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diff --git a/1864-h/1864-h.htm b/1864-h/1864-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d8f0faa --- /dev/null +++ b/1864-h/1864-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5955 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Hero Tales from American History, by Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore + Roosevelt + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hero Tales From American History, by +Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Hero Tales From American History + +Author: Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt +Last Updated: December 17, 2012 + +Release Date: October 10, 2008 [EBook #1864] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Hence it is that the fathers of these men and ours also, and + they themselves likewise, being nurtured in all freedom and + well born, have shown before all men many and glorious deeds + in public and private, deeming it their duty to fight for + the cause of liberty and the Greeks, even against Greeks, + and against Barbarians for all the Greeks."—PLATO: + "Menexenus." +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> TO E. Y. R. + </p> + <p> + To you we owe the suggestion of writing this book. Its purpose, as you + know better than any one else, is to tell in simple fashion the story of + some Americans who showed that they knew how to live and how to die; who + proved their truth by their endeavor; and who joined to the stern and + manly qualities which are essential to the well-being of a masterful race + the virtues of gentleness, of patriotism, and of lofty adherence to an + ideal. + </p> + <p> + It is a good thing for all Americans, and it is an especially good thing + for young Americans, to remember the men who have given their lives in war + and peace to the service of their fellow-countrymen, and to keep in mind + the feats of daring and personal prowess done in time past by some of the + many champions of the nation in the various crises of her history. Thrift, + industry, obedience to law, and intellectual cultivation are essential + qualities in the makeup of any successful people; but no people can be + really great unless they possess also the heroic virtues which are as + needful in time of peace as in time of war, and as important in civil as + in military life. As a civilized people we desire peace, but the only + peace worth having is obtained by instant readiness to fight when wronged—not + by unwillingness or inability to fight at all. Intelligent foresight in + preparation and known capacity to stand well in battle are the surest + safeguards against war. America will cease to be a great nation whenever + her young men cease to possess energy, daring, and endurance, as well as + the wish and the power to fight the nation's foes. No citizen of a free + state should wrong any man; but it is not enough merely to refrain from + infringing on the rights of others; he must also be able and willing to + stand up for his own rights and those of his country against all comers, + and he must be ready at any time to do his full share in resisting either + malice domestic or foreign levy. + </p> + <p> + HENRY CABOT LODGE. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. + </p> + <p> + WASHINGTON, April 19, 1895. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY</b> + </a><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> WASHINGTON </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> DANIEL BOONE AND THE FOUNDING OF KENTUCKY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE CONQUEST OF THE + NORTHWEST </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> THE BATTLE OF TRENTON </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> BENNINGTON </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> KING'S MOUNTAIN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> THE STORMING OF STONY POINT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> GOUVERNEUR MORRIS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> THE BURNING OF THE "PHILADELPHIA" </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> THE CRUISE OF THE "WASP" </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> THE "GENERAL ARMSTRONG" PRIVATEER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> JOHN QUINCY ADAMS AND THE RIGHT OF PETITION + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> FRANCIS PARKMAN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> "REMEMBER THE ALAMO" </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> HAMPTON ROADS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> THE FLAG-BEARER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> THE DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> THE CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> GENERAL GRANT AND THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> ROBERT GOULD SHAW </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> CHARLES RUSSELL LOWELL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> SHERIDAN AT CEDAR CREEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> LIEUTENANT CUSHING AND THE RAM "ALBEMARLE" + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> FARRAGUT AT MOBILE BAY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> LINCOLN </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Hor. I saw him once; he was a goodly king. + Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all + I shall not look upon his like again."—Hamlet + </pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WASHINGTON + </h2> + <p> + The brilliant historian of the English people [*] has written of + Washington, that "no nobler figure ever stood in the fore-front of a + nation's life." In any book which undertakes to tell, no matter how + slightly, the story of some of the heroic deeds of American history, that + noble figure must always stand in the fore-front. But to sketch the life + of Washington even in the barest outline is to write the history of the + events which made the United States independent and gave birth to the + American nation. Even to give alist of what he did, to name his battles + and recount his acts as president, would be beyond the limit and the scope + of this book. Yet it is always possible to recall the man and to consider + what he was and what he meant for us and for mankind He is worthy the + study and the remembrance of all men, and to Americans he is at once a + great glory of their past and an inspiration and an assurance of their + future. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * John Richard Green. +</pre> + <p> + To understand Washington at all we must first strip off all the myths + which have gathered about him. We must cast aside into the dust-heaps all + the wretched inventions of the cherry-tree variety, which were fastened + upon him nearly seventy years after his birth. We must look at him as he + looked at life and the facts about him, without any illusion or deception, + and no man in history can better stand such a scrutiny. + </p> + <p> + Born of a distinguished family in the days when the American colonies were + still ruled by an aristocracy, Washington started with all that good birth + and tradition could give. Beyond this, however, he had little. His family + was poor, his mother was left early a widow, and he was forced after a + very limited education to go out into the world to fight for himself He + had strong within him the adventurous spirit of his race. He became a + surveyor, and in the pursuit of this profession plunged into the + wilderness, where he soon grew to be an expert hunter and backwoodsman. + Even as a boy the gravity of his character and his mental and physical + vigor commended him to those about him, and responsibility and military + command were put in his hands at an age when most young men are just + leaving college. As the times grew threatening on the frontier, he was + sent on a perilous mission to the Indians, in which, after passing through + many hardships and dangers, he achieved success. When the troubles came + with France it was by the soldiers under his command that the first shots + were fired in the war which was to determine whether the North American + continent should be French or English. In his earliest expedition he was + defeated by the enemy. Later he was with Braddock, and it was he who + tried, to rally the broken English army on the stricken field near Fort + Duquesne. On that day of surprise and slaughter he displayed not only cool + courage but the reckless daring which was one of his chief + characteristics. He so exposed himself that bullets passed through his + coat and hat, and the Indians and the French who tried to bring him down + thought he bore a charmed life. He afterwards served with distinction all + through the French war, and when peace came he went back to the estate + which he had inherited from his brother, the most admired man in Virginia. + </p> + <p> + At that time he married, and during the ensuing years he lived the life of + a Virginia planter, successful in his private affairs and serving the + public effectively but quietly as a member of the House of Burgesses. When + the troubles with the mother country began to thicken he was slow to take + extreme ground, but he never wavered in his belief that all attempts to + oppress the colonies should be resisted, and when he once took up his + position there was no shadow of turning. He was one of Virginia's + delegates to the first Continental Congress, and, although he said but + little, he was regarded by all the representatives from the other colonies + as the strongest man among them. There was something about him even then + which commanded the respect and the confidence of every one who came in + contact with him. + </p> + <p> + It was from New England, far removed from his own State, that the demand + came for his appointment as commander-in-chief of the American army. + Silently he accepted the duty, and, leaving Philadelphia, took command of + the army at Cambridge. There is no need to trace him through the events + that followed. From the time when he drew his sword under the famous elm + tree, he was the embodiment of the American Revolution, and without him + that revolution would have failed almost at the start. How he carried it + to victory through defeat and trial and every possible obstacle is known + to all men. + </p> + <p> + When it was all over he found himself facing a new situation. He was the + idol of the country and of his soldiers. The army was unpaid, and the + veteran troops, with arms in their hands, were eager to have him take + control of the disordered country as Cromwell had done in England a little + more than a century before. With the army at his back, and supported by + the great forces which, in every community, desire order before everything + else, and are ready to assent to any arrangement which will bring peace + and quiet, nothing would have been easier than for Washington to have made + himself the ruler of the new nation. But that was not his conception of + duty, and he not only refused to have anything to do with such a movement + himself, but he repressed, by his dominant personal influence, all such + intentions on the part of the army. On the 23d of December, 1783, he met + the Congress at Annapolis, and there resigned his commission. What he then + said is one of the two most memorable speeches ever made in the United + States, and is also memorable for its meaning and spirit among all + speeches ever made by men. He spoke as follows: + </p> + <p> + "Mr. President:—The great events on which my resignation depended + having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my sincere + congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before them, to + surrender into their hands the trust committed to me and to claim the + indulgence of retiring from the service of my country. + </p> + <p> + Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignity and pleased + with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable + nation, I resign with satisfaction the appointment I accepted with + diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, + which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our + cause, the support of the supreme power of the Union, and the patronage of + Heaven. + </p> + <p> + The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine + expectations, and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence and the + assistance I have received from my countrymen increases with every review + of the momentous contest. + </p> + <p> + While I repeat my obligations to the Army in general, I should do + injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge, in this place, the + peculiar services and distinguished merits of the Gentlemen who have been + attached to my person during the war. It was impossible that the choice of + confidential officers to compose my family should have been more + fortunate. Permit me, sir, to recommend in particular those who have + continued in service to the present moment as worthy of the favorable + notice and patronage of Congress. + </p> + <p> + I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my + official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the + protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them + to His holy keeping. + </p> + <p> + Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre + of action, and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, + under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission and + take my leave of all the employments of public life." + </p> + <p> + The great master of English fiction, writing of this scene at Annapolis, + says: "Which was the most splendid spectacle ever witnessed—the + opening feast of Prince George in London, or the resignation of + Washington? Which is the noble character for after ages to admire—yon + fribble dancing in lace and spangles, or yonder hero who sheathes his + sword after a life of spotless honor, a purity unreproached, a courage + indomitable and a consummate victory?" + </p> + <p> + Washington did not refuse the dictatorship, or, rather, the opportunity to + take control of the country, because he feared heavy responsibility, but + solely because, as a high-minded and patriotic man, he did not believe in + meeting the situation in that way. He was, moreover, entirely devoid of + personal ambition, and had no vulgar longing for personal power. After + resigning his commission he returned quietly to Mount Vernon, but he did + not hold himself aloof from public affairs. On the contrary, he watched + their course with the utmost anxiety. He saw the feeble Confederation + breaking to pieces, and he soon realized that that form of government was + an utter failure. In a time when no American statesman except Hamilton had + yet freed himself from the local feelings of the colonial days, Washington + was thoroughly national in all his views. Out of the thirteen jarring + colonies he meant that a nation should come, and he saw—what no one + else saw—the destiny of the country to the westward. He wished a + nation founded which should cross the Alleghanies, and, holding the mouths + of the Mississippi, take possession of all that vast and then unknown + region. For these reasons he stood at the head of the national movement, + and to him all men turned who desired a better union and sought to bring + order out of chaos. With him Hamilton and Madison consulted in the + preliminary stages which were to lead to the formation of a new system. It + was his vast personal influence which made that movement a success, and + when the convention to form a constitution met at Philadelphia, he + presided over its deliberations, and it was his commanding will which, + more than anything else, brought a constitution through difficulties and + conflicting interests which more than once made any result seem well-nigh + hopeless. When the Constitution formed at Philadelphia had been ratified + by the States, all men turned to Washington to stand at the head of the + new government. As he had borne the burden of the Revolution, so he now + took up the task of bringing the government of the Constitution into + existence. For eight years he served as president. He came into office + with a paper constitution, the heir of a bankrupt, broken-down + confederation. He left the United States, when he went out of office, an + effective and vigorous government. When he was inaugurated, we had nothing + but the clauses of the Constitution as agreed to by the Convention. When + he laid down the presidency, we had an organized government, an + established revenue, a funded debt, a high credit, an efficient system of + banking, a strong judiciary, and an army. We had a vigorous and + well-defined foreign policy; we had recovered the western posts, which, in + the hands of the British, had fettered our march to the west; and we had + proved our power to maintain order at home, to repress insurrection, to + collect the national taxes, and to enforce the laws made by Congress. Thus + Washington had shown that rare combination of the leader who could first + destroy by revolution, and who, having led his country through a great + civil war, was then able to build up a new and lasting fabric upon the + ruins of a system which had been overthrown. At the close of his official + service he returned again to Mount Vernon, and, after a few years of quiet + retirement, died just as the century in which he had played so great a + part was closing. + </p> + <p> + Washington stands among the greatest men of human history, and those in + the same rank with him are very few. Whether measured by what he did, or + what he was, or by the effect of his work upon the history of mankind, in + every aspect he is entitled to the place he holds among the greatest of + his race. Few men in all time have such a record of achievement. Still + fewer can show at the end of a career so crowded with high deeds and + memorable victories a life so free from spot, a character so unselfish and + so pure, a fame so void of doubtful points demanding either defense or + explanation. Eulogy of such a life is needless, but it is always important + to recall and to freshly remember just what manner of man he was. In the + first place he was physically a striking figure. He was very tall, + powerfully made, with a strong, handsome face. He was remarkably muscular + and powerful. As a boy he was a leader in all outdoor sports. No one could + fling the bar further than he, and no one could ride more difficult + horses. As a young man he became a woodsman and hunter. Day after day he + could tramp through the wilderness with his gun and his surveyor's chain, + and then sleep at night beneath the stars. He feared no exposure or + fatigue, and outdid the hardiest backwoodsman in following a winter trail + and swimming icy streams. This habit of vigorous bodily exercise he + carried through life. Whenever he was at Mount Vernon he gave a large part + of his time to fox-hunting, riding after his hounds through the most + difficult country. His physical power and endurance counted for much in + his success when he commanded his army, and when the heavy anxieties of + general and president weighed upon his mind and heart. + </p> + <p> + He was an educated, but not a learned man. He read well and remembered + what he read, but his life was, from the beginning, a life of action, and + the world of men was his school. He was not a military genius like + Hannibal, or Caesar, or Napoleon, of which the world has had only three or + four examples. But he was a great soldier of the type which the English + race has produced, like Marlborough and Cromwell, Wellington, Grant, and + Lee. He was patient under defeat, capable of large combinations, a + stubborn and often reckless fighter, a winner of battles, but much more, a + conclusive winner in a long war of varying fortunes. He was, in addition, + what very few great soldiers or commanders have ever been, a great + constitutional statesman, able to lead a people along the paths of free + government without undertaking himself to play the part of the strong man, + the usurper, or the savior of society. + </p> + <p> + He was a very silent man. Of no man of equal importance in the world's + history have we so few sayings of a personal kind. He was ready enough to + talk or to write about the public duties which he had in hand, but he + hardly ever talked of himself. Yet there can be no greater error than to + suppose Washington cold and unfeeling, because of his silence and reserve. + He was by nature a man of strong desires and stormy passions. Now and + again he would break out, even as late as the presidency, into a gust of + anger that would sweep everything before it. He was always reckless of + personal danger, and had a fierce fighting spirit which nothing could + check when it was once unchained. + </p> + <p> + But as a rule these fiery impulses and strong passions were under the + absolute control of an iron will, and they never clouded his judgment or + warped his keen sense of justice. + </p> + <p> + But if he was not of a cold nature, still less was he hard or unfeeling. + His pity always went out to the poor, the oppressed, or the unhappy, and + he was all that was kind and gentle to those immediately about him. + </p> + <p> + We have to look carefully into his life to learn all these things, for the + world saw only a silent, reserved man, of courteous and serious manner, + who seemed to stand alone and apart, and who impressed every one who came + near him with a sense of awe and reverence. + </p> + <p> + One quality he had which was, perhaps, more characteristic of the man and + his greatness than any other. This was his perfect veracity of mind. He + was, of course, the soul of truth and honor, but he was even more than + that. He never deceived himself He always looked facts squarely in the + face and dealt with them as such, dreaming no dreams, cherishing no + delusions, asking no impossibilities,—just to others as to himself, + and thus winning alike in war and in peace. + </p> + <p> + He gave dignity as well as victory to his country and his cause. He was, + in truth, a "character for after ages to admire." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + DANIEL BOONE AND THE FOUNDING OF KENTUCKY + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ... Boone lived hunting up to ninety; + And, what's still stranger, left behind a name + For which men vainly decimate the throng, + Not only famous, but of that GOOD fame, + Without which glory's but a tavern song,— + Simple, serene, the antipodes of shame, + Which hate nor envy e'er could tinge with wrong; + + 'T is true he shrank from men, even of his nation; + When they built up unto his darling trees, + He moved some hundred miles off, for a station + Where there were fewer houses and more ease; + + * * * + + But where he met the individual man, + He showed himself as kind as mortal can. + + * * * + + The freeborn forest found and kept them free, + And fresh as is a torrent or a tree. + + And tall, and strong, and swift of foot were they, + Beyond the dwarfing city's pale abortions, + Because their thoughts had never been the prey + Of care or gain; the green woods were their portions + + * * * + + Simple they were, not savage; and their rifles, + Though very true, were yet not used for trifles. + + * * * + + Serene, not sullen, were the solitudes + Of this unsighing people of the woods. + —Byron. +</pre> + <p> + Daniel Boone will always occupy a unique place in our history as the + archetype of the hunter and wilderness wanderer. He was a true pioneer, + and stood at the head of that class of Indian-fighters, game-hunters, + forest-fellers, and backwoods farmers who, generation after generation, + pushed westward the border of civilization from the Alleghanies to the + Pacific. As he himself said, he was "an instrument ordained of God to + settle the wilderness." Born in Pennsylvania, he drifted south into + western North Carolina, and settled on what was then the extreme frontier. + There he married, built a log cabin, and hunted, chopped trees, and tilled + the ground like any other frontiersman. The Alleghany Mountains still + marked a boundary beyond which the settlers dared not go; for west of them + lay immense reaches of frowning forest, uninhabited save by bands of + warlike Indians. Occasionally some venturesome hunter or trapper + penetrated this immense wilderness, and returned with strange stories of + what he had seen and done. + </p> + <p> + In 1769 Boone, excited by these vague and wondrous tales, determined + himself to cross the mountains and find out what manner of land it was + that lay beyond. With a few chosen companions he set out, making his own + trail through the gloomy forest. After weeks of wandering, he at last + emerged into the beautiful and fertile country of Kentucky, for which, in + after years, the red men and the white strove with such obstinate fury + that it grew to be called "the dark and bloody ground." But when Boone + first saw it, it was a fair and smiling land of groves and glades and + running waters, where the open forest grew tall and beautiful, and where + innumerable herds of game grazed, roaming ceaselessly to and fro along the + trails they had trodden during countless generations. Kentucky was not + owned by any Indian tribe, and was visited only by wandering war-parties + and hunting-parties who came from among the savage nations living north of + the Ohio or south of the Tennessee. + </p> + <p> + A roving war-party stumbled upon one of Boone's companions and killed him, + and the others then left Boone and journeyed home; but his brother came + out to join him, and the two spent the winter together. Self-reliant, + fearless, and the frowning defiles of Cumberland Gap, they were attacked + by Indians, and driven back—two of Boone's own sons being slain. In + 1775, however, he made another attempt; and this attempt was successful. + The Indians attacked the newcomers; but by this time the parties of + would-be settlers were sufficiently numerous to hold their own. They beat + back the Indians, and built rough little hamlets, surrounded by log + stockades, at Boonesborough and Harrodsburg; and the permanent settlement + of Kentucky had begun. + </p> + <p> + The next few years were passed by Boone amid unending Indian conflicts. He + was a leader among the settlers, both in peace and in war. At one time he + represented them in the House of Burgesses of Virginia; at another time he + was a member of the first little Kentucky parliament itself; and he became + a colonel of the frontier militia. He tilled the land, and he chopped the + trees himself; he helped to build the cabins and stockades with his own + hands, wielding the longhandled, light-headed frontier ax as skilfully as + other frontiersmen. His main business was that of surveyor, for his + knowledge of the country, and his ability to travel through it, in spite + of the danger from Indians, created much demand for his services among + people who wished to lay off tracts of wild land for their own future use. + But whatever he did, and wherever he went, he had to be sleeplessly on the + lookout for his Indian foes. When he and his fellows tilled the + stump-dotted fields of corn, one or more of the party were always on + guard, with weapon at the ready, for fear of lurking savages. When he went + to the House of Burgesses he carried his long rifle, and traversed roads + not a mile of which was free from the danger of Indian attack. The + settlements in the early years depended exclusively upon game for their + meat, and Boone was the mightiest of all the hunters, so that upon him + devolved the task of keeping his people supplied. He killed many + buffaloes, and pickled the buffalo beef for use in winter. He killed great + numbers of black bear, and made bacon of them, precisely as if they had + been hogs. The common game were deer and elk. At that time none of the + hunters of Kentucky would waste a shot on anything so small as a + prairie-chicken or wild duck; but they sometimes killed geese and swans + when they came south in winter and lit on the rivers. + </p> + <p> + But whenever Boone went into the woods after game, he had perpetually to + keep watch lest he himself might be hunted in turn. He never lay in wait + at a game-lick, save with ears strained to hear the approach of some + crawling red foe. He never crept up to a turkey he heard calling, without + exercising the utmost care to see that it was not an Indian; for one of + the favorite devices of the Indians was to imitate the turkey call, and + thus allure within range some inexperienced hunter. + </p> + <p> + Besides this warfare, which went on in the midst of his usual vocations, + Boone frequently took the field on set expeditions against the savages. + Once when he and a party of other men were making salt at a lick, they + were surprised and carried off by the Indians. The old hunter was a + prisoner with them for some months, but finally made his escape and came + home through the trackless woods as straight as the wild pigeon flies. He + was ever on the watch to ward off the Indian inroads, and to follow the + warparties, and try to rescue the prisoners. Once his own daughter, and + two other girls who were with her, were carried off by a band of Indians. + Boone raised some friends and followed the trail steadily for two days and + a night; then they came to where the Indians had killed a buffalo calf and + were camped around it. Firing from a little distance, the whites shot two + of the Indians, and, rushing in, rescued the girls. On another occasion, + when Boone had gone to visit a salt-lick with his brother, the Indians + ambushed them and shot the latter. Boone himself escaped, but the Indians + followed him for three miles by the aid of a tracking dog, until Boone + turned, shot the dog, and then eluded his pursuers. In company with Simon + Kenton and many other noted hunters and wilderness warriors, he once and + again took part in expeditions into the Indian country, where they killed + the braves and drove off the horses. Twice bands of Indians, accompanied + by French, Tory, and British partizans from Detroit, bearing the flag of + Great Britain, attacked Boonesboroug. In each case Boone and his + fellow-settlers beat them off with loss. At the fatal battle of the Blue + Licks, in which two hundred of the best riflemen of Kentucky were beaten + with terrible slaughter by a great force of Indians from the lakes, Boone + commanded the left wing. Leading his men, rifle in hand, he pushed back + and overthrew the force against him; but meanwhile the Indians destroyed + the right wing and center, and got round in his rear, so that there was + nothing left for Boone's men except to flee with all possible speed. + </p> + <p> + As Kentucky became settled, Boone grew restless and ill at ease. He loved + the wilderness; he loved the great forests and the great prairie-like + glades, and the life in the little lonely cabin, where from the door he + could see the deer come out into the clearing at nightfall. The + neighborhood of his own kind made him feel cramped and ill at ease. So he + moved ever westward with the frontier; and as Kentucky filled up he + crossed the Mississippi and settled on the borders of the prairie country + of Missouri, where the Spaniards, who ruled the territory, made him an + alcalde, or judge. He lived to a great age, and died out on the border, a + backwoods hunter to the last. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Have the elder races halted? + Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the + seas? + We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson, + Pioneers! O Pioneers! + All the past we leave behind, + We debouch upon a newer, mightier world, varied world; + + Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the + march, + Pioneers! O Pioneers! + We detachments steady throwing, + Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep, + Conquering, holding, daring, venturing, as we go the unknown + ways, + Pioneers! O Pioneers! + + * * * * * * * + + The sachem blowing the smoke first towards the sun and then + towards the earth, + The drama of the scalp dance enacted with painted faces and + guttural exclamations, + The setting out of the war-party, the long and stealthy march, + The single file, the swinging hatchets, the surprise and + slaughter of enemies. + —Whitman. +</pre> + <p> + In 1776, when independence was declared, the United States included only + the thirteen original States on the seaboard. With the exception of a few + hunters there were no white men west of the Alleghany Mountains, and there + was not even an American hunter in the great country out of which we have + since made the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. + All this region north of the Ohio River then formed apart of the Province + of Quebec. It was a wilderness of forests and prairies, teeming with game, + and inhabited by many warlike tribes of Indians. + </p> + <p> + Here and there through it were dotted quaint little towns of French + Creoles, the most important being Detroit, Vincennes on the Wabash, and + Kaskaskia and Kahokia on the Illinois. These French villages were ruled by + British officers commanding small bodies of regular soldiers or Tory + rangers and Creole partizans. The towns were completely in the power of + the British government; none of the American States had actual possession + of a foot of property in the Northwestern Territory. + </p> + <p> + The Northwest was acquired in the midst of the Revolution only by armed + conquest, and if it had not been so acquired, it would have remained a + part of the British Dominion of Canada. + </p> + <p> + The man to whom this conquest was clue was a famous backwoods leader, a + mighty hunter, a noted Indian-fighter, George Rogers Clark. He was a very + strong man, with light hair and blue eyes. He was of good Virginian + family. Early in his youth, he embarked on the adventurous career of a + backwoods surveyor, exactly as Washington and so many other young + Virginians of spirit did at that period. He traveled out to Kentucky soon + after it was founded by Boone, and lived there for a year, either at the + stations or camping by him self in the woods, surveying, hunting, and + making war against the Indians like any other settler; but all the time + his mind was bent on vaster schemes than were dreamed of by the men around + him. He had his spies out in the Northwestern Territory, and became + convinced that with a small force of resolute backwoodsmen he could + conquer it for the United States. When he went back to Virginia, Governor + Patrick Henry entered heartily into Clark's schemes and gave him authority + to fit out a force for his purpose. + </p> + <p> + In 1778, after encountering endless difficulties and delays, he finally + raised a hundred and fifty backwoods riflemen. In May they started down + the Ohio in flatboats to undertake the allotted task. They drifted and + rowed downstream to the Falls of the Ohio, where Clark founded a log + hamlet, which has since become the great city of Louisville. + </p> + <p> + Here he halted for some days and was joined by fifty or sixty volunteers; + but a number of the men deserted, and when, after an eclipse of the sun, + Clark again pushed off to go down with the current, his force was but + about one hundred and sixty riflemen. All, however, were men on whom he + could depend—men well used to frontier warfare. They were tall, + stalwart backwoodsmen, clad in the hunting-shirt and leggings that formed + the national dress of their kind, and armed with the distinctive weapon of + the backwoods, the long-barreled, small-bore rifle. + </p> + <p> + Before reaching the Mississippi the little flotilla landed, and Clark led + his men northward against the Illinois towns. In one of them, Kaskaskia, + dwelt the British commander of the entire district up to Detroit. The + small garrison and the Creole militia taken together outnumbered Clark's + force, and they were in close alliance with the Indians roundabout. Clark + was anxious to take the town by surprise and avoid bloodshed, as he + believed he could win over the Creoles to the American side. Marching + cautiously by night and generally hiding by day, he came to the outskirts + of the little village on the evening of July 4, and lay in the woods near + by until after nightfall. + </p> + <p> + Fortune favored him. That evening the officers of the garrison had given a + great ball to the mirth-loving Creoles, and almost the entire population + of the village had gathered in the fort, where the dance was held. While + the revelry was at its height, Clark and his tall backwoodsmen, treading + silently through the darkness, came into the town, surprised the sentries, + and surrounded the fort without causing any alarm. + </p> + <p> + All the British and French capable of bearing arms were gathered in the + fort to take part in or look on at the merrymaking. When his men were + posted Clark walked boldly forward through the open door, and, leaning + against the wall, looked at the dancers as they whirled around in the + light of the flaring torches. For some moments no one noticed him. Then an + Indian who had been lying with his chin on his hand, looking carefully + over the gaunt figure of the stranger, sprang to his feet, and uttered the + wild war-whoop. Immediately the dancing ceased and the men ran to and fro + in confusion; but Clark, stepping forward, bade them be at their ease, but + to remember that henceforth they danced under the flag of the United + States, and not under that of Great Britain. + </p> + <p> + The surprise was complete, and no resistance was attempted. For + twenty-four hours the Creoles were in abject terror. Then Clark summoned + their chief men together and explained that he came as their ally, and not + as their foe, and that if they would join with him they should be citizens + of the American republic, and treated in all respects on an equality with + their comrades. The Creoles, caring little for the British, and rather + fickle of nature, accepted the proposition with joy, and with the most + enthusiastic loyalty toward Clark. Not only that, but sending messengers + to their kinsmen on the Wabash, they persuaded the people of Vincennes + likewise to cast off their allegiance to the British king, and to hoist + the American flag. + </p> + <p> + So far, Clark had conquered with greater ease than he had dared to hope. + But when the news reached the British governor, Hamilton, at Detroit, he + at once prepared to reconquer the land. He had much greater forces at his + command than Clark had; and in the fall of that year he came down to + Vincennes by stream and portage, in a great fleet of canoes bearing five + hundred fighting men-British regulars, French partizans, and Indians. The + Vincennes Creoles refused to fight against the British, and the American + officer who had been sent thither by Clark had no alternative but to + surrender. + </p> + <p> + If Hamilton had then pushed on and struck Clark in Illinois, having more + than treble Clark's force, he could hardly have failed to win the victory; + but the season was late and the journey so difficult that he did not + believe it could be taken. Accordingly he disbanded the Indians and sent + some of his troops back to Detroit, announcing that when spring came he + would march against Clark in Illinois. + </p> + <p> + If Clark in turn had awaited the blow he would have surely met defeat; but + he was a greater man than his antagonist, and he did what the other deemed + impossible. + </p> + <p> + Finding that Hamilton had sent home some of his troops and dispersed all + his Indians, Clark realized that his chance was to strike before + Hamilton's soldiers assembled again in the spring. Accordingly he gathered + together the pick of his men, together with a few Creoles, one hundred and + seventy all told, and set out for Vincennes. At first the journey was easy + enough, for they passed across the snowy Illinois prairies, broken by + great reaches of lofty woods. They killed elk, buffalo, and deer for food, + there being no difficulty in getting all they wanted to eat; and at night + they built huge fires by which to sleep, and feasted "like Indian + war-dancers," as Clark said in his report. + </p> + <p> + But when, in the middle of February, they reached the drowned lands of the + Wabash, where the ice had just broken up and everything was flooded, the + difficulties seemed almost insuperable, and the march became painful and + laborious to a degree. All day long the troops waded in the icy water, and + at night they could with difficulty find some little hillock on which to + sleep. Only Clark's indomitable courage and cheerfulness kept the party in + heart and enabled them to persevere. However, persevere they did, and at + last, on February 23, they came in sight of the town of Vincennes. They + captured a Creole who was out shooting ducks, and from him learned that + their approach was utterly unsuspected, and that there were many Indians + in town. + </p> + <p> + Clark was now in some doubt as to how to make his fight. The British + regulars dwelt in a small fort at one end of the town, where they had two + light guns; but Clark feared lest, if he made a sudden night attack, the + townspeople and Indians would from sheer fright turn against him. He + accordingly arranged, just before he himself marched in, to send in the + captured duck-hunter, conveying a warning to the Indians and the Creoles + that he was about to attack the town, but that his only quarrel was with + the British, and that if the other inhabitants would stay in their own + homes they would not be molested. Sending the duck-hunter ahead, Clark + took up his march and entered the town just after nightfall. The news + conveyed by the released hunter astounded the townspeople, and they talked + it over eagerly, and were in doubt what to do. The Indians, not knowing + how great might be the force that would assail the town, at once took + refuge in the neighboring woods, while the Creoles retired to their own + houses. The British knew nothing of what had happened until the Americans + had actually entered the streets of the little village. Rushing forward, + Clark's men soon penned the regulars within their fort, where they kept + them surrounded all night. The next day a party of Indian warriors, who in + the British interest had been ravaging the settlements of Kentucky, + arrived and entered the town, ignorant that the Americans had captured it. + Marching boldly forward to the fort, they suddenly found it beleaguered, + and before they could flee they were seized by the backwoodsmen. In their + belts they carried the scalps of the slain settlers. The savages were + taken redhanded, and the American frontiersmen were in no mood to show + mercy. All the Indians were tomahawked in sight of the fort. + </p> + <p> + For some time the British defended themselves well; but at length their + guns were disabled, all of the gunners being picked off by the backwoods + marksmen, and finally the garrison dared not so much as appear at a + port-hole, so deadly was the fire from the long rifles. Under such + circumstances Hamilton was forced to surrender. + </p> + <p> + No attempt was afterward made to molest the Americans in the land they had + won, and upon the conclusion of peace the Northwest, which had been + conquered by Clark, became part of the United States. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE BATTLE OF TRENTON + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + And such they are—and such they will be found: + Not so Leonidas and Washington, + Their every battle-field is holy ground + Which breathes of nations saved, not worlds undone. + How sweetly on the ear such echoes sound! + While the mere victor's may appal or stun + The servile and the vain, such names will be + A watchword till the future shall be free. + —Byron. +</pre> + <p> + In December, 1776, the American Revolution was at its lowest ebb. The + first burst of enthusiasm, which drove the British back from Concord and + met them hand to hand at Bunker Hill, which forced them to abandon Boston + and repulsed their attack at Charleston, had spent its force. The + undisciplined American forces called suddenly from the workshop and the + farm had given way, under the strain of a prolonged contest, and had been + greatly scattered, many of the soldiers returning to their homes. The + power of England, on the other hand, with her disciplined army and + abundant resources, had begun to tell. Washington, fighting stubbornly, + had been driven during the summer and autumn from Long Island up the + Hudson, and New York had passed into the hands of the British. Then Forts + Lee and Washington had been lost, and finally the Continental army had + retreated to New Jersey. On the second of December Washington was at + Princeton with some three thousand ragged soldiers, and had escaped + destruction only by the rapidity of his movements. By the middle of the + month General Howe felt that the American army, unable as he believed + either to fight or to withstand the winter, must soon dissolve, and, + posting strong detachments at various points, he took up his winter + quarters in New York. The British general had under his command in his + various divisions twenty-five thousand well-disciplined soldiers, and the + conclusion he had reached was not an unreasonable one; everything, in + fact, seemed to confirm his opinion. Thousands of the colonists were + coming in and accepting his amnesty. The American militia had left the + field, and no more would turn out, despite Washington's earnest appeals. + All that remained of the American Revolution was the little Continental + army and the man who led it. + </p> + <p> + Yet even in this dark hour Washington did not despair. He sent in every + direction for troops. Nothing was forgotten. Nothing that he could do was + left undone. Unceasingly he urged action upon Congress, and at the same + time with indomitable fighting spirit he planned to attack the British. It + was a desperate undertaking in the face of such heavy odds, for in all his + divisions he had only some six thousand men, and even these were + scattered. The single hope was that by his own skill and courage he could + snatch victory from a situation where victory seemed impossible. With the + instinct of a great commander he saw that his only chance was to fight the + British detachments suddenly, unexpectedly, and separately, and to do this + not only required secrecy and perfect judgment, but also the cool, + unwavering courage of which, under such circumstances, very few men have + proved themselves capable. As Christmas approached his plans were ready. + He determined to fall upon the British detachment of Hessians, under + Colonel Rahl, at Trenton, and there strike his first blow. To each + division of his little army a part in the attack was assigned with careful + forethought. Nothing was overlooked and nothing omitted, and then, for + some reason good or bad, every one of the division commanders failed to do + his part. As the general plan was arranged, Gates was to march from + Bristol with two thousand men; Ewing was to cross at Trenton; Putnam was + to come up from Philadelphia; and Griffin was to make a diversion against + Donop. When the moment came, Gates, who disapproved the plan, was on his + way to Congress; Griffin abandoned New Jersey and fled before Donop; + Putnam did not attempt to leave Philadelphia; and Ewing made no effort to + cross at Trenton. Cadwalader came down from Bristol, looked at the river + and the floating ice, and then gave it up as desperate. Nothing remained + except Washington himself with the main army, but he neither gave up, nor + hesitated, nor stopped on account of the ice, or the river, or the perils + which lay beyond. On Christmas Eve, when all the Christian world was + feasting and rejoicing, and while the British were enjoying themselves in + their comfortable quarters, Washington set out. With twenty-four hundred + men he crossed the Delaware through the floating ice, his boats managed + and rowed by the sturdy fishermen of Marblehead from Glover's regiment. + The crossing was successful, and he landed about nine miles from Trenton. + It was bitter cold, and the sleet and snow drove sharply in the faces of + the troops. Sullivan, marching by the river, sent word that the arms of + his soldiers were wet. "Tell your general," was Washington's reply to the + message, "to use the bayonet, for the town must be taken." When they + reached Trenton it was broad daylight. Washington, at the front and on the + right of the line, swept down the Pennington road, and, as he drove back + the Hessian pickets, he heard the shout of Sullivan's men as, with Stark + leading the van, they charged in from the river. A company of jaegers and + of light dragoons slipped away. There was some fighting in the streets, + but the attack was so strong and well calculated that resistance was + useless. Colonel Rahl, the British commander, aroused from his revels, was + killed as he rushed out to rally his men, and in a few moments all was + over. A thousand prisoners fell into Washington's hands, and this + important detachment of the enemy was cut off and destroyed. + </p> + <p> + The news of Trenton alarmed the British, and Lord Cornwallis with seven + thousand of the best troops started at once from New York in hot pursuit + of the American army. Washington, who had now rallied some five thousand + men, fell back, skirmishing heavily, behind the Assunpink, and when + Cornwallis reached the river he found the American army awaiting him on + the other side of the stream. Night was falling, and Cornwallis, feeling + sure of his prey, decided that he would not risk an assault until the next + morning. Many lessons had not yet taught him that it was a fatal business + to give even twelve hours to the great soldier opposed to him. During the + night Washington, leaving his fires burning and taking a roundabout road + which he had already reconnoitered, marched to Princeton. There he struck + another British detachment. A sharp fight ensued, the British division was + broken and defeated, losing some five hundred men, and Washington withdrew + after this second victory to the highlands of New Jersey to rest and + recruit. + </p> + <p> + Frederick the Great is reported to have said that this was the most + brilliant campaign of the century. With a force very much smaller than + that of the enemy, Washington had succeeded in striking the British at two + places with superior forces at each point of contact. At Trenton he had + the benefit of a surprise, but the second time he was between two hostile + armies. He was ready to fight Cornwallis when the latter reached the + Assunpink, trusting to the strength of his position to make up for his + inferiority of numbers. But when Cornwallis gave him the delay of a night, + Washington, seeing the advantage offered by his enemy's mistake, at once + changed his whole plan, and, turning in his tracks, fell upon the smaller + of the two forces opposed to him, wrecking and defeating it before the + outgeneraled Cornwallis could get up with the main army. Washington had + thus shown the highest form of military skill, for there is nothing that + requires so much judgment and knowledge, so much certainty of movement and + quick decision, as to meet a superior enemy at different points, force the + fighting, and at each point to outnumber and overwhelm him. + </p> + <p> + But the military part of this great campaign was not all. Many great + soldiers have not been statesmen, and have failed to realize the political + necessities of the situation. Washington presented the rare combination of + a great soldier and a great statesman as well. He aimed not only to win + battles, but by his operations in the field to influence the political + situation and affect public opinion. The American Revolution was going to + pieces. Unless some decisive victory could be won immediately, it would + have come to an end in the winter of 1776-77. This Washington knew, and it + was this which nerved his arm. The results justified his forethought. The + victories of Trenton and Princeton restored the failing spirits of the + people, and, what was hardly less important, produced a deep impression in + Europe in favor of the colonies. The country, which had lost heart, and + become supine and almost hostile, revived. The militia again took the + field. Outlying parties of the British were attacked and cut off, and + recruits once more began to come in to the Continental army. The + Revolution was saved. That the English colonies in North America would + have broken away from the mother country sooner or later cannot be + doubted, but that particular Revolution Of 1776 would have failed within a + year, had it not been for Washington. It is not, however, merely the fact + that he was a great soldier and statesman which we should remember. The + most memorable thing to us, and to all men, is the heroic spirit of the + man, which rose in those dreary December days to its greatest height, + under conditions so adverse that they had crushed the hope of every one + else. Let it be remembered, also, that it was not a spirit of desperation + or of ignorance, a reckless daring which did not count the cost. No one + knew better than Washington—no one, indeed, so well—the exact + state of affairs; for he, conspicuously among great men, always looked + facts fearlessly in the face, and never deceived himself. He was under no + illusions, and it was this high quality of mind as much as any other which + enabled him to win victories. + </p> + <p> + How he really felt we know from what he wrote to Congress on December 20, + when he said: "It may be thought that I am going a good deal out of the + line of my duty to adopt these measures or to advise thus freely. A + character to lose, an estate to forfeit, the inestimable blessing of + liberty at stake, and a life devoted, must be my excuse." These were the + thoughts in his mind when he was planning this masterly campaign. These + same thoughts, we may readily believe, were with him when his boat was + making its way through the ice of the Delaware on Christmas Eve. It was a + very solemn moment, and he was the only man in the darkness of that night + who fully understood what was at stake; but then, as always, he was calm + and serious, with a high courage which nothing could depress. + </p> + <p> + The familiar picture of a later day depicts Washington crossing the + Delaware at the head of his soldiers. He is standing up in the boat, + looking forward in the teeth of the storm. It matters little whether the + work of the painter is in exact accordance with the real scene or not. The + daring courage, the high resolve, the stern look forward and onward, which + the artist strove to show in the great leader, are all vitally true. For + we may be sure that the man who led that well-planned but desperate + assault, surrounded by darker conditions than the storms of nature which + gathered about his boat, and carrying with him the fortunes of his + country, was at that moment one of the most heroic figures in history. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BENNINGTON + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + We are but warriors for the working-day; + Our gayness and our guilt are all besmirch'd + With rainy marching in the painful field; + There's not a piece of feather in our host + (Good argument, I hope, we shall not fly), + And time hath worn us into slovenry. + But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim, + And my poor soldiers tell me, yet ere night + They'll be in fresher robes. + —Henry V. +</pre> + <p> + The battle of Saratoga is included by Sir Edward Creasy among his fifteen + decisive battles which have, by their result, affected the history of the + world. It is true that the American Revolution was saved by Washington in + the remarkable Princeton and Trenton campaign, but it is equally true that + the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, in the following autumn, turned the + scale decisively in favor of the colonists by the impression which it made + in Europe. It was the destruction of Burgoyne's army which determined + France to aid the Americans against England. Hence came the French + alliance, the French troops, and, what was of far more importance, a + French fleet by which Washington was finally able to get control of the + sea, and in this way cut off Cornwallis at Yorktown and bring the + Revolution to a successful close. That which led, however, more directly + than anything else to the final surrender at Saratoga was the fight at + Bennington, by which Burgoyne's army was severely crippled and weakened, + and by which also, the hardy militia of the North eastern States were led + to turn out in large numbers and join the army of Gates. + </p> + <p> + The English ministry had built great hopes upon Burgoyne's expedition, and + neither expense nor effort had been spared to make it successful. He was + amply furnished with money and supplies as well as with English and German + troops, the latter of whom were bought from their wretched little princes + by the payment of generous subsidies. With an admirably equipped army of + over seven thousand men, and accompanied by a large force of Indian + allies, Burgoyne had started in May, 1777, from Canada. His plan was to + make his way by the lakes to the head waters of the Hudson, and thence + southward along the river to New York, where he was to unite with Sir + William Howe and the main army; in this way cutting the colonies in two, + and separating New England from the rest of the country. + </p> + <p> + At first all went well. The Americans were pushed back from their posts on + the lakes, and by the end of July Burgoyne was at the head waters of the + Hudson. He had already sent out a force, under St. Leger, to take + possession of the valley of the Mohawk—an expedition which finally + resulted in the defeat of the British by Herkimer, and the capture of Fort + Stanwix. To aid St. Leger by a diversion, and also to capture certain + magazines which were reported to be at Bennington, Burgoyne sent another + expedition to the eastward. This force consisted of about five hundred and + fifty white troops, chiefly Hessians, and one hundred and fifty Indians, + all under the command of Colonel Baum. They were within four miles of + Bennington on August 13, 1777, and encamped on a hill just within the + boundaries of the State of New York. The news of the advance of Burgoyne + had already roused the people of New York and New Hampshire, and the + legislature of the latter State had ordered General Stark with a brigade + of militia to stop the progress of the enemy on the western frontier. + Stark raised his standard at Charlestown on the Connecticut River, and the + militia poured into his camp. Disregarding Schuyler's orders to join the + main American army, which was falling back before Burgoyne, Stark, as soon + as he heard of the expedition against Bennington, marched at once to meet + Baum. He was within a mile of the British camp on August 14, and vainly + endeavored to draw Baum into action. On the 15th it rained heavily, and + the British forces occupied the time in intrenching themselves strongly + upon the hill which they held. Baum meantime had already sent to Burgoyne + for reinforcements, and Burgoyne had detached Colonel Breymann with over + six hundred regular troops to go to Baum's assistance. On the 16th the + weather cleared, and Stark, who had been reinforced by militia from + western Massachusetts, determined to attack. + </p> + <p> + Early in the day he sent men, under Nichols and Herrick, to get into the + rear of Baum's position. The German officer, ignorant of the country and + of the nature of the warfare in which he was engaged, noticed small bodies + of men in their shirtsleeves, and carrying guns without bayonets, making + their way to the rear of his intrenchments. With singular stupidity he + concluded that they were Tory inhabitants of the country who were coming + to his assistance, and made no attempt to stop them. In this way Stark was + enabled to mass about five hundred men in the rear of the enemy's + position. Distracting the attention of the British by a feint, Stark also + moved about two hundred men to the right, and having thus brought his + forces into position he ordered a general assault, and the Americans + proceeded to storm the British intrenchments on every side. The fight was + a very hot one, and lasted some two hours. The Indians, at the beginning + of the action, slipped away between the American detachments, but the + British and German regulars stubbornly stood their ground. It is difficult + to get at the exact numbers of the American troops, but Stark seems to + have had between fifteen hundred and two thousand militia. He thus + outnumbered his enemy nearly three to one, but his men were merely country + militia, farmers of the New England States, very imperfectly disciplined, + and armed only with muskets and fowling-pieces, without bayonets or + side-arms. On the other side Baum had the most highly disciplined troops + of England and Germany under his command, well armed and equipped, and he + was moreover strongly intrenched with artillery well placed behind the + breastworks. The advantage in the fight should have been clearly with Baum + and his regulars, who merely had to hold an intrenched hill. + </p> + <p> + It was not a battle in which either military strategy or a scientific + management of troops was displayed. All that Stark did was to place his + men so that they could attack the enemy's position on every side, and then + the Americans went at it, firing as they pressed on. The British and + Germans stood their ground stubbornly, while the New England farmers + rushed up to within eight yards of the cannon, and picked off the men who + manned the guns. Stark himself was in the midst of the fray, fighting with + his soldiers, and came out of the conflict so blackened with powder and + smoke that he could hardly be recognized. One desperate assault succeeded + another, while the firing on both sides was so incessant as to make, in + Stark's own words, a "continuous roar." At the end of two hours the + Americans finally swarmed over the intrenchments, beating down the + soldiers with their clubbed muskets. Baum ordered his infantry with the + bayonet and the dragoons with their sabers to force their way through, but + the Americans repulsed this final charge, and Baum himself fell mortally + wounded. All was then over, and the British forces surrendered. + </p> + <p> + It was only just in time, for Breymann, who had taken thirty hours to + march some twenty-four miles, came up just after Baum's men had laid down + their arms. It seemed for a moment as if all that had been gained might be + lost. The Americans, attacked by this fresh foe, wavered; but Stark + rallied his line, and putting in Warner, with one hundred and fifty + Vermont men who had just come on the field, stopped Breymann's advance, + and finally forced him to retreat with a loss of nearly one half his men. + The Americans lost in killed and wounded some seventy men, and the Germans + and British about twice as many, but the Americans took about seven + hundred prisoners, and completely wrecked the forces of Baum and Breymann. + </p> + <p> + The blow was a severe one, and Burgoyne's army never recovered from it. + Not only had he lost nearly a thousand of his best troops, besides cannon, + arms, and munitions of war, but the defeat affected the spirits of his + army and destroyed his hold over his Indian allies, who began to desert in + large numbers. Bennington, in fact, was one of the most important fights + of the Revolution, contributing as it did so largely to the final + surrender of Burgoyne's whole army at Saratoga, and the utter ruin of the + British invasion from the North. It is also interesting as an extremely + gallant bit of fighting. As has been said, there was no strategy + displayed, and there were no military operations of the higher kind. There + stood the enemy strongly intrenched on a hill, and Stark, calling his + undisciplined levies about him, went at them. He himself was a man of the + highest courage and a reckless fighter. It was Stark who held the + railfence at Bunker Hill, and who led the van when Sullivan's division + poured into Trenton from the river road. He was admirably adapted for the + precise work which was necessary at Bennington, and he and his men fought + well their hand-to-hand fight on that hot August day, and carried the + intrenchments filled with regular troops and defended by artillery. It was + a daring feat of arms, as well as a battle which had an important effect + upon the course of history and upon the fate of the British empire in + America. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + KING'S MOUNTAIN + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Our fortress is the good greenwood, + Our tent the cypress tree; + We know the forest round us + As seamen know the sea. + We know its walls of thorny vines, + Its glades of reedy grass, + Its safe and silent islands + Within the dark morass. + —Bryant. +</pre> + <p> + The close of the year 1780 was, in the Southern States, the darkest time + of the Revolutionary struggle. Cornwallis had just destroyed the army of + Gates at Camden, and his two formidable lieutenants, Tarlton the light + horseman, and Ferguson the skilled rifleman, had destroyed or scattered + all the smaller bands that had been fighting for the patriot cause. The + red dragoons rode hither and thither, and all through Georgia and South + Carolina none dared lift their heads to oppose them, while North Carolina + lay at the feet of Cornwallis, as he started through it with his army to + march into Virginia. There was no organized force against him, and the + cause of the patriots seemed hopeless. It was at this hour that the wild + backwoodsmen of the western border gathered to strike a blow for liberty. + </p> + <p> + When Cornwallis invaded North Carolina he sent Ferguson into the western + part of the State to crush out any of the patriot forces that might still + be lingering among the foot-hills. Ferguson was a very gallant and able + officer, and a man of much influence with the people wherever he went, so + that he was peculiarly fitted for this scrambling border warfare. He had + under him a battalion of regular troops and several other battalions of + Tory militia, in all eleven or twelve hundred men. He shattered and drove + the small bands of Whigs that were yet in arms, and finally pushed to the + foot of the mountain wall, till he could see in his front the high ranges + of the Great Smokies. Here he learned for the first time that beyond the + mountains there lay a few hamlets of frontiersmen, whose homes were on + what were then called the Western Waters, that is, the waters which flowed + into the Mississippi. To these he sent word that if they did not prove + loyal to the king, he would cross their mountains, hang their leaders, and + burn their villages. + </p> + <p> + Beyond the, mountains, in the valleys of the Holston and Watauga, dwelt + men who were stout of heart and mighty in battle, and when they heard the + threats of Ferguson they burned with a sullen flame of anger. Hitherto the + foes against whom they had warred had been not the British, but the Indian + allies of the British, Creek, and Cherokee, and Shawnee. Now that the army + of the king had come to their thresholds, they turned to meet it as + fiercely as they had met his Indian allies. Among the backwoodsmen of this + region there were at that time three men of special note: Sevier, who + afterward became governor of Tennessee; Shelby, who afterward became + governor of Kentucky; and Campbell, the Virginian, who died in the + Revolutionary War. Sevier had given a great barbecue, where oxen and deer + were roasted whole, while horseraces were run, and the backwoodsmen tried + their skill as marksmen and wrestlers. In the midst of the feasting Shelby + appeared, hot with hard riding, to tell of the approach of Ferguson and + the British. Immediately the feasting was stopped, and the feasters made + ready for war. Sevier and Shelby sent word to Campbell to rouse the men of + his own district and come without delay, and they sent messengers to and + fro in their own neighborhood to summon the settlers from their log huts + on the stump-dotted clearings and the hunters from their smoky cabins in + the deep woods. + </p> + <p> + The meeting-place was at the Sycamore Shoals. On the appointed day the + backwoodsmen gathered sixteen hundred strong, each man carrying a long + rifle, and mounted on a tough, shaggy horse. They were a wild and fierce + people, accustomed to the chase and to warfare with the Indians. Their + hunting-shirts of buckskin or homespun were girded in by bead-worked + belts, and the trappings of their horses were stained red and yellow. At + the gathering there was a black-frocked Presbyterian preacher, and before + they started he addressed the tall riflemen in words of burning zeal, + urging them to stand stoutly in the battle, and to smite with the sword of + the Lord and of Gideon. Then the army started, the backwoods colonels + riding in front. Two or three days later, word was brought to Ferguson + that the Back-water men had come over the mountains; that the + Indian-fighters of the frontier, leaving unguarded their homes on the + Western Waters, had crossed by wooded and precipitous defiles to the help + of the beaten men of the plains. Ferguson at once fell back, sending out + messengers for help. When he came to King's Mountain, a wooded, hog-back + hill on the border line between North and South Carolina, he camped on its + top, deeming that there he was safe, for he supposed that before the + backwoodsmen could come near enough to attack him help would reach him. + But the backwoods leaders felt as keenly as he the need of haste, and + choosing out nine hundred picked men, the best warriors of their force, + and the best mounted and armed, they made a long forced march to assail + Ferguson before help could come to him. All night long they rode the dim + forest trails and splashed across the fords of the rushing rivers. All the + next day, October 16, they rode, until in mid-afternoon, just as a heavy + shower cleared away, they came in sight of King's Mountain. The little + armies were about equal in numbers. Ferguson's regulars were armed with + the bayonet, and so were some of his Tory militia, whereas the Americans + had not a bayonet among them; but they were picked men, confident in their + skill as riflemen, and they were so sure of victory that their aim was not + only to defeat the British but to capture their whole force. The backwoods + colonels, counseling together as they rode at the head of the column, + decided to surround the mountain and assail it on all sides. Accordingly + the bands of frontiersmen split one from the other, and soon circled the + craggy hill where Ferguson's forces were encamped. They left their horses + in the rear and immediately began the battle, swarming forward on foot, + their commanders leading the attack. + </p> + <p> + The march had been so quick and the attack so sudden that Ferguson had + barely time to marshal his men before the assault was made. Most of his + militia he scattered around the top of the hill to fire down at the + Americans as they came up, while with his regulars and with a few picked + militia he charged with the bayonet in person, first down one side of the + mountain and then down the other. Sevier, Shelby, Campbell, and the other + colonels of the frontiersmen, led each his force of riflemen straight + toward the summit. Each body in turn when charged by the regulars was + forced to give way, for there were no bayonets wherewith to meet the foe; + but the backwoodsmen retreated only so long as the charge lasted, and the + minute that it stopped they stopped too, and came back ever closer to the + ridge and ever with a deadlier fire. Ferguson, blowing a silver whistle as + a signal to his men, led these charges, sword in hand, on horseback. At + last, just as he was once again rallying his men, the riflemen of Sevier + and Shelby crowned the top of the ridge. The gallant British commander + became a fair target for the backwoodsmen, and as for the last time he led + his men against them, seven bullets entered his body and he fell dead. + With his fall resistance ceased. The regulars and Tories huddled together + in a confused mass, while the exultant Americans rushed forward. A flag of + truce was hoisted, and all the British who were not dead surrendered. + </p> + <p> + The victory was complete, and the backwoodsmen at once started to return + to their log hamlets and rough, lonely farms. They could not stay, for + they dared not leave their homes at the mercy of the Indians. They had + rendered a great service; for Cornwallis, when he heard of the disaster to + his trusted lieutenant, abandoned his march northward, and retired to + South Carolina. When he again resumed the offensive, he found his path + barred by stubborn General Greene and his troops of the Continental line. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE STORMING OF STONY POINT + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + In their ragged regimentals + Stood the old Continentals, + Yielding not, + When the grenadiers were lunging, + And like hail fell the plunging + Cannon-shot; + When the files + Of the isles + From the smoky night encampment bore the banner of the rampant + Unicorn, + And grummer, grummer, grummer, rolled the roll of the drummer, + Through the morn! + + Then with eyes to the front all, + And with guns horizontal, + Stood our sires; + And the balls whistled deadly, + And in streams flashing redly + Blazed the fires; + As the roar + On the shore + Swept the strong battle-breakers o'er the green-sodded acres + Of the plain; + And louder, louder, louder cracked the black gunpowder, + Cracked amain! + —Guy Humphrey McMaster. +</pre> + <p> + One of the heroic figures of the Revolution was Anthony Wayne, + Major-General of the Continental line. With the exception of Washington, + and perhaps Greene, he was the best general the Americans developed in the + contest; and without exception he showed himself to be the hardest fighter + produced on either side. He belongs, as regards this latter + characteristic, with the men like Winfield Scott, Phil Kearney, Hancock, + and Forrest, who reveled in the danger and the actual shock of arms. + Indeed, his eager love of battle, and splendid disregard of peril, have + made many writers forget his really great qualities as a general. Soldiers + are always prompt to recognize the prime virtue of physical courage, and + Wayne's followers christened their daring commander "Mad Anthony," in + loving allusion to his reckless bravery. It is perfectly true that Wayne + had this courage, and that he was a born fighter; otherwise, he never + would have been a great commander. A man who lacks the fondness for + fighting, the eager desire to punish his adversary, and the willingness to + suffer punishment in return, may be a great organizer, like McClellan, but + can never become a great general or win great victories. There are, + however, plenty of men who, though they possess these fine manly traits, + yet lack the head to command an army; but Wayne had not only the heart and + the hand but the head likewise. No man could dare as greatly as he did + without incurring the risk of an occasional check; but he was an able and + bold tactician, a vigilant and cautious leader, well fitted to bear the + terrible burden of responsibility which rests upon a commander-in-chief. + </p> + <p> + Of course, at times he had some rather severe lessons. Quite early in his + career, just after the battle of the Brandywine, when he was set to watch + the enemy, he was surprised at night by the British general Grey, a + redoubtable fighter, who attacked him with the bayonet, killed a number of + his men, and forced him to fall back some distance from the field of + action. This mortifying experience had no effect whatever on Wayne's + courage or self-reliance, but it did give him a valuable lesson in + caution. He showed what he had learned by the skill with which, many years + later, he conducted the famous campaign in which he overthrew the + Northwestern Indians at the Fight of the Fallen Timbers. + </p> + <p> + Wayne's favorite weapon was the bayonet, and, like Scott he taught his + troops, until they were able in the shock of hand-to-hand conflict to + overthrow the renowned British infantry, who have always justly prided + themselves on their prowess with cold steel. At the battle of Germantown + it was Wayne's troops who, falling on with the bayonet, drove the Hessians + and the British light infantry, and only retreated under orders when the + attack had failed elsewhere. At Monmouth it was Wayne and his Continentals + who first checked the British advance by repulsing the bayonet charge of + the guards and grenadiers. + </p> + <p> + Washington, a true leader of men, was prompt to recognize in Wayne a + soldier to whom could be intrusted any especially difficult enterprise + which called for the exercise alike of intelligence and of cool daring. In + the summer of 1780 he was very anxious to capture the British fort at + Stony Point, which commanded the Hudson. It was impracticable to attack it + by regular siege while the British frigates lay in the river, and the + defenses ere so strong that open assault by daylight was equally out of + the question. Accordingly Washington suggested to Wayne that he try a + night attack. Wayne eagerly caught at the idea. It was exactly the kind of + enterprise in which he delighted. The fort was on a rocky promontory, + surrounded on three sides by water, and on the fourth by a neck of land, + which was for the most part mere morass. It was across this neck of land + that any attacking column had to move. The garrison was six hundred + strong. To deliver the assault Wayne took nine hundred men. The American + army was camped about fourteen miles from Stony Point. One July afternoon + Wayne started, and led his troops in single file along the narrow rocky + roads, reaching the hills on the mainland near the fort after nightfall. + He divided his force into two columns, to advance one along each side of + the neck, detaching two companies of North Carolina troops to move in + between the two columns and make a false attack. The rest of the force + consisted of New Englanders, Pennsylvanians, and Virginians. Each + attacking column was divided into three parts, a forlorn hope of twenty + men leading, which was followed by an advance guard of one hundred and + twenty, and then by the main body. At the time commanding officers still + carried spontoons, and other old-time weapons, and Wayne, who himself led + the right column, directed its movements spear in hand. It was nearly + midnight when the Americans began to press along the causeways toward the + fort. Before they were near the walls they were discovered, and the + British opened a heavy fire of great guns and musketry, to which the + Carolinians, who were advancing between the two columns, responded in + their turn, according to orders; but the men in the columns were forbidden + to fire. Wayne had warned them that their work must be done with the + bayonet, and their muskets were not even loaded. Moreover, so strict was + the discipline that no one was allowed to leave the ranks, and when one of + the men did so an officer promptly ran him through the body. + </p> + <p> + No sooner had the British opened fire than the charging columns broke into + a run, and in a moment the forlorn hopes plunged into the abattis of + fallen timber which the British had constructed just without the walls. On + the left, the forlorn hope was very roughly handled, no less than + seventeen of the twenty men being either killed or wounded, but as the + columns came up both burst through the down timber and swarmed up the + long, sloping embankments of the fort. The British fought well, cheering + loudly as their volley's rang, but the Americans would not be denied, and + pushed silently on to end the contest with the bayonet. A bullet struck + Wayne in the head. He fell, but struggled to his feet and forward, two of + his officers supporting him. A rumor went among the men that he was dead, + but it only impelled them to charge home, more fiercely than ever. + </p> + <p> + With a rush the troops swept to the top of the wall. A fierce but short + fight followed in the intense darkness, which was lit only by the flashes + from the British muskets. The Americans did not fire, trusting solely to + the bayonet. The two columns had kept almost equal pace, and they swept + into the fort from opposite sides at the same moment. The three men who + first got over the walls were all wounded, but one of them hauled down the + British flag. The Americans had the advantage which always comes from + delivering an attack that is thrust home. Their muskets were unloaded and + they could not hesitate; so, running boldly into close quarters, they + fought hand to hand with their foes and speedily overthrew them. For a + moment the bayonets flashed and played; then the British lines broke as + their assailants thronged against them, and the struggle was over. The + Americans had lost a hundred in killed and wounded. Of the British + sixty-three had been slain and very many wounded, every one of the dead or + disabled having suffered from the bayonet. A curious coincidence was that + the number of the dead happened to be exactly equal to the number of + Wayne's men who had been killed in the night attack by the English + general, Grey. + </p> + <p> + There was great rejoicing among the Americans over the successful issue of + the attack. Wayne speedily recovered from his wound, and in the joy of his + victory it weighed but slightly. He had performed a most notable feat. No + night attack of the kind was ever delivered with greater boldness, skill, + and success. When the Revolutionary War broke out the American armies were + composed merely of armed yeomen, stalwart men, of good courage, and fairly + proficient in the use of their weapons, but entirely without the training + which alone could enable them to withstand the attack of the British + regulars in the open, or to deliver an attack themselves. Washington's + victory at Trenton was the first encounter which showed that the Americans + were to be feared when they took the offensive. With the exception of the + battle of Trenton, and perhaps of Greene's fight at Eutaw Springs, Wayne's + feat was the most successful illustration of daring and victorious attack + by an American army that occurred during the war; and, unlike Greene, who + was only able to fight a drawn battle, Wayne's triumph was complete. At + Monmouth he had shown, as he afterward showed against Cornwallis, that his + troops could meet the renowned British regulars on even terms in the open. + At Stony Point he showed that he could lead them to a triumphant assault + with the bayonet against regulars who held a fortified place of strength. + No American commander has ever displayed greater energy and daring, a more + resolute courage, or readier resource, than the chief of the hard-fighting + Revolutionary generals, Mad Anthony Wayne. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GOUVERNEUR MORRIS + </h2> + <h3> + GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. PARIS. AUGUST 10, 1792. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Justum et tenacem propositi virum + Non civium ardor prava jubentium, + Non vultus instantis tyranni + Mente quatit solida, neque Auster + Dux inquieti turbidus Hadriae, + Nec fulminantis magna manus Jovis: + Si fractus illabatur orbis, + Impavidum ferient ruinae. + —Hor., Lib. III. Carm. III. +</pre> + <p> + The 10th of August, 1792, was one of the most memorable days of the French + Revolution. It was the day on which the French monarchy received its + death-blow, and was accompanied by fighting and bloodshed which filled + Paris with terror. In the morning before daybreak the tocsin had sounded, + and not long after the mob of Paris, headed by the Marseillais, "Six + hundred men not afraid to die," who had been summoned there by Barbaroux, + were marching upon the Tuileries. The king, or rather the queen, had at + last determined to make a stand and to defend the throne. The Swiss Guards + were there at the palace, well posted to protect the inner court; and + there, too, were the National Guards, who were expected to uphold the + government and guard the king. The tide of people poured on through the + streets, gathering strength as they went the Marseillais, the armed bands, + the Sections, and a vast floating mob. The crowd drew nearer and nearer, + but the squadrons of the National Guards, who were to check the advance, + did not stir. It is not apparent, indeed, that they made any resistance, + and the king and his family at eight o'clock lost heart and deserted the + Tuileries, to take refuge with the National Convention. The multitude then + passed into the court of the Carrousel, unchecked by the National Guards, + and were face to face with the Swiss. Deserted by their king, the Swiss + knew not how to act, but still stood their ground. There was some + parleying, and at last the Marseillais fired a cannon. Then the Swiss + fired. They were disciplined troops, and their fire was effective. There + was a heavy slaughter and the mob recoiled, leaving their cannon, which + the Swiss seized. The Revolutionists, however, returned to the charge, and + the fight raged on both sides, the Swiss holding their ground firmly. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, from the legislative hall, came an order from the king to the + Swiss to cease firing. It was their death warrant. Paralyzed by the order, + they knew not what to do. The mob poured in, and most of the gallant Swiss + were slaughtered where they stood. Others escaped from the Tuileries only + to meet their death in the street. The palace was sacked and the raging + mob was in possession of the city. No man's life was safe, least of all + those who were known to be friends of the king, who were nobles, or who + had any connection with the court. Some of these people whose lives were + thus in peril at the hands of the bloodstained and furious mob had been + the allies of the United States, and had fought under Washington in the + war for American independence. In their anguish and distress their + thoughts recurred to the country which they had served in its hour of + trial, three thousand miles away. They sought the legation of the United + States and turned to the American minister for protection. + </p> + <p> + Such an exercise of humanity at that moment was not a duty that any man + craved. In those terrible days in Paris, the representatives of foreign + governments were hardly safer than any one else. Many of the ambassadors + and ministers had already left the country, and others were even then + abandoning their posts, which it seemed impossible to hold at such a time. + But the American minister stood his ground. Gouverneur Morris was not a + man to shrink from what he knew to be his duty. He had been a leading + patriot in our revolution; he had served in the Continental Congress, and + with Robert Morris in the difficult work of the Treasury, when all our + resources seemed to be at their lowest ebb. In 1788 he had gone abroad on + private business, and had been much in Paris, where he had witnessed the + beginning of the French Revolution and had been consulted by men on both + sides. In 1790, by Washington's direction, he had gone to London and had + consulted the ministry there as to whether they would receive an American + minister. Thence he had returned to Paris, and at the beginning Of 1792 + Washington appointed him minister of the United States to France. + </p> + <p> + As an American, Morris's sympathies had run strongly in favor of the + movement to relieve France from the despotism under which she was sinking, + and to give her a better and more liberal government. But, as the + Revolution progressed, he became outraged and disgusted by the methods + employed. He felt a profound contempt for both sides. The inability of + those who were conducting the Revolution to carry out intelligent plans or + maintain order, and the feebleness of the king and his advisers, were + alike odious to the man with American conceptions of ordered liberty. He + was especially revolted by the bloodshed and cruelty, constantly gathering + in strength, which were displayed by the revolutionists, and he had gone + to the very verge of diplomatic propriety in advising the ministers of the + king in regard to the policies to be pursued, and, as he foresaw what was + coming, in urging the king himself to leave France. All his efforts and + all his advice, like those of other intelligent men who kept their heads + during the whirl of the Revolution, were alike vain. + </p> + <p> + On August 10 the gathering storm broke with full force, and the populace + rose in arms to sweep away the tottering throne. Then it was that these + people, fleeing for their lives, came to the representative of the country + for which many of them had fought, and on both public and private grounds + besought the protection of the American minister. Let me tell what + happened in the words of an eye-witness, an American gentleman who was in + Paris at that time, and who published the following account of his + experiences: + </p> + <p> + On the ever memorable 10th of August, after viewing the destruction of the + Royal Swiss Guards and the dispersion of the Paris militia by a band of + foreign and native incendiaries, the writer thought it his duty to visit + the Minister, who had not been out of his hotel since the insurrection + began, and, as was to be expected, would be anxious to learn what was + passing without doors. He was surrounded by the old Count d'Estaing, and + about a dozen other persons of distinction, of different sexes, who had, + from their connection with the United States, been his most intimate + acquaintances at Paris, and who had taken refuge with him for protection + from the bloodhounds which, in the forms of men and women, were prowling + in the streets at the time. All was silence here, except that silence was + occasionally interrupted by the crying of the women and children. As I + retired, the Minister took me aside, and observed: "I have no doubt, sir, + but there are persons on the watch who would find fault with my conduct as + Minister in receiving and protecting these people, but I call on you to + witness the declaration which I now make, and that is that they were not + invited to my house, but came of their own accord. Whether my house will + be a protection to them or to me, God only knows, but I will not turn them + out of it, let what will happen to me," to which he added, "you see, sir, + they are all persons to whom our country is more or less indebted, and it + would be inhuman to force them into the hands of the assassins, had they + no such claim upon me." + </p> + <p> + Nothing can be added to this simple account, and no American can read it + or repeat the words of Mr. Morris without feeling even now, a hundred + years after the event, a glow of pride that such words were uttered at + such a time by the man who represented the United States. + </p> + <p> + After August 10, when matters in Paris became still worse, Mr. Morris + still stayed at his post. Let me give, in his own words, what he did and + his reasons for it: + </p> + <p> + The different ambassadors and ministers are all taking their flight, and + if I stay I shall be alone. I mean, however, to stay, unless circumstances + should command me away, because, in the admitted case that my letters of + credence are to the monarchy, and not to the Republic of France, it + becomes a matter of indifference whether I remain in this country or go to + England during the time which may be needful to obtain your orders, or to + produce a settlement of affairs here. Going hence, however, would look + like taking part against the late Revolution, and I am not only + unauthorized in this respect, but I am bound to suppose that if the great + majority of the nation adhere to the new form, the United States will + approve thereof; because, in the first place, we have no right to + prescribe to this country the government they shall adopt, and next, + because the basis of our own Constitution is the indefeasible right of the + people to establish it. + </p> + <p> + Among those who are leaving Paris is the Venetian ambassador. He was + furnished with passports from the Office of Foreign Affairs, but he was, + nevertheless, stopped at the barrier, was conducted to the Hotel de Ville, + was there questioned for hours, and his carriages examined and searched. + This violation of the rights of ambassadors could not fail, as you may + suppose, to make an impression. It has been broadly hinted to me that the + honor of my country and my own require that I should go away. But I am of + a different opinion, and rather think that those who give such hints are + somewhat influenced by fear. It is true that the position is not without + danger, but I presume that when the President did me the honor of naming + me to this embassy, it was not for my personal pleasure or safety, but to + promote the interests of my country. These, therefore, I shall continue to + pursue to the best of my judgment, and as to consequences, they are in the + hand of God. + </p> + <p> + He remained there until his successor arrived. When all others fled, he + was faithful, and such conduct should never be forgotten. Mr. Morris not + only risked his life, but he took a heavy responsibility, and laid himself + open to severe attack for having protected defenseless people against the + assaults of the mob. But his courageous humanity is something which should + ever be remembered, and ought always to be characteristic of the men who + represent the United States in foreign countries. When we recall the + French Revolution, it is cheering to think of that fearless figure of the + American minister, standing firm and calm in the midst of those awful + scenes, with sacked palaces, slaughtered soldiers, and a bloodstained mob + about him, regardless of danger to himself, determined to do his duty to + his country, and to those to whom his country was indebted. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE BURNING OF THE "PHILADELPHIA" + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + And say besides, that in Aleppo once, + Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk + Beat a Venetian and traduced the state, + I took by the throat the circumcised dog + And smote him, thus. + —Othello. +</pre> + <p> + It is difficult to conceive that there ever was a time when the United + States paid a money tribute to anybody. It is even more difficult to + imagine the United States paying blackmail to a set of small piratical + tribes on the coast of Africa. Yet this is precisely what we once did with + the Barbary powers, as they were called the States of Morocco, Tunis, + Tripoli, and Algiers, lying along the northern coast of Africa. The only + excuse to be made for such action was that we merely followed the example + of Christendom. The civilized people of the world were then in the habit + of paying sums of money to these miserable pirates, in order to secure + immunity for their merchant vessels in the Mediterranean. For this purpose + Congress appropriated money, and treaties were made by the President and + ratified by the Senate. On one occasion, at least, Congress actually + revoked the authorization of some new ships for the navy, and appropriated + more money than was required to build the men-of-war in order to buy off + the Barbary powers. The fund for this disgraceful purpose was known as the + "Mediterranean fund," and was intrusted to the Secretary of State to be + disbursed by him in his discretion. After we had our brush with France, + however, in 1798, and after Truxtun's brilliant victory over the French + frigate L'Insurgente in the following year, it occurred to our government + that perhaps there was a more direct as well as a more manly way of + dealing with the Barbary pirates than by feebly paying them tribute, and + in 1801 a small squadron, under Commodore Dale, proceeded to the + Mediterranean. + </p> + <p> + At the same time events occurred which showed strikingly the absurdity as + well as the weakness of this policy of paying blackmail to pirates. The + Bashaw of Tripoli, complaining that we had given more money to some of the + Algerian ministers than we had to him, and also that we had presented + Algiers with a frigate, declared war upon us, and cut down the flag-staff + in front of the residence of the American consul. At the same time, and + for the same reason, Morocco and Tunis began to grumble at the treatment + which they had received. The fact was that, with nations as with + individuals, when the payment of blackmail is once begun there is no end + to it. The appearance, however, of our little squadron in the + Mediterranean showed at once the superiority of a policy of force over one + of cowardly submission. Morocco and Tunis immediately stopped their + grumbling and came to terms with the United States, and this left us free + to deal with Tripoli. + </p> + <p> + Commodore Dale had sailed before the declaration of war by Tripoli was + known, and he was therefore hampered by his orders, which permitted him + only to protect our commerce, and which forbade actual hostilities. + Nevertheless, even under these limited orders, the Enterprise, of twelve + guns, commanded by Lieutenant Sterrett, fought an action with the + Tripolitan ship Tripoli, of fourteen guns. The engagement lasted three + hours, when the Tripoli struck, having lost her mizzenmast, and with + twenty of her crew killed and thirty wounded. Sterrett, having no orders + to make captures, threw all the guns and ammunition of the Tripoli + overboard, cut away her remaining masts, and left her with only one spar + and a single sail to drift back to Tripoli, as a hint to the Bashaw of the + new American policy. + </p> + <p> + In 1803 the command of our fleet in the Mediterranean was taken by + Commodore Preble, who had just succeeded in forcing satisfaction from + Morocco for an attack made upon our merchantmen by a vessel from Tangier. + He also proclaimed a blockade of Tripoli and was preparing to enforce it + when the news reached him that the frigate Philadelphia, forty-four guns, + commanded by Captain Bainbridge, and one of the best ships in our navy, + had gone upon a reef in the harbor of Tripoli, while pursuing a vessel + there, and had been surrounded and captured, with all her crew, by the + Tripolitan gunboats, when she was entirely helpless either to fight or + sail. This was a very serious blow to our navy and to our operations + against Tripoli. It not only weakened our forces, but it was also a great + help to the enemy. The Tripolitans got the Philadelphia off the rocks, + towed her into the harbor, and anchored her close under the guns of their + forts. They also replaced her batteries, and prepared to make her ready + for sea, where she would have been a most formidable danger to our + shipping. + </p> + <p> + Under these circumstances Stephen Decatur, a young lieutenant in command + of the Enterprise, offered to Commodore Preble to go into the harbor and + destroy the Philadelphia. Some delay ensued, as our squadron was driven by + severe gales from the Tripolitan coast; but at last, in January, 1804, + Preble gave orders to Decatur to undertake the work for which he had + volunteered. A small vessel known as a ketch had been recently captured + from the Tripolitans by Decatur, and this prize was now named the + Intrepid, and assigned to him for the work he had in hand. He took seventy + men from his own ship, the Enterprise, and put them on the Intrepid, and + then, accompanied by Lieutenant Stewart in the Siren, who was to support + him, he set sail for Tripoli. He and his crew were very much cramped as + well as badly fed on the little vessel which had been given to them, but + they succeeded, nevertheless, in reaching Tripoli in safety, accompanied + by the Siren. + </p> + <p> + For nearly a week they were unable to approach the harbor, owing to severe + gales which threatened the loss of their vessel; but on February 16 the + weather moderated and Decatur determined to go in. It is well to recall, + briefly, the extreme peril of the attack which he was about to make. The + Philadelphia, with forty guns mounted, double-shotted, and ready for + firing, and manned by a full complement of men, was moored within half a + gunshot of the Bashaw's castle, the mole and crown batteries, and within + range of ten other batteries, mounting, altogether, one hundred and + fifteen guns. Some Tripolitan cruisers, two galleys, and nineteen gunboats + also lay between the Philadelphia and the shore. Into the midst of this + powerful armament Decatur had to go with his little vessel of sixty tons, + carrying four small guns and having a crew of seventy-five men. + </p> + <p> + The Americans, however, were entirely undismayed by the odds against them, + and at seven o'clock Decatur went into the harbor between the reef and + shoal which formed its mouth. He steered on steadily toward the + Philadelphia, the breeze getting constantly lighter, and by half-past nine + was within two hundred yards of the frigate. As they approached Decatur + stood at the helm with the pilot, only two or three men showing on deck + and the rest of the crew lying hidden under the bulwarks. In this way he + drifted to within nearly twenty yards of the Philadelphia. The suspicions + of the Tripolitans, however, were not aroused, and when they hailed the + Intrepid, the pilot answered that they had lost their anchors in a gale, + and asked that they might run a warp to the frigate and ride by her. While + the talk went on the Intrepid's boat shoved off with the rope, and pulling + to the fore-chains of the Philadelphia, made the line fast. A few of the + crew then began to haul on the lines, and thus the Intrepid was drawn + gradually toward the frigate. + </p> + <p> + The suspicions of the Tripolitans were now at last awakened. They raised + the cry of "Americanos!" and ordered off the Intrepid, but it was too + late. As the vessels came in contact, Decatur sprang up the main chains of + the Philadelphia, calling out the order to board. He was rapidly followed + by his officers and men, and as they swarmed over the rails and came upon + the deck, the Tripolitan crew gathered, panic-stricken, in a confused mass + on the forecastle. Decatur waited a moment until his men were behind him, + and then, placing himself at their head, drew his sword and rushed upon + the Tripolitans. There was a very short struggle, and the Tripolitans, + crowded together, terrified and surprised, were cut down or driven + overboard. In five minutes the ship was cleared of the enemy. + </p> + <p> + Decatur would have liked to have taken the Philadelphia out of the harbor, + but that was impossible. He therefore gave orders to burn the ship, and + his men, who had been thoroughly instructed in what they were to do, + dispersed into all parts of the frigate with the combustibles which had + been prepared, and in a few minutes, so well and quickly was the work + done, the flames broke out in all parts of the Philadelphia. As soon as + this was effected the order was given to return to the Intrepid. Without + confusion the men obeyed. It was a moment of great danger, for fire was + breaking out on all sides, and the Intrepid herself, filled as she was + with powder and combustibles, was in great peril of sudden destruction. + The rapidity of Decatur's movements, however, saved everything. The cables + were cut, the sweeps got out, and the Intrepid drew rapidly away from the + burning frigate. It was a magnificent sight as the flames burst out over + the Philadephia and ran rapidly and fiercely up the masts and rigging. As + her guns became heated they were discharged, one battery pouring its shots + into the town. Finally the cables parted, and then the Philadelphia, a + mass of flames, drifted across the harbor, and blew up. Meantime the + batteries of the shipping and the castle had been turned upon the + Intrepid, but although the shot struck all around her, she escaped + successfully with only one shot through her mainsail, and, joining the + Siren, bore away. + </p> + <p> + This successful attack was carried through by the cool courage of Decatur + and the admirable discipline of his men. The hazard was very great, the + odds were very heavy, and everything depended on the nerve with which the + attack was made and the completeness of the surprise. Nothing miscarried, + and no success could have been more complete. Nelson, at that time in the + Mediterranean, and the best judge of a naval exploit as well as the + greatest naval commander who has ever lived, pronounced it "the most bold + and daring act of the age." We meet no single feat exactly like it in our + own naval history, brilliant as that has been, until we come to Cushing's + destruction of the Albemarle in the war of the rebellion. In the years + that have elapsed, and among the great events that have occurred since + that time, Decatur's burning of the Philadephia has been well-nigh + forgotten; but it is one of those feats of arms which illustrate the high + courage of American seamen, and which ought always to be remembered. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CRUISE OF THE "WASP" + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + A crash as when some swollen cloud + Cracks o'er the tangled trees! + With side to side, and spar to spar, + Whose smoking decks are these? + I know St. George's blood-red cross, + Thou mistress of the seas, + But what is she whose streaming bars + Roll out before the breeze? + + Ah, well her iron ribs are knit, + Whose thunders strive to quell + The bellowing throats, the blazing lips, + That pealed the Armada's knell! + The mist was cleared,—a wreath of stars + Rose o'er the crimsoned swell, + And, wavering from its haughty peak, + The cross of England fell! + —Holmes. +</pre> + <p> + In the war of 1812 the little American navy, including only a dozen + frigates and sloops of war, won a series of victories against the English, + the hitherto undoubted masters of the sea, that attracted an attention + altogether out of proportion to the force of the combatants or the actual + damage done. For one hundred and fifty years the English ships of war had + failed to find fit rivals in those of any other European power, although + they had been matched against each in turn; and when the unknown navy of + the new nation growing up across the Atlantic did what no European navy + had ever been able to do, not only the English and Americans, but the + people of Continental Europe as well, regarded the feat as important out + of all proportion to the material aspects of the case. The Americans first + proved that the English could be beaten at their own game on the sea. They + did what the huge fleets of France, Spain, and Holland had failed to do, + and the great modern writers on naval warfare in Continental Europe—men + like Jurien de la Graviere—have paid the same attention to these + contests of frigates and sloops that they give to whole fleet actions of + other wars. + </p> + <p> + Among the famous ships of the Americans in this war were two named the + Wasp. The first was an eighteen-gun ship-sloop, which at the very outset + of the war captured a British brig-sloop of twenty guns, after an + engagement in which the British fought with great gallantry, but were + knocked to Pieces, while the Americans escaped comparatively unscathed. + Immediately afterward a British seventy-four captured the victor. In + memory of her the Americans gave the same name to one of the new sloops + they were building. These sloops were stoutly made, speedy vessels which + in strength and swiftness compared favorably with any ships of their class + in any other navy of the day, for the American shipwrights were already as + famous as the American gunners and seamen. The new Wasp, like her sister + ships, carried twenty-two guns and a crew of one hundred and seventy men, + and was ship-rigged. Twenty of her guns were 32-pound carronades, while + for bow-chasers she had two "long Toms." It was in the year 1814 that the + Wasp sailed from the United States to prey on the navy and commerce of + Great Britain. Her commander was a gallant South Carolinian named Captain + Johnson Blakeley. Her crew were nearly all native Americans, and were an + exceptionally fine set of men. Instead of staying near the American coasts + or of sailing the high seas, the Wasp at once headed boldly for the + English Channel, to carry the war to the very doors of the enemy. + </p> + <p> + At that time the English fleets had destroyed the navies of every other + power of Europe, and had obtained such complete supremacy over the French + that the French fleets were kept in port. Off these ports lay the great + squadrons of the English ships of the line, never, in gale or in calm, + relaxing their watch upon the rival war-ships of the French emperor. So + close was the blockade of the French ports, and so hopeless were the + French of making headway in battle with their antagonists, that not only + the great French three-deckers and two-deckers, but their frigates and + sloops as well, lay harmless in their harbors, and the English ships + patroled the seas unchecked in every direction. A few French privateers + still slipped out now and then, and the far bolder and more formidable + American privateersmen drove hither and thither across the ocean in their + swift schooners and brigantines, and harried the English commerce without + mercy. + </p> + <p> + The Wasp proceeded at once to cruise in the English Channel and off the + coasts of England, France, and Spain. Here the water was traversed + continually by English fleets and squadrons and single ships of war, which + were sometimes covoying detachments of troops for Wellington's Peninsular + army, sometimes guarding fleets of merchant vessels bound homeward, and + sometimes merely cruising for foes. It was this spot, right in the teeth + of the British naval power, that the Wasp chose for her cruising ground. + Hither and thither she sailed through the narrow seas, capturing and + destroying the merchantmen, and by the seamanship of her crew and the + skill and vigilance of her commander, escaping the pursuit of frigate and + ship of the line. Before she had been long on the ground, one June + morning, while in chase of a couple of merchant ships, she spied a sloop + of war, the British brig Reindeer, of eighteen guns and a hundred and + twenty men. The Reindeer was a weaker ship than the Wasp, her guns were + lighter, and her men fewer; but her commander, Captain Manners, was one of + the most gallant men in the splendid British navy, and he promptly took up + the gage of battle which the Wasp threw down. + </p> + <p> + The day was calm and nearly still; only a light wind stirred across the + sea. At one o'clock the Wasp's drum beat to quarters, and the sailors and + marines gathered at their appointed posts. The drum of the Reindeer + responded to the challenge, and with her sails reduced to fighting trim, + her guns run out, and every man ready, she came down upon the Yankee ship. + On her forecastle she had rigged a light carronade, and coming up from + behind, she five times discharged this pointblank into the American sloop; + then in the light air the latter luffed round, firing her guns as they + bore, and the two ships engaged yard-arm to yard-arm. The guns leaped and + thundered as the grimy gunners hurled them out to fire and back again to + load, working like demons. For a few minutes the cannonade was tremendous, + and the men in the tops could hardly see the decks for the wreck of flying + splinters. Then the vessels ground together, and through the open ports + the rival gunners hewed, hacked, and thrust at one another, while the + black smoke curled up from between the hulls. The English were suffering + terribly. Captain Manners himself was wounded, and realizing that he was + doomed to defeat unless by some desperate effort he could avert it, he + gave the signal to board. At the call the boarders gathered, naked to the + waist, black with powder and spattered with blood, cutlas and pistol in + hand. But the Americans were ready. Their marines were drawn up on deck, + the pikemen stood behind the bulwarks, and the officers watched, cool and + alert, every movement of the foe. Then the British sea-dogs tumbled + aboard, only to perish by shot or steel. The combatants slashed and + stabbed with savage fury, and the assailants were driven back. Manners + sprang to their head to lead them again himself, when a ball fired by one + of the sailors in the American tops crashed through his skull, and he + fell, sword in hand, with his face to the foe, dying as honorable a death + as ever a brave man died in fighting against odds for the flag of his + country. As he fell the American officers passed the word to board. With + wild cheers the fighting sailormen sprang forward, sweeping the wreck of + the British force before them, and in a minute the Reindeer was in their + possession. All of her officers, and nearly two thirds of the crew, were + killed or wounded; but they had proved themselves as skilful as they were + brave, and twenty-six of the Americans had been killed or wounded. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +The Wasp set fire to her prize, and after retiring to a French port to +refit, came out again to cruise. For some time she met no antagonist +of her own size with which to wage war, and she had to exercise the +sharpest vigilance to escape capture. Late one September afternoon, when +she could see ships of war all around her, she selected one which was +isolated from the others, and decided to run alongside her and try to +sink her after nightfall. Accordingly she set her sails in pursuit, and +drew steadily toward her antagonist, a big eighteen-gun brig, the Avon, +a ship more powerful than the Reindeer. The Avon kept signaling to two +other British war vessels which were in sight—one an eighteen-gun brig +and the other a twenty-gun ship; they were so close that the Wasp +was afraid they would interfere before the combat could be ended. +Nevertheless, Blakeley persevered, and made his attack with equal skill +and daring. It was after dark when he ran alongside his opponent, +and they began forthwith to exchange furious broadsides. As the ships +plunged and wallowed in the seas, the Americans could see the clusters +of topmen in the rigging of their opponent, but they knew nothing of +the vessel's name or of her force, save only so far as they felt it. The +firing was fast and furious, but the British shot with bad aim, while +the skilled American gunners hulled their opponent at almost every +discharge. In a very few minutes the Avon was in a sinking condition, +and she struck her flag and cried for quarter, having lost forty or +fifty men, while but three of the Americans had fallen. Before the Wasp +could take possession of her opponent, however, the two war vessels +to which the Avon had been signaling came up. One of them fired at the +Wasp, and as the latter could not fight two new foes, she ran off easily +before the wind. Neither of her new antagonists followed her, devoting +themselves to picking up the crew of the sinking Avon. + + It would be hard to find a braver feat more skilfully performed +than this; for Captain Blakeley, with hostile foes all round him, had +closed with and sunk one antagonist not greatly his inferior in force, +suffering hardly any loss himself, while two of her friends were coming +to her help. +</pre> + <p> + Both before and after this the Wasp cruised hither and thither making + prizes. Once she came across a convoy of ships bearing arms and munitions + to Wellington's army, under the care of a great two-decker. Hovering + about, the swift sloop evaded the two-decker's movements, and actually cut + out and captured one of the transports she was guarding, making her escape + unharmed. Then she sailed for the high seas. She made several other + prizes, and on October 9 spoke a Swedish brig. + </p> + <p> + This was the last that was ever heard of the gallant Wasp. She never again + appeared, and no trace of any of those aboard her was ever found. Whether + she was wrecked on some desert coast, whether she foundered in some + furious gale, or what befell her none ever knew. All that is certain is + that she perished, and that all on board her met death in some one of the + myriad forms in which it must always be faced by those who go down to the + sea in ships; and when she sank there sank one of the most gallant ships + of the American navy, with as brave a captain and crew as ever sailed from + any port of the New World. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE "GENERAL ARMSTRONG" PRIVATEER + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + We have fought such a fight for a day and a night + As may never be fought again! + We have won great glory, my men! + And a day less or more + At sea or ashore, + We die—does it matter when? + —Tennyson. +</pre> + <p> + In the revolution, and again in the war of 1812, the seas were covered by + swift-sailing American privateers, which preyed on the British trade. The + hardy seamen of the New England coast, and of New York, Philadelphia, and + Baltimore, turned readily from their adventurous careers in the whalers + that followed the giants of the ocean in every sea and every clime, and + from trading voyages to the uttermost parts of the earth, to go into the + business of privateering, which was more remunerative, and not so very + much more dangerous, than their ordinary pursuits. By the end of the war + of 1812, in particular, the American privateers had won for themselves a + formidable position on the ocean. The schooners, brigs, and brigantines in + which the privateersmen sailed were beautifully modeled, and were among + the fastest craft afloat. They were usually armed with one heavy gun, the + "long Tom," as it was called, arranged on a pivot forward or amidships, + and with a few lighter pieces of cannon. They carried strong crews of + well-armed men, and their commanders were veteran seamen, used to brave + every danger from the elements or from man. So boldly did they prey on the + British commerce, that they infested even the Irish Sea and the British + Channel, and increased many times the rate of insurance on vessels passing + across those waters. They also often did battle with the regular + men-of-war of the British, being favorite objects for attack by + cutting-out parties from the British frigates and ships of the line, and + also frequently encountering in fight the smaller sloops-of-war. Usually, + in these contests, the privateersmen were worsted, for they had not the + training which is obtained only in a regular service, and they were in no + way to be compared to the little fleet of regular vessels which in this + same war so gloriously upheld the honor of the American flag. + Nevertheless, here and there a privateer commanded by an exceptionally + brave and able captain, and manned by an unusually well-trained crew, + performed some feat of arms which deserves to rank with anything ever + performed by the regular navy. Such a feat was the defense of the brig + General Armstrong, in the Portuguese port of Fayal, of the Azores, against + an overwhelming British force. + </p> + <p> + The General Armstrong hailed from New York, and her captain was named + Reid. She had a crew of ninety men, and was armed with one heavy 32 + pounder and six lighter guns. In December, 1814, she was lying in Fayal, a + neutral port, when four British war-vessels, a ship of the line, a frigate + and two brigs, hove into sight, and anchored off the mouth of the harbor. + The port was neutral, but Portugal was friendly to England, and Reid knew + well that the British would pay no respect to the neutrality laws if they + thought that at the cost of their violation they could destroy the + privateer. He immediately made every preparation to resist an attack, The + privateer was anchored close to the shore. The boarding-nettings were got + ready, and were stretched to booms thrust outward from the brig's side, so + as to check the boarders as they tried to climb over the bulwarks. The + guns were loaded and cast loose, and the men went to quarters armed with + muskets, boarding-pikes, and cutlases. + </p> + <p> + On their side the British made ready to carry the privateer by boarding. + The shoals rendered it impossible for the heavy ships to approach, and the + lack of wind and the baffling currents also interfered for the moment with + the movements of the sloops-of-war. Accordingly recourse was had to a + cutting-out party, always a favorite device with the British seamen of + that age, who were accustomed to carry French frigates by boarding, and to + capture in their boats the heavy privateers and armed merchantmen, as well + as the lighter war-vessels of France and Spain. + </p> + <p> + The British first attempted to get possession of the brig by surprise, + sending out but four boats. These worked down near to the brig, under + pretense of sounding, trying to get close enough to make a rush and board + her. The privateersmen were on their guard, and warned the boats off, and + after the warning had been repeated once or twice unheeded, they fired + into them, killing and wounding several men. Upon this the boats promptly + returned to the ships. + </p> + <p> + This first check greatly irritated the British captains, and they decided + to repeat the experiment that night with a force which would render + resistance vain. Accordingly, after it became dark, a dozen boats were + sent from the liner and the frigate, manned by four hundred stalwart + British seamen, and commanded by the captain of one of the brigs of war. + Through the night they rowed straight toward the little privateer lying + dark and motionless in the gloom. As before, the privateersmen were ready + for their foe, and when they came within range opened fire upon them, + first with the long gun and then with the lighter cannon; but the British + rowed on with steady strokes, for they were seamen accustomed to victory + over every European foe, and danger had no terrors for them. With fierce + hurrahs they dashed through the shot-riven smoke and grappled the brig; + and the boarders rose, cutlas in hand, ready to spring over the bulwarks. + A terrible struggle followed. The British hacked at the boarding-nets and + strove to force their way through to the decks of the privateer, while the + Americans stabbed the assailants with their long pikes and slashed at them + with their cutlases. The darkness was lit by the flashes of flame from the + muskets and the cannon, and the air was rent by the oaths and shouts of + the combatants, the heavy trampling on the decks, the groans of the + wounded, the din of weapon meeting weapon, and all the savage tumult of a + hand-to-hand fight. At the bow the British burst through the + boarding-netting, and forced their way to the deck, killing or wounding + all three of the lieutenants of the privateer; but when this had happened + the boats had elsewhere been beaten back, and Reid, rallying his grim + sea-dogs, led them forward with a rush, and the boarding party were all + killed or tumbled into the sea. This put an end to the fight. In some of + the boats none but killed and wounded men were left. The others drew + slowly off, like crippled wild-fowl, and disappeared in the darkness + toward the British squadron. Half of the attacking force had been killed + or wounded, while of the Americans but nine had fallen. + </p> + <p> + The British commodore and all his officers were maddened with anger and + shame over the repulse, and were bent upon destroying the privateer at all + costs. Next day, after much exertion, one of the war-brigs was warped into + position to attack the American, but she first took her station at long + range, so that her carronades were not as effective as the pivot gun of + the privateer; and so well was the latter handled, that the British brig + was repeatedly hulled, and finally was actually driven off. A second + attempt was made, however, and this time the sloop-of-war got so close + that she could use her heavy carronades, which put the privateer + completely at her mercy. Then Captain Reid abandoned his brig and sank + her, first carrying ashore the guns, and marched inland with his men. They + were not further molested; and, if they had lost their brig, they had at + least made their foes pay dear for her destruction, for the British had + lost twice as many men as there were in the whole hard-fighting crew of + the American privateer. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The heavy fog of morning + Still hid the plain from sight, + When came a thread of scarlet + Marked faintly in the white. + We fired a single cannon, + And as its thunders rolled, + The mist before us lifted + In many a heavy fold. + The mist before us lifted, + And in their bravery fine + Came rushing to their ruin + The fearless British line. + —Thomas Dunn English. +</pre> + <p> + When, in 1814, Napoleon was overthrown and forced to retire to Elba, the + British troops that had followed Wellington into southern France were left + free for use against the Americans. A great expedition was organized to + attack and capture New Orleans, and at its head was placed General + Pakenham, the brilliant commander of the column that delivered the fatal + blow at Salamanca. In December a fleet of British war-ships and + transports, carrying thousands of victorious veterans from the Peninsula, + and manned by sailors who had grown old in a quarter of a century's + triumphant ocean warfare, anchored off the broad lagoons of the + Mississippi delta. The few American gunboats were carried after a + desperate hand-to-hand struggle, the troops were landed, and on December + 23 the advance-guard of two thousand men reached the banks of the + Mississippi, but ten miles below New Orleans, and there camped for the + night. It seemed as if nothing could save the Creole City from foes who + had shown, in the storming of many a Spanish walled town, that they were + as ruthless in victory as they were terrible in battle. There were no + forts to protect the place, and the militia were ill armed and ill + trained. But the hour found the man. On the afternoon of the very day when + the British reached the banks of the river the vanguard of Andrew + Jackson's Tennesseeans marched into New Orleans. Clad in hunting-shirts of + buckskin or homespun, wearing wolfskin and coonskin caps, and carrying + their long rifles on their shoulders, the wild soldiery of the backwoods + tramped into the little French town. They were tall men, with sinewy + frames and piercing eyes. Under "Old Hickory's" lead they had won the + bloody battle of the Horseshoe Bend against the Creeks; they had driven + the Spaniards from Pensacola; and now they were eager to pit themselves + against the most renowned troops of all Europe. + </p> + <p> + Jackson acted with his usual fiery, hasty decision. It was absolutely + necessary to get time in which to throw up some kind of breastworks or + defenses for the city, and he at once resolved on a night attack against + the British. As for the British, they had no thought of being molested. + They did not dream of an assault from inferior numbers of undisciplined + and ill-armed militia, who did not possess so much as bayonets to their + guns. They kindled fires along the levees, ate their supper, and then, as + the evening fell, noticed a big schooner drop down the river in ghostly + silence and bring up opposite to them. The soldiers flocked to the shore, + challenging the stranger, and finally fired one or two shots at her. Then + suddenly a rough voice was heard, "Now give it to them, for the honor of + America!" and a shower of shell and grape fell on the British, driving + them off the levee. The stranger was an American man-of-war schooner. The + British brought up artillery to drive her off, but before they succeeded + Jackson's land troops burst upon them, and a fierce, indecisive struggle + followed. In the night all order was speedily lost, and the two sides + fought singly or in groups in the utmost confusion. Finally a fog came up + and the combatants separated. Jackson drew off four or five miles and + camped. + </p> + <p> + The British had been so roughly handled that they were unable to advance + for three or four days, until the entire army came up. When they did + advance, it was only to find that Jackson had made good use of the time he + had gained by his daring assault. He had thrown up breastworks of mud and + logs from the swamp to the river. At first the British tried to batter + down these breastworks with their cannon, for they had many more guns than + the Americans. A terrible artillery duel followed. For an hour or two the + result seemed in doubt; but the American gunners showed themselves to be + far more skilful than their antagonists, and gradually getting the upper + hand, they finally silenced every piece of British artillery. The + Americans had used cotton bales in the embrasures, and the British + hogsheads of sugar; but neither worked well, for the cotton caught fire + and the sugar hogsheads were ripped and splintered by the roundshot, so + that both were abandoned. By the use of red-hot shot the British succeeded + in setting on fire the American schooner which had caused them such + annoyance on the evening of the night attack; but she had served her + purpose, and her destruction caused little anxiety to Jackson. + </p> + <p> + Having failed in his effort to batter down the American breastworks, and + the British artillery having been fairly worsted by the American, Pakenham + decided to try open assault. He had ten thousand regular troops, while + Jackson had under him but little over five thousand men, who were trained + only as he had himself trained them in his Indian campaigns. Not a fourth + of them carried bayonets. Both Pakenham and the troops under him were + fresh from victories won over the most renowned marshals of Napoleon, + andover soldiers that had proved themselves on a hundred stricken fields + the masters of all others in Continental Europe. At Toulouse they had + driven Marshal Soult from a position infinitely stronger than that held by + Jackson, and yet Soult had under him a veteran army. At Badajoz, Ciudad + Rodrigo, and San Sebastian they had carried by open assault fortified + towns whose strength made the intrenchments of the Americans seem like the + mud walls built by children, though these towns were held by the best + soldiers of France. With such troops to follow him, and with such + victories behind him in the past, it did not seem possible to Pakenham + that the assault of the terrible British infantry could be successfully + met by rough backwoods riflemen fighting under a general as wild and + untrained as themselves. + </p> + <p> + He decreed that the assault should take place on the morning of the + eighth. Throughout the previous night the American officers were on the + alert, for they could hear the rumbling of artillery in the British camp, + the muffled tread of the battalions as they were marched to their points + in the line, and all the smothered din of the preparation for assault. + Long before dawn the riflemen were awake and drawn up behind the mud + walls, where they lolled at ease, or, leaning on their long rifles, peered + out through the fog toward the camp of their foes. At last the sun rose + and the fog lifted, showing the scarlet array of the splendid British + infantry. As soon as the air was clear Pakenham gave the word, and the + heavy columns of redcoated grenadiers and kilted Highlanders moved + steadily forward. From the American breastworks the great guns opened, but + not a rifle cracked. Three fourths of the distance were covered, and the + eager soldiers broke into a run; then sheets of flame burst from the + breastworks in their front as the wild riflemen of the backwoods rose and + fired, line upon line. Under the sweeping hail the head of the British + advance was shattered, and the whole column stopped. Then it surged + forward again, almost to the foot of the breastworks; but not a man lived + to reach them, and in a moment more the troops broke and ran back. Mad + with shame and rage, Pakenham rode among them to rally and lead them + forward, and the officers sprang around him, smiting the fugitives with + their swords and cheering on the men who stood. For a moment the troops + halted, and again came forward to the charge; but again they were met by a + hail of bullets from the backwoods rifles. One shot struck Pakenham + himself. He reeled and fell from the saddle, and was carried off the + field. The second and third in command fell also, and then all attempts at + further advance were abandoned, and the British troops ran back to their + lines. Another assault had meanwhile been made by a column close to the + river, the charging soldiers rushing to the top of the breastworks; but + they were all killed or driven back. A body of troops had also been sent + across the river, where they routed a small detachment of Kentucky + militia; but they were, of course, recalled when the main assault failed. + </p> + <p> + At last the men who had conquered the conquerors of Europe had themselves + met defeat. Andrew Jackson and his rough riflemen had worsted, in fair + fight, a far larger force of the best of Wellington's veterans, and had + accomplished what no French marshal and no French troops had been able to + accomplish throughout the long war in the Spanish peninsula. For a week + the sullen British lay in their lines; then, abandoning their heavy + artillery, they marched back to the ships and sailed for Europe. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JOHN QUINCY ADAMS AND THE RIGHT OF PETITION + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + He rests with the immortals; his journey has been long: + For him no wail of sorrow, but a paean full and strong! + So well and bravely has he done the work be found to do, + To justice, freedom, duty, God, and man forever true. + —Whittier. +</pre> + <p> + The lot of ex-Presidents of the United States, as a rule, has been a life + of extreme retirement, but to this rule there is one marked exception. + When John Quincy Adams left the White House in March, 1829, it must have + seemed as if public life could hold nothing more for him. He had had + everything apparently that an American statesman could hope for. He had + been Minister to Holland and Prussia, to Russia and England. He had been a + Senator of the United States, Secretary of State for eight years, and + finally President. Yet, notwithstanding all this, the greatest part of his + career, and his noblest service to his country, were still before him when + he gave up the Presidency. + </p> + <p> + In the following year (1830) he was told that he might be elected to the + House of Representatives, and the gentleman who made the proposition + ventured to say that he thought an ex-President, by taking such a + position, "instead of degrading the individual would elevate the + representative character." Mr. Adams replied that he had "in that respect + no scruples whatever. No person can be degraded by serving the people as + Representative in Congress, nor, in my opinion, would an ex-President of + the United States be degraded by serving as a selectman of his town if + elected thereto by the people." A few weeks later he was chosen to the + House, and the district continued to send him every two years from that + time until his death. He did much excellent work in the House, and was + conspicuous in more than one memorable scene; but here it is possible to + touch on only a single point, where he came forward as the champion of a + great principle, and fought a battle for the right which will always be + remembered among the great deeds of American public men. + </p> + <p> + Soon after Mr. Adams took his seat in Congress, the movement for the + abolition of slavery was begun by a few obscure agitators. It did not at + first attract much attention, but as it went on it gradually exasperated + the overbearing temper of the Southern slaveholders. One fruit of this + agitation was the appearance of petitions for the abolition of slavery in + the House of Representatives. A few were presented by Mr. Adams without + attracting much notice; but as the petitions multiplied, the Southern + representatives became aroused. They assailed Mr. Adams for presenting + them, and finally passed what was known as the gag rule, which prevented + the reception of these petitions by the House. Against this rule Mr. Adams + protested, in the midst of the loud shouts of the Southerners, as a + violation of his constitutional rights. But the tyranny of slavery at that + time was so complete that the rule was adopted and enforced, and the + slaveholders, undertook in this way to suppress free speech in the House, + just as they also undertook to prevent the transmission through the mails + of any writings adverse to slavery. With the wisdom of a statesman and a + man of affairs, Mr. Adams addressed himself to the one practical point of + the contest. He did not enter upon a discussion of slavery or of its + abolition, but turned his whole force toward the vindication of the right + of petition. On every petition day he would offer, in constantly + increasing numbers, petitions which came to him from all parts of the + country for the abolition of slavery, in this way driving the Southern + representatives almost to madness, despite their rule which prevented the + reception of such documents when offered. Their hatred of Mr. Adams is + something difficult to conceive, and they were burning to break him down, + and, if possible, drive him from the House. On February 6, 1837, after + presenting the usual petitions, Mr. Adams offered one upon which he said + he should like the judgment of the Speaker as to its propriety, inasmuch + as it was a petition from slaves. In a moment the House was in a tumult, + and loud cries of "Expel him!" "Expel him!" rose in all directions. One + resolution after another was offered looking toward his expulsion or + censure, and it was not until February 9, three days later, that he was + able to take the floor in his own defense. His speech was a masterpiece of + argument, invective, and sarcasm. He showed, among other things, that he + had not offered the petition, but had only asked the opinion of the + Speaker upon it, and that the petition itself prayed that slavery should + not be abolished. When he closed his speech, which was quite as savage as + any made against him, and infinitely abler, no one desired to reply, and + the idea of censuring him was dropped. + </p> + <p> + The greatest struggle, however, came five years later, when, on January + 21, 1842, Mr. Adams presented the petition of certain citizens of + Haverhill, Massachusetts, praying for the dissolution of the Union on + account of slavery. His enemies felt that now, at last, he had delivered + himself into their hands. Again arose the cry for his expulsion, and again + vituperation was poured out upon him, and resolutions to expel him freely + introduced. When he got the floor to speak in his own defense, he faced an + excited House, almost unanimously hostile to him, and possessing, as he + well knew, both the will and the power to drive him from its walls. But + there was no wavering in Mr. Adams. "If they say they will try me," he + said, "they must try me. If they say they will punish me, they must punish + me. But if they say that in peace and mercy they will spare me expulsion, + I disdain and cast away their mercy, and I ask if they will come to such a + trial and expel me. I defy them. I have constituents to go to, and they + will have something to say if this House expels me, nor will it be long + before the gentlemen will see me here again." The fight went on for nearly + a fortnight, and on February 7 the whole subject was finally laid on the + table. The sturdy, dogged fighter, single-handed and alone, had beaten all + the forces of the South and of slavery. No more memorable fight has ever + been made by one man in a parliamentary body, and after this decisive + struggle the tide began to turn. Every year Mr. Adams renewed his motion + to strike out the gag rule, and forced it to a vote. Gradually the + majority against it dwindled, until at last, on December 3, 1844, his + motion prevailed. Freedom of speech had been vindicated in the American + House of Representatives, the right of petition had been won, and the + first great blow against the slave power had been struck. + </p> + <p> + Four years later Mr. Adams fell, stricken with paralysis, at his place in + the House, and a few hours afterward, with the words, "This is the last of + earth; I am content," upon his lips, he sank into unconsciousness and + died. It was a fit end to a great public career. His fight for the right + of petition is one to be studied and remembered, and Mr. Adams made it + practically alone. The slaveholders of the South and the representatives + of the North were alike against him. Against him, too, as his biographer, + Mr. Morse, says, was the class in Boston to which he naturally belonged by + birth and education. He had to encounter the bitter resistance in his own + set of the "conscienceless respectability of wealth," but the great body + of the New England people were with him, as were the voters of his own + district. He was an old man, with the physical infirmities of age. His + eyes were weak and streaming; his hands were trembling; his voice cracked + in moments of excitement; yet in that age of oratory, in the days of + Webster and Clay, he was known as the "old man eloquent." It was what he + said, more than the way he said it, which told. His vigorous mind never + worked more surely and clearly than when he stood alone in the midst of an + angry House, the target of their hatred and abuse. His arguments were + strong, and his large knowledge and wide experience supplied him with + every weapon for defense and attack. Beneath the lash of his invective and + his sarcasm the hottest of the slaveholders cowered away. He set his back + against a great principle. He never retreated an inch, he never yielded, + he never conciliated, he was always an assailant, and no man and no body + of men had the power to turn him. He had his dark hours, he felt bitterly + the isolation of his position, but he never swerved. He had good right to + set down in his diary, when the gag rule was repealed, "Blessed, forever + blessed, be the name of God." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FRANCIS PARKMAN + </h2> + <h3> + (1822-1893) + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + He told the red man's story; far and wide + He searched the unwritten annals of his race; + He sat a listener at the Sachem's side, + He tracked the hunter through his wild-wood chase. + + High o'er his head the soaring eagle screamed; + The wolfs long howl rang nightly; through the vale + Tramped the lone bear; the panther's eyeballs gleamed; + The bison's gallop thundered on the gale. + + Soon o'er the horizon rose the cloud of strife, + Two proud, strong nations battling for the prize: + Which swarming host should mould a nation's life; + Which royal banner flout the western skies. + + Long raged the conflict; on the crimson sod + Native and alien joined their hosts in vain; + The lilies withered where the lion trod, + Till Peace lay panting on the ravaged plain. + + A nobler task was theirs who strove to win + The blood-stained heathen to the Christian fold; + To free from Satan's clutch the slaves of sin; + These labors, too, with loving grace he told. + + Halting with feeble step, or bending o'er + The sweet-breathed roses which he loved so well, + While through long years his burdening cross he bore, + From those firm lips no coward accents fell. + + A brave bright memory! His the stainless shield + No shame defaces and no envy mars! + When our far future's record is unsealed, + His name will shine among its morning stars. + —Holmes. +</pre> + <p> + The stories in this volume deal, for the most part, with single actions, + generally with deeds of war and feats of arms. In this one I desire to + give if possible the impression, for it can be no more than an impression, + of a life which in its conflicts and its victories manifested throughout + heroic qualities. Such qualities can be shown in many ways, and the field + of battle is only one of the fields of human endeavor where heroism can be + displayed. + </p> + <p> + Francis Parkman was born in Boston on September 16, 1822. He came of a + well-known family, and was of a good Puritan stock. He was rather a + delicate boy, with an extremely active mind and of a highly sensitive, + nervous organization. Into everything that attracted him he threw himself + with feverish energy. His first passion, when he was only about twelve + years old, was for chemistry, and his eager boyish experiments in this + direction were undoubtedly injurious to his health. The interest in + chemistry was succeeded by a passion for the woods and the wilderness, and + out of this came the longing to write the history of the men of the + wilderness, and of the great struggle between France and England for the + control of the North American continent. All through his college career + this desire was with him, and while in secret he was reading widely to + prepare himself for his task, he also spent a great deal of time in the + forests and on the mountains. To quote his own words, he was "fond of + hardships, and he was vain of enduring them, cherishing a sovereign scorn + for every physical weakness or defect; but deceived, moreover, by the + rapid development of frame and sinew, which flattered him into the belief + that discipline sufficiently unsparing would harden him into an athlete, + he slighted the precautions of a more reasonable woodcraft, tired old + foresters with long marches, stopped neither for heat nor for rain, and + slept on the earth without blankets." The result was that his intense + energy carried him beyond his strength, and while his muscles strengthened + and hardened, his sensitive nervous organization began to give way. It was + not merely because he led an active outdoor life. He himself protests + against any such conclusion, and says that "if any pale student glued to + his desk here seek an apology for a way of life whose natural fruit is + that pallid and emasculate scholarship, of which New England has had too + many examples, it will be far better that this sketch had not been + written. For the student there is, in its season, no better place than the + saddle, and no better companion than the rifle or the oar." + </p> + <p> + The evil that was done was due to Parkman's highly irritable organism, + which spurred him to excess in everything he undertook. The first special + sign of the mischief he was doing to himself and his health appeared in a + weakness of sight. It was essential to his plan of historical work to + study not only books and records but Indian life from the inside. + Therefore, having graduated from college and the law-school, he felt that + the time had come for this investigation, which would enable him to gather + material for his history and at the same time to rest his eyes. He went to + the Rocky Mountains, and after great hardships, living in the saddle, as + he said, with weakness and pain, he joined a band of Ogallalla Indians. + With them he remained despite his physical suffering, and from them he + learned, as he could not have learned in any other way, what Indian life + really was. + </p> + <p> + The immediate result of the journey was his first book, instinct with the + freshness and wildness of the mountains and the prairies, and called by + him "The Oregon Trail." Unfortunately, the book was not the only outcome. + The illness incurred during his journey from fatigue and exposure was + followed by other disorders. The light of the sun became insupportable, + and his nervous system was entirely deranged. His sight was now so + impaired that he was almost blind, and could neither read nor write. It + was a terrible prospect for a brilliant and ambitious man, but Parkman + faced it unflinchingly. He devised a frame by which he could write with + closed eyes, and books and manuscripts were read to him. In this way he + began the history of "The Conspiracy of Pontiac," and for the first + half-year the rate of composition covered about six lines a day. His + courage was rewarded by an improvement in his health, and a little more + quiet in nerves and brain. In two and a half years he managed to complete + the book. He then entered upon his great subject of "France in the New + World." The material was mostly in manuscript, and had to be examined, + gathered, and selected in Europe and in Canada. He could not read, he + could write only a very little and that with difficulty, and yet he + pressed on. He slowly collected his material and digested and arranged it, + using the eyes of others to do that which he could not do himself, and + always on the verge of a complete breakdown of mind and body. In 1851 he + had an effusion of water on the left knee, which stopped his outdoor + exercise, on which he had always largely depended. All the irritability of + the system then centered in the head, resulting in intense pain and in a + restless and devouring activity of thought. He himself says: "The whirl, + the confusion, and strange, undefined tortures attending this condition + are only to be conceived by one who has felt them." The resources of + surgery and medicine were exhausted in vain. The trouble in the head and + eyes constantly recurred. In 1858 there came a period when for four years + he was incapable of the slightest mental application, and the attacks + varied in duration from four hours to as many months. When the pressure + was lightened a little he went back to his work. When work was impossible, + he turned to horticulture, grew roses, and wrote a book about the + cultivation of those flowers which is a standard authority. + </p> + <p> + As he grew older the attacks moderated, although they never departed. + Sleeplessness pursued him always, the slightest excitement would deprive + him of the power of exertion, his sight was always sensitive, and at times + he was bordering on blindness. In this hard-pressed way he fought the + battle of life. He says himself that his books took four times as long to + prepare and write as if he had been strong and able to use his faculties. + That this should have been the case is little wonder, for those books came + into being with failing sight and shattered nerves, with sleeplessness and + pain, and the menace of insanity ever hanging over the brave man who, + nevertheless, carried them through to an end. + </p> + <p> + Yet the result of those fifty years, even in amount, is a noble one, and + would have been great achievement for a man who had never known a sick + day. In quality, and subject, and method of narration, they leave little + to be desired. There, in Parkman's volumes, is told vividly, strongly, and + truthfully, the history of the great struggle between France and England + for the mastery of the North American continent, one of the most important + events of modern times. This is not the place to give any critical + estimate of Mr. Parkman's work. It is enough to say that it stands in the + front rank. It is a great contribution to history, and a still greater + gift to the literature of this country. All Americans certainly should + read the volumes in which Parkman has told that wonderful story of + hardship and adventure, of fighting and of statesmanship, which gave this + great continent to the English race and the English speech. But better + than the literature or the history is the heroic spirit of the man, which + triumphed over pain and all other physical obstacles, and brought a work + of such value to his country and his time into existence. There is a great + lesson as well as a lofty example in such a career, and in the service + which such a man rendered by his life and work to literature and to his + country. On the tomb of the conqueror of Quebec it is written: "Here lies + Wolfe victorious." The same epitaph might with entire justice be carved + above the grave of Wolfe's historian. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + "REMEMBER THE ALAMO" + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The muffled drum's sad roll has beat + The soldier's last tattoo; + No more on life's parade shall meet + That brave and fallen few. + On fame's eternal camping-ground + Their silent tents are spread, + And glory guards with solemn round + The bivouac of the dead. + + * * * + + The neighing troop, the flashing blade, + The bugle's stirring blast, + The charge, the dreadful cannonade, + The din and shout are past; + Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal + Shall thrill with fierce delight + Those breasts that never more may feel + The rapture of the fight. + —Theodore O'Hara. +</pre> + <p> + "Thermopylae had its messengers of death, but the Alamo had none." These + were the words with which a United States senator referred to one of the + most resolute and effective fights ever waged by brave men against + overwhelming odds in the face of certain death. + </p> + <p> + Soon after the close of the second war with Great Britain, parties of + American settlers began to press forward into the rich, sparsely settled + territory of Texas, then a portion of Mexico. At first these immigrants + were well received, but the Mexicans speedily grew jealous of them, and + oppressed them in various ways. In consequence, when the settlers felt + themselves strong enough, they revolted against Mexican rule, and declared + Texas to be an independent republic. Immediately Santa Anna, the Dictator + of Mexico, gathered a large army, and invaded Texas. The slender forces of + the settlers were unable to meet his hosts. They were pressed back by the + Mexicans, and dreadful atrocities were committed by Santa Anna and his + lieutenants. In the United States there was great enthusiasm for the + struggling Texans, and many bold backwoodsmen and Indian-fighters swarmed + to their help. Among them the two most famous were Sam Houston and David + Crockett. Houston was the younger man, and had already led an + extraordinary and varied career. When a mere lad he had run away from home + and joined the Cherokees, living among them for some years; then he + returned home. He had fought under Andrew Jackson in his campaigns against + the Creeks, and had been severely wounded at the battle of the Horse-shoe + Bend. He had risen to the highest political honors in his State, becoming + governor of Tennessee; and then suddenly, in a fit of moody longing for + the life of the wilderness, he gave up his governorship, left the State, + and crossed the Mississippi, going to join his old comrades, the + Cherokees, in their new home along the waters of the Arkansas. Here he + dressed, lived, fought, hunted, and drank precisely like any Indian, + becoming one of the chiefs. + </p> + <p> + David Crockett was born soon after the Revolutionary War. He, too, had + taken part under Jackson in the campaigns against the Creeks, and had + afterward become a man of mark in Tennessee, and gone to Congress as a + Whig; but he had quarreled with Jackson, and been beaten for Congress, and + in his disgust he left the State and decided to join the Texans. He was + the most famous rifle-shot in all the United States, and the most + successful hunter, so that his skill was a proverb all along the border. + </p> + <p> + David Crockett journeyed south, by boat and horse, making his way steadily + toward the distant plains where the Texans were waging their + life-and-death fight. Texas was a wild place in those days, and the old + hunter had more than one hairbreadth escape from Indians, desperadoes, and + savage beasts, ere he got to the neighborhood of San Antonio, and joined + another adventurer, a bee-hunter, bent on the same errand as himself. The + two had been in ignorance of exactly what the situation in Texas was; but + they soon found that the Mexican army was marching toward San Antonio, + whither they were going. Near the town was an old Spanish fort, the Alamo, + in which the hundred and fifty American defenders of the place had + gathered. Santa Anna had four thousand troops with him. The Alamo was a + mere shell, utterly unable to withstand either a bombardment or a regular + assault. It was evident, therefore, that those within it would be in the + utmost jeopardy if the place were seriously assaulted, but old Crockett + and his companion never wavered. They were fearless and resolute, and + masters of woodcraft, and they managed to slip through the Mexican lines + and join the defenders within the walls. The bravest, the hardiest, the + most reckless men of the border were there; among them were Colonel + Travis, the commander of the fort, and Bowie, the inventor of the famous + bowie-knife. They were a wild and ill-disciplined band, little used to + restraint or control, but they were men of iron courage and great bodily + powers, skilled in the use of their weapons, and ready to meet with stern + and uncomplaining indifference whatever doom fate might have in store for + them. + </p> + <p> + Soon Santa Anna approached with his army, took possession of the town, and + besieged the fort. The defenders knew there was scarcely a chance of + rescue, and that it was hopeless to expect that one hundred and fifty men, + behind defenses so weak, could beat off four thousand trained soldiers, + well armed and provided with heavy artillery; but they had no idea of + flinching, and made a desperate defense. The days went by, and no help + came, while Santa Anna got ready his lines, and began a furious cannonade. + His gunners were unskilled, however, and he had to serve the guns from a + distance; for when they were pushed nearer, the American riflemen crept + forward under cover, and picked off the artillerymen. Old Crockett thus + killed five men at one gun. But, by degrees, the bombardment told. The + walls of the Alamo were battered and riddled; and when they had been + breached so as to afford no obstacle to the rush of his soldiers, Santa + Anna commanded that they be stormed. + </p> + <p> + The storm took place on March 6, 1836. The Mexican troops came on well and + steadily, breaking through the outer defenses at every point, for the + lines were too long to be manned by the few Americans. The frontiersmen + then retreated to the inner building, and a desperate hand-to-hand + conflict followed, the Mexicans thronging in, shooting the Americans with + their muskets, and thrusting at them with lance and bayonet, while the + Americans, after firing their long rifles, clubbed them, and fought + desperately, one against many; and they also used their bowie-knives and + revolvers with deadly effect. The fight reeled to and fro between the + shattered walls, each American the center of a group of foes; but, for all + their strength and their wild fighting courage, the defenders were too + few, and the struggle could have but one end. One by one the tall riflemen + succumbed, after repeated thrusts with bayonet and lance, until but three + or four were left. Colonel Travis, the commander, was among them; and so + was Bowie, who was sick and weak from a wasting disease, but who rallied + all his strength to die fighting, and who, in the final struggle, slew + several Mexicans with his revolver, and with his big knife of the kind to + which he had given his name. Then these fell too, and the last man stood + at bay. It was old Davy Crockett. Wounded in a dozen places, he faced his + foes with his back to the wall, ringed around by the bodies of the men he + had slain. So desperate was the fight he waged, that the Mexicans who + thronged round about him were beaten back for the moment, and no one dared + to run in upon him. Accordingly, while the lancers held him where he was, + for, weakened by wounds and loss of blood, he could not break through + them, the musketeers loaded their carbines and shot him down. Santa Anna + declined to give him mercy. Some say that when Crockett fell from his + wounds, he was taken alive, and was then shot by Santa Anna's order; but + his fate cannot be told with certainty, for not a single American was left + alive. At any rate, after Crockett fell the fight was over. Every one of + the hardy men who had held the Alamo lay still in death. Yet they died + well avenged, for four times their number fell at their hands in the + battle. + </p> + <p> + Santa Anna had but a short while in which to exult over his bloody and + hard-won victory. Already a rider from the rolling Texas plains, going + north through the Indian Territory, had told Houston that the Texans were + up and were striving for their liberty. At once in Houston's mind there + kindled a longing to return to the men of his race at the time of their + need. Mounting his horse, he rode south by night and day, and was hailed + by the Texans as a heaven-sent leader. He took command of their forces, + eleven hundred stark riflemen, and at the battle of San Jacinto, he and + his men charged the Mexican hosts with the cry of "Remember the Alamo." + Almost immediately, the Mexicans were overthrown with terrible slaughter; + Santa Anna himself was captured, and the freedom of Texas was won at a + blow. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HAMPTON ROADS + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Then far away to the south uprose + A little feather of snow-white smoke, + And we knew that the iron ship of our foes + Was steadily steering its course + To try the force + Of our ribs of oak. + + Down upon us heavily runs, + Silent and sullen, the floating fort; + Then comes a puff of smoke from her guns, + And leaps the terrible death, With fiery breath, + From her open port. + + * * * + + Ho! brave hearts, that went down in the seas! + Ye are at peace in the troubled stream; + Ho! brave land! with hearts like these, + Thy flag, that is rent in twain, + Shall be one again, + And without a seam! + —Longfellow +</pre> + <p> + The naval battles of the Civil War possess an immense importance, because + they mark the line of cleavage between naval warfare under the old, and + naval warfare under the new, conditions. The ships with which Hull and + Decatur and McDonough won glory in the war of 1812 were essentially like + those with which Drake and Hawkins and Frobisher had harried the Spanish + armadas two centuries and a half earlier. They were wooden + sailing-vessels, carrying many guns mounted in broadside, like those of De + Ruyter and Tromp, of Blake and Nelson. Throughout this period all the + great admirals, all the famous single-ship fighters,—whose skill + reached its highest expression in our own navy during the war of 1812,—commanded + craft built and armed in a substantially similar manner, and fought with + the same weapons and under much the same conditions. But in the Civil War + weapons and methods were introduced which caused a revolution greater even + than that which divided the sailing-ship from the galley. The use of + steam, the casing of ships in iron armor, and the employment of the + torpedo, the ram, and the gun of high power, produced such radically new + types that the old ships of the line became at one stroke as antiquated as + the galleys of Hamilcar or Alcibiades. Some of these new engines of + destruction were invented, and all were for the first time tried in actual + combat, during our own Civil War. The first occasion on which any of the + new methods were thoroughly tested was attended by incidents which made it + one of the most striking of naval battles. + </p> + <p> + In Chesapeake Bay, near Hampton Roads, the United States had collected a + fleet of wooden ships; some of them old-style sailing-vessels, others + steamers. The Confederates were known to be building a great iron-clad + ram, and the wooden vessels were eagerly watching for her appearance when + she should come out of Gosport Harbor. Her powers and capacity were + utterly unknown. She was made out of the former United States + steam-frigate Merrimac, cut down so as to make her fore and aft decks + nearly flat, and not much above the water, while the guns were mounted in + a covered central battery, with sloping flanks. Her sides, deck, and + battery were coated with iron, and she was armed with formidable + rifle-guns, and, most important of all, with a steel ram thrust out under + water forward from her bow. She was commanded by a gallant and efficient + officer, Captain Buchanan. + </p> + <p> + It was March 8, 1862, when the ram at last made her appearance within + sight of the Union fleet. The day was calm and very clear, so that the + throngs of spectators on shore could see every feature of the battle. With + the great ram came three light gunboats, all of which took part in the + action, harassing the vessels which she assailed; but they were not + factors of importance in the fight. On the Union side the vessels nearest + were the sailing-ships Cumberland and Congress, and the steam-frigate + Minnesota. The Congress and Cumberland were anchored not far from each + other; the Minnesota got aground, and was some distance off. Owing to the + currents and shoals and the lack of wind, no other vessel was able to get + up in time to take a part in the fight. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the ram appeared, out of the harbor, she turned and steamed + toward the Congress and the Cumberland, the black smoke rising from her + funnels, and the great ripples running from each side of her iron prow as + she drove steadily through the still waters. On board of the Congress and + Cumberland there was eager anticipation, but not a particle of fear. The + officers in command, Captain Smith and Lieutenant Morris, were two of the + most gallant men in a service where gallantry has always been too common + to need special comment. The crews were composed of veterans, well + trained, self-confident, and proud beyond measure of the flag whose honor + they upheld. The guns were run out, and the men stood at quarters, while + the officers eagerly conned the approaching ironclad. The Congress was the + first to open fire; and, as her volleys flew, the men on the Cumberland + were astounded to see the cannon-shot bound off the sloping sides of the + ram as hailstones bound from a windowpane. The ram answered, and her + rifle-shells tore the sides of the Congress; but for her first victim she + aimed at the Cumberland, and, firing her bow guns, came straight as an + arrow at the little sloop-of-war, which lay broadside to her. + </p> + <p> + It was an absolutely hopeless struggle. The Cumberland was a sailing-ship, + at anchor, with wooden sides, and a battery of light guns. Against the + formidable steam ironclad, with her heavy rifles and steel ram, she was as + powerless as if she had been a rowboat; and from the moment the men saw + the cannon-shot bound from the ram's sides they knew they were doomed. But + none of them flinched. Once and again they fired their guns full against + the approaching ram, and in response received a few shells from the great + bow-rifles of the latter. Then, forging ahead, the Merrimac struck her + antagonist with her steel prow, and the sloop-of-war reeled and shuddered, + and through the great rent in her side the black water rushed. She + foundered in a few minutes; but her crew fought her to the last, cheering + as they ran out the guns, and sending shot after shot against the ram as + the latter backed off after delivering her blow. The rush of the water + soon swamped the lower decks, but the men above continued to serve their + guns until the upper deck also was awash, and the vessel had not ten + seconds of life left. Then, with her flags flying, her men cheering, and + her guns firing, the Cumberland sank. It was shallow where she settled + down, so that her masts remained above the water. The glorious flag for + which the brave men aboard her had died flew proudly in the wind all that + day, while the fight went on, and throughout the night; and next morning + it was still streaming over the beautiful bay, to mark the resting-place + of as gallant a vessel as ever sailed or fought on the high seas. + </p> + <p> + After the Cumberland sank, the ram turned her attention to the Congress. + Finding it difficult to get to her in the shoal water, she began to knock + her to pieces with her great rifle-guns. The unequal fight between the + ironclad and the wooden ship lasted for perhaps half an hour. By that time + the commander of the Congress had been killed, and her decks looked like a + slaughterhouse. She was utterly unable to make any impression on her foe, + and finally she took fire and blew up. The Minnesota was the third victim + marked for destruction, and the Merrimac began the attack upon her at + once; but it was getting very late, and as the water was shoal and she + could not get close, the rain finally drew back to her anchorage, to wait + until next day before renewing and completing her work of destruction. + </p> + <p> + All that night there was the wildest exultation among the Confederates, + while the gloom and panic of the Union men cannot be described. It was + evident that the United States ships-of-war were as helpless as + cockle-shells against their iron-clad foe, and there was no question but + that she could destroy the whole fleet with ease and with absolute + impunity. This meant not only the breaking of the blockade; but the + sweeping away at one blow of the North's naval supremacy, which was + indispensable to the success of the war for the Union. It is small wonder + that during that night the wisest and bravest should have almost + despaired. + </p> + <p> + But in the hour of the nation's greatest need a champion suddenly + appeared, in time to play the last scene in this great drama of sea + warfare. The North, too, had been trying its hand at building ironclads. + The most successful of them was the little Monitor, a flat-decked, low, + turreted, ironclad, armed with a couple of heavy guns. She was the first + experiment of her kind, and her absolutely flat surface, nearly level with + the water, her revolving turret, and her utter unlikeness to any + pre-existing naval type, had made her an object of mirth among most + practical seamen; but her inventor, Ericsson, was not disheartened in the + least by the jeers. Under the command of a gallant naval officer, Captain + Worden, she was sent South from New York, and though she almost foundered + in a gale she managed to weather it, and reached the scene of the battle + at Hampton Roads at the moment when her presence was all-important. + </p> + <p> + Early the following morning the Merrimac, now under Captain Jones (for + Buchanan had been wounded), again steamed forth to take up the work she + had so well begun and to destroy the Union fleet. She steered straight for + the Minnesota; but when she was almost there, to her astonishment a + strange-looking little craft advanced from the side of the big wooden + frigate and boldly barred the Merrimac's path. For a moment the + Confederates could hardly believe their eyes. The Monitor was tiny, + compared to their ship, for she was not one fifth the size, and her queer + appearance made them look at their new foe with contempt; but the first + shock of battle did away with this feeling. The Merrimac turned on her foe + her rifleguns, intending to blow her out of the water, but the shot + glanced from the thick iron turret of the Monitor. Then the Monitors guns + opened fire, and as the great balls struck the sides of the ram her plates + started and her timbers gave. Had the Monitor been such a vessel as those + of her type produced later in the war, the ram would have been sunk then + and there; but as it was her shot were not quite heavy enough to pierce + the iron walls. Around and around the two strange combatants hovered, + their guns bellowing without cessation, while the men on the frigates and + on shore watched the result with breathless interest. Neither the Merrimac + nor the Monitor could dispose of its antagonist. The ram's guns could not + damage the turret, and the Monitor was able dexterously to avoid the + stroke of the formidable prow. On the other hand, the shot of the Monitor + could not penetrate the Merrimac's tough sides. Accordingly, fierce though + the struggle was, and much though there was that hinged on it, it was not + bloody in character. The Merrimac could neither destroy nor evade the + Monitor. She could not sink her when she tried to, and when she abandoned + her and turned to attack one of the other wooden vessels, the little + turreted ship was thrown across her path, so that the fight had to be + renewed. Both sides grew thoroughly exhausted, and finally the battle + ceased by mutual consent. + </p> + <p> + Nothing more could be done. The ram was badly damaged, and there was no + help for her save to put back to the port whence she had come. Twice + afterward she came out, but neither time did she come near enough to the + Monitor to attack her, and the latter could not move off where she would + cease to protect the wooden vessels. The ram was ultimately blown up by + the Confederates on the advance of the Union army. + </p> + <p> + Tactically, the fight was a drawn battle—neither ship being able to + damage the other, and both ships, being fought to a standstill; but the + moral and material effects were wholly in favor of the Monitor. Her + victory was hailed with exultant joy throughout the whole Union, and + exercised a correspondingly depressing effect in the Confederacy; while + every naval man throughout the world, who possessed eyes to see, saw that + the fight in Hampton Roads had inaugurated a new era in ocean warfare, and + that the Monitor and Merrimac, which had waged so gallant and so terrible + a battle, were the first ships of the new era, and that as such their + names would be forever famous. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE FLAG-BEARER + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; + He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are + stored; + He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; + His truth is marching on. + + I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; + They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; + I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps; + His day is marching on. + + He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never beat retreat; + He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat; + Oh! be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubilant, my feet! + Our God is marching on. + —Julia Ward Howe. +</pre> + <p> + In no war since the close of the great Napoleonic struggles has the + fighting been so obstinate and bloody as in the Civil War. Much has been + said in song and story of the resolute courage of the Guards at Inkerman, + of the charge of the Light Brigade, and of the terrible fighting and loss + of the German armies at Mars La Tour and Gravelotte. The praise bestowed, + upon the British and Germans for their valor, and for the loss that proved + their valor, was well deserved; but there were over one hundred and twenty + regiments, Union and Confederate, each of which, in some one battle of the + Civil War, suffered a greater loss than any English regiment at Inkerman + or at any other battle in the Crimea, a greater loss than was suffered by + any German regiment at Gravelotte or at any other battle of the + Franco-Prussian war. No European regiment in any recent struggle has + suffered such losses as at Gettysburg befell the 1st Minnesota, when 82 + per cent. of the officers and men were killed and wounded; or the 141st + Pennsylvania, which lost 76 per cent.; or the 26th North Carolina, which + lost 72 per cent.; such as at the second battle of Manassas befell the + 101st New York, which lost 74 per cent., and the 21st Georgia, which lost + 76 per cent. At Cold Harbor the 25th Massachusetts lost 70 per cent., and + the 10th Tennessee at Chickamauga 68 per cent.; while at Shiloh the 9th + Illinois lost 63 per cent., and the 6th Mississippi 70 per cent.; and at + Antietam the 1st Texas lost 82 percent. The loss of the Light Brigade in + killed and wounded in its famous charge at Balaklava was but 37 per cent. + </p> + <p> + These figures show the terrible punishment endured by these regiments, + chosen at random from the head of the list which shows the slaughter-roll + of the Civil War. Yet the shattered remnants of each regiment preserved + their organization, and many of the severest losses were incurred in the + hour of triumph, and not of disaster. Thus, the 1st Minnesota, at + Gettysburg, suffered its appalling loss while charging a greatly superior + force, which it drove before it; and the little huddle of wounded and + unwounded men who survived their victorious charge actually kept both the + flag they had captured and the ground from which they had driven their + foes. + </p> + <p> + A number of the Continental regiments under Washington, Greene, and Wayne + did valiant fighting and endured heavy punishment. Several of the + regiments raised on the northern frontier in 1814 showed, under Brown and + Scott, that they were able to meet the best troops of Britain on equal + terms in the open, and even to overmatch them in fair fight with the + bayonet. The regiments which, in the Mexican war, under the lead of + Taylor, captured Monterey, and beat back Santa Anna at Buena Vista, or + which, with Scott as commander, stormed Molino Del Rey and Chapultepec, + proved their ability to bear terrible loss, to wrest victory from + overwhelming numbers, and to carry by open assault positions of formidable + strength held by a veteran army. But in none of these three wars was the + fighting so resolute and bloody as in the Civil War. + </p> + <p> + Countless deeds of heroism were performed by Northerner and by Southerner, + by officer and by private, in every year of the great struggle. The + immense majority of these deeds went unrecorded, and were known to few + beyond the immediate participants. Of those that were noticed it would be + impossible even to make a dry catalogue in ten such volumes as this. All + that can be done is to choose out two or three acts of heroism, not as + exceptions, but as examples of hundreds of others. The times of war are + iron times, and bring out all that is best as well as all that is basest + in the human heart. In a full recital of the civil war, as of every other + great conflict, there would stand out in naked relief feats of wonderful + daring and self-devotion, and, mixed among them, deeds of cowardice, of + treachery, of barbarous brutality. Sadder still, such a recital would show + strange contrasts in the careers of individual men, men who at one time + acted well and nobly, and at another time ill and basely. The ugly truths + must not be blinked, and the lessons they teach should be set forth by + every historian, and learned by every statesman and soldier; but, for our + good fortune, the lessons best worth learning in the nation's past are + lessons of heroism. + </p> + <p> + From immemorial time the armies of every warlike people have set the + highest value upon the standards they bore to battle. To guard one's own + flag against capture is the pride, to capture the flag of one's enemy the + ambition, of every valiant soldier. In consequence, in every war between + peoples of good military record, feats of daring performed by + color-bearers are honorably common. The Civil War was full of such + incidents. Out of very many two or three may be mentioned as noteworthy. + </p> + <p> + One occurred at Fredericksburg on the day when half the brigades of + Meagher and Caldwell lay on the bloody slope leading up to the Confederate + entrenchments. Among the assaulting regiments was the 5th New Hampshire, + and it lost one hundred and eighty-six out of three hundred men who made + the charge. The survivors fell sullenly back behind a fence, within easy + range of the Confederate rifle-pits. Just before reaching it the last of + the color guard was shot, and the flag fell in the open. A Captain Perry + instantly ran out to rescue it, and as he reached it was shot through the + heart; another, Captain Murray, made the same attempt and was also killed; + and so was a third, Moore. Several private soldiers met a like fate. They + were all killed close to the flag, and their dead bodies fell across one + another. Taking advantage of this breastwork, Lieutenant Nettleton crawled + from behind the fence to the colors, seized them, and bore back the + blood-won trophy. + </p> + <p> + Another took place at Gaines' Mill, where Gregg's 1st South Carolina + formed part of the attacking force. The resistance was desperate, and the + fury of the assault unsurpassed. At one point it fell to the lot of this + regiment to bear the brunt of carrying a certain strong position. Moving + forward at a run, the South Carolinians were swept by a fierce and + searching fire. Young James Taylor, a lad of sixteen, was carrying the + flag, and was killed after being shot down three times, twice rising and + struggling onward with the colors. The third time he fell the flag was + seized by George Cotchet, and when he, in turn, fell, by Shubrick Hayne. + Hayne was also struck down almost immediately, and the fourth lad, for + none of them were over twenty years old, grasped the colors, and fell + mortally wounded across the body of his friend. The fifth, Gadsden Holmes, + was pierced with no less than seven balls. The sixth man, Dominick + Spellman, more fortunate, but not less brave, bore the flag throughout the + rest of the battle. + </p> + <p> + Yet another occurred at Antietam. The 7th Maine, then under the command of + Major T. W. Hyde, was one of the hundreds of regiments that on many + hard-fought fields established a reputation for dash and unyielding + endurance. Toward the early part of the day at Antietam it merely took its + share in the charging and long-range firing, together with the New York + and Vermont regiments which were its immediate neighbors in the line. The + fighting was very heavy. In one of the charges, the Maine men passed over + what had been a Confederate regiment. The gray-clad soldiers were lying, + both ranks, privates and officers, as they fell, for so many had been + killed or disabled that it seemed as if the whole regiment was prone in + death. + </p> + <p> + Much of the time the Maine men lay on the battle-field, hugging the + ground, under a heavy artillery fire, but beyond the reach of ordinary + musketry. One of the privates, named Knox, was a wonderful shot, and had + received permission to use his own special rifle, a weapon accurately + sighted for very long range. While the regiment thus lay under the storm + of shot and shell, he asked leave to go to the front; and for an hour + afterward his companions heard his rifle crack every few minutes. Major + Hyde finally, from curiosity, crept forward to see what he was doing, and + found that he had driven every man away from one section of a Confederate + battery, tumbling over gunner after gunner as they came forward to fire. + One of his victims was a general officer, whose horse he killed. At the + end of an hour or so, a piece of shell took off the breech of his pet + rifle, and he returned disconsolate; but after a few minutes he gathered + three rifles that were left by wounded men, and went back again to his + work. + </p> + <p> + At five o'clock in the afternoon the regiment was suddenly called upon to + undertake a hopeless charge, owing to the blunder of the brigade + commander, who was a gallant veteran of the Mexican war, but who was also + given to drink. Opposite the Union lines at this point were some + haystacks, near a group of farm buildings. They were right in the center + of the Confederate position, and sharpshooters stationed among them were + picking off the Union gunners. The brigadier, thinking that they were held + by but a few skirmishers, rode to where the 7th Maine was lying on the + ground, and said: "Major Hyde, take your regiment and drive the enemy from + those trees and buildings." Hyde saluted, and said that he had seen a + large force of rebels go in among the buildings, probably two brigades in + all. The brigadier answered, "Are you afraid to go, sir?" and repeated the + order emphatically. "Give the order, so the regiment can hear it, and we + are ready, sir," said Hyde. This was done, and "Attention" brought every + man to his feet. With the regiment were two young boys who carried the + marking guidons, and Hyde ordered these to the rear. They pretended to go, + but as soon as the regiment charged came along with it. One of them lost + his arm, and the other was killed on the field. The colors were carried by + the color corporal, Harry Campbell. + </p> + <p> + Hyde gave the orders to left face and forward and the Maine men marched + out in front of a Vermont regiment which lay beside them; then, facing to + the front, they crossed a sunken road, which was so filled with dead and + wounded Confederates that Hyde's horse had to step on them to get over. + </p> + <p> + Once across, they stopped for a moment in the trampled corn to straighten + the line, and then charged toward the right of the barns. On they went at + the double-quick, fifteen skirmishers ahead under Lieutenant Butler, Major + Hyde on the right on his Virginia thoroughbred, and Adjutant Haskell to + the left on a big white horse. The latter was shot down at once, as was + his horse, and Hyde rode round in front of the regiment just in time to + see a long line of men in gray rise from behind the stone wall of the + Hagerstown pike, which was to their right, and pour in a volley; but it + mostly went too high. He then ordered his men to left oblique. + </p> + <p> + Just as they were abreast a hill to the right of the barns, Hyde, being + some twenty feet ahead, looked over its top and saw several regiments of + Confederates, jammed close together and waiting at the ready; so he gave + the order left flank, and, still at the double quick, took his column past + the barns and buildings toward an orchard on the hither side, hoping that + he could get them back before they were cut off, for they were faced by + ten times their number. By going through the orchard he expected to be + able to take advantage of a hollow, and partially escape the destructive + flank fire on his return. + </p> + <p> + To hope to keep the barns from which they had driven the sharpshooters was + vain, for the single Maine regiment found itself opposed to portions of no + less than four Confederate brigades, at least a dozen regiments all told. + When the men got to the orchard fence, Sergeant Benson wrenched apart the + tall pickets to let through Hyde's horse. While he was doing this, a shot + struck his haversack, and the men all laughed at the sight of the flying + hardtack. + </p> + <p> + Going into the orchard there was a rise of ground, and the Confederates + fired several volleys at the Maine men, and then charged them. Hyde's + horse was twice wounded, but was still able to go on. + </p> + <p> + No sooner were the men in blue beyond the fence than they got into line + and met the Confederates, as they came crowding behind, with a + slaughtering fire, and then charged, driving them back. The color corporal + was still carrying the colors, though one of his arms had been broken; but + when half way through the orchard, Hyde heard him call out as he fell, and + turned back to save the colors, if possible. + </p> + <p> + The apple-trees were short and thick, and he could not see much, and the + Confederates speedily got between him and his men. Immediately, with the + cry of "Rally, boys, to save the Major," back surged the regiment, and a + volley at arm's length again destroyed all the foremost of their pursuers; + so they rescued both their commander and the flag, which was carried off + by Corporal Ring. + </p> + <p> + Hyde then formed the regiment on the colors, sixty-eight men all told, out + of two hundred and forty who had begun the charge, and they slowly marched + back toward their place in the Union line, while the New Yorkers and + Vermonters rose from the ground cheering and waving their hats. Next day, + when the Confederates had retired a little from the field, the color + corporal, Campbell, was found in the orchard, dead, propped up against a + tree, with his half-smoked pipe beside him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Like a servant of the Lord, with his bible and his sword, + Our general rode along us, to form us for the fight. + —Macaulay. +</pre> + <p> + The Civil War has left, as all wars of brother against brother must leave, + terrible and heartrending memories; but there remains as an offset the + glory which has accrued to the nation by the countless deeds of heroism + performed by both sides in the struggle. The captains and the armies that, + after long years of dreary campaigning and bloody, stubborn fighting, + brought the war to a close, have left us more than a reunited realm. North + and South, all Americans, now have a common fund of glorious memories. We + are the richer for each grim campaign, for each hard-fought battle. We are + the richer for valor displayed alike by those who fought so valiantly for + the right, and by those who, no less valiantly, fought for what they + deemed the right. We have in us nobler capacities for what is great and + good because of the infinite woe and suffering, and because of the + splendid ultimate triumph. We hold that it was vital to the welfare, not + only of our people on this continent, but of the whole human race, that + the Union should be preserved and slavery abolished; that one flag should + fly from the Great Lakes to the Rio Grande; that we should all be free in + fact as well as in name, and that the United States should stand as one + nation—the greatest nation on the earth. But we recognize gladly + that, South as well as North, when the fight was once on, the leaders of + the armies, and the soldiers whom they led, displayed the same qualities + of daring and steadfast courage, of disinterested loyalty and enthusiasm, + and of high devotion to an ideal. + </p> + <p> + The greatest general of the South was Lee, and his greatest lieutenant was + Jackson. Both were Virginians, and both were strongly opposed to disunion. + Lee went so far as to deny the right of secession, while Jackson insisted + that the South ought to try to get its rights inside the Union, and not + outside. But when Virginia joined the Southern Confederacy, and the war + had actually begun, both men cast their lot with the South. + </p> + <p> + It is often said that the Civil War was in one sense a repetition of the + old struggle between the Puritan and the Cavalier; but Puritan and + Cavalier types were common to the two armies. In dash and light-hearted + daring, Custer and Kearney stood as conspicuous as Stuart and Morgan; and, + on the other hand, no Northern general approached the Roundhead type—the + type of the stern, religious warriors who fought under Cromwell—so + closely as Stonewall Jackson. He was a man of intense religious + conviction, who carried into every thought and deed of his daily life the + precepts of the faith he cherished. He was a tender and loving husband and + father, kindhearted and gentle to all with whom he was brought in contact; + yet in the times that tried men's souls, he proved not only a commander of + genius, but a fighter of iron will and temper, who joyed in the battle, + and always showed at his best when the danger was greatest. The vein of + fanaticism that ran through his character helped to render him a terrible + opponent. He knew no such word as falter, and when he had once put his + hand to a piece of work, he did it thoroughly and with all his heart. It + was quite in keeping with his character that this gentle, high-minded, and + religious man should, early in the contest, have proposed to hoist the + black flag, neither take nor give quarter, and make the war one of + extermination. No such policy was practical in the nineteenth century and + in the American Republic; but it would have seemed quite natural and + proper to Jackson's ancestors, the grim Scotch-Irish, who defended + Londonderry against the forces of the Stuart king, or to their + forefathers, the Covenanters of Scotland, and the Puritans who in England + rejoiced at the beheading of King Charles I. + </p> + <p> + In the first battle in which Jackson took part, the confused struggle at + Bull Run, he gained his name of Stonewall from the firmness with which he + kept his men to their work and repulsed the attack of the Union troops. + From that time until his death, less than two years afterward, his career + was one of brilliant and almost uninterrupted success; whether serving + with an independent command in the Valley, or acting under Lee as his + right arm in the pitched battles with McClellan, Pope, and Burnside. Few + generals as great as Lee have ever had as great a lieutenant as Jackson. + He was a master of strategy and tactics, fearless of responsibility, able + to instil into his men his own intense ardor in battle, and so quick in + his movements, so ready to march as well as fight, that his troops were + known to the rest of the army as the "foot cavalry." + </p> + <p> + In the spring of 1863 Hooker had command of the Army of the Potomac. Like + McClellan, he was able to perfect the discipline of his forces and to + organize them, and as a division commander he was better than McClellan, + but he failed even more signally when given a great independent command. + He had under him 120,000 men when, toward the end of April, he prepared to + attack Lee's army, which was but half as strong. + </p> + <p> + The Union army lay opposite Fredericksburg, looking at the fortified + heights where they had received so bloody a repulse at the beginning of + the winter. Hooker decided to distract the attention of the Confederates + by letting a small portion of his force, under General Sedgwick, attack + Fredericksburg, while he himself took the bulk of the army across the + river to the right hand so as to crush Lee by an assault on his flank. All + went well at the beginning, and on the first of May Hooker found himself + at Chancellorsville, face-to-face with the bulk of Lee's forces; and + Sedgwick, crossing the river and charging with the utmost determination, + had driven out of Fredericksburg the Confederate division of Early; but + when Hooker found himself in front of Lee he hesitated, faltered instead + of pushing on, and allowed the consummate general to whom he was opposed + to take the initiative. + </p> + <p> + Lee fully realized his danger, and saw that his only chance was, first to + beat back Hooker, and then to turn and overwhelm Sedgwick, who was in his + rear. He consulted with Jackson, and Jackson begged to be allowed to make + one of his favorite flank attacks upon the Union army; attacks which could + have been successfully delivered only by a skilled and resolute general, + and by troops equally able to march and to fight. Lee consented, and + Jackson at once made off. The country was thickly covered with a forest of + rather small growth, for it was a wild region, in which there was still + plenty of game. Shielded by the forest, Jackson marched his gray columns + rapidly to the left along the narrow country roads until he was square on + the flank of the Union right wing, which was held by the Eleventh Corps, + under Howard. The Union scouts got track of the movement and reported it + at headquarters, but the Union generals thought the Confederates were + retreating; and when finally the scouts brought word to Howard that he was + menaced by a flank attack he paid no heed to the information, and actually + let his whole corps be surprised in broad daylight. Yet all the while the + battle was going on elsewhere, and Berdan's sharpshooters had surrounded + and captured a Georgia regiment, from which information was received + showing definitely that Jackson was not retreating, and must be preparing + to strike a heavy blow. + </p> + <p> + The Eleventh Corps had not the slightest idea that it was about to be + assailed. The men were not even in line. Many of them had stacked their + muskets and were lounging about, some playing cards, others cooking + supper, intermingled with the pack-mules and beef cattle. While they were + thus utterly unprepared Jackson's gray-clad veterans pushed straight + through the forest and rushed fiercely to the attack. The first notice the + troops of the Eleventh Corps received did not come from the pickets, but + from the deer, rabbits and foxes which, fleeing from their coverts at the + approach of the Confederates, suddenly came running over and into the + Union lines. In another minute the frightened pickets came tumbling back, + and right behind them came the long files of charging, yelling + Confederates; With one fierce rush Jackson's men swept over the Union + lines, and at a blow the Eleventh Corps became a horde of panicstruck + fugitives. Some of the regiments resisted for a few moments, and then they + too were carried away in the flight. + </p> + <p> + For a while it seemed as if the whole army would be swept off; but Hooker + and his subordinates exerted every effort to restore order. It was + imperative to gain time so that the untouched portions of the army could + form across the line of the Confederate advance. + </p> + <p> + Keenan's regiment of Pennsylvania cavalry, but four hundred sabers strong, + was accordingly sent full against the front of the ten thousand victorious + Confederates. + </p> + <p> + Keenan himself fell, pierced by bayonets, and the charge was repulsed at + once; but a few priceless moments had been saved, and Pleasanton had been + given time to post twenty-two guns, loaded with double canister, where + they would bear upon the enemy. + </p> + <p> + The Confederates advanced in a dense mass, yelling and cheering, and the + discharge of the guns fairly blew them back across the work's they had + just taken. Again they charged, and again were driven back; and when the + battle once more began the Union reinforcements had arrived. + </p> + <p> + It was about this time that Jackson himself was mortally wounded. He had + been leading and urging on the advance of his men, cheering them with + voice and gesture, his pale face flushed with joy and excitement, while + from time to time as he sat on his horse he took off his hat and, looking + upward, thanked heaven for the victory it had vouchsafed him. As darkness + drew near he was in the front, where friend and foe were mingled in almost + inextricable confusion. He and his staff were fired at, at close range, by + the Union troops, and, as they turned, were fired at again, through a + mistake, by the Confederates behind them. Jackson fell, struck in several + places. He was put in a litter and carried back; but he never lost + consciousness, and when one of his generals complained of the terrible + effect of the Union cannonade he answered: + </p> + <p> + "You must hold your ground." + </p> + <p> + For several days he lingered, hearing how Lee beat Hooker, in detail, and + forced him back across the river. Then the old Puritan died. At the end + his mind wandered, and he thought he was again commanding in battle, and + his last words were. + </p> + <p> + "Let us cross over the river and rest in the shade." + </p> + <p> + Thus perished Stonewall Jackson, one of the ablest of soldiers and one of + the most upright of men, in the last of his many triumphs. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + For the Lord + On the whirlwind is abroad; + In the earthquake he has spoken; + He has smitten with his thunder + The iron walls asunder, + And the gates of brass are broken! + —Whittier + + With bray of the trumpet, + And roll of the drum, + And keen ring of bugle + The cavalry come: + Sharp clank the steel scabbards, + The bridle-chains ring, + And foam from red nostrils + The wild chargers fling! + + Tramp, tramp o'er the greensward + That quivers below, + Scarce held by the curb bit + The fierce horses go! + And the grim-visaged colonel, + With ear-rending shout, + Peals forth to the squadrons + The order, "Trot Out"! + —Francis A. Durivage. +</pre> + <p> + The battle of Chancellorsville marked the zenith of Confederate good + fortune. Immediately afterward, in June, 1863, Lee led the victorious army + of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania. The South was now the invader, not + the invaded, and its heart beat proudly with hopes of success; but these + hopes went down in bloody wreck on July 4, when word was sent to the world + that the high valor of Virginia had failed at last on the field of + Gettysburg, and that in the far West Vicksburg had been taken by the army + of the "silent soldier." + </p> + <p> + At Gettysburg Lee had under him some seventy thousand men, and his + opponent, Meade, about ninety thousand. Both armies were composed mainly + of seasoned veterans, trained to the highest point by campaign after + campaign and battle after battle; and there was nothing to choose between + them as to the fighting power of the rank and file. The Union army was the + larger, yet most of the time it stood on the defensive; for the difference + between the generals, Lee and Meade, was greater than could be bridged by + twenty thousand men. For three days the battle raged. No other battle of + recent time has been so obstinate and so bloody. The victorious Union army + lost a greater percentage in killed and wounded than the allied armies of + England, Germany, and the Netherlands lost at Waterloo. Four of its seven + corps suffered each a greater relative loss than befell the world-renowned + British infantry on the day that saw the doom of the French emperor. The + defeated Confederates at Gettysburg lost, relatively, as many men as the + defeated French at Waterloo; but whereas the French army became a mere + rabble, Lee withdrew his formidable soldiery with their courage unbroken, + and their fighting power only diminished by their actual losses in the + field. + </p> + <p> + The decisive moment of the battle, and perhaps of the whole war, was in + the afternoon of the third day, when Lee sent forward his choicest troops + in a last effort to break the middle of the Union line. The center of the + attacking force was Pickett's division, the flower of the Virginia + infantry; but many other brigades took part in the assault, and the + column, all told, numbered over fifteen thousand men. At the same time, + the Confederates attacked the Union left to create a diversion. The attack + was preceded by a terrific cannonade, Lee gathering one hundred and + fifteen guns, and opening a fire on the center of the Union line. In + response, Hunt, the Union chief of artillery, and Tyler, of the artillery + reserves, gathered eighty guns on the crest of the gently sloping hill, + where attack was threatened. For two hours, from one till three, the + cannonade lasted, and the batteries on both sides suffered severely. In + both the Union and Confederate lines caissons were blown up by the fire, + riderless horses dashed hither and thither, the dead lay in heaps, and + throngs of wounded streamed to the rear. Every man lay down and sought + what cover he could. It was evident that the Confederate cannonade was but + a prelude to a great infantry attack, and at three o'clock Hunt ordered + the fire to stop, that the guns might cool, to be ready for the coming + assault. The Confederates thought that they had silenced the hostile + artillery, and for a few minutes their firing continued; then, suddenly, + it ceased, and there was a lull. + </p> + <p> + The men on the Union side who were not at the point directly menaced + peered anxiously across the space between the lines to watch the next + move, while the men in the divisions which it was certain were about to be + assaulted, lay hugging the ground and gripping their muskets, excited, but + confident and resolute. They saw the smoke clouds rise slowly from the + opposite crest, where the Confederate army lay, and the sunlight glinted + again on the long line of brass and iron guns which had been hidden from + view during the cannonade. In another moment, out of the lifting smoke + there appeared, beautiful and terrible, the picked thousands of the + Southern army coming on to the assault. They advanced in three lines, each + over a mile long, and in perfect order. Pickett's Virginians held the + center, with on their left the North Carolinians of Pender and Pettigrew, + and on their right the Alabama regiments of Wilcox; and there were also + Georgian and Tennessee regiments in the attacking force. Pickett's + division, however, was the only one able to press its charge home. After + leaving the woods where they started, the Confederates had nearly a mile + and a half to go in their charge. As the Virginians moved, they bent + slightly to the left, so as to leave a gap between them and the Alabamians + on the right. + </p> + <p> + The Confederate lines came on magnificently. As they crossed the + Emmetsburg Pike the eighty guns on the Union crest, now cool and in good + shape, opened upon them, first with shot and then with shell. Great gaps + were made every second in the ranks, but the gray-clad soldiers closed up + to the center, and the color-bearers leaped to the front, shaking and + waving the flags. The Union infantry reserved their fire until the + Confederates were within easy range, when the musketry crashed out with a + roar, and the big guns began to fire grape and canister. On came the + Confederates, the men falling by hundreds, the colors fluttering in front + like a little forest; for as fast as a color-bearer was shot some one else + seized the flag from his hand before it fell. The North Carolinians were + more exposed to the fire than any other portion of the attacking force, + and they were broken before they reached the line. There was a gap between + the Virginians and the Alabama troops, and this was taken advantage of by + Stannard's Vermont brigade and a demi-brigade under Gates, of the 20th New + York, who were thrust forward into it. Stannard changed front with his + regiments and fell on Pickett's forces in flank, and Gates continued the + attack. When thus struck in the flank, the Virginians could not defend + themselves, and they crowded off toward the center to avoid the pressure. + Many of them were killed or captured; many were driven back; but two of + the brigades, headed by General Armistead, forced their way forward to the + stone wall on the crest, where the Pennsylvania regiments were posted + under Gibbon and Webb. + </p> + <p> + The Union guns fired to the last moment, until of the two batteries + immediately in front of the charging Virginians every officer but one had + been struck. One of the mortally wounded officers was young Cushing, a + brother of the hero of the Albemarle fight. He was almost cut in two, but + holding his body together with one hand, with the other he fired his last + gun, and fell dead, just as Armistead, pressing forward at the head of his + men, leaped the wall, waving his hat on his sword. Immediately afterward + the battle-flags of the foremost Confederate regiments crowned the crest; + but their strength was spent. The Union troops moved forward with the + bayonet, and the remnant of Pickett's division, attacked on all sides, + either surrendered or retreated down the hill again. Armistead fell, + dying, by the body of the dead Cushing. Both Gibbon and Webb were wounded. + Of Pickett's command two thirds were killed, wounded or captured, and + every brigade commander and every field officer, save one, fell. The + Virginians tried to rally, but were broken and driven again by Gates, + while Stannard repeated, at the expense of the Alabamians, the movement he + had made against the Virginians, and, reversing his front, attacked them + in flank. Their lines were torn by the batteries in front, and they fell + back before the Vermonter's attack, and Stannard reaped a rich harvest of + prisoners and of battle-flags. + </p> + <p> + The charge was over. It was the greatest charge in any battle of modern + times, and it had failed. It would be impossible to surpass the gallantry + of those that made it, or the gallantry of those that withstood it. Had + there been in command of the Union army a general like Grant, it would + have been followed by a counter-charge, and in all probability the war + would have been shortened by nearly two years; but no countercharge was + made. + </p> + <p> + As the afternoon waned, a fierce cavalry fight took place on the Union + right. Stuart, the famous Confederate cavalry commander, had moved forward + to turn the Union right, but he was met by Gregg's cavalry, and there + followed a contest, at close quarters, with "the white arm." It closed + with a desperate melee, in which the Confederates, charged under Generals + Wade Hampton and Fitz Lee, were met in mid career by the Union generals + Custer and McIntosh. All four fought, saber in hand, at the head of their + troopers, and every man on each side was put into the struggle. Custer, + his yellow hair flowing, his face aflame with the eager joy of battle, was + in the thick of the fight, rising in his stirrups as he called to his + famous Michigan swordsmen: "Come on, you Wolverines, come on!" All that + the Union infantry, watching eagerly from their lines, could see, was a + vast dust-cloud where flakes of light shimmered as the sun shone upon the + swinging sabers. At last the Confederate horsemen were beaten back, and + they did not come forward again or seek to renew the combat; for Pickett's + charge had failed, and there was no longer hope of Confederate victory. + </p> + <p> + When night fell, the Union flags waved in triumph on the field of + Gettysburg; but over thirty thousand men lay dead or wounded, strewn + through wood and meadow, on field and hill, where the three days' fight + had surged. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GENERAL GRANT AND THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + What flag is this you carry + Along the sea and shore? + The same our grandsires lifted up— + The same our fathers bore. + In many a battle's tempest + It shed the crimson rain— + What God has woven in his loom + Let no man rend in twain. + To Canaan, to Canaan, + The Lord has led us forth, + To plant upon the rebel towers + The banners of the North. + —Holmes. +</pre> + <p> + On January 29, 1863, General Grant took command of the army intended to + operate against Vicksburg, the last place held by the rebels on the + Mississippi, and the only point at which they could cross the river and + keep up communication with their armies and territory in the southwest. It + was the first high ground below Memphis, was very strongly fortified, and + was held by a large army under General Pemberton. The complete possession + of the Mississippi was absolutely essential to the National Government, + because the control of that great river would cut the Confederacy in two, + and do more, probably, than anything else, to make the overthrow of the + Rebellion both speedy and certain. + </p> + <p> + The natural way to invest and capture so strong a place, defended and + fortified as Vicksburg was, would have been, if the axioms of the art of + war had been adhered to, by a system of gradual approaches. A strong base + should have been established at Memphis, and then the army and the fleet + moved gradually forward, building storehouses and taking strong positions + as they went. To do this, however, it first would have been necessary to + withdraw the army from the positions it then held not far above Vicksburg, + on the western bank of the river. But such a movement, at that time, would + not have been understood by the country, and would have had a discouraging + effect on the public mind, which it was most essential to avoid. The + elections of 1862 had gone against the government, and there was great + discouragement throughout the North. Voluntary enlistments had fallen off, + a draft had been ordered, and the peace party was apparently gaining + rapidly in strength. General Grant, looking at this grave political + situation with the eye of a statesman, decided, as a soldier, that under + no circumstances would he withdraw the army, but that, whatever happened, + he would "press forward to a decisive victory." In this determination he + never faltered, but drove straight at his object until, five months later, + the great Mississippi stronghold fell before him. + </p> + <p> + Efforts were made through the winter to reach Vicksburg from the north by + cutting canals, and by attempts to get in through the bayous and tributary + streams of the great river. All these expedients failed, however, one + after another, as Grant, from the beginning, had feared that they would. + He, therefore, took another and widely different line, and determined to + cross the river from the western to the eastern bank below Vicksburg, to + the south. With the aid of the fleet, which ran the batteries + successfully, he moved his army down the west bank until he reached a + point beyond the possibility of attack, while a diversion by Sherman at + Haines' Bluff, above Vicksburg, kept Pemberton in his fortifications. On + April 26, Grant began to move his men over the river and landed them at + Bruinsburg. "When this was effected," he writes, "I felt a degree of + relief scarcely ever equaled since. Vicksburg was not yet taken, it is + true, nor were its defenders demoralized by any of our previous movements. + I was now in the enemy's country, with a vast river and the stronghold of + Vicksburg between me and my base of supplies, but I was on dry ground, on + the same side of the river with the enemy." + </p> + <p> + The situation was this: The enemy had about sixty thousand men at + Vicksburg, Haines' Bluff, and at Jackson, Mississippi, about fifty miles + east of Vicksburg. Grant, when he started, had about thirty-three thousand + men. It was absolutely necessary for success that Grant, with inferior + numbers, should succeed in destroying the smaller forces to the eastward, + and thus prevent their union with Pemberton and the main army at + Vicksburg. His plan, in brief; was to fight and defeat a superior enemy + separately and in detail. He lost no time in putting his plan into action, + and pressing forward quickly, met a detachment of the enemy at Port Gibson + and defeated them. Thence he marched to Grand Gulf, on the Mississippi, + which he took, and which he had planned to make a base of supply. When he + reached Grand Gulf, however, he found that he would be obliged to wait a + month, in order to obtain the reinforcements which he expected from + General Banks at Port Hudson. He, therefore, gave up the idea of making + Grand Gulf a base, and Sherman having now joined him with his corps, Grant + struck at once into the interior. He took nothing with him except + ammunition, and his army was in the lightest marching order. This enabled + him to move with great rapidity, but deprived him of his wagon trains, and + of all munitions of war except cartridges. Everything, however, in this + campaign, depended on quickness, and Grant's decision, as well as all his + movements, marked the genius of the great soldier, which consists very + largely in knowing just when to abandon the accepted military axioms. + </p> + <p> + Pressing forward, Grant met the enemy, numbering between seven and eight + thousand, at Raymond, and readily defeated them. He then marched on toward + Jackson, fighting another action at Clinton, and at Jackson he struck + General Joseph Johnston, who had arrived at that point to take command of + all the rebel forces. Johnston had with him, at the moment, about eleven + thousand men, and stood his ground. There was a sharp fight, but Grant + easily defeated the enemy, and took possession of the town. This was an + important point, for Jackson was the capital of the State of Mississippi, + and was a base of military supplies. Grant destroyed the factories and the + munitions of war which were gathered there, and also came into possession + of the line of railroad which ran from Jackson to Vicksburg. While he was + thus engaged, an intercepted message revealed to him the fact that + Pemberton, in accordance with Johnston's orders, had come out of Vicksburg + with twenty-five thousand men, and was moving eastward against him. + Pemberton, however, instead of holding a straight line against Grant, + turned at first to the south, with the view of breaking the latter's line + of communication. This was not a success, for, as Grant says, with grim + humor, "I had no line of communication to break"; and, moreover, it + delayed Pemberton when delay was of value to Grant in finishing Johnston. + After this useless turn to the southward Pemberton resumed his march to + the east, as he should have done in the beginning, in accordance with + Johnston's orders; but Grant was now more than ready. He did not wait the + coming of Pemberton. Leaving Jackson as soon as he heard of the enemy's + advance from Vicksburg, he marched rapidly westward and struck Pemberton + at Champion Hills. The forces were at this time very nearly matched, and + the severest battle of the campaign ensued, lasting four hours. Grant, + however, defeated Pemberton completely, and came very near capturing his + entire force. With a broken army, Pemberton fell back on Vicksburg. Grant + pursued without a moment's delay, and came up with the rear guard at Big + Black River. A sharp engagement followed, and the Confederates were again + defeated. Grant then crossed the Big Black and the next day was before + Vicksburg, with his enemy inside the works. + </p> + <p> + When Grant crossed the Mississippi at Bruinsburg and struck into the + interior, he, of course, passed out of communication with Washington, and + he did not hear from there again until May 11, when, just as his troops + were engaging in the battle of Black River Bridge, an officer appeared + from Port Hudson with an order from General Halleck to return to Grand + Gulf and thence cooperate with Banks against Port Hudson. Grant replied + that the order came too late. "The bearer of the despatch insisted that I + ought to obey the order, and was giving arguments to support the position, + when I heard a great cheering to the right of our line, and looking in + that direction, saw Lawler, in his shirt-sleeves, leading a charge on the + enemy. I immediately mounted my horse and rode in the direction of the + charge, and saw no more of the officer who had delivered the message; I + think not even to this day." When Grant reached Vicksburg, there was no + further talk of recalling him to Grand Gulf or Port Hudson. The + authorities at Washington then saw plainly enough what had been done in + the interior of Mississippi, far from the reach of telegraphs or mail. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the National troops reached Vicksburg an assault was attempted, + but the place was too strong, and the attack was repulsed, with heavy + loss. Grant then settled down to a siege, and Lincoln and Halleck now sent + him ample reinforcements. He no longer needed to ask for them. His + campaign had explained itself, and in a short time he had seventy thousand + men under his command. His lines were soon made so strong that it was + impossible for the defenders of Vicksburg to break through them, and + although Johnston had gathered troops again to the eastward, an assault + from that quarter on the National army, now so largely reinforced, was + practically out of the question. Tighter and tighter Grant drew his lines + about the city, where, every day, the suffering became more intense. It is + not necessary to give the details of the siege. On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg + surrendered, the Mississippi was in control of the National forces from + its source to its mouth, and the Confederacy was rent in twain. On the + same day Lee was beaten at Gettysburg, and these two great victories + really crushed the Rebellion, although much hard fighting remained to be + done before the end was reached. + </p> + <p> + Grant's campaign against Vicksburg deserves to be compared with that of + Napoleon which resulted in the fall of Ulm. It was the most brilliant + single campaign of the war. With an inferior force, and abandoning his + lines of communication, moving with a marvelous rapidity through a + difficult country, Grant struck the superior forces of the enemy on the + line from Jackson to Vicksburg. He crushed Johnston before Pemberton could + get to him, and he flung Pemberton back into Vicksburg before Johnston + could rally from the defeat which had been inflicted. With an inferior + force, Grant was superior at every point of contest, and he won every + fight. Measured by the skill displayed and the result achieved, there is + no campaign in our history which better deserves study and admiration. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ROBERT GOULD SHAW + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Brave, good, and true, + I see him stand before me now, + And read again on that young brow, + Where every hope was new, + HOW SWEET WERE LIFE! Yet, by the mouth firm-set, + And look made up for Duty's utmost debt, + I could divine he knew + That death within the sulphurous hostile lines, + In the mere wreck of nobly-pitched designs, + Plucks hearts-ease, and not rue. + + Right in the van, + On the red ramparts slippery swell, + With heart that beat a charge, he fell, + Foeward, as fits a man; + But the high soul burns on to light men's feet + Where death for noble ends makes dying sweet; + His life her crescent's span + Orbs full with share in their undarkening days + Who ever climbed the battailous steeps of praise + Since valor's praise began. + + We bide our chance, + Unhappy, and make terms with Fate + A little more to let us wait; + He leads for aye the advance, + Hope's forlorn-hopes that plant the desperate good + For nobler Earths and days of manlier mood; + Our wall of circumstance + Cleared at a bound, he flashes o'er the fight, + A saintly shape of fame, to cheer the right + And steel each wavering glance. + + I write of one, + While with dim eyes I think of three; + Who weeps not others fair and brave as he? + Ah, when the fight is won, + Dear Land, whom triflers now make bold to scorn + (Thee from whose forehead Earth awaits her morn), + How nobler shall the sun + Flame in thy sky, how braver breathe thy air, + That thou bred'st children who for thee could dare + And die as thine have done. + —Lowell. +</pre> + <p> + Robert Gould Shaw was born in Boston on October 10, 1837, the son of + Francis and Sarah Sturgis Shaw. When he was about nine years old, his + parents moved to Staten Island, and he was educated there, and at school + in the neighborhood of New York, until he went to Europe in 1853, where he + remained traveling and studying for the next three years. He entered + Harvard College in 1856, and left at the end of his third year, in order + to accept an advantageous business offer in New York. + </p> + <p> + Even as a boy he took much interest in politics, and especially in the + question of slavery. He voted for Lincoln in 1860, and at that time + enlisted as a private in the New York 7th Regiment, feeling that there was + likelihood of trouble, and that there would be a demand for soldiers to + defend the country. His foresight was justified only too soon, and on + April 19, 1861, he marched with his regiment to Washington. The call for + the 7th Regiment was only for thirty days, and at the expiration of that + service he applied for and obtained a commission as second lieutenant in + the 2d Massachusetts, and left with that regiment for Virginia in July, + 1861. He threw himself eagerly into his new duties, and soon gained a good + position in the regiment. At Cedar Mountain he was an aid on General + Gordon's staff, and was greatly exposed in the performance of his duties + during the action. He was also with his regiment at Antietam, and was in + the midst of the heavy fighting of that great battle. + </p> + <p> + Early in 1863, the Government determined to form negro regiments, and + Governor Andrew offered Shaw, who had now risen to the rank of captain, + the colonelcy of one to be raised in Massachusetts, the first black + regiment recruited under State authority. It was a great compliment to + receive this offer, but Shaw hesitated as to his capacity for such a + responsible post. He first wrote a letter declining, on the ground that he + did not feel that he had ability enough for the undertaking, and then + changed his mind, and telegraphed Governor Andrew that he would accept. It + is not easy to realize it now, but his action then in accepting this + command required high moral courage, of a kind quite different from that + which he had displayed already on the field of battle. The prejudice + against the blacks was still strong even in the North. There was a great + deal of feeling among certain classes against enlisting black regiments at + all, and the officers who undertook to recruit and lead negroes were. + exposed to much attack and criticism. Shaw felt, however, that this very + opposition made it all the more incumbent on him to undertake the duty. He + wrote on February 8: + </p> + <p> + After I have undertaken this work, I shall feel that what I have to do is + to prove that the negro can be made a good soldier... . I am inclined to + think that the undertaking will not meet with so much opposition as was at + first supposed. All sensible men in the army, of all parties, after a + little thought, say that it is the best thing that can be done, and surely + those at home who are not brave or patriotic enough to enlist should not + ridicule or throw obstacles in the way of men who are going to fight for + them. There is a great prejudice against it, but now that it has become a + government matter, that will probably wear away. At any rate I sha'n't be + frightened out of it by its unpopularity. I feel convinced I shall never + regret having taken this step, as far as I myself am concerned; for while + I was undecided, I felt ashamed of myself as if I were cowardly. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Shaw went at once to Boston, after accepting his new duty, and + began the work of raising and drilling the 54th Regiment. He met with + great success, for he and his officers labored heart and soul, and the + regiment repaid their efforts. On March 30, he wrote: "The mustering + officer who was here to-day is a Virginian, and has always thought it was + a great joke to try to make soldiers of 'niggers,' but he tells me now + that he has never mustered in so fine a set of men, though about twenty + thousand had passed through his hands since September." On May 28, Colonel + Shaw left Boston, and his march through the city was a triumph. The + appearance of his regiment made a profound impression, and was one of the + events of the war which those who saw it never forgot. + </p> + <p> + The regiment was ordered to South Carolina, and when they were off Cape + Hatteras, Colonel Shaw wrote: + </p> + <p> + The more I think of the passage of the 54th through Boston, the more + wonderful it seems to me just remember our own doubts and fears, and other + people's sneering and pitying remarks when we began last winter, and then + look at the perfect triumph of last Thursday. We have gone quietly along, + forming the first regiment, and at last left Boston amidst greater + enthusiasm than has been seen since the first three months' troops left + for the war. Truly, I ought to be thankful for all my happiness and my + success in life so far; and if the raising of colored troops prove such a + benefit to the country and to the blacks as many people think it will, I + shall thank God a thousand times that I was led to take my share in it. + </p> + <p> + He had, indeed, taken his share in striking one of the most fatal blows to + the barbarism of slavery which had yet been struck. The formation of the + black regiments did more for the emancipation of the negro and the + recognition of his rights, than almost anything else. It was impossible, + after that, to say that men who fought and gave their lives for the Union + and for their own freedom were not entitled to be free. The acceptance of + the command of a black regiment by such men as Shaw and his + fellow-officers was the great act which made all this possible. + </p> + <p> + After reaching South Carolina, Colonel Shaw was with his regiment at Port + Royal and on the islands of that coast for rather more than a month, and + on July 18 he was offered the post of honor in an assault upon Fort + Wagner, which was ordered for that night. He had proved that the negroes + could be made into a good regiment, and now the second great opportunity + had come, to prove their fighting quality. He wanted to demonstrate that + his men could fight side by side with white soldiers, and show to somebody + beside their officers what stuff they were made of. He, therefore, + accepted the dangerous duty with gladness. Late in the day the troops were + marched across Folly and Morris islands and formed in line of battle + within six hundred yards of Fort Wagner. At half-past seven the order for + the charge was given, and the regiment advanced. When they were within a + hundred yards of the fort, the rebel fire opened with such effect that the + first battalion hesitated and wavered. Colonel Shaw sprang to the front, + and waving his sword, shouted: "Forward, 54th!" With another cheer, the + men rushed through the ditch, and gained a parapet on the right. Colonel + Shaw was one of the first to scale the walls. As he stood erect, a noble + figure, ordering his men forward and shouting to them to press on, he was + shot dead and fell into the fort. After his fall, the assault was + repulsed. + </p> + <p> + General Haywood, commanding the rebel forces, said to a Union prisoner: "I + knew Colonel Shaw before the war, and then esteemed him. Had he been in + command of white troops, I should have given him an honorable burial. As + it is, I shall bury him in the common trench, with the negroes that fell + with him." He little knew that he was giving the dead soldier the most + honorable burial that man could have devised, for the savage words told + unmistakably that Robert Shaw's work had not been in vain. The order to + bury him with his "niggers," which ran through the North and remained + fixed in our history, showed, in a flash of light, the hideous barbarism + of a system which made such things and such feelings possible. It also + showed that slavery was wounded to the death, and that the brutal phrase + was the angry snarl of a dying tiger. Such words rank with the action of + Charles Stuart, when he had the bones of Oliver Cromwell and Robert Blake + torn from their graves and flung on dunghills or fixed on Temple Bar. + </p> + <p> + Robert Shaw fell in battle at the head of his men, giving his life to his + country, as did many another gallant man during those four years of + conflict. But he did something more than this. He faced prejudice and + hostility in the North, and confronted the blind and savage rage of the + South, in order to demonstrate to the world that the human beings who were + held in bondage could vindicate their right to freedom by fighting and + dying for it. He helped mightily in the great task of destroying human + slavery, and in uplifting an oppressed and down-trodden race. He brought + to this work the qualities which were particularly essential for his + success. He had all that birth and wealth, breeding, education, and + tradition could give. He offered up, in full measure, all those things + which make life most worth living. He was handsome and beloved. He had a + serene and beautiful nature, and was at once brave and simple. Above all + things, he was fitted for the task which he performed and for the + sacrifice which he made. The call of the country and of the time came to + him, and he was ready. He has been singled out for remembrance from among + many others of equal sacrifice, and a monument is rising to his memory in + Boston, because it was his peculiar fortune to live and die for a great + principle of humanity, and to stand forth as an ideal and beautiful figure + in a struggle where the onward march of civilization was at stake. He + lived in those few and crowded years a heroic life, and he met a heroic + death. When he fell, sword in hand, on the parapet of Wagner, leading his + black troops in a desperate assault, we can only say of him as Bunyan said + of "Valiant for Truth": "And then he passed over, and all the trumpets + sounded for him on the other side." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHARLES RUSSELL LOWELL + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Wut's wurds to them whose faith an' truth + On war's red techstone rang true metal, + Who ventered life an' love an, youth + For the gret prize o' death in battle? + + To him who, deadly hurt, agen + Flashed on afore the charge's thunder, + Tippin' with fire the bolt of men + Thet rived the rebel line asunder? + —Lowell. +</pre> + <p> + Charles Russell Lowell was born in Boston, January 2, 1835. He was the + eldest son of Charles Russell and Anna Cabot (Jackson) Lowell, and the + nephew of James Russell Lowell. He bore the name, distinguished in many + branches, of a family which was of the best New England stock. Educated in + the Boston public schools, he entered Harvard College in 1850. Although + one of the youngest members of his class, he went rapidly to the front, + and graduated not only the first scholar of his year, but the foremost man + of his class. He was, however, much more than a fine scholar, for even + then he showed unusual intellectual qualities. He read widely and loved + letters. He was a student of philosophy and religion, a thinker, and, best + of all, a man of ideals—"the glory of youth," as he called them in + his valedictory oration. But he was something still better and finer than + a mere idealist; he was a man of action, eager to put his ideals into + practice and bring them to the test of daily life. With his mind full of + plans for raising the condition of workingmen while he made his own + career, he entered the iron mills of the Ames Company, at Chicopee. Here + he remained as a workingman for six months, and then received an important + post in the Trenton Iron Works of New Jersey. There his health broke down. + Consumption threatened him, and all his bright hopes and ambitions were + overcast and checked. He was obliged to leave his business and go to + Europe, where he traveled for two years, fighting the dread disease that + was upon him. In 1858 he returned, and took a position on a Western + railroad. Although the work was new to him, he manifested the same + capacity that he had always shown, and more especially his power over + other men and his ability in organization. In two years his health was + reestablished, and in 1860 he took charge of the Mount Savage Iron Works, + at Cumberland, Maryland. He was there when news came of the attack made by + the mob upon the 6th Massachusetts Regiment, in Baltimore. Two days later + he had made his way to Washington, one of the first comers from the North, + and at once applied for a commission in the regular army. While he was + waiting, he employed himself in looking after the Massachusetts troops, + and also, it is understood, as a scout for the Government, dangerous work + which suited his bold and adventurous nature. + </p> + <p> + In May he received his commission as captain in the United States cavalry. + Employed at first in recruiting and then in drill, he gave himself up to + the study of tactics and the science of war. The career above all others + to which he was suited had come to him. The field, at last, lay open + before him, where all his great qualities of mind and heart, his high + courage, his power of leadership and of organization, and his intellectual + powers could find full play. He moved rapidly forward, just as he had + already done in college and in business. His regiment, in 1862, was under + Stoneman in the Peninsula, and was engaged in many actions, where Lowell's + cool bravery made him constantly conspicuous. At the close of the campaign + he was brevetted major, for distinguished services at Williamsburg and + Slatersville. + </p> + <p> + In July, Lowell was detailed for duty as an aid to General McClellan. At + Malvern Hill and South Mountain his gallantry and efficiency were strongly + shown, but it was at Antietam that he distinguished himself most. Sent + with orders to General Sedgwick's division, he found it retreating in + confusion, under a hot fire. He did not stop to think of orders, but rode + rapidly from point to point of the line, rallying company after company by + the mere force and power of his word and look, checking the rout, while + the storm of bullets swept all round him. His horse was shot under him, a + ball passed through his coat, another broke his sword-hilt, but he came + off unscathed, and his service was recognized by his being sent to + Washington with the captured flags of the enemy. + </p> + <p> + The following winter he was ordered to Boston, to recruit a regiment of + cavalry, of which he was appointed colonel. While the recruiting was going + on, a serious mutiny broke out, but the man who, like Cromwell's soldiers, + "rejoiced greatly" in the day of battle was entirely capable of meeting + this different trial. He shot the ringleader dead, and by the force of his + own strong will quelled the outbreak completely and at once. + </p> + <p> + In May, he went to Virginia with his regiment, where he was engaged in + resisting and following Mosby, and the following summer he was opposed to + General Early in the neighborhood of Washington. On July 14, when on a + reconnoissance his advance guard was surprised, and he met them retreating + in wild confusion, with the enemy at their heels. Riding into the midst of + the fugitives, Lowell shouted, "Dismount!" The sharp word of command, the + presence of the man himself, and the magic of discipline prevailed. The + men sprang down, drew up in line, received the enemy, with a heavy fire, + and as the assailants wavered, Lowell advanced at once, and saved the day. + </p> + <p> + In July, he was put in command of the "Provisional Brigade," and joined + the army of the Shenandoah, of which in August General Sheridan took + command. He was so struck with Lowell's work during the next month that in + September he put him in command of the "Reserved Brigade," a very fine + body of cavalry and artillery. In the fierce and continuous fighting that + ensued Lowell was everywhere conspicuous, and in thirteen weeks he had as + many horses shot under him. But he now had scope to show more than the + dashing gallantry which distinguished him always and everywhere. His + genuine military ability, which surely would have led him to the front + rank of soldiers had his life been spared, his knowledge, vigilance, and + nerve all now became apparent. One brilliant action succeeded another, but + the end was drawing near. It came at last on the famous day of Cedar + Creek, when Sheridan rode down from Winchester and saved the battle. + Lowell had advanced early in the morning on the right, and his attack + prevented the disaster on that wing which fell upon the surprised army. He + then moved to cover the retreat, and around to the extreme left, where he + held his position near Middletown against repeated assaults. Early in the + day his last horse was shot under him, and a little later, in a charge at + one o'clock, he was struck in the right breast by a spent ball, which + embedded itself in the muscles of the chest. Voice and strength left him. + "It is only my poor lung," he announced, as they urged him to go to the + rear; "you would not have me leave the field without having shed blood." + As a matter of fact, the "poor" lung had collapsed, and there was an + internal hemorrhage. He lay thus, under a rude shelter, for an hour and a + half, and then came the order to advance along the whole line, the + victorious advance of Sheridan and the rallied army. Lowell was helped to + his saddle. "I feel well now," he whispered, and, giving his orders + through one of his staff, had his brigade ready first. Leading the great + charge, he dashed forward, and, just when the fight was hottest, a sudden + cry went up: "The colonel is hit!" He fell from the saddle, struck in the + neck by a ball which severed the spine, and was borne by his officers to a + house in the village, where, clear in mind and calm in spirit, he died a + few hours afterward. + </p> + <p> + "I do not think there was a quality," said General Sheridan, "which I + could have added to Lowell. He was the perfection of a man and a soldier." + On October 19, the very day on which he fell, his commission was signed to + be a brigadier-general. + </p> + <p> + This was a noble life and a noble death, worthy of much thought and + admiration from all men. Yet this is not all. It is well for us to see how + such a man looked upon what he was doing, and what it meant to him. Lowell + was one of the silent heroes so much commended by Carlyle. He never wrote + of himself or his own exploits. As some one well said, he had "the + impersonality of genius." But in a few remarkable passages in his private + letters, we can see how the meaning of life and of that great time + unrolled itself before his inner eyes. In June, 1861, he wrote: + </p> + <p> + I cannot say I take any great pleasure in the contemplation of the future. + I fancy you feel much as I do about the profitableness of a soldier's + life, and would not think of trying it, were it not for a muddled and + twisted idea that somehow or other this fight was going to be one in which + decent men ought to engage for the sake of humanity,—I use the word + in its ordinary sense. It seems to me that within a year the slavery + question will again take a prominent place, and that many cases will arise + in which we may get fearfully in the wrong if we put our cause wholly in + the hands of fighting men and foreign legions. + </p> + <p> + In June, 1863, he wrote: + </p> + <p> + I wonder whether my theories about self-culture, etc., would ever have + been modified so much, whether I should ever have seen what a necessary + failure they lead to, had it not been for this war. Now I feel every day, + more and more, that a man has no right to himself at all; that, indeed, he + can do nothing useful unless he recognizes this clearly. Here again, on + July 3, is a sentence which it is well to take to heart, and for all men + to remember when their ears are deafened with the cry that war, no matter + what the cause, is the worst thing possible, because it interferes with + comfort, trade, and money-making: "Wars are bad," Lowell writes, "but + there are many things far worse. Anything immediately comfortable in our + affairs I don't see; but comfortable times are not the ones t hat make a + nation great." On July 24, he says: + </p> + <p> + Many nations fail, that one may become great; ours will fail, unless we + gird up our loins and do humble and honest days' work, without trying to + do the thing by the job, or to get a great nation made by a patent + process. It is not safe to say that we shall not have victories till we + are ready for them. We shall have victories, and whether or no we are + ready for them depends upon ourselves; if we are not ready, we shall fail,—voila + tout. If you ask, what if we do fail? I have nothing to say; I shouldn't + cry over a nation or two, more or less, gone under. + </p> + <p> + Finally, on September 10, a little more than a month before his death, he + wrote to a disabled officer: + </p> + <p> + I hope that you are going to live like a plain republican, mindful of the + beauty and of the duty of simplicity. Nothing fancy now, sir, if you + please; it's disreputable to spend money when the government is so hard + up, and when there are so many poor officers. I hope that you have + outgrown all foolish ambitions, and are now content to become a "useful + citizen." Don't grow rich; if you once begin, you will find it much more + difficult to be a useful citizen. Don't seek office, but don't + "disremember" that the "useful citizen" always holds his time, his + trouble, his money, and his life ready at the hint of his country. The + useful citizen is a mighty, unpretending hero; but we are not going to + have any country very long, unless such heroism is developed. There, what + a stale sermon I'm preaching. But, being a soldier, it does seem to me + that I should like nothing so well as being a useful citizen. Well, trying + to be one, I mean. I shall stay in the service, of course, till the war is + over, or till I'm disabled; but then I look forward to a pleasanter + career. + </p> + <p> + I believe I have lost all my ambitions. I don't think I would turn my hand + to be a distinguished chemist or a famous mathematician. All I now care + about is to be a useful citizen, with money enough to buy bread and + firewood, and to teach my children to ride on horseback, and look + strangers in the face, especially Southern strangers. + </p> + <p> + There are profound and lofty lessons of patriotism and conduct in these + passages, and a very noble philosophy of life and duty both as a man and + as a citizen of a great republic. They throw a flood of light on the great + underlying forces which enabled the American people to save themselves in + that time of storm and stress. They are the utterances of a very young + man, not thirty years old when he died in battle, but much beyond thirty + in head and heart, tried and taught as he had been in a great war. What + precisely such young men thought they were fighting for is put strikingly + by Lowell's younger brother James, who was killed at Glendale, July 4, + 1862. In 1861, James Lowell wrote to his classmates, who had given him a + sword: + </p> + <p> + Those who died for the cause, not of the Constitution and the laws,—a + superficial cause, the rebels have now the same,—but of civilization + and law, and the self-restrained freedom which is their result. As the + Greeks at Marathon and Salamis, Charles Martel and the Franks at Tours, + and the Germans at the Danube, saved Europe from Asiatic barbarism, so we, + at places to be famous in future times, shall have saved America from a + similar tide of barbarism; and we may hope to be purified and strengthened + ourselves by the struggle. + </p> + <p> + This is a remarkable passage and a deep thought. Coming from a young + fellow of twenty-four, it is amazing. But the fiery trial of the times + taught fiercely and fast, and James Lowell, just out of college, could see + in the red light around him that not merely the freedom of a race and the + saving of a nation were at stake, but that behind all this was the forward + movement of civilization, brought once again to the arbitrament of the + sword. Slavery was barbarous and barbarizing. It had dragged down the + civilization of the South to a level from which it would take generations + to rise up again. Was this barbarous force now to prevail in the United + States in the nineteenth century? Was it to destroy a great nation, and + fetter human progress in the New World? That was the great question back + of, beyond and above all. Should this force of barbarism sweep conquering + over the land, wrecking an empire in its onward march, or should it be + flung back as Miltiades flung back Asia at Marathon, and Charles Martel + stayed the coming of Islam at Tours? The brilliant career, the shining + courage, best seen always where the dead were lying thickest, the heroic + death of Charles Lowell, are good for us all to know and to remember. Yet + this imperfect story of his life has not been placed here for these things + alone. Many thousand others, officers and soldiers alike, in the great + Civil War gave their lives as freely as he, and brought to the service of + their country the best that was in them. He was a fine example of many + who, like him, offered up all they had for their country. But Lowell was + also something more than this. He was a high type of a class, and a proof + of certain very important things, and this is a point worthy of much + consideration. + </p> + <p> + The name of John Hampden stands out in the history of the English-speaking + people, admired and unquestioned. He was neither a great statesman, nor a + great soldier; he was not a brilliant orator, nor a famous writer. He fell + bravely in an unimportant skirmish at Chalgrove Field, fighting for + freedom and what he believed to be right. Yet he fills a great place in + the past, both for what he did and what he was, and the reason for this is + of high importance. John Hampden was a gentleman, with all the advantages + that the accidents of birth could give. He was rich, educated, well born, + of high traditions. English civilization of that day could produce nothing + better. The memorable fact is that, when the time came for the test, he + did not fail. He was a type of what was best among the English people, and + when the call sounded, he was ready. He was brave, honest, high-minded, + and he gave all, even his life, to his country. In the hour of need, the + representative of what was best and most fortunate in England was put to + the touch, and proved to be current gold. All men knew what that meant, + and Hampden's memory is one of the glories of the English-speaking people. + </p> + <p> + Charles Lowell has the same meaning for us when rightly understood. He had + all that birth, breeding, education, and tradition could give. The + resources of our American life and civilization could produce nothing + better. How would he and such men as he stand the great ordeal when it + came? If wealth, education, and breeding were to result in a class who + could only carp and criticize, accumulate money, give way to + self-indulgence, and cherish low foreign ideals, then would it have + appeared that there was a radical unsoundness in our society, refinement + would have been proved to be weakness, and the highest education would + have been shown to be a curse, rather than a blessing. But Charles Lowell, + and hundreds of others like him, in greater or less degree, all over the + land, met the great test and emerged triumphant. The Harvard men may be + taken as fairly representing the colleges and universities of America. + Harvard had, in 1860, 4157 living graduates, and 823 students, presumably + over eighteen years old. Probably 3000 of her students and graduates were + of military age, and not physically disqualified for military service. Of + this number, 1230 entered the Union army or navy. One hundred and + fifty-six died in service, and 67 were killed in action. Many did not go + who might have gone, unquestionably, but the record is a noble one. Nearly + one man of every two Harvard men came forward to serve his country when + war was at our gates, and this proportion holds true, no doubt, of the + other universities of the North. It is well for the country, well for + learning, well for our civilization, that such a record was made at such a + time. Charles Lowell, and those like him, showed, once for all, that the + men to whom fortune had been kindest were capable of the noblest + patriotism, and shrank from no sacrifices. They taught the lesson which + can never be heard too often—that the man to whom the accidents of + birth and fortune have given most is the man who owes most to his country. + If patriotism should exist anywhere, it should be strongest with such men + as these, and their service should be ever ready. How nobly Charles Lowell + in this spirit answered the great question, his life and death, alike + victorious, show to all men. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SHERIDAN AT CEDAR CREEK + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Inspired repulsed battalions to engage, + And taught the doubtful battle where to rage. + —Addison. +</pre> + <p> + General Sheridan took command of the Army of the Shenandoah in August, + 1864. His coming was the signal for aggressive fighting, and for a series + of brilliant victories over the rebel army. He defeated Early at + Winchester and again at Fisher's Hill, while General Torbert whipped + Rosser in a subsequent action, where the rout of the rebels was so + complete that the fight was known as the "Woodstock races." Sheridan's + plan after this was to terminate his campaign north of Staunton, and, + returning thence, to desolate the Valley, so as to make it untenable for + the Confederates, as well as useless as a granary or storehouse, and then + move the bulk of his army through Washington, and unite them with General + Grant in front of Petersburg. Grant, however, and the authorities at + Washington, were in favor of Sheridan's driving Early into Eastern + Virginia, and following up that line, which Sheri dan himself believed to + be a false move. This important matter was in debate until October 16, + when Sheridan, having left the main body of his army at Cedar Creek under + General Wright, determined to go to Washington, and discuss the question + personally with General Halleck and the Secretary of War. He reached + Washington on the morning of the 17th about eight o'clock, left there at + twelve; and got back to Martinsburg the same night about dark. At + Martinsburg he spent the night, and the next day, with his escort, rode to + Winchester, reaching that point between three and four o'clock in the + afternoon of the 18th. He there heard that all was quiet at Cedar Creek + and along the front, and went to bed, expecting to reach his headquarters + and join the army the next day. + </p> + <p> + About six o'clock, on the morning of the 19th, it was reported to him that + artillery firing could be heard in the direction of Cedar Creek, but as + the sound was stated to be irregular and fitful, he thought it only a + skirmish. He, nevertheless, arose at once, and had just finished dressing + when another officer came in, and reported that the firing was still going + on in the same direction, but that it did not sound like a general battle. + Still Sheridan was uneasy, and, after breakfasting, mounted his horse + between eight and nine o'clock, and rode slowly through Winchester. When + he reached the edge of the town he halted a moment, and then heard the + firing of artillery in an unceasing roar. He now felt confident that a + general battle was in progress, and, as he rode forward, he was convinced, + from the rapid increase of the sound, that his army was failing back. + After he had crossed Mill Creek, just outside Winchester, and made the + crest of the rise beyond the stream, there burst upon his view the + spectacle of a panic-stricken army. Hundreds of slightly wounded men, with + hundreds more unhurt, but demoralized, together with baggage wagons and + trains, were all pressing to the rear, in hopeless confusion. + </p> + <p> + There was no doubt now that a disaster had occurred at the front. A + fugitive told Sheridan that the army was broken and in full retreat, and + that all was lost. Sheridan at once sent word to Colonel Edwards, + commanding a brigade at Winchester, to stretch his troops across the + valley, and stop all fugitives. His first idea was to make a stand there, + but, as he rode along, a different plan flashed into his mind. He believed + that his troops had great confidence in him, and he determined to try to + restore their broken ranks, and, instead of merely holding the ground at + Winchester, to rally his army, and lead them forward again to Cedar Creek. + He had hardly made up his mind to this course, when news was brought to + him that his headquarters at Cedar Creek were captured, and the troops + dispersed. He started at once, with about twenty men as an escort, and + rode rapidly to the front. As he passed along, the unhurt men, who thickly + lined the road, recognized him, and, as they did so, threw up their hats, + shouldered their muskets, and followed him as fast as they could on foot. + His officers rode out on either side to tell the stragglers that the + general had returned, and, as the news spread the retreating men in every + direction rallied, and turned their faces toward the battle-field they had + left. + </p> + <p> + In his memoirs, Sheridan says, in speaking of his ride through the + retreating troops: "I said nothing, except to remark, as I rode among them + 'If I had been with you this morning, this disaster would not have + happened. We must face the other way. We will go back and recover our + camp.'" Thus he galloped on over the twenty miles, with the men rallying + behind him, and following him in ever increasing numbers. As he went by, + the panic of retreat was replaced by the ardor of battle. Sheridan had not + overestimate the power of enthusiasm or his own ability to rouse it to + fighting pitch. He pressed steadily on to the front, until at last he came + up to Getty's division of the 6th Corps, which, with the cavalry, were the + only troops who held their line and were resisting the enemy. Getty's + division was about a mile north of Middletown on some slightly rising + ground, and were skirmishing with the enemy's pickets. Jumping a rail + fence, Sheridan rode to the crest of the hill, and, as he took off his + hat, the men rose up from behind the barricades with cheers of + recognition. + </p> + <p> + It is impossible to follow in detail Sheridan's actions from that moment, + but he first brought up the 19th Corps and the two divisions of Wright to + the front. He then communicated with Colonel Lowell, who was fighting near + Middletown with his men dismounted, and asked him if he could hold on + where he was, to which Lowell replied in the affirmative. All this and + many similar quickly-given orders consumed a great deal of time, but still + the men were getting into line, and at last, seeing that the enemy were + about to renew the attack, Sheridan rode along the line so that the men + could all see him. He was received with the wildest enthusiasm as he rode + by, and the spirit of the army was restored. The rebel attack was made + shortly after noon, and was repulsed by General Emory. + </p> + <p> + This done, Sheridan again set to work to getting his line completely + restored, while General Merritt charged and drove off an exposed battery + of the Confederates. By halfpast three Sheridan was ready to attack. The + fugitives of the morning, whom he had rallied as he rode from Winchester, + were again in their places, and the different divisions were all disposed + in their proper positions. With the order to advance, the whole line + pressed forward. The Confederates at first resisted stubbornly, and then + began to retreat. On they went past Cedar Creek, and there, where the pike + made a sharp turn to the west toward Fisher's Hill, Merritt and Custer + fell on the flank of the retreating columns, and the rebel army fell back, + routed and broken, up the Valley. The day had begun in route and defeat; + it ended in a great victory for the Union army. + </p> + <p> + How near we had been to a terrible disaster can be realized by recalling + what had happened before the general galloped down from Winchester. + </p> + <p> + In Sheridan's absence, Early, soon after dawn, had made an unexpected + attack on our army at Cedar Creek. Surprised by the assault, the national + troops had given way in all directions, and a panic had set in. Getty's + division with Lowell's cavalry held on at Middletown, but, with this + exception, the rout was complete. When Sheridan rode out of Winchester, he + met an already beaten army. His first thought was the natural one to make + a stand at Winchester and rally his troops about him there. His second + thought was the inspiration of the great commander. He believed his men + would rally as soon as they saw him. He believed that enthusiasm was one + of the great weapons of war, and that this was the moment of all others + when it might be used with decisive advantage. With this thought in his + mind he abandoned the idea of forming his men at Winchester, and rode + bareheaded through the fugitives, swinging his hat, straight for the + front, and calling on his men as he passed to follow him. As the soldiers + saw him, they turned and rushed after him. He had not calculated in vain + upon the power of personal enthusiasm, but, at the same time, he did not + rely upon any wild rush to save the day. The moment he reached the field + of battle, he set to work with the coolness of a great soldier to make all + the dispositions, first, to repel the enemy, and then to deliver an attack + which could not be resisted. One division after another was rapidly + brought into line and placed in position, the thin ranks filling fast with + the soldiers who had recovered from their panic, and followed Sheridan and + the black horse all the way down from Winchester. He had been already two + hours on the field when, at noon, he rode along the line, again formed for + battle. Most of the officers and men then thought he had just come, while + in reality it was his own rapid work which had put them in the line along + which he was riding. + </p> + <p> + Once on the field of battle, the rush and hurry of the desperate ride from + Winchester came to an end. First the line was reformed, then the enemy's + assault was repulsed, and it was made impossible for them to again take + the offensive. But Sheridan, undazzled by his brilliant success up to this + point, did not mar his work by overhaste. Two hours more passed before he + was ready, and then, when all was prepared, with his ranks established and + his army ranged in position, he moved his whole line forward, and won one + of the most brilliant battles of the war, having, by his personal power + over his troops, and his genius in action, snatched a victory from a day + which began in surprise, disaster, and defeat. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LIEUTENANT CUSHING AND THE RAM "ALBEMARLE" + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + God give us peace! Not such as lulls to sleep, + But sword on thigh, and brow with purpose knit! + And let our Ship of State to harbor sweep, + Her ports all up, her battle-lanterns lit, + And her leashed thunders gathering for their leap! + —Lowell. +</pre> + <p> + The great Civil War was remarkable in many ways, but in no way more + remarkable than for the extraordinary mixture of inventive mechanical + genius and of resolute daring shown by the combatants. After the first + year, when the contestants had settled down to real fighting, and the + preliminary mob work was over, the battles were marked by their + extraordinary obstinacy and heavy loss. In no European conflict since the + close of the Napoleonic wars has the fighting been anything like as + obstinate and as bloody as was the fighting in our own Civil War. In + addition to this fierce and dogged courage, this splendid fighting + capacity, the contest also brought out the skilled inventive power of + engineer and mechanician in a way that few other contests have ever done. + </p> + <p> + This was especially true of the navy. The fighting under and against + Farragut and his fellow-admirals revolutionized naval warfare. The Civil + War marks the break between the old style and the new. Terrible encounters + took place when the terrible new engines of war were brought into action + for the first time; and one of these encounters has given an example + which, for heroic daring combined with cool intelligence, is unsurpassed + in all time. + </p> + <p> + The Confederates showed the same skill and energy in building their great + ironclad rams as the men of the Union did in building the monitors which + were so often pitted against them. Both sides, but especially the + Confederates, also used stationary torpedoes, and, on a number of + occasions, torpedo-boats likewise. These torpedo-boats were sometimes + built to go under the water. One such, after repeated failures, was + employed by the Confederates, with equal gallantry and success, in sinking + a Union sloop of war off Charleston harbor, the torpedo-boat itself going + down to the bottom with its victim, all on board being drowned. The other + type of torpedo-boat was simply a swift, ordinary steam-launch, operated + above water. + </p> + <p> + It was this last type of boat which Lieutenant W. B. Cushing brought down + to Albemarle Sound to use against the great Confederate ram Albemarle. The + ram had been built for the purpose of destroying the Union blockading + forces. Steaming down river, she had twice attacked the Federal gunboats, + and in each case had sunk or disabled one or more of them, with little + injury to herself. She had retired up the river again to lie at her wharf + and refit. The gunboats had suffered so severely as to make it a certainty + that when she came out again, thoroughly fitted to renew the attack, the + wooden vessels would be destroyed; and while she was in existence, the + Union vessels could not reduce the forts and coast towns. Just at this + time Cushing came down from the North with his swift little torpedo-boat, + an open launch, with a spar-rigged out in front, the torpedo being placed + at the end. The crew of the launch consisted of fifteen men, Cushing being + in command. He not only guided his craft, but himself handled the torpedo + by means of two small ropes, one of which put it in place, while the other + exploded it. The action of the torpedo was complicated, and it could not + have been operated in a time of tremendous excitement save by a man of the + utmost nerve and self-command; but Cushing had both. He possessed + precisely that combination of reckless courage, presence of mind, and high + mental capacity necessary to the man who leads a forlorn hope under + peculiarly difficult circumstances. + </p> + <p> + On the night of October 27, 1864, Cushing slipped away from the blockading + fleet, and steamed up river toward the wharf, a dozen miles distant, where + the great ram lay. The Confederates were watchful to guard against + surprise, for they feared lest their foes should try to destroy the ram + before she got a chance to come down and attack them again in the Sound. + She lay under the guns of a fort, with a regiment of troops ready at a + moment's notice to turn out and defend her. Her own guns were kept always + clear for action, and she was protected by a great boom of logs thrown out + roundabout; of which last defense the Northerners knew nothing. + </p> + <p> + Cushing went up-stream with the utmost caution, and by good luck passed, + unnoticed, a Confederate lookout below the ram. + </p> + <p> + About midnight he made his assault. Steaming quietly on through the black + water, and feeling his way cautiously toward where he knew the town to be, + he finally made out the loom of the Albemarle through the night, and at + once drove at her. He was almost upon her before he was discovered; then + the crew and the soldiers on the wharf opened fire, and, at the same + moment, he was brought-to by the boom, the existence of which he had not + known. The rifle balls were singing round him as he stood erect, guiding + his launch, and he heard the bustle of the men aboard the ram, and the + noise of the great guns as they were got ready. Backing off, he again went + all steam ahead, and actually surged over the slippery logs of the boom. + Meanwhile, on the Albemarle the sailors were running to quarters, and the + soldiers were swarming down to aid in her defense; and the droning bullets + came always thicker through the dark night. Cushing still stood upright in + his little craft, guiding and controlling her by voice and signal, while + in his hands he kept the ropes which led to the torpedo. As the boat slid + forward over the boom, he brought the torpedo full against the somber side + of the huge ram, and instantly exploded it, almost at the same time that + the pivot-gun of the ram, loaded with grape, was fired point-blank at him + not ten yards off. + </p> + <p> + At once the ram settled, the launch sinking at the same moment, while + Cushing and his men swam for their lives. Most of them sank or were + captured, but Cushing reached mid-stream. Hearing something splashing in + the darkness, he swam toward it, and found that it was one of his crew. He + went to his rescue, and they kept together for some time, but the sailor's + strength gave out, and he finally sank. In the pitch darkness Cushing + could form no idea where he was; and when, chilled through, and too + exhausted to rise to his feet, he finally reached shore, shortly before + dawn, he found that he had swum back and landed but a few hundred feet + below the sunken ram. All that day he remained within easy musket-shot of + where his foes were swarming about the fort and the great drowned + ironclad. He hardly dared move, and until the afternoon he lay without + food, and without protection from the heat or venomous insects. Then he + managed to slip unobserved into the dense swamp, and began to make his way + to the fleet. Toward evening he came out on a small stream, near a camp of + Confederate soldiers. They had moored to the bank a skiff, and, with equal + stealth and daring, he managed to steal this and to paddle down-stream. + Hour after hour he paddled on through the fading light, and then through + the darkness. At last, utterly worn out, he found the squadron, and was + picked up. At once the ships weighed; and they speedily captured every + coast town and fort, for their dreaded enemy was no longer in the way. The + fame of Cushing's deed went all over the North, and his name will stand + forever among the brightest on the honor-roll of the American navy. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FARRAGUT AT MOBILE BAY + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ha, old ship, do they thrill, + The brave two hundred scars + You got in the river wars? + That were leeched with clamorous skill + (Surgery savage and hard), + At the Brooklyn Navy Yard. + + * * * * + + How the guns, as with cheer and shout, + Our tackle-men hurled them out, + Brought up in the waterways... + As we fired, at the flash + 'T was lightning and black eclipse + With a bellowing sound and crash. + + * * * * + + The Dahlgrens are dumb, + Dumb are the mortars; + Never more shall the drum + Beat to colors and quarters— + The great guns are silent. + —Henry Howard Brownell +</pre> + <p> + During the Civil War our navy produced, as it has always produced in every + war, scores of capable officers, of brilliant single-ship commanders, of + men whose daring courage made them fit leaders in any hazardous + enterprise. In this respect the Union seamen in the Civil War merely lived + up to the traditions of their service. In a service with such glorious + memories it was a difficult thing to establish a new record in feats of + personal courage or warlike address. Biddle, in the Revolutionary War, + fighting his little frigate against a ship of the line until she blew up + with all on board, after inflicting severe loss on her huge adversary; + Decatur, heading the rush of the boarders in the night attack when they + swept the wild Moorish pirates from the decks of their anchored prize; + Lawrence, dying with the words on his lips, "Don't give up the ship"; and + Perry, triumphantly steering his bloody sloop-of-war to victory with the + same words blazoned on his banner—men like these, and like their + fellows, who won glory in desperate conflicts with the regular warships + and heavy privateers of England and France, or with the corsairs of the + Barbary States, left behind a reputation which was hardly to be dimmed, + though it might be emulated, by later feats of mere daring. + </p> + <p> + But vital though daring is, indispensable though desperate personal + prowess and readiness to take chances are to the make-up of a fighting + navy, other qualities are needed in addition to fit a man for a place + among the great sea-captains of all time. It was the good fortune of the + navy in the Civil War to produce one admiral of renown, one peer of all + the mighty men who have ever waged war on the ocean. Farragut was not only + the greatest admiral since Nelson, but, with the sole exception of Nelson, + he was as great an admiral as ever sailed the broad or the narrow seas. + </p> + <p> + David Glasgow Farragut was born in Tennessee. He was appointed to the navy + while living in Louisiana, but when the war came he remained loyal to the + Union flag. This puts him in the category of those men who deserved best + of their country in the Civil War; the men who were Southern by birth, but + who stood loyally by the Union; the men like General Thomas of Virginia, + and like Farragut's own flag-captain at the battle of Mobile Bay, Drayton + of South Carolina. It was an easy thing in the North to support the Union, + and it was a double disgrace to be, like Vallandigham and the Copperheads, + against it; and in the South there were a great multitude of men, as + honorable as they were brave, who, from the best of motives, went with + their States when they seceded, or even advocated secession. But the + highest and loftiest patriots, those who deserved best of the whole + country, we re the men from the South who possessed such heroic courage, + and such lofty fealty to the high ideal of the Union, that they stood by + the flag when their fellows deserted it, and unswervingly followed a + career devoted to the cause of the whole nation and of the whole people. + Among all those who fought in this, the greatest struggle for + righteousness which the present century has seen, these men stand + preeminent; and among them Farragut stands first. It was his good fortune + that by his life he offered an example, not only of patriotism, but of + supreme skill and daring in his profession. He belongs to that class of + commanders who possess in the highest degree the qualities of courage and + daring, of readiness to assume responsibility, and of willingness to run + great risks; the qualities without which no commander, however cautious + and able, can ever become really great. He possessed also the unwearied + capacity for taking thought in advance, which enabled him to prepare for + victory before the day of battle came; and he added to this an + inexhaustible fertility of resource and presence of mind under no matter + what strain. + </p> + <p> + His whole career should be taught every American schoolboy, for when that + schoolboy becomes a voter he should have learned the lesson that the + United States, while it ought not to become an overgrown military power, + should always have a first-class navy, formidable from the number of its + ships, and formidable still more from the excellence of the individual + ships and the high character of the officers and men. Farragut saw the war + of 1812, in which, though our few frigates and sloops fought some glorious + actions, our coasts were blockaded and insulted, and the Capitol at + Washington burned, because our statesmen and our people had been too + short-sighted to build a big fighting navy; and Farragut was able to + perform his great feats on the Gulf coast because, when the Civil War + broke out, we had a navy which, though too small in point of numbers, was + composed of ships as good as any afloat. + </p> + <p> + Another lesson to be learned by a study of his career is that no man in a + profession so highly technical as that of the navy can win a great success + unless he has been brought up in and specially trained for that + profession, and has devoted his life to the work. This fact was made + plainly evident in the desperate hurly-burly of the night battle with the + Confederate flotilla below New Orleans—the incidents of this + hurly-burly being, perhaps, best described by the officer who, in his + report of his own share in it, remarked that "all sorts of things + happened." Of the Confederate rams there were two, commanded by trained + officers formerly in the United States navy, Lieutenants Kennon and + Warley. Both of these men handled their little vessels with remarkable + courage, skill, and success, fighting them to the last, and inflicting + serious and heavy damage upon the Union fleet. The other vessels of the + flotilla were commanded by men who had not been in the regular navy, who + were merely Mississippi River captains, and the like. These men were, + doubtless, naturally as brave as any of the regular officers; but, with + one or two exceptions, they failed ignobly in the time of trial, and + showed a fairly startling contrast with the regular naval officers beside + or against whom they fought. This is a fact which may well be pondered by + the ignorant or unpatriotic people who believe that the United States does + not need a navy, or that it can improvise one, and improvise officers to + handle it, whenever the moment of need arises. + </p> + <p> + When a boy, Farragut had sailed as a midshipman on the Essex in her famous + cruise to the South Pacific, and lived through the murderous fight in + which, after losing three fifths of her crew, she was captured by two + British vessels. Step by step he rose in his profession, but never had an + opportunity of distinguishing himself until, when he was sixty years old, + the Civil War broke out. He was then made flag officer of the Gulf + squadron; and the first success which the Union forces met with in the + southwest was scored by him, when one night he burst the iron chains which + the Confederates had stretched across the Mississippi, and, stemming the + swollen flood with his splendidly-handled steam-frigates, swept past the + forts, sank the rams and gunboats that sought to bar his path, and + captured the city of New Orleans. After further exciting service on the + Mississippi, service in which he turned a new chapter in the history of + naval warfare by showing the possibilities of heavy seagoing vessels when + used on great rivers, he again went back to the Gulf, and, in the last + year of the war, was allotted the task of attempting the capture of + Mobile, the only important port still left open to the Confederates. + </p> + <p> + In August, 1864, Farragut was lying with his fleet off Mobile Bay. For + months he had been eating out his heart while undergoing the wearing + strain of the blockade; sympathizing, too, with every detail of the + doubtful struggle on land. "I get right sick, every now and then, at the + bad news," he once wrote home; and then again, "The victory of the + Kearsarge over the Alabama raised me up; I would sooner have fought that + fight than any ever fought on the ocean." As for himself, all he wished + was a chance to fight, for he had the fighting temperament, and he knew + that, in the long run, an enemy can only be beaten by being out-fought, as + well as out-manoeuvered. He possessed a splendid self-confidence, and + scornfully threw aside any idea that he would be defeated, while he + utterly refused to be daunted by the rumors of the formidable nature of + the defenses against which he was to act. "I mean to be whipped or to whip + my enemy, and not to be scared to death," he remarked in speaking of these + rumors. + </p> + <p> + The Confederates who held Mobile used all their skill in preparing for + defense, and all their courage in making that defense good. The mouth of + the bay was protected by two fine forts, heavily armed, Morgan and Gaines. + The winding channels were filled with torpedoes, and, in addition, there + was a flotilla consisting of three gunboats, and, above all, a big + ironclad ram, the Tennessee, one of the most formidable vessels then + afloat. She was not fast, but she carried six high-power rifled guns, and + her armor was very powerful, while, being of light draft, she could take a + position where Farragut's deep-sea ships could not get at her. Farragut + made his attack with four monitors,—two of them, the Tecumseh and + Manhattan, of large size, carrying 15-inch guns, and the other two, the + Winnebago and Chickasaw, smaller and lighter, with 11-inch guns,—and + the wooden vessels, fourteen in number. Seven of these were big + sloops-of-war, of the general type of Farragut's own flagship, the + Hartford. She was a screw steamer, but was a full-rigged ship likewise, + with twenty-two 9-inch shell guns, arranged in broadside, and carrying a + crew of three hundred men. The other seven were light gunboats. When + Farragut prepared for the assault, he arranged to make the attack with his + wooden ships in double column. The seven most powerful were formed on the + right, in line ahead, to engage Fort Morgan, the heaviest of the two + forts, which had to be passed close inshore to the right. The light + vessels were lashed each to the left of one of the heavier ones. By this + arrangement each pair of ships was given a double chance to escape, if + rendered helpless by a shot in the boiler or other vital part of the + machinery. The heaviest ships led in the fighting column, the first place + being taken by the Brooklyn and her gunboat consort, while the second + position was held by Farragut himself in the Hartford, with the little + Metacomet lashed alongside. He waited to deliver the attack until the tide + and the wind should be favorable, and made all his preparations with the + utmost care and thoughtfulness. Preeminently a man who could inspire + affection in others, both the officers and men of the fleet regarded him + with fervent loyalty and absolute trust. + </p> + <p> + The attack was made early on the morning of August 5. Soon after midnight + the weather became hot and calm, and at three the Admiral learned that a + light breeze had sprung up from the quarter he wished, and he at once + announced, "Then we will go in this morning." At daybreak he was at + breakfast when the word was brought that the ships were all lashed in + couples. Turning quietly to his captain, he said, "Well, Drayton, we might + as well get under way;" and at half-past six the monitors stood down to + their stations, while the column of wooden ships was formed, all with the + United States flag hoisted, not only at the peak, but also at every + masthead. The four monitors, trusting in their iron sides, steamed in + between the wooden ships and the fort. Every man in every craft was + thrilling with the fierce excitement of battle; but in the minds of most + there lurked a vague feeling of unrest over one danger. For their foes who + fought in sight, for the forts, the gunboats, and, the great ironclad ram, + they cared nothing; but all, save the very boldest, were at times awed, + and rendered uneasy by the fear of the hidden and the unknown. Danger + which is great and real, but which is shrouded in mystery, is always very + awful; and the ocean veterans dreaded the torpedoes—the mines of + death—which lay, they knew not where, thickly scattered through the + channels along which they were to thread their way. + </p> + <p> + The tall ships were in fighting trim, with spars housed, and canvas + furled. The decks were strewn with sawdust; every man was in his place; + the guns were ready, and except for the song of the sounding-lead there + was silence in the ships as they moved forward through the glorious + morning. It was seven o'clock when the battle began, as the Tecumseh, the + leading monitor, fired two shots at the fort. In a few minutes Fort Morgan + was ablaze with the flash of her guns, and the leading wooden vessels were + sending back broadside after broadside. Farragut stood in the port + main-rigging, and as the smoke increased he gradually climbed higher, + until he was close by the maintop, where the pilot was stationed for the + sake of clearer vision. The captain, fearing lest by one of the accidents + of battle the great admiral should lose his footing, sent aloft a man with + a lasher, and had a turn or two taken around his body in the shrouds, so + that he might not fall if wounded; for the shots were flying thick. + </p> + <p> + At first the ships used only their bow guns, and the Confederate ram, with + her great steel rifles, and her three consorts, taking station where they + could rake the advancing fleet, caused much loss. In twenty minutes after + the opening of the fight the ships of the van were fairly abreast of the + fort, their guns leaping and thundering; and under the weight of their + terrific fire that of the fort visibly slackened. All was now uproar and + slaughter, the smoke drifting off in clouds. The decks were reddened and + ghastly with blood, and the wreck of flying splinters drove across them at + each discharge. The monitor Tecumseh alone was silent. After firing the + first two shots, her commander, Captain Craven, had loaded his two big + guns with steel shot, and, thus prepared, reserved himself for the + Confederate ironclad, which he had set his heart upon taking or destroying + single-handed. The two columns of monitors and the wooden ships lashed in + pairs were now approaching the narrowest part of the channel, where the + torpedoes lay thickest; and the guns of the vessels fairly overbore and + quelled the fire from the fort. All was well, provided only the two + columns could push straight on without hesitation; but just at this moment + a terrible calamity befell the leader of the monitors. The Tecumseh, + standing straight for the Tennessee, was within two hundred yards of her + foe, when a torpedo suddenly exploded beneath her. The monitor was about + five hundred yards from the Hartford, and from the maintop Farragut, + looking at her, saw her reel violently from side to side, lurch heavily + over, and go down headforemost, her screw revolving wildly in the air as + she disappeared. Captain Craven, one of the gentlest and bravest of men, + was in the pilot-house with the pilot at the time. As she sank, both + rushed to the narrow door, but there was time for only one to get out. + Craven was ahead, but drew to one side, saying, "After you, pilot." As the + pilot leaped through, the water rushed in, and Craven and all his crew, + save two men, settled to the bottom in their iron coffin. + </p> + <p> + None of the monitors were awed or daunted by the fate of their consort, + but drew steadily onward. In the bigger monitors the captains, like the + crews, had remained within the iron walls; but on the two light crafts the + commanders had found themselves so harassed by their cramped quarters, + that they both stayed outside on the deck. As these two steamed steadily + ahead, the men on the flagship saw Captain Stevens, of the Winnebago, + pacing calmly, from turret to turret, on his unwieldy iron craft, under + the full fire of the fort. The captain of the Chickasaw, Perkins, was the + youngest commander in the fleet, and as he passed the Hartford, he stood + on top of the turret, waving his hat and dancing about in wildest + excitement and delight. + </p> + <p> + But, for a moment, the nerve of the commander of the Brooklyn failed him. + The awful fate of the Tecumseh and the sight of a number of objects in the + channel ahead, which seemed to be torpedoes, caused him to hesitate. He + stopped his ship, and then backed water, making sternway to the Hartford, + so as to stop her also. It was the crisis of the fight and the crisis of + Farragut's career. The column was halted in a narrow channel, right under + the fire of the forts. A few moments' delay and confusion, and the golden + chance would have been past, and the only question remaining would have + been as to the magnitude of the disaster. Ahead lay terrible danger, but + ahead lay also triumph. It might be that the first ship to go through + would be sacrificed to the torpedoes; it might be that others would be + sacrificed; but go through the fleet must. Farragut signaled to the + Brooklyn to go ahead, but she still hesitated. Immediately, the admiral + himself resolved to take the lead. Backing hard he got clear of the + Brooklyn, twisted his ship's prow short round, and then, going ahead fast, + he dashed close under the Brooklyn's stern, straight at the line of buoys + in the channel. As he thus went by the Brooklyn, a warning cry came from + her that there were torpedoes ahead. "Damn the torpedoes!" shouted the + admiral; "go ahead, full speed;" and the Hartford and her consort steamed + forward. As they passed between the buoys, the cases of the torpedoes were + heard knocking against the bottom of the ship; but for some reason they + failed to explode, and the Hartford went safely through the gates of + Mobile Bay, passing the forts. Farragut's last and hardest battle was + virtually won. After a delay which allowed the flagship to lead nearly a + mile, the Brooklyn got her head round, and came in, closely followed by + all the other ships. The Tennessee strove to interfere with the wooden + craft as they went in, but they passed, exchanging shots, and one of them + striving to ram her, but inflicting only a glancing blow. The ship on the + fighting side of the rear couple had been completely disabled by a shot + through her boiler. + </p> + <p> + As Farragut got into the bay he gave orders to slip the gunboats, which + were lashed to each of the Union ships of war, against the Confederate + gunboats, one of which he had already disabled by his fire, so that she + was run ashore and burnt. Jouett, the captain of the Metacomet, had been + eagerly waiting this order, and had his men already standing at the + hawsers, hatchet in hand. When the signal for the gunboats to chase was + hoisted, the order to Jouett was given by word of mouth, and as his hearty + "Aye, aye, sir," came in answer, the hatchets fell, the hawsers parted, + and the Metacomet leaped forward in pursuit. A thick rainsquall came up, + and rendered it impossible for the rear gunboats to know whither the + Confederate flotilla had fled. When it cleared away, the watchers on the + fleet saw that one of the two which were uninjured had slipped off to Fort + Morgan, while the other, the Selma, was under the guns of the Metacomet, + and was promptly carried by the latter. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the ships anchored in the bay, about four miles from Fort + Morgan, and the crews were piped to breakfast; but almost as soon as it + was begun, the lookouts reported that the great Confederate ironclad was + steaming down, to do battle, single-handed, with the Union fleet. She was + commanded by Buchanan, a very gallant and able officer, who had been on + the Merrimac, and who trusted implicitly in his invulnerable sides, his + heavy rifle guns, and his formidable iron beak. As the ram came on, with + splendid courage, the ships got under way, while Farragut sent word to the + monitors to attack the Tennessee at once. The fleet surgeon, Palmer, + delivered these orders. In his diary he writes: + </p> + <p> + "I came to the Chickasaw; happy as my friend Perkins habitually is, I + thought he would turn a somerset with joy, when I told him, 'The admiral + wants you to go at once and fight the Tennessee.'" + </p> + <p> + At the same time, the admiral directed the wooden vessels to charge the + ram, bow on, at full speed, as well as to attack her with their guns. The + monitors were very slow, and the wooden vessels began the attack. The + first to reach the hostile ironclad was the Monongahela, which struck her + square amidships; and five minutes later the Lackawanna, going at full + speed, delivered another heavy blow. Both the Union vessels fired such + guns as would bear as they swung round, but the shots glanced harmlessly + from the armor, and the blows of the ship produced no serious injury to + the ram, although their own stems were crushed in several feet above and + below the water line. The Hartford then struck the Tennessee, which met + her bows on. The two antagonists scraped by, their port sides touching. As + they rasped past, the Hartford's guns were discharged against the ram, + their muzzles only half a dozen feet distant from her iron-clad sides; but + the shot made no impression. While the three ships were circling to repeat + the charge, the Lackawanna ran square into the flagship, cutting the + vessel down to within two feet of the water. For a moment the ship's + company thought the vessel sinking, and almost as one man they cried: + "Save the admiral! get the admiral on board the Lackawanna." But Farragut, + leaping actively into the chains, saw that the ship was in no present + danger, and ordered her again to be headed for the Tennessee. Meanwhile, + the monitors had come up, and the battle raged between them and the great + ram, Like the rest of the Union fleet, they carried smooth-bores, and + their shot could not break through her iron plates; but by sustained and + continuous hammering, her frame could be jarred and her timbers displaced. + Two of the monitors had been more or less disabled already, but the third, + the Chickasaw, was in fine trim, and Perkins got her into position under + the stern of the Tennessee, just after the latter was struck by the + Hartford; and there he stuck to the end, never over fifty yards distant, + and keeping up a steady rapping of 11-inch shot upon the iron walls, which + they could not penetrate, but which they racked and shattered. The + Chickasaw fired fifty-two times at her antagonist, shooting away the + exposed rudder-chains and the smokestack, while the commander of the ram, + Buchanan, was wounded by an iron splinter which broke his leg. Under the + hammering, the Tennessee became helpless. She could not be steered, and + was unable to bring a gun to bear, while many of the shutters of the ports + were jammed. For twenty minutes she had not fired a shot. The wooden + vessels were again bearing down to ram her; and she hoisted the white + flag. + </p> + <p> + Thus ended the battle of Mobile Bay, Farragut's crowning victory. Less + than three hours elapsed from the time that Fort Morgan fired its first + gun to the moment when the Tennessee hauled down her flag. Three hundred + and thirty-five men had been killed or wounded in the fleet, and one + vessel, the Tecumseh, had gone down; but the Confederate flotilla was + destroyed, the bay had been entered, and the forts around it were helpless + to do anything further. One by one they surrendered, and the port of + Mobile was thus sealed against blockade runners, so that the last source + of communication between the Confederacy and the outside world was + destroyed. Farragut had added to the annals of the Union the page which + tells of the greatest sea-fight in our history. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LINCOLN + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + O captain. My captain. Our fearful trip is done; + The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won; + The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, + While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: + But O heart! Heart! Heart! + Leave you not the little spot, + Where on the deck my captain lies, + Fallen cold and dead. + + O captain. My captain. Rise up and hear the bells; + Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills; + For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths—for you the shores + a-crowding; + For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; + O captain. Dear father. + This arm I push beneath you; + It is some dream that on the deck, + You've fallen cold and dead. + + My captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; + My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor win: + But the ship, the ship is anchor'd safe, its voyage closed and + done; + From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won: + Exult O shores, and ring, O bells. + But I with silent tread, + Walk the spot the captain lies, + Fallen cold and dead. + —Walt Whitman. +</pre> + <p> + As Washington stands to the Revolution and the establishment of the + government, so Lincoln stands as the hero of the mightier struggle by + which our Union was saved. He was born in 1809, ten years after + Washington, his work done had been laid to rest at Mount Vernon. No great + man ever came from beginnings which seemed to promise so little. Lincoln's + family, for more than one generation, had been sinking, instead of rising, + in the social scale. His father was one of those men who were found on the + frontier in the early days of the western movement, always changing from + one place to another, and dropping a little lower at each remove. Abraham + Lincoln was born into a family who were not only poor, but shiftless, and + his early days were days of ignorance, and poverty, and hard work. Out of + such inauspicious surroundings, he slowly and painfully lifted himself. He + gave himself an education, he took part in an Indian war, he worked in the + fields, he kept a country store, he read and studied, and, at last, he + became a lawyer. Then he entered into the rough politics of the + newly-settled State. He grew to be a leader in his county, and went to the + legislature. The road was very rough, the struggle was very hard and very + bitter, but the movement was always upward. + </p> + <p> + At last he was elected to Congress, and served one term in Washington as a + Whig with credit, but without distinction. Then he went back to his law + and his politics in Illinois. He had, at last, made his position. All that + was now needed was an opportunity, and that came to him in the great + anti-slavery struggle. + </p> + <p> + Lincoln was not an early Abolitionist. His training had been that of a + regular party man, and as a member of a great political organization, but + he was a lover of freedom and justice. Slavery, in its essence, was + hateful to him, and when the conflict between slavery and freedom was + fairly joined, his path was clear before him. He took up the antislavery + cause in his own State and made himself its champion against Douglas, the + great leader of the Northern Democrats. He stumped Illinois in opposition + to Douglas, as a candidate for the Senate, debating the question which + divided the country in every part of the State. He was beaten at the + election, but, by the power and brilliancy of his speeches, his own + reputation was made. Fighting the anti-slavery battle within + constitutional lines, concentrating his whole force against the single + point of the extension of slavery to the Territories, he had made it clear + that a new leader had arisen in the cause of freedom. From Illinois his + reputation spread to the East, and soon after his great debate he + delivered a speech in New York which attracted wide attention. At the + Republican convention of 1856, his name was one of those proposed for + vice-president. + </p> + <p> + When 1860 came, he was a candidate for the first place on the national + ticket. The leading candidate was William H. Seward, of New York, the most + conspicuous man of the country on the Republican side, but the convention, + after a sharp struggle, selected Lincoln, and then the great political + battle came at the polls. The Republicans were victorious, and, as soon as + the result of the voting was known, the South set to work to dissolve the + Union. In February Lincoln made his way to Washington, at the end coming + secretly from Harrisburg to escape a threatened attempt at assassination, + and on March 4, 1861 assumed the presidency. + </p> + <p> + No public man, no great popular leader, ever faced a more terrible + situation. The Union was breaking, the Southern States were seceding, + treason was rampant in Washington, and the Government was bankrupt. The + country knew that Lincoln was a man of great capacity in debate, devoted + to the cause of antislavery and to the maintenance of the Union. But what + his ability was to deal with the awful conditions by which he was + surrounded, no one knew. To follow him through the four years of civil war + which ensued is, of course, impossible here. Suffice it to say that no + greater, no more difficult, task has ever been faced by any man in modern + times, and no one ever met a fierce trial and conflict more successfully. + </p> + <p> + Lincoln put to the front the question of the Union, and let the question + of slavery drop, at first, into the background. He used every exertion to + hold the border States by moderate measures, and, in this way, prevented + the spread of the rebellion. For this moderation, the antislavery + extremists in the North assailed him, but nothing shows more his + far-sighted wisdom and strength of purpose than his action at this time. + By his policy at the beginning of his administration, he held the border + States, and united the people of the North in defense of the Union. + </p> + <p> + As the war went on, he went on, too. He had never faltered in his feelings + about slavery. He knew, better than any one, that the successful + dissolution of the Union by the slave power meant, not only the + destruction of an empire, but the victory of the forces of barbarism. But + he also saw, what very few others at the moment could see, that, if he was + to win, he must carry his people with him, step by step. So when he had + rallied them to the defense of the Union, and checked the spread of + secession in the border States, in the autumn of 1862 he announced that he + would issue a proclamation freeing the slaves. The extremists had doubted + him in the beginning, the conservative and the timid doubted him now, but + when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, on January 1, 1863, it was + found that the people were with him in that, as they had been with him + when he staked everything upon the maintenance of the Union. The war went + on to victory, and in 1864 the people showed at the polls that they were + with the President, and reelected him by overwhelming majorities. + Victories in the field went hand in hand with success at the ballot-box, + and, in the spring of 1865, all was over. On April 9, 1865, Lee + surrendered at Appomattox, and five days later, on April 14, a miserable + assassin crept into the box at the theater where the President was + listening to a play, and shot him. The blow to the country was terrible + beyond words, for then men saw, in one bright flash, how great a man had + fallen. + </p> + <p> + Lincoln died a martyr to the cause to which he had given his life, and + both life and death were heroic. The qualities which enabled him to do his + great work are very clear now to all men. His courage and his wisdom, his + keen perception and his almost prophetic foresight, enabled him to deal + with all the problems of that distracted time as they arose around him. + But he had some qualities, apart from those of the intellect, which were + of equal importance to his people and to the work he had to do. His + character, at once strong and gentle, gave confidence to every one, and + dignity to his cause. He had an infinite patience, and a humor that + enabled him to turn aside many difficulties which could have been met in + no other way. But most important of all was the fact that he personified a + great sentiment, which ennobled and uplifted his people, and made them + capable of the patriotism which fought the war and saved the Union. He + carried his people with him, because he knew instinctively, how they felt + and what they wanted. He embodied, in his own person, all their highest + ideals, and he never erred in his judgment. + </p> + <p> + He is not only a great and commanding figure among the great statesmen and + leaders of history, but he personifies, also, all the sadness and the + pathos of the war, as well as its triumphs and its glories. No words that + any one can use about Lincoln can, however, do him such justice as his + own, and I will close this volume with two of Lincoln's speeches, which + show what the war and all the great deeds of that time meant to him, and + through which shines, the great soul of the man himself. On November 19, + 1863, he spoke as follows at the dedication of the National cemetery on + the battle-field of Gettysburg: + </p> + <p> + Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent + a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that + all men are created equal. + </p> + <p> + Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or + any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a + great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that + field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that + that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should + do this. + </p> + <p> + But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we + cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who + struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or + detract. The world will little note or long remember what we say here, but + it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, + to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who have fought + here, have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here + dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from the + honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave + the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these + dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have + a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, + for the people, shall not perish from the earth. + </p> + <p> + On March 4, 1865, when he was inaugurated the second time, he made the + following address: + </p> + <p> + Fellow-Countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of + presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than + there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course + to be pursued, seemed proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during + which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point + and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and + engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be + presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, + is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, + reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the + future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. + </p> + <p> + On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were + anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it—all + sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from + this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent + agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to + dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties + deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let it perish. + And the war came. + </p> + <p> + One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed + generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These + slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this + interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, + and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would + rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do + more than to restrict the Territorial enlargement of it. Neither party + expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already + attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease + with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an + easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read + the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes his aid against + the other. It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask a just + God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's + faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both + could not be answered that of neither has been answered fully. + </p> + <p> + The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of + offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by + whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one + of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but + which, having continued through his appointed time, he now wills to + remove, and that he gives to both North and South this terrible war, as + the woe due to those by whom the offenses come, shall we discern therein + any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living + God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope-fervently do we pray—that + this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that + it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and + fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of + blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, + as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The + judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." + </p> + <p> + With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, + as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we + are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have + borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan-to do all which may + achieve and cherish a just, a lasting, peace among ourselves and with all + nations. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hero Tales From American History, by +Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY *** + +***** This file should be named 1864-h.htm or 1864-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/6/1864/ + +Produced by Dianne Bean, and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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