker, George
Peabody, died during this administration. His immense liberalities
to the poor of London, drew on him letters of thanks from Queen
Victoria, who would have ennobled him, had the American mer-
chant been willing to accept such an honor. He founded public
libraries and institutions at Baltimore and other cities, and gave a
large fund to extend the benefit of education in the Southern
States. He was born at Danvers, Massachusetts, February 18, 1795,
and died in London, November 4, 1869. He was laid temporarily in .
.968 THE STORY OF A G REAT N ATION.
Westminster Abbey, among all whom England deems her greatest
and noblest. Then his remains were brought over to Portland, in the
British steamship of war Monarch, and finally interred at Danvers."
ºn February, 1870.
On the 12th of October, 1870. General Robert E. Lee, one of the
great actors in the late civil war, passed away, his last years having
been spent in retirement as president of a college in Virginia.
While the country was rapidly recovering from the desolating effects
of war and sectional feeling, all were startled by the terrible calamity
which suddenly befell the great city of Chicago. A fire which broke
out in a stable, in one of the poorest districts of the city, on Sunday,
October 8, 1871, spread rapidly. Every effort to check it failed ; all
day long, all night, all the next day, the fire swept steadily on, as if
kindled and fed by supernatural power. Those who looked at it from
a distance of blocks and miles, soon found themselves in peril ; people
who began by moving their most precious articles a few blocks, found
the flames pursuing them, and hastened on. The bridges were soon
crowded by frantic droves of people, and vehicles of every kind. The
gas works perished, and the city at night was plunged in darkness;
the water works by which water from Lake Michigan was pumped
through a tunnel for supplying the city were wrapped in flames, and
the fire department was paralyzed. Street after street was swept by the
destroying element, the very air seemed fire ; people perished in the
streets; no means could be found to remove the sick and infirm, or
property of any kind. Before the fire spent its fury, two thousand
one hundred and twenty-four acres were burned over, seventeen
thousand four hundred and fifty buildings had disappeared, including
all the public edifices, most of the churches, libraries, galleries of art,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 969;
the great business houses, and dwelling houses of rich and poor. A
hundred thousand people were homeless. No such conflagration had
ever been known, and the wants of the suffering drew bountiful con-
tributions from all parts of the country. Thousands fled from the
city to seek shelter elsewhere. In a short time, however, the citizens
Went vigorously to work to rebuild it, and Chicago rose from her ashes.
more beautiful and better built than before.
The completion of the census of 1871, showed that in spite of a
bloody civil War, the United States had gained in population, and
reached thirty-eight millions.
The District of Columbia, which from the time of the organization
of the Government had been governed by Congress, and not by a
Legislature chosen by the people, was now placed under a regular ter-
ritorial government. But in the wild schemes of corruption that per-
vaded all parts of the country, the District, like other parts, fell into
the hands of men who sought only their own profit. A great debt
was speedily incurred.
The long-pending dispute between the United States and England,
as to the responsibility of the British Government for the depredations
caused by the Alabama and other vessels from English ports, was at
last adjusted by the Treaty of Washington, in 1871. Under its pro-
visions, a tribunal of statesmen from different countries were to meet
at Geneva, in Switzerland, and decide the various questions at issue
between the two countries.
The Commissioners met in April, 1872, and, after long and exciting
arguments on either side, decided in a way that gave the people of the
United States much gratification. England was held to have been in
fault, and was required to pay fifteen millions of dollars for the prop-
970 TIIE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
erty so wantonly destroyed by the Alabama and other vessels fitted
out in the name of the Confederacy from English ports.
The final adjustment of this vexed question was welcomed heartily
by all.
Another peaceful victory over England, was the decision by the
Emperor of Germany, in favor of the United States, in regard to the
dispute between the two countries as to the north-west boundary,
which had also been a topic of angry discussion.
The year 1872 was marked by a strange fusion of parties. A num-
ber of Republicans opposed to the severe measures of the more radical
portion of the party, formed a new organization as Liberal Republi-
cans. Their great leader and advocate was Horace Greeley, the able
editor of the New York Tribune. In the convention held by this party,
he was nominated for President. The Democratic Convention, which
met Some months later, resolved not to put forward a candidate of
their own, but to throw all their influence in favor of Greeley against
Grant. The Republican party again put forward General Grant as
their candidate. A small portion of the Democrats, disliking the
fusion with the Liberal Republicans, named Charles O'Conor of New
York, as candidate for the Presidency.
The election was an exciting one, but just after it Horace Greeley
died from the excitement.
At this election all the States, for the first time in twelve years,
took part. Nearly six million five hundred thousand votes were
cast by the people, Grant having a majority of seven hundred and
sixty thousand, showing how strong a hold he had on the affections of
his countrymen.
In the electoral college, two hundred and eighty-six were cast for
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 971
General Grant, as President, and Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, as
Vice-President. The opposition, numbering only seventy-eight votes,
was divided among several candidates.
General Grant was thus, by the voice of his fellow-citizens, invest-
ed once more with the chief magistracy of the country. He was in-
augurated on the 4th of March, 1873, by the Hon. Salmon P. Chase,
Chief-Justice of the United States, who died a few months after,
May 7th, at the age of sixty-five, having filled his high office with
dignity and ability.
Indian affairs, under the administration of General Grant, assumed
a new form. The tribes were divided up among the different denom-
inations in a strange manner, often to the serious detriment of mis-
sions established at great labor and expense. The chief direction was
confided to the Society of Friends, and, besides the regular Indian
Bureau, a body of advisory commissioners was established. This did
not prevent troubles, and indeed, in some parts, seemed to hasten
them. The military and the peace party did not work in harmony,
and the frauds of traders and unscrupulous agents received no check.
One of the projects was to make the Indian Territory one of the
regular Territories, under the name of Oklahoma, and remove the wild
tribes to it. This was strongly opposed by the Cherokees, and other
tribes, who had made considerable progress in civilization.
An attack on a Piegan party by Colonel Baker, in 1870, when that
officer destroyed the village, killed one hundred and seventy-three
Indians, and carried off three hundred horses, excited sharp criticism.
The attempt to remove the Modoc Indians from their old residence
on Lost River, Oregon, led to serious results. This tribe had, like many
others, signed treaties ceding their lands, but without any distinct
972 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION,
knowledge of its meaning. They were removed to a reservation entirely
unsuited to their mode of life, in consequence of which they suffered
greatly; provisions, furnished for them by Government, having been
appropriated to private use.
Seeing nothing before them but starvation, they resolved to return
to their old grounds. After they had been there a short time, the
authorities attempted to remove them by force to the reservation.
They flew to arms, and began by murdering several settlers in the
valley. Then they retreated to a strange tract of country on the
borders of Oregon and California, and known as the Lava Beds, a
mass of volcanic rocks, full of caves, yawning ravines and precipices,
with occasional spots of grass.
The United States troops, under General Gillem, pursued them, but
their position was found to be almost impregnable. A battle fought
January 17, 1873, resulted in severe loss, the troops being utterly una-
ble to see an Indian, while they were fired at from all sides. Yet the
troops pressed on, gradually gaining ground ; but the country was im-
patient at the delay, and mortified to see the army held at bay by a
handful of Indians. The peace party urged negotiations, and commis-
sioners were sent to treat with the Modocs. On the 12th of April,
Captain Jack, with some of his chiefs, met Brigadier-General Canby,
Rev. Dr. Thomas, and Messrs. Meacham and Dyar, but during the peace
conference Captain Jack and his party attacked them, killing General
Canby and Dr. Thomas on the spot, and wounding Meacham. The
War was then pushed vigorously, and the Indians driven from point to
point, till, on the 1st of June, Captain Jack, with a few who had fol-
lowed his fortunes, finding it impossible to hold out or escape, surren-
dered to Colonel B. Perry. The Modoc chief with several others were .
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 973
tried by court-martial for the treacherous murder of the commis.
Sioners, and, having been found guilty, Were hanged at Fort Klamath.
Oregon, on the 3d of October.
The Cuban affairs during the year 1873 led to an affair which nearly
involved the United States in a war with Spain. The insurrection in
Cuba had spread, in spite of all the efforts to crush it. In April, 1869,
a Congress met at Guaimaro, and declaring Cuba a republic, adopted
a Constitution ; Carlos M. Cespedes became President, and General
Quesada commander-in-chief of the army. Some severe actions took
place, in which the Spanish troops suffered severely. After this men
and arms were introduced from time to time from the United States,
although Spain had a large fleet of gunboats around the island.
In December, 1873, this state of affairs resulted in a bloody tragedy,
which caused a thrill of horror throughout the civilized World, while
in the United States it aroused a feeling of intense indignation.
The American steamship Virginius, which had been in the interest
of the Cubans, endeavoring to land men and arms, for the aid of the
Republicans of the island, was discovered, on the 31st day of October
off the southern coast of Cuba, by the Spanish gunboat Tornado. The
Virginius immediately steered for the Island of Jamaica, pursued by
the Tornado, which gained rapidly, as the Virginius was not in good
sailing trim. At last, when in sight of the English island, the Tor-
nado, favored by the clear moonlight, brought the Virginius to, and
sent an officer on board. Captain Fry, of the Virginius, presented his
papers, which were regular, but the Spaniards declared the vessel a
prize, hauled down the American flag, and, putting all on board in
irons, steamed away for Santiago de Cuba. On reaching that city, the
governor, Burriel, one of those bloodthirsty wretches who dishonor
'974 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
the human race, ordered all on board to be tried by court-martial, and,
to prevent interference, cut the telegraph wires running to Havana
The American and English consuls remonstrated in vain ; the Ameri
can vice-consul was not even permitted to telegraph to the consul at
Kingston.
It was resolved to butcher the captives, and that with all haste.
The Virginius arrived, in charge of the Tornado, on the 1st of Novem-
ber. On the second, a naval commission was appointed to try the
prisoners as pirates; the next day the trial terminated, condemning
to death three Cubans found on board, Varona, Cespedes, and del
Sol, and Washington Ryan a native of Canada.
The next morning at six o'clock, the victims were led out to the
slaughter-house, shot down and bayoneted with every cruelty.
The Spanish authorities suppressed all news of this outrage, so that
it was not till the 6th of November, that the telegraph announced in
New York the capture of the vessel. There was no American or Eng.
lish man-of-war near Cuba to check this violation of all international law,
but as a vessel was daily expected from Jamaica, Burriel hastened the
murder of the rest. Captain Fry, of the Virginius, with thirty-six of
the crew, almost to a man American citizens, or British subjects, were
next condemned to death as pirates, as though an unarmed ves-
sel, which had never robbed or molested any other, could be a
pirate.
On the 7th of November, they were all taken out and butchered in
cold blood. The next day another band were slaughtered, but an
English man-of-war, the Niobe, Captain Loraine, steamed into the
harbor, and peremptorily demanded that the executions should cease.
He compelled the Spaniards to take up the American flag, which was
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 975
kicked about the deck of the Virginius, and convey it to the consul's
office.
When information of this butchery reached the United States,
the public mind was aroused as it had not been for many years.
The vessels of the navy were at once fitted out, and the minister in
Spain, General Sickles, at once demanded from the Spanish Govern-
ment the restoration of the Virginius, reparation for the murders com-
mitted, and for the insult to the American flag. After some negotia-
tion, a document was signed at Washington, by which Spain made
some reparation, though far less than had been demanded or should
have been exacted. The Virginius was given up, disabled and reek-
ing with filth, and in such a condition that she sunk in the endeavor
to bring her to the United States.
The Alabama claims, submitted to a commission at Geneva were
finally all decided, and, by the judgment of these arbitrators, England
was required to pay to the Government of the United States, fifteen
million five hundred thousand dollars, which was accordingly paid on
the 9th of September, 1873.
The foreign affairs of the country were thus cleared from all mat-
ters of dispute before the meeting of Congress, but there was one of
grave importance at home which began in 1872, and dragged through
to 1874. This was the Louisiana trouble.
The Reconstruction Acts, and the laws to enforce the Fifteenth
Amendment, had invested the United States courts and officials with
powers that, in the hands of the best and wisest of men, would excite
the alarm of every lover of his country, and in the hands of unscrupu-
lous politicians, threatened to destroy utterly every vestige of Ameri-
can liberty.
976 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
An election for governor and members of the legislature took place
in 1872, Kellogg being the administration candidate, while McEnery
received the support of the Democrats and Liberal Republicans. The
returns as made officially gave the election to the latter, but Kellogg
claimed that great frauds had been committed. A United States
Judge, Durell, issued an order in his house at night, under which the
Federal Marshal, aided by troops, took possession of the State House,
drove out McEnery and the legislature which recognized him, and in-
stalled Kellogg and his adherents. '
This led to further trouble and to constant interference in elections
by United States troops. This at last filled the country with alarm,
and drew upon President Grant great unpopularity.
Before the close of the year 1875, the office of Vice-President be.
came vacant by the death of Henry Wilson, who expired on the 22d
of November.
The year 1876 was the one hundredth after the Declaration of In-
dependence, and all Americans looked forward to it with pride and
enthusiasm. One of the events connected with its celebration was
the “International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of
the Soil and Mines,” which was opened in Fairmount Park, Philadel.
phia, with great pomp by President Grant in May, in presence of the
Emperor and Empress of Brazil. The articles exhibited were con-
tributed from all parts of the United States, and from thirty-six na.
tions in Europe and other parts of the world, making a display such
as had never before been witnessed.
On the 4th of July, 1876, Colorado, which promised to become rich
and populous, from its mineral wealth and grazing lands, was admit,
ted to the Union as the thirty-eighth State.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTS. 977
About this time the country was shocked by the arraignment of
William W. Belknap, the Secretary of War, who was charged with
official corruption. He resigned his office and was tried before the
Senate of the United States, but the majority for convicting him was
not sufficient to secure his condemnation.
The Indian affairs of the country at this period were involved in
difficulties. General Grant had early in his administration divided
the agencies among the different religious denominations, but this
merely increased the confusion. The frauds and oppressions on the
Indians became greater than ever. The Nez Percés had been de-
prived of their old homes and ordered to remove to a new reserva-
tion. As these Indians saw no hope of subsisting there, they refused
to leave their old residence. Troops were sent to drive them from
the home of their ancestors, which they had held for many years.
For two months these brave Indians, under Chief Joseph, baffled three
American generals, and surrendered at last at Bear Paw Mountain,
only to save their wounded men and starving women.
The attempt of the whites to invade the Black Hill Country claimed
by the Sioux led to another war. Sitting Bull with his braves pre-
pared to fight. Three columns of United States troops, under Gen.
erals Terry, Crooke, and Gibbon, were sent to defeat and capture his
force. Crooke first encountered Sitting Bull, but finding himself too
weak to engage the Indians, fell back; Custer operating in connection
with Gibbon pushed on ahead, and discovering an Indian camp on
the Little Big Horn River, attacked it without waiting for Gibbon's
troops. The Indians under Sitting Bull fought with great skill and
courage, killing Custer and almost all his force, except some companics
of cavalry which had been sent to take the Indians in flank. Aft
978 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
this battle, which took place June 25th, Sitting Bull retreated into
the English territory, baffling the armies in pursuit. Here he re-
mained for several years, menacing the western country, till the Cana-
dian authorities required him to give up all hostile plans or leave
their territory. Then his warriors began to return to the United
States and submit. At last the stern old chief sullenly yielded.
During the year 1876 both political parties prepared to nominate
candidates for the Presidency. General Grant had lost much of his
popularity by extreme measures and the corruption prevalent among
officials, and though some desired to nominate him for a third time,
the general voice was against it. In the Republican Convention
James G. Blaine, of Maine, and Roscoe Conkling, of New York, were
the prominent candidates, but neither was able to secure the nomina-
tion, which fell upon Rutherſord B. Hayes, Governor of Ohio, William
A. Wheeler being nominated as Vice-President. A Democratic Con-
vention, held at St. Louis, put forward Samuel J. Tilden, of New
York, for the Presidency, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Ohio, for the
second position. There was a third party, known as the Greenback
party, which nominated Peter Cooper, of New York. The election
was warmly contested. Hayes carried nearly all the Northern States.
Tilden carried besides the South, the States of Connecticut, New York,
New Jersey, and Indiana, giving him one hundred and eighty-four
votes, one more vote being required to elect him. South Carolina,
Florida, and Louisiana were claimed by both parties. The adminis.
tration employed military force at the time of the election in the
South and controlled the returns. In Louisiana the Democratic
members of the Returning Board were excluded, but the return for-
warded to Congress by the Governor gave the Tilden electors as:
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 979
*
chosen. The election turned at last on that State. Charges of fraud
have ever since been made against the Republican claim to have car-
ried Louisiana, and the weight of evidence is clearly against it.
When the matter came before Congress, the Senate being Repub-
lican accepted the Republican return ; the House of Representatives,
which was Democratic, considered the Democratic return as the true
one. As it seemed impossible to come to any agreement, an act was
passed submitting the question to five members of each House and
five associate Justices of the Supreme Court. The selection of Jus.
tices gave three Republicans and two Democrats, and obedient to the
dictates of party they decided in favor of the Republican electors from
Louisiana, refusing to make any investigation into the alleged frauds.
Accordingly Rutherford B. Hayes was declared President and Will.
iam A. Wheeler, Vice-President.
CHAPTER XXI.
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, NINETEENTH PRESIDENT, 1877–1881.
His Cabinet—Conciliatory Policy toward the South—Financial Troubles—Strikes and Riots—The
House of Representatives resists the use of Military Power at Elections—The Ute War—The
Yellow Fever—The Chinese Question—Decrease of the Debt—Presidential Election.
RUTHERFoRD B. HAYES was duly inaugurated March 4, 1877, by
the Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Morrison
R. Waite. He selected as his Cabinet William M. Evarts, of New
York, for Secretary of State; John Sherman, of Ohio, for Secretary
of the Treasury; George W. McCrary, of Ohio, for Secretary of War;
Richard W. Thompson, of Indiana, for Secretary of the Navy; Carl
Schurz, of Missouri, for Secretary of the Interior; David M. Key, of
980 THE STO R Y OF A GREAT NATION.
&
Tennessee, for Postmaster-General; and Charles Devins, of Massachu-
setts, as Attorney-General.
Mr. Hayes entered upon his office with a disposition to conciliate
the people of the South by arresting all the oppressive and vexatious
measures which kept them from heartily sympathizing with the Fed-
eral Government and the people of the other parts of the country.
He withdrew the United States troops from the South and left the
people to manage their own concerns without interference from Wash-
ington. He also purified the civil service by stopping much corrup.
tion in office. Mr. Hayes' leniency toward the Southern States aroused
a strong opposition in those Republicans who still insisted on harsh
measures, and who became known as Stalwarts.
Early in Mr. Hayes' administration the decline in prices caused by
the prospect of a resumption of specie payments produced great dis.
tress in the country. During the war, specie—that is, silver and gold
money—almost disappeared, and none was paid out by the banks for
checks or their own notes. Specie was required to pay duties at the
Custom-houses and to make payments in Europe, and those who were
compelled to obtain silver or gold coin were forced at one time to
give two hundred and seventy dollars in bills for one hundred dollars
in gold. After the end of the war the rate of gold declined, and the
time was approaching when a paper dollar would be worth a gold
dollar. Then the banks would again pay out gold and silver. While
paper money was worth so little all prices rose, and now they were
declining. Property was not worth so much. Many merchants and
bankers failed. People whose property was mortgaged lost every.
thing. Railroad and other companies reduced the pay of the men in
their employ. This led to fearful riots on the railroads in Maryland,
OR, OUR COUNTRY's. ACHIEVEMENTS. 981
Pennsylvania, and other States, by which for a time all travel and
transportation of goods were stopped. Troops were called out and
the riots were at last suppressed, but not till great quantities of valu.
able property had been destroyed. -
The use of the military under the direction of United States mar-
shals in elections had been so arbitrary that the Democrats, on ob-
taining a majority in the House of Representatives in 1877, insisted
that no appropriation for the pay of marshals should be made without
a clause depriving them of this power. This led to violent debates
in Congress, to vetoes by the President, and to a bitter feeling in the
country. Congress ended without making the appropriations for car.
rying on the Government, and an extra session was called in vain.
The next year the same struggle was renewed, and a law introduced
to prevent the abuse of power by the marshals was vetoed by th
President.
This agitation roused a spirit in the North which greatly increase
the strength of the Republican party. At the South the negroes took
alarm and emigrated to the North and West in great numbers; this
led to great suffering, as their means were scanty, and no employment
could be found for them.
The year 1879 opened with a general resumption of specie pay-
ments, and the business of the country gradually recovered. The ar.
bitrary power given to the Indian agents over the tribes to which
they were appointed led to troubles in this year. The Ute Indians
killed their agent and subjected his family to great cruelty and hard.
ship. A military force was sent against them, but the Indians, who
have now the best arms, and skilful leaders, are not easily overcome.
On this occasion they attacked Major Thornburgh, who was advancing
982 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION
against them, killed that commander and ten of his men, and held the
rest so closely besieged that they were rescued with great difficulty,
A sufficient army to reduce the Indians was then sent.
During the years 1878 and 1879 several cities of the South, New
Orleans, Vicksburg, and Memphis, with other smaller places, were vis-
ited by yellow fever, which swept off great numbers of people, and
compelled the rest to retire to camps in healthy localities. Physicians,
clergymen, sisters of various orders, and other volunteer nurses has.
tened to the relief of the sick, and the Howard Associations devoted
themselves with great zeal to relieve the distressed.
Among other events of this administration was a movement on the
Pacific Coast against the Chinese. A large heathen population had
come into the country, bringing all the vices that prevail in countries
which have not fully received the light of revelation and the Gospel.
There was a feeling in all classes that the introduction of these people
by large Chinese companies, holding them really as slaves, ought to
be stopped. A law passed Congress, but President Hayes vetoed it
as conflicting with the treaty between the United States and China.
A new treaty signed at Pekin in 1881 opened the way for laws to
remedy all real evils.
The resumption of specie payment and the general prosperity fol.
lowing it enabled the Government to pay off much of the immense
debt of the country, and for the remainder to issue bonds on which
the country paid only four and four and a half per cent. interest. The
debt of the United States on the 1st of January, 1866, had been two
thousand eight hundred millions of dollars; but eight hundred mil-
lions were paid off by the close of the year 1880.
When the Republican Convention met in that year to nominate its
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 983
candidate for the Presidential chair, a strong effort was made to put
General Grant again forward, and three hundred and six votes were
steadily given for him. The opposition was at first divided, but
finally united on James A. Garfield, of Ohio, who had risen during
the war to be a Major-General, and had been for years a prominent
Member of Congress. Chester A. Arthur, of New York, was selected
as candidate for Vice-President, the two candidates, it is somewhat
curious to note, being from the same States as those nominated at the
last election. On the Democratic side General Winfield Scott Han.
cock was nominated for the Presidency, and W. H. English, of Indiana,
for Vice-President. There was a lack of harmony in both parties; the
Republicans who had adhered to Grant showed little zeal for Gar-
field, and the Democrats in New York were divided into two hostile
factions. Owing to this dissension Garfield carried New York, with
all the other Northern States, except New Jersey, California, and
Nevada, and received a small majority of the popular vote.
The validity of his election was not questioned, and the count was
made in Congress without objection.
CHAPTER XXII.
JAMES A GARFTELD, TWENTIETH PRESIDENT, 1881. CHESTER A.
ARTHUR, TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENT, 1881–1885.
Garfield's Cabinet—Difficulty as to New York Appointments—He is Shot by Guiteau—His Suffer-
ings and Death—Foreign Sympathy—Arthur's Policy—Trial of Guiteau–Apportionment of
Representatives—The Suppression of Polygamy in Utah—Arctic Explorations—The Brooklyn
Bridge—Election of Cleveland.
THough Mr. Garfield had been elected by the full vote of his party,
the dissensions among the Republicans had not been healed. The
Senate for a time failed to organize, as the two factions could not
984 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION:
agree in regard to the officers of the House. When that body was
ready for the nominations of his Cabinet, Mr. Garfield sent in the
names of James G. Blaine, of Maine, Secretary of State; William
Windom, of Minnesota, Secretary of the Treasury; William H. Hunt,
of Louisiana, Secretary of the Navy; Robert F. Lincoln, of Illinois,
Secretary of War; Wayne McVeagh, of Pennsylvania, Attorney-Gen.
eral; Thomas L. James, of New York, Postmaster-General; and Sam.
uel J. Kirkland, of Ohio, Secretary of the Interior,
When President Garfield sent in to the Senate names for several
offices in New York City, the two Senators from that State claimed a
right to recommend candidates for them from their branch of the
Republican party, and wished the President's nominations to be re-
jected. The Senate declined to go so far, and the two Senators from
New York resigned, hoping to be reappointed by the legislature of
their own State. In this they were disappointed, there being mani-
festly a wish to let President Garfield act freely. By this time the
dissension in the Republican party had become intense, and in the
newspapers and public meetings the most violent language was used
by angry partisans.
At Washington several treaties which had been negotiated with
foreign countries were submitted to the Senate and approved. The
immediate urgent business was completed, and President Garfield
prepared to visit a college where his son was to be graduated. On
the 2d of July he proceeded to the station of the Baltimore and Poto-
mac Railroad in Washington, and entered the building arm in arm
with Secretary Blaine, when two pistol shots were fired at him from
behind, one striking him in the back and passing nearly through his
body. His assassin, Charles J. Guiteau, proclaiming himself a Stal-
OR, our Country's ACHIEVEMENTs. ‘985
wart, was seized, and proved to be a visionary politician, of depraved
life, without any moral control, who had been an applicant for the
position of Minister to Austria. The most eminent surgeons in the
country attended the wounded President, but they could not trace the
ball in its entire course, and failed to relieve him. The illustrious
sufferer sank gradually, and though he was removed to Long Branch
in hope of invigorating his system, he expired on the 19th of Septem-
ber. Queen Victoria and many high dignitaries in Europe sent the
expression of their sympathy for Mrs. Garfield, and their sorrow at
such a crime; and when death closed the President's sufferings, the
Courts of England, Belgium, and Spain put on mourning.
The sympathy throughout the country for the widow was profound
and general. Political animosity was silenced for a time by the ter-
rible example of its fatal tendency.
On the death of President Garfield, Chester A. Arthur took the
oath of office in New York, and with the members of the Cabinet
proceeded to Long Branch, and accompanied the remains of General
Garfield to Washington. Here he was formally inaugurated on the
22d. After his inaugural address he appointed as a day of fasting,
humiliation, and prayer, the 26th, that set apart for the funeral of the
late President at Cleveland.
There had been a question whether the wound of the President did
not create a disability which required Mr. Arthur to act in his stead
till his recovery; but with delicacy and prudence he left the adminis.
tration in the hands of the Cabinet, President Garfield affixing his
signature to some official acts.
On his inauguration President Arthur requested the members of
the Cabinet to retain their positions, but changes soon took place;
986" THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION ;
Frederick W. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, became Secretary of
State, and a scheme of Mr. Blaine's for a Congress of the Spanish
American States was abandoned. In time all the members of Gar-
field's Cabinet retired except Mr. Lincoln, who remained Secretary of
War till the close of the administration.
The assassin of the late President had a long trial, in which every
endeavor was made to prove him insane, but he was convicted and
executed.
In 1882 an act was passed to apportion the representatives in Con-
gress to the result of the census of 1880, which showed the population
of the country to be fifty millions. This is done after every census,
and to prevent the House of Representatives from becoming too large,
the number of inhabitants entitled to one representative is fixed.
Each State then has the right to elect as many members of the House
as the population divided by this number will give. Every State
must have at least one representative, even if the population does not
reach the number. In the apportionment of 1882 some of the new
Western States gained representatives, but Maine, New Hampshire,
and Vermont each lost one.
The question of suppressing polygamy in Utah was taken up act-
ively, and in 1882 a law introduced by Senator Edmunds, having
passed both Houses of Congress, gave the first check to the polyga-
mous practices of the Mormons, who had for years adopted polygamy
as a part of the teachings of their Church, many of their leading men
having a great number of wives. But the Mormons did not give up
the system, although several were convicted and imprisoned. The
power of the Mormon Church in the Territory is very great, and the
repugnance to its teachings respecting marriage has thus far prevented
its admission as a State.
OR, OUR COUNTRY's ACHIEVEMENTs. 98.7
Under the guidance of De Lesseps, the projector of the Suez Canal,
an attempt was made to cut a ship canal through the isthmus of
Panama. Early in his administration President Arthur called the
attention of Congress to the project, and to the necessity that the
United States should possess some control over it. Subsequently
preparations were made by American capitalists to establish a ship
canal through Nicaragua. When a similar project had been formed a
quarter of a century before, the United States, in what is known as
the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, agreed to certain conditions in regard to
it. That canal having never been built, the United States has re.
garded itself free to act its pleasure as to any new canal scheme.
Arctic explorations engaged public attention about this time, but
though they drew forth much heroism and sufferings, no great results
were attained. The Jeannette, sent out from San Francisco at the ex.
pense of James Gordon Bennett, of the New York Herald, in 1879, to
pass through Behring's Straits and follow the coasts of Asia and Eu-
rope to the Atlantic, was crushed in the ice in June, 1881; one boat
was lost, the crews of the others reached land, but all who accompa-
nied Captain De Long perished from cold and hunger before the two
sent for relief could return to them. The Greely expedition sent to
the North, west of Greenland, underwent terrible sufferings, and the
survivors were rescued when death was staring them in the face.
The year 1883 was marked by the completion of an immense sus.
pension bridge, uniting the cities of New York and Brooklyn. It has
a span of fifteen hundred and ninety-five feet, the longest in the world,
and is crossed by a hundred millions of people every year.
When the Republican nominating Convention met at Chicago in
1884, the great division in the party was still evident. James G.
988 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION;
Blaine, of Maine, was nominated for President, and John A. Logan
for Vice-President; the Democrats in their Convention took up a new
man, Grover Cleveland, who, from being Mayor of Buffalo, was elected
Governor of the State of N ew York. Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indi-
ana, was again put in nomination as Vice-President. Benjamin F.
Butler, of Massachusetts, was also a candidate as the representative
of the Greenback and Anti-Monopoly elements in the country. Those
who wished a general prohibition of the sale of liquor also nominated
Governor St. John, of Kansas, as a candidate, but the vote of the
country was given mainly to the candidates of the two great parties.
The election was warmly contested, but there were signs that the old
parties were breaking up. Many Republican papers favored Cleve-
land, who received a considerable number of votes from the liberal
members of that party; on the other hand, Cleveland was singularly
distasteful to a large body of the Democrats in New York and else-
where, who threw their votes for Blaine. The issue at last turned
on New York, but when that State so far as the Democrats were con-
cerned seemed lost, a sudden change enabled Mr. Cleveland to carry
the State and secure his election.
CHAPTER XXIII.
GROVER CLEVELAND, TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT—1885.
flis Cabinet–Gen. Grant put on the Retired List—His Death at Mt. McGregor—Massacre of
Chinese in Wyoming—Recognition of the International Association of the Congo–The Rights
of American Fishermen questioned by Canada—American Fishing Wessels seized—Death of
Vice-President Hendricks.
GROVER CLEVELAND, the first Democratic candidate elected to the
Presidency in nearly a quarter of a century, was duly inaugurated.
y ºf 7 - *
oR, our country's ACHIEVEMENTS. 989
March 4, 1885, with Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, as Vice-Presi-
dent.
Those who anticipated sweeping and partisan changes were dis-
appointed. Mr. Cleveland pursued a just and temperate course.
His Cabinet consisted of Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware, Secretary
of State; Daniel Manning, of New York, Secretary of the Treasury;
William C. Endicott, of Massachusetts, Secretary of War; William
C. Whitney, of New York, Secretary of the Navy; William F. Vilas,
Postmaster-General; L. Q. C. Lamar, Secretary of the Interior; and
Augustus H. Garland, of Arkansas, Attorney-General.
Two days after his inauguration Mr. Cleveland signed the com.
mission of U. S. Grant as General on the retired list of the army. It
was the last tribute of the government to the great soldier already
yielding to the disease of which he died, on the 23d of July, 1885,
at Mount McGregor, near Saratoga, New York. He was interred
with the highest honors in Riverside Park, New York, at a spot over.
looking the Hudson.
The hostility to the Chinese on the Pacific side of the country
resulted in a terrible massacre in Wyoming, in which many Chinese
were killed by the miners. In his message, President Cleveland
urged Congress to pass adequate laws to regulate the immigration of
natives of the Empire of China.
The International Association of the Congo was recognized by the
United States, after which other powers followed our example. The
Association was thus recognized as a government, and began its ben-
eficial work in the heart of Africa.
On our frontier the rights of American fishermen were not re.
spected by the Canadian authorities, and the danger of violence led
990 THE STORY OF A GREAT NATION.
President Cleveland to call attention of Congress to the matter. Con-
gress did not act on it, and in May, 1886, the Canadian government
seized several American fishing vessels for purchasing bait in the
ports of Nova Scotia.
When Congress met in December, President Cleveland in his
message notified the members of both Houses that he had withdrawn
from the Senate a treaty with Nicaragua and one with Spain, not re-
garding either as for the best interests of the United States. In the
great question as to a canal or ship-railroad across Mexico or Central
America, he favored the ship-railway by way of Tehuantepec, but in-
sisted that the route must be neutral. He also advocated the nego-
tiation of a new extradition treaty with England, the suspension of
the large coinage of silver, and the reduction of the tariff.
In the disposal of the public lands millions of acres had been
obtained by great railroad companies, who failed to meet their obli.
gations. Other large tracts were obtained by speculators in Europe.
To investigate and arrest this robbery of the public domain excited
the care and vigilance of the President, who recommended strict regu.
lations.
Early in the Twenty-second Administration Vice-President Hen-
dricks was carried off by a brief illness, dying on the 25th Novem.
ber, 1885. His sudden decease deprived the Senate of its Constitu-
tional presiding officer, and gave an additional proof of the necessity
of providing by clear and definite provisions for the succession to the
Presidency in case of death or inability.
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