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+Project Gutenberg's Historical Tales, Vol. 2 (of 15), by Charles Morris
+
+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: Historical Tales, Vol. 2 (of 15)
+       The Romance of Reality
+
+Author: Charles Morris
+
+Release Date: April 19, 2008 [EBook #25103]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORICAL TALES, VOL. 2 (OF 15) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Kline, Greg Bergquist and The Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF ANTIETAM.]
+
+
+
+
+  Édition d'Élite
+
+
+  Historical Tales
+  The Romance of Reality
+
+  By
+  CHARLES MORRIS
+
+  _Author of "Half-Hours with the Best American Authors," "Tales from the
+  Dramatists," etc._
+
+
+  IN FIFTEEN VOLUMES
+  Volume II
+
+
+  American
+  2
+
+
+  J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
+  PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, 1904, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
+
+Copyright, 1908, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
+
+
+
+
+  _CONTENTS._
+
+                                                         PAGE
+
+  PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH                   7
+
+  DE SOTO AND THE FATHER OF WATERS                         13
+
+  THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE                               23
+
+  THE THRILLING ADVENTURE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH            29
+
+  THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA                          40
+
+  THE GREAT REBELLION IN THE OLD DOMINION                  49
+
+  CHEVALIER LA SALLE THE EXPLORER OF THE MISSISSIPPI       62
+
+  THE FRENCH OF LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ INDIANS          76
+
+  THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE                      88
+
+  HOW OGLETHORPE SAVED GEORGIA FROM SPAIN                  95
+
+  A BOY'S WORKING HOLIDAY IN THE WILDWOOD                 104
+
+  PATRICK HENRY, THE HERALD OF THE REVOLUTION             113
+
+  GOVERNOR TRYON AND THE CAROLINA REGULATORS              124
+
+  LORD DUNMORE AND THE GUNPOWDER                          135
+
+  THE FATAL EXPEDITION OF COLONEL ROGERS                  145
+
+  HOW COLONEL CLARK WON THE NORTHWEST                     153
+
+  KING'S MOUNTAIN AND THE PATRIOTS OF TENNESSEE           166
+
+  GENERAL GREENE'S FAMOUS RETREAT                         171
+
+  ELI WHITNEY, THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON-GIN             185
+
+  HOW OLD HICKORY FOUGHT THE CREEKS                       193
+
+  THE PIRATES OF BARATARIA BAY                            206
+
+  THE HEROES OF THE ALAMO                                 217
+
+  HOW HOUSTON WON FREEDOM FOR TEXAS                       225
+
+  CAPTAIN ROBERT E. LEE AND THE LAVA-BEDS                 231
+
+  A CHRISTMAS DAY ON THE PLANTATION                       241
+
+  CAPTAIN GORDON AND THE RACCOON ROUGHS                   252
+
+  STUART'S FAMOUS CHAMBERSBURG RAID                       261
+
+  FORREST'S CHASE OF THE RAIDERS                          277
+
+  EXPLOITS OF A BLOCKADE-RUNNER                           291
+
+  FONTAIN, THE SCOUT, AND THE BESIEGERS OF VICKSBURG      302
+
+  GORDON AND THE BAYONET CHARGE AT ANTIETAM               311
+
+  THE LAST TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON                   319
+
+  JOHN MORGAN'S FAMOUS RAID                               331
+
+  HOME-COMING OF GENERAL LEE AND HIS VETERANS             347
+
+
+
+
+  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+  AMERICAN. VOLUME II.
+
+
+                                                    PAGE
+
+  BATTLE OF ANTIETAM                       _Frontispiece._
+
+  ALONG THE COAST OF FLORIDA                           9
+
+  DE SOTO DISCOVERING THE MISSISSIPPI                 19
+
+  POCAHONTAS                                          32
+
+  JAMESTOWN RUIN                                      54
+
+  COALING A MOVING BOAT ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER      73
+
+  OLD SPANISH FORT, ST. AUGUSTINE                     98
+
+  HOME OF MARY WASHINGTON, FREDERICKSBURG, VA        108
+
+  HOME OF PATRICK HENRY DURING HIS LAST TWO
+    TERMS AS GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA                    114
+
+  ST. JOHN'S CHURCH                                  122
+
+  OLD MAGAZINE AT WILLIAMSBURG                       138
+
+  VIEW IN THE NORTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS                 155
+
+  COTTON-GIN                                         186
+
+  JACKSON'S BIRTHPLACE                               198
+
+  THE ALAMO                                          218
+
+  COTTON FIELD ON SOUTHERN PLANTATION                242
+
+  COLONIAL MANSION                                   262
+
+  GORDON HOUSE                                       316
+
+  TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON                       323
+
+  LEE'S HOUSE AT RICHMOND                            348
+
+
+
+
+_PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH._
+
+
+A golden Easter day was that of the far-away year 1513, when a small
+fleet of Spanish ships, sailing westward from the green Bahamas, first
+came in sight of a flower-lined shore, rising above the blue Atlantic
+waves, and seeming to smile a welcome as the mariners gazed with eyes of
+joy and hope on the inviting arcades of its verdant forest depths. Never
+had the eyes of white men beheld this land of beauty before. English
+ships had sailed along the coast to the north, finding much of it bleak
+and uninviting. The caravels of Columbus had threaded the glowing line
+of tropic isles, and later ships had borne settlers to these lands of
+promise. But the rich southlands of the continent had never before been
+seen, and well was this unknown realm of beauty named Florida by the
+Spanish chief, whether by this name he meant to call it the "land of
+flowers" or referred to the Spanish name for Easter, Pascua Florida.
+However that be, he was the first of the discoverers to set foot on the
+soil of the great coming republic of the United States, and it is of
+interest that this was done within the domain of the sunny South.
+
+The weight of half a century of years lay upon the shoulders of Juan
+Ponce de Leon, the discoverer, but warm hope burned in his heart, that
+of winning renewed boyhood and youthful strength, for it was a magic
+vision that drew him to these new shores, in whose depths he felt sure
+the realm of enchantment lay. Somewhere amid those green copses or along
+those liquid streams, he had been told, a living fountain sprang up
+clear and sparkling from the earth, its waters of such a marvellous
+quality that whoever should bathe in them would feel new life coursing
+through his veins and the vigor of youth bounding along his limbs. It
+was the Fountain of Youth he sought, that fabled fountain of which men
+had dreamed for centuries, and which was thought to lie somewhere in
+eastern Asia. Might not its waters upspring in this new land, whose
+discovery was the great marvel of the age, and which men looked upon as
+the unknown east of Asia? Such was the new-comer's dream.
+
+Ponce de Leon was a soldier and cavalier of Spain in those days when
+Spain stood first among the nations of Europe, first in strength and
+enterprise and daring. Brave as the bravest, he had fought with
+distinguished courage against the Moors of Granada at the time when
+Columbus was setting out on his famous voyage over the unknown seas of
+the West. Drawn by the fame of the discovery of the New World, De Leon
+sailed with Columbus in his second voyage, and proved himself a gallant
+soldier in the wars for the conquest of Hispaniola, of whose eastern
+half he was made governor.
+
+To the eastward lay another island, the fair tropic land ever since
+known as Porto Rico. De Leon could see from the high hills of Hispaniola
+the far green shores of this island, which he invaded and finally
+subdued in 1509, making himself its governor. A stern oppressor of the
+natives, he won great wealth from his possessions here and in
+Hispaniola. But, like many men in his position, his heart was sore from
+the loss of the youthful vigor which would have enabled him to enjoy to
+the full his new-found wealth.
+
+[Illustration: ALONG THE COAST OF FLORIDA.]
+
+Could he but discover the wondrous fountain of youth and plunge in its
+life-giving waters! Was not this the region in which it was said to lie?
+He eagerly questioned the Indians about it, and was told by them that
+they had often heard of such a fountain somewhere not far to the north.
+It is probable enough that the Indians were ready to tell anything,
+false or true, that would rid them of the unwelcome Spaniards; but it
+may be that among their many fables they believed that such a fountain
+existed. However that may be, De Leon gladly heard their story, and lost
+no time in going forth like a knight errant in quest of the magic fount.
+On March 3, 1513, he sailed with three ships from Porto Rico, and, after
+threading the fair Bahama Islands, landing on those of rarest tropic
+charm, he came on Easter Sunday, March 27, in sight of the beautiful
+land to which he gave the name of Florida.
+
+Bad weather kept him for a time from the shore, and it was not until
+April 9 that he was able to land. It was near the mouth of the St. John
+River, not far from where St. Augustine now stands, that he set foot on
+shore, the first white man's foot to tread the soil of the coming United
+States since the days of the Northmen, five centuries before. He called
+his place of landing the Bay of the Cross, and took possession of the
+land for the king of Spain, setting up a stone cross as a sign of
+Spain's jurisdiction.
+
+And now the eager cavalier began the search for that famous fount which
+was to give him perpetual youth. It is not likely he was alone in this,
+probably most of his followers being as eager as he, for in those days
+magic was firmly believed in by half of mankind, and many wild fancies
+were current which no one now accepts. Deep into the dense woodland they
+plunged, wandering through verdant miles, bathing in every spring and
+stream they met, led on and on by the hope that some one of these might
+hold the waters of youth. Doubtless they fancied that the fountain
+sought would have some special marks, something to distinguish it from
+the host of common springs. But this might not be the case. The most
+precious things may lie concealed under the plainest aspect, like the
+fabled jewel in the toad's forehead, and it was certainly wisest to let
+no waters pass untried.
+
+Months passed on. Southward along the coast they sailed, landing here
+and there and penetrating inland, still hopeful of finding the enchanted
+spring. But wherever it might lie hidden, they found it not, for the
+marks of age which nature had brought clung to them still, and a
+bitterly disappointed man was Juan Ponce de Leon when he turned the
+prows of his ships away from the new-found shores and sailed back to
+Porto Rico.
+
+The Will-o'-the-wisp he sought had baffled him, yet something of worth
+remained, for he had made a discovery of importance, the "Island of
+Florida," as he called it and thought it to be. To Spain he went with
+the news of his voyage, and told the story of his discovery to King
+Ferdinand, to whom Columbus had told his wonderful tale some twenty
+years before. The king at once appointed him governor of Florida, and
+gave him full permission to plant a colony in the new land--continent or
+island as it might prove to be.
+
+De Leon may still have nourished hopes in his heart of finding the
+fabled fountain when, in 1521, he returned to plant the colony granted
+by the king. But the natives of Florida had seen enough of the Spaniards
+in their former visit, and now met them with arrows instead of flowers
+and smiles. Fierce fights ensued, and their efforts to establish
+themselves on the new shores proved in vain. In the end their leader
+received so severe an arrow wound that he withdrew and left to the
+victorious Indians the ownership of their land. The arrow was poisoned,
+and his wound proved mortal. In a short time after reaching Cuba he
+died, having found death instead of youth in the land of flowers.
+
+We may quote the words of the historian Robertson in support of the
+fancy which led De Leon in the path of discovery: "The Spaniards, at
+that period, were engaged in a career of activity which gave a romantic
+turn to their imagination and daily presented to them strange and
+marvellous objects. A new world was opened to their view. They visited
+islands and continents of whose existence mankind in former ages had no
+conception. In those delightful countries nature seemed to assume
+another form; every tree and plant and animal was different from those
+of the ancient hemisphere. They seemed to be transported into enchanted
+ground; and, after the wonders which they had seen, nothing, in the
+warmth and novelty of their imagination, appeared to them so
+extraordinary as to be beyond belief. If the rapid succession of new and
+striking scenes made such impression on the sound understanding of
+Columbus that he boasted of having found the seat of Paradise, it will
+not appear strange that Ponce de Leon should dream of discovering the
+fountain of youth."
+
+All we need say farther is that the first attempt to colonize the shores
+of the great republic of the future years ended in disaster and death.
+Yet De Leon's hope was not fully amiss, for in our own day many seek
+that flowery land in quest of youthful strength. They do not now hope to
+find it by bathing in any magic fountain, but it comes to them by
+breathing its health-giving atmosphere and basking in its magic clime.
+
+
+
+
+_DE SOTO AND THE FATHER OF WATERS._
+
+
+America was to the Spaniards the land of gold. Everywhere they looked
+for the yellow metal, more precious in their eyes than anything else the
+earth yields. The wonderful adventures of Cortez in Mexico and of
+Pizarro in Peru, and the vast wealth in gold found by those sons of
+fame, filled their people with hope and avarice, and men of enterprise
+began to look elsewhere for great and rich Indian nations to subdue and
+plunder.
+
+North of the Gulf of Mexico lay a vast, mysterious region, which in time
+to come was to be the seat of a great and mighty nation. To the
+Spaniards it was a land of enchantment, the mystic realm of the unknown,
+perhaps rich in marvels and wealthy beyond their dreams. It was fabled
+to contain the magic fountain of youth, the hope to bathe in whose
+pellucid waters lured Ponce de Leon to his death. Another explorer, De
+Ayllon, sailed north of Florida, seeking a sacred stream which was said
+to possess the same enchanted powers. A third, De Narvaez, went far into
+the country, with more men than Cortez led to the conquest of Mexico,
+but after months of wandering only a handful of his men returned, and
+not a grain of gold was found to pay for their suffering.
+
+But these failures only stirred the cavaliers of Spain to new thirst
+for adventure and gain. They had been told of fertile plains, of
+splendid tropical forests, of the beauty of the Indian maidens, of
+romantic incidents and hair-breadth escapes, of the wonderful influence
+exercised by a white man on tribes of dusky warriors, and who knew what
+fairy marvels or unimagined wealth might be found in the deep interior
+of this land of hope and mystery. Thus when Hernando de Soto, who had
+been with Pizarro in Peru and seen its gold-plated temples, called for
+volunteers to explore and conquer the unknown northland, hundreds of
+aspiring warriors flocked to his standard, burning with love of
+adventure and filled with thirst for gold.
+
+On the 30th of May, 1539, De Soto, with nine vessels and six or seven
+hundred well-armed followers, sailed into Tampa Bay, on the Gulf coast
+of Florida. Here they at once landed and marched inland, greedy to reach
+and grasp the spectral image of gold which floated before their eyes. A
+daring but a cruel man was this new adventurer. He brought with him
+blood-hounds to hunt the Indians and chains to fetter them. A drove of
+hogs was brought to supply the soldiers with fresh meat. They were
+provided with horses, with fire-arms, with cannon, with steel armor,
+with everything to overawe and overcome the woodland savages. Yet two
+things they needed; these were judgment and discretion. It would have
+been wise to make friends of the Indians. Instead, by their cruelty,
+they turned them into bitter and relentless enemies. So wherever they
+went they had bold and fierce foes to fight, and wounds and death marked
+their pathway across the land.
+
+Let us follow De Soto and his men into the realm of the unknown. They
+had not gone far before a strange thing happened. Out of a crowd of
+dusky Indians a white man rode on horseback to join them, making
+gestures of delight. He was a Spaniard, Juan Ortiz by name, one of the
+Narvaez band, who had been held in captivity among the Indians for ten
+years. He knew the Indian language well and offered himself as an
+interpreter and guide. Heaven seemed to have sent him, for he was worth
+a regiment to the Spaniards.
+
+Juan Ortiz had a strange story to tell. Once his captors had sought to
+burn him alive by a slow fire as a sacrifice to the evil spirit. Bound
+hand and foot, he was laid on a wooden stage and a fire kindled under
+him. But at this moment of frightful peril the daughter of the chieftain
+begged for his life, and her father listened to her prayer. Three years
+later the savage captors again decided to burn him, and again the dusky
+maiden saved his life. She warned him of his danger and led him to the
+camp of another chief. Here he stayed till the Spaniards came. What
+became of the warm-hearted maiden we are not told. She did not win the
+fame of the Pocahontas of a later day.
+
+Many and strange were the adventures of the Spaniards as they went
+deeper and deeper into the new land of promise. Misfortune tracked
+their footsteps and there was no glitter of gold to cheer their hearts.
+A year passed over their heads and still the land of gold lay far away.
+An Indian offered to lead them to a distant country, governed by a
+woman, telling them that there they would find abundance of a yellow
+metal. Inspired by hope, they now pushed eagerly forward, but the yellow
+metal proved to be copper instead of gold, and their high hopes were
+followed by the gloom of disappointment and despair. But wherever they
+went their trail was marked by blood and pillage, and the story of their
+ruthless deeds stirred up the Indians in advance to bitter hostility.
+
+Fear alone made any of the natives meet them with a show of peace, and
+this they repaid by brutal deeds. One of their visitors was an Indian
+queen--as they called her--the woman chief of a tribe of the South. When
+the Spaniards came near her domain she hastened to welcome them, hoping
+by this means to make friends of her dreaded visitors. Borne in a litter
+by four of her subjects, the dusky princess alighted before De Soto and
+came forward with gestures of pleasure, as if delighted to welcome her
+guests. Taking from her neck a heavy double string of pearls, she hung
+it on that of the Spanish leader. De Soto accepted it with the courtly
+grace of a cavalier, and pretended friendship while he questioned his
+hostess.
+
+But he no sooner obtained the information he wanted than he made her a
+prisoner, and at once began to rob her and her people of all the
+valuables they possessed. Chief among these were large numbers of
+pearls, most of them found in the graves of the distinguished men of the
+tribe. But the plunderers did not gain all they hoped for by their act
+of vandalism, for the poor queen managed to escape from her guards, and
+in her flight took with her a box of the most valuable of the pearls.
+They were those which De Soto had most prized and he was bitterly stung
+by their loss.
+
+The adventurers were now near the Atlantic, on ground which had been
+trodden by whites before, and they decided to turn inland and explore
+the country to the west. After months more of wandering, and the loss of
+many men through their battles with the Indians, they found themselves
+in the autumn of 1540 at a large village called Mavilla. It stood where
+stands to-day the city of Mobile. Here a large force of Indians was
+gathered.
+
+The Indian chief or cacique met De Soto with a show of friendship, and
+induced him and a few of his men to follow him within the palisades
+which surrounded the village. No sooner had they got there than the
+chief shouted some words of insult in his own tongue and darted into one
+of the houses. A minor chief got into a dispute with a Spanish soldier,
+who, in the usual Spanish fashion, carried forward the argument with a
+blow from his sword. This served as a signal for hostilities. In an
+instant clouds of arrows poured from the houses, and before the
+Spaniards could escape nearly the whole of them were slain. Only De
+Soto and a few others got out with their lives from the trap into which
+they had been beguiled.
+
+Filled with revengeful rage, the Spanish forces now invested and
+assailed the town, and a furious conflict began, lasting for nine hours.
+In the end the whites, from their superior weapons and organization, won
+the victory. But theirs was a costly triumph, for many of them had
+fallen and nearly all their property had been destroyed. Mavilla was
+burned and hosts of the Indians were killed, but the Spaniards were in a
+terrible situation, far from their ships, without medicine or food, and
+surrounded by brave and furious enemies.
+
+The soldiers felt that they had had enough adventure of this kind, and
+clamored to be led back to their ships. De Soto had been advised that
+the ships were then in the Bay of Pensacola, only six days' journey from
+Mavilla, but he kept this a secret from his men, for hopes of fame and
+wealth still filled his soul. In the end, despite their entreaties, he
+led the men to the north, spending the winter in a small village of the
+Chickasaw Indians.
+
+When spring opened the adventurers resumed their journey into the
+unknown. In his usual forcible fashion De Soto seized on Indians to
+carry his baggage, and in this way he brought on a violent battle, in
+which the whites met with a serious defeat and were in imminent danger
+of annihilation. Not a man of them would have lived to tell the tale if
+the savages had not been so scared at their own success that they drew
+back just when they had the hated Spaniards in their power.
+
+[Illustration: DE SOTO DISCOVERING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.]
+
+A strange-looking army was that which the indomitable De Soto led
+forward from this place. Many of the uniforms of the men had been
+carried off by the enemy, and these were replaced with skins and mats
+made of ivy-leaves, so that the adventurers looked more like forest
+braves than Christian warriors. But onward still they trudged, sick at
+heart many of them, but obeying the orders of their resolute chief, and
+in the blossoming month of May they made that famous discovery by which
+the name of Hernando de Soto has ever since been known. For they stood
+on the banks of one of the mightiest rivers of the earth, the great
+Father of Waters, the grand Mississippi. From thousands of miles to the
+north had come the waters which now rolled onward in a mighty volume
+before their eyes, hastening downward to bury themselves in the still
+distant Gulf.
+
+A discovery such as this might have been enough to satisfy the cravings
+of any ordinary man, but De Soto, in his insatiable greed for gold, saw
+in the glorious stream only an obstacle to his course, "half a league
+over." To build boats and cross the stream was the one purpose that
+filled his mind, and with much labor they succeeded in getting across
+the great stream themselves and the few of their horses that remained.
+
+At once the old story began again. The Indians beyond the Mississippi
+had heard of the Spaniards and their methods, and met them with
+relentless hostility. They had hardly landed on the opposite shore
+before new battles began. As for the Indian empire, with great cities,
+civilized inhabitants, and heaps of gold, which Be Soto so ardently
+sought, it seemed as far off as ever, and he was a sadly disappointed
+man as he led the miserable remnant of his once well-equipped and
+hopeful followers up the left bank of the great stream, dreams of wealth
+and renown not yet quite driven from his mind.
+
+At length they reached the region of the present State of Missouri. Here
+the simple-minded people took the white strangers to be children of the
+Sun, the god of their worship, and they brought out their blind, hoping
+to have them restored to sight by a touch from the healing hands of
+these divine visitors. Leaving after a time these superstitious tribes,
+De Soto led his men to the west, lured on still by the phantom of a
+wealthy Indian realm, and the next winter was passed near where Little
+Rock, Arkansas, is now built.
+
+Spring returned at length, and the weary wanderings of the devoted band
+were resumed. Depressed, worn-out, hopeless, they trudged onward, hardly
+a man among them looking for aught but death in those forest wilds. Juan
+Ortiz, the most useful man in the band, died, and left the enterprise
+still more hopeless. But De Soto, worn, sick, emaciated, was indomitable
+still and the dream of a brilliant success lingered as ever in his
+brain. He tried now to win over the Indians by pretending to be
+immortal and to be gifted with supernatural powers, but it was too late
+to make them credit any such fantastic notion.
+
+The band encamped in an unhealthy spot near the great river. Here
+disease attacked the men; scouts were sent out to seek a better place,
+but they found only trackless woods and rumors of Indian bands creeping
+stealthily up on all sides to destroy what remained of the little army
+of whites.
+
+Almost for the first time De Soto's resolute mind now gave way. Broken
+down by his many labors and cares, perhaps assailed by the disease that
+was attacking his men, he felt that death was near at hand. Calling
+around him the sparse remnant of his once gallant company, he humbly
+begged their pardon for the sufferings and evils he had brought upon
+them, and named Luis de Alvaredo to succeed him in command. The next
+day, May 21, 1542, the unfortunate hero died. Thus passed away one of
+the three greatest Spanish explorers of the New World, a man as great in
+his way and as indomitable in his efforts as his rivals, Cortez and
+Pizarro, though not so fortunate in his results. For three years he had
+led his little band through a primitive wilderness, fighting his way
+steadily through hosts of savage foes, and never yielding until the hand
+of death was laid upon his limbs.
+
+Fearing a fierce attack from the savages if they should learn that the
+"immortal" chief of the whites was dead, Alvaredo had him buried
+secretly outside the walls of the camp. But the new-made grave was
+suspicious. The prowling Indians might dig it up and discover the noted
+form it held. To prevent this, Alvaredo had the body of De Soto dug up
+in the night, wrapped it in cloths filled with sand, and dropped it into
+the Mississippi, to whose bottom it immediately sank. Thus was the great
+river he had discovered made the famous explorer's final resting-place.
+
+With the death of De Soto the work of the explorers was practically at
+an end. To the Indians who asked what had become of the Child of the
+Sun, Alvaredo answered that he had gone to heaven for a visit, but would
+soon return. Then, while the Indians waited this return of the chief,
+the camp was broken up and the band set out again on a westward course,
+hoping to reach the Pacific coast, whose distance they did not dream.
+Months more passed by in hopeless wandering, then back to the great
+river they came and spent six months more in building boats, as their
+last hope of escape.
+
+On the 2d of July, 1543, the scanty remnant of the once powerful band
+embarked on the waters of the great river, and for seventeen days
+floated downward, while the Indians on the bank poured arrows on them
+incessantly as they passed. Fifty days later a few haggard, half-naked
+survivors of De Soto's great expedition landed at the Spanish settlement
+of Panuco in Mexico. They had long been given up as lost, and were
+received as men risen from the grave.
+
+
+
+
+_THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE._
+
+
+In the year 1584 two wandering vessels, like the caravels of Columbus a
+century earlier, found themselves in the vicinity of a new land; not, as
+in the case of Columbus, by seeing twigs and fruit floating on the
+water, but in the more poetical way of being visited, while far at sea,
+by a sweet fragrance, as of a delicious garden full of perfumed flowers.
+A garden it was, planted not by the hand of man, but by that of nature,
+on the North Carolinian shores. For this was the first expedition sent
+out by Sir Walter Raleigh, the earliest of Englishmen to attempt to
+settle the new-discovered continent, and it was at that season as truly
+a land of flowers as the more southern Florida.
+
+The ships soon reached shore at a beautiful island called by the Indians
+Wocokon, where the mariners gazed with wonder and delight on the scene
+that lay before them. Wild flowers, whose perfume had reached their
+senses while still two days' sail from land, thickly carpeted the soil,
+and grapes grew so plentifully that the ocean waves, as they broke upon
+the strand, dashed their spray upon the thick-growing clusters. "The
+forests formed themselves into wonderfully beautiful bowers, frequented
+by multitudes of birds. It was like a Garden of Eden, and the gentle,
+friendly inhabitants appeared in unison with the scene. On the island
+of Roanoke they were received by the wife of the king, and entertained
+with Arcadian hospitality."
+
+When these vessels returned to England and the mariners told of what
+they had seen, the people were filled with enthusiasm. Queen Elizabeth
+was so delighted with what was said of the beauty of the country that
+she gave it the name of Virginia, in honor of herself as a virgin queen.
+The next year a larger expedition was sent out, carrying one hundred and
+fifty colonists, who were to form the vanguard of the British dominion
+in the New World.
+
+They found the land all they had been told. Ralph Lane, the governor,
+wrote home: "It is the goodliest soil under the cope of heaven; the most
+pleasing territory in the world; the continent is of a huge and unknown
+greatness, and very well peopled and towned, though savagely. The
+climate is so wholesome that we have none sick. If Virginia had but
+horses and kine, and were inhabited by Englishmen, no realm in
+Christendom were comparable with it."
+
+But they did not find the natives so kindly disposed as in the year
+before, and no wonder; for the first thing the English did after landing
+on Roanoke Island was to accuse the Indians of stealing a silver cup,
+for which they took revenge by burning a village and destroying the
+standing corn. Whether this method was copied from the Spaniards or not,
+it proved a most unwise one, for at once the colonists found themselves
+surrounded by warlike foes, instead of in intercourse with confiding
+friends.
+
+The English colonists had the same fault as those of Spain. The stories
+of the wonderful wealth of Mexico and Peru had spread far and wide over
+Europe, and the thirst for gold was in all hearts. Instead of planting
+grain and building homes, the new-comers sought the yellow evil far and
+wide, almost as if they expected the soil to be paved with it. The
+Indians were eagerly questioned and their wildest stories believed. As
+the natives of Porto Rico had invented a magic fountain to rid
+themselves of Ponce de Leon and his countrymen, so those of Roanoke told
+marvellous fables to lure away the unwelcome English. The Roanoke River,
+they said, gushed forth from a rock so near the western ocean that in
+storms the salt sea-water was hurled into the fresh-water stream. Far
+away on its banks there dwelt a nation rich in gold, and inhabiting a
+city the walls of which glittered with precious pearls.
+
+Lane himself, whom we may trust to have been an educated man, accepted
+these tales of marvel as readily as the most ignorant of his people. In
+truth, he had much warrant for it in the experience of the Spaniards.
+Taking a party of the colonists, he ascended the river in search of the
+golden region. On and on they went, finding nothing but the unending
+forest, hearing nothing but the cries of wild beasts and the Indian
+war-cries, but drawn onward still by hope until their food ran out and
+bitter famine assailed them. Then, after being forced to kill their
+dogs for food, they came back again, much to the disappointment of the
+Indians, who fancied they were well rid of their troublesome guests.
+
+As the settlers were not to be disposed of by fairy-stories of cities of
+gold, the natives now tried another plan. They resolved to plant no more
+corn, so that the English must either go away or starve. Lane made
+matters worse by a piece of foolish and useless cruelty. Wisdom should
+have taught him to plant corn himself. But what he did was to invite the
+Indians to a conference, and then to attack them, sword in hand, and
+kill the chief, with many braves of the tribe. He might have expected
+what followed. The furious natives at once cut off all supplies from the
+colonists, and they would have died of hunger if Sir Francis Drake, in
+one of his expeditions, had not just then appeared with a large fleet.
+
+Here ended the first attempt to plant an English colony in America.
+Drake, finding the people in a desperate state, took them in his ships
+and sailed with them for England. Hardly had they gone before other
+ships came and the missing colonists were sought for in vain. Then
+fifteen men were left on the island to hold it for England, and the
+ships returned.
+
+In 1587 Raleigh's last colony reached Roanoke Island. This time he took
+care to send farmers instead of gold-seekers, and sent with them a
+supply of farming tools. But it was not encouraging when they looked
+for the fifteen men left the year before to find only some of their
+bones, while their fort was a ruin and their deserted dwellings
+overgrown with vines. The Indians had taken revenge on their oppressors.
+One event of interest took place before the ship returned, the birth of
+the first English child born in America. In honor of the name which the
+queen had given the land, this little waif was called Virginia Dare.
+
+Now we come to the story of the mysterious fate of this second English
+colony. When the ships which had borne it to Roanoke went back to
+England they found that island in an excited state. The great Spanish
+Armada was being prepared to invade and conquer Elizabeth's realm, and
+hasty preparations were making to defend the British soil. The fate of
+the Armada is well known. England triumphed. But several years passed
+before Raleigh, who was now deep laden with debt, was able to send out a
+vessel to the relief of his abandoned colonists.
+
+When the people sent by him landed on the island, they looked around
+them in dismay. Here were no happy homes, no smiling fields, no bustling
+colonists. The island was deserted. What had become of the inhabitants
+was not easy to guess. Not even their bones had been left, as in the
+case of the hapless fifteen, though many relics of their dwelling-places
+were found. The only indication of their fate was the single word
+"Croatan" cut into the bark of a tree.
+
+Croatan was the name of an island not far from that on which they were,
+but it was the stormy season of the year, and John White, the captain,
+made this an excuse for not venturing there. So he sailed again for home
+with only the story of a vanished colony.
+
+From that time to this the fate of the colony has been a mystery. No
+trace of any of its members was ever found. If they had made their way
+to Croatan, they were never seen there. Five times the noble-hearted
+Raleigh sent out ships to search for them, but all in vain; they had
+gone past finding; the forest land had swallowed them up.
+
+It has been conjectured that they had mingled with a friendly tribe of
+Indians and become children of the forest like their hosts. Some
+tradition of this kind remained among the Indians, and it has been
+fancied that the Hatteras Indians showed traces of English blood. But
+all this is conjecture, and the fate of the lost colonists of Roanoke
+must remain forever unknown.
+
+
+
+
+_THE THRILLING ADVENTURE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH._
+
+
+For those who love stories of the Indians, and the strange and perilous
+adventures of white men in dealing with the forest tribes, we cannot do
+better than give a remarkable anecdote of life in the Virginia woodlands
+three centuries ago.
+
+On a day near the opening of the winter of 1608 a small boat, in which
+were several men, might have been seen going up the James River under
+the shadow of the high trees that bordered its banks.
+
+They came at length to a point where a smaller stream flowed into the
+James, wide at its mouth but soon growing narrow. Into this the boat was
+turned and rowed briskly onward, under the direction of the leader of
+the expedition. They were soon in the heart of the wildwood, whose dense
+forest growth clustered thickly on either bank of the stream, which ran
+in a narrow silver thread through the green wilderness. The stream they
+pursued is that now known as the Chickahominy River, so called from an
+Indian tribe of that name, the most daring and warlike of all the
+savages of the region.
+
+As they went on the stream grew narrower still, and in time became so
+shallow that the boat could go no farther. As they sat there in doubt,
+debating what had better be done, the bushes by the waterside were
+thrust aside and dusky faces looked out upon them through the leaves.
+The leader of the whites beckoned to them and two men stepped out of the
+bushy thicket, making signs of great friendliness. They pointed to the
+large boat, and indicated by gestures that they had smaller craft near
+at hand and would lend one to the whites if they wished to go farther
+up. They would go along with them and show them the way.
+
+The leader of the party of whites was named John Smith. This is a very
+common name, but he was the one John Smith who has made the name famous
+in history. He had met many Indians before and found most of them
+friendly, but he had never seen any of the Chickahominies and did not
+know that they were enemies to the whites. So he accepted the offer of
+the Indians. The boat was taken back down the stream to a sort of wide
+bay where he thought it would be safe. Here the Indians brought him one
+of their light but strong canoes. Smith wanted to explore the stream
+higher up, and, thinking that he could trust these very friendly looking
+red men, he got into the canoe, bidding two of his men to come with him.
+To the others he said,--
+
+"Do not leave your boat on any account. These fellows seem all right,
+but they are never to be trusted too far. There may be more of them in
+the woods, so be wide awake and keep your wits about you."
+
+The two Indians now got into the canoe with Smith and his men and began
+to paddle it up the stream, keeping on until they were miles from the
+starting-point. Undergrowth rose thickly on the banks and vines hung
+down in green masses from the trees, so that the boat they had left was
+quickly lost to sight. Soon after that the men in the large boat did a
+very foolish thing. Heedless of the orders of their leader, they left
+the boat and strolled into the woods. They had not gone far before a
+party of savages came rushing at them with wild cries, and followed them
+fiercely as they turned and ran back to their boat. One of them was
+caught by the savages, and as the fugitives sprang into their boat they
+were horrified to see the hapless fellow killed by his captors. This
+lesson taught them not to leave the boat again.
+
+Ignorant of all this, Smith went on, the boat being paddled here under a
+low canopy of vines, there through open spaces, until far up the stream.
+At length, as passage grew more difficult, he bade his guides to stop,
+and stepped ashore. Taking one of the Indians with him, he set out,
+carbine on shoulder, saying that he would provide food for the party. He
+cautioned his two followers, as he had done those in the large boat, to
+keep a sharp look-out and not let themselves be surprised.
+
+But these men proved to be as foolish and reckless as the others. The
+air was cool and they built a fire on the bank. Then, utterly heedless
+of danger, they lay down beside it and soon were fast asleep. As they
+lay slumbering the Indians, who had started up the stream after killing
+their prisoner at the boat, came upon them in this helpless state. They
+at once killed the foolish pair, and then started into the woods on the
+trail of Smith.
+
+[Illustration: POCAHONTAS.]
+
+Daring and full of resources as Captain John Smith was, he had taken a
+dangerous risk in thus venturing alone into those forest depths, peopled
+only by prowling and hostile savages. It proved to be the most desperate
+crisis of his life, full of adventure as this life had been. As a
+youthful soldier he had gone through great perils in the wars with the
+Turks, and once had killed three Turkish warriors in single combat
+between two armies, but never before had he been in such danger of death
+as he was now, alone with a treacherous Indian while a dozen or more of
+others, bent on his death, were trailing him through the woods.
+
+He was first made aware of his danger when a flight of arrows came from
+the low bushes near by. Then, with fierce war-whoops, the Indian braves
+rushed upon him with brandished knives and tomahawks. But desperate as
+was his situation, in the heart of the forest, far from help, surrounded
+by foes who thirsted for his blood, Smith did not lose his courage or
+his coolness. He fired his pistol at the Indians, two of them falling
+wounded or dead. As they drew back in dismay, he seized his guide and
+tied him to his left arm with his garter as a protection from their
+arrows, and then started through the woods in the direction of the
+canoe. Walking backward, with his face to his pursuers, and keeping
+them off with his weapons, he had not taken many steps before he found
+his feet sinking in the soft soil. He was in the edge of the great swamp
+still known in that region, and before he was aware of the danger he
+sank into it to his waist and his guide with him. The other Indians held
+back in fear until he had thrown away his weapons, when they rushed upon
+him, drew him out of the mud, and led him captive to the fire where his
+two companions lay dead.
+
+Smith's case now seemed truly desperate. He knew enough of the savages
+to have very little hope of life. Yet he was not inclined to give up
+while a shadowy chance remained. Taking from his pocket a small compass,
+which he carried to aid him in his forest journeys, he gave it to the
+Indian chief, showing him how the needle always pointed to the north.
+But while the chief was looking curiously at this magic toy, as it
+seemed to him, the other Indians bound their captive to a tree, and bent
+their bows to shoot him. Their deadly purpose was prevented by the
+chief, who waved the compass in the air and bade them stop. For the time
+the mystery of the compass seemed to have saved the captive's life.
+
+Smith was now taken through the woods, the journey ending at an Indian
+village called Orapakes. Here the dusky women and children took the
+captive in hand, dancing wildly around him, with fierce cries and
+threatening gestures, while the warriors looked grimly on. Yet Smith
+bore their insults and threats with impassive face and unflinching
+attitude. At length Opechancanough, the chief, pleased to find that he
+had a brave man for captive, bade them cease, and food was brought forth
+for Smith and his captors.
+
+While they were in this village two interesting examples of the
+simplicity of Indian thought took place. Smith wrote a message to
+Jamestown, the settlement of the whites, sending it by one of the
+Indians, and receiving an answer. On his reading this and speaking of
+what he had learned from it, the Indians looked on it as the work of
+enchantment. They could not comprehend how "paper could talk." Another
+thing was the following: They showed him a bag of gunpowder which they
+had somehow obtained, saying that they were going to sow it in the
+ground the next spring and gather a crop of this useful substance. After
+spending some days in this and other villages, the captive was taken
+into the woods, his captors making him understand that they were going
+on a long journey.
+
+Whither he was being taken or what was to be his fate Smith was not
+aware. The language of gestures, which was his only way of conversing
+with the savages, soon reached its limit, and he was quite ignorant of
+what they proposed to do with him, though his heart must have sunk as
+they went on day after day, northward through the forest. On they walked
+in single file, Smith unbound and seemingly free in their midst, but
+with a watchful Indian guard close beside him, ready to shoot him if he
+made any effort to escape. Village after village was passed, in each of
+which the women and children danced and shrieked around him as at
+Orapakes. It was evident they knew the value of their prisoner, and
+recognized that they had in their hands the great chief of the Pale
+Faces.
+
+In fact, the Chickahominy chief felt that his captive was of too much
+importance to be dealt with hastily, and was taking him to the village
+of the great chief Powhatan, who ruled like an emperor over a powerful
+confederation of tribes. In summer his residence was near the Falls of
+the James River, but he was in the habit of spending the winter on the
+banks of York River, his purpose being to enjoy the fish and oysters of
+the neighboring Chesapeake. Wesowocomoca was the name of this winter
+residence, and here the captive was at length brought, after the long
+woodland journey.
+
+Captain Smith had met the old Indian emperor before, at his summer home
+on the James River, near where the city of Richmond now stands. But that
+was as a freeman, with his guard around him and his hands unbound. Now
+he was brought before him as a captive, subject to his royal will or
+caprice.
+
+He found the famous lord of the tribes in his large wigwam, with his
+wives around him, and his vigilant guard of warriors grouped on the
+greensward outside, where the Indian lodges stretched in a considerable
+village along the stream. Powhatan wore a large robe made of raccoon
+skins. A rich plume of feathers ornamented his head and a string of
+beads depended from his neck. At his head and feet sat two young Indian
+girls, his favorite wives, wearing richly adorned dresses of fur, with
+plumes in their hair and necklaces of pearls. Other women were in the
+room, and a number of the leading warriors who sat around gave the
+fierce war-cry of the tribe as the captive was brought in.
+
+The old chieftain looked with keen eyes on his famous prisoner, of whose
+capture he had been advised by runners sent before. There was a look of
+triumph and malignity in his eyes, but Captain Smith stood before him
+unmoved. He had been through too many dangers to be easily dismayed, and
+near death's door too often to yield to despair. Powhatan gave an order
+to a young Indian woman, who brought him a wooden basin of water that he
+might wash his hands. Then she presented him a bunch of feathers to
+serve as a towel. This done, meat and corn-bread were placed before him.
+As he ate Powhatan talked with his warriors, consulting with them, the
+captive feared, upon his fate. But he finished his meal with little loss
+of appetite, trusting to the Providence which had saved him more than
+once before to come to his aid again.
+
+As he ate, his vigilant eyes looked heedfully around the room. Many who
+were there gazed on him with interest, and one of them, a young Indian
+girl of twelve or thirteen years of age, with pity and concern. It was
+evident that she was of high rank in the tribe, for she was richly
+dressed and wore in her hair a plume of feathers like that of Powhatan,
+and on her feet moccasins embroidered like his. There was a troubled and
+compassionate look in her eyes, as she gazed on the captive white man, a
+look which he may perhaps have seen and taken comfort from in his hour
+of dread.
+
+No such feeling as this seemed to rest in the heart of the old chief and
+his warriors. Their conference quickly ended, and, though its words were
+strange to him, the captive could read his fate in their dark and
+frowning faces. They had grown to hate the whites, and now that their
+leader was a captive before them, they decided to put him to death.
+
+There was no loss of time in preparation for the execution of the fatal
+decree. At an order from Powhatan the captive was seized and securely
+bound, then he was laid on the floor of the hut, with his head on a
+large stone brought in from outside. Beside him stood a stalwart savage
+grasping a huge war-club. A word, a signal from Powhatan, was alone
+needed and the victim's brains would have been dashed out.
+
+At this critical moment Smith's good angel watched over him. A low cry
+of pity was heard, and the young girl who had watched him with such
+concern sprang forward and clasped her arms around the poor prisoner,
+looking up at the Indian emperor with beseeching eyes. It was
+Pocahontas, his favorite daughter. Her looks touched the old man's
+heart, and he bade the executioner to stand back, and gave orders that
+the captive should be released. Powhatan soon showed that he was in
+earnest in his act of mercy. He treated the prisoner in a friendly
+fashion, and two days later set him free to return to Jamestown.
+
+All that he asked in return was that the whites should send him two of
+their great guns and a grindstone. Smith readily consented, no doubt
+with a secret sense of amusement, and set out for the settlement, led by
+Indian guides. Rawhunt, a favorite servant of Powhatan, was one of the
+guides, and on reaching Jamestown Smith showed him two cannon and a
+grindstone, and bade him carry them home to his master. Rawhunt tried,
+but when he found that he could not stir one of the weighty presents
+from the ground, he was quite content to take back less bulky presents
+in their place.
+
+So runs the story of Captain Smith's remarkable adventure. No doubt it
+is well to say here that there are writers who doubt the whole story of
+Pocahontas and her deed of mercy, simply because Captain Smith did not
+speak of it in his first book. But there is no very good reason to doubt
+it, and we know that things like this happened in other cases. Thus, in
+the story of De Soto we have told how Juan Ortiz, the Spanish captive,
+was saved from being burned alive by an Indian maiden in much the same
+way.
+
+Pocahontas after that was always a friend of the English, and often
+visited them in Jamestown. Once she stole away through the woods and
+told her English friends that Powhatan and his warriors were going to
+attack them. Then she stole back again. When the Indians came they found
+the English ready, and concluded to defer their attack. Later, after she
+had grown up, she was taken prisoner and held in Jamestown as a hostage
+to make her father quit threatening the English. While there a young
+planter named John Rolfe fell deeply in love with her, and she loved him
+warmly in return.
+
+In the end Pocahontas became a Christian and was baptized at Jamestown
+under the name of Rebecca. Then she and John Rolfe were married and went
+to live in England, where she was known as the "Lady Rebecca" and
+treated as if she were indeed a princess. She met John Smith once more,
+and was full of joy at sight of her "father," as she called him. But
+when he told her that she must not call him that, and spoke to her very
+respectfully as Lady Rebecca, she covered her face with her hands and
+began to weep. She had always called him father, she said, and he had
+called her child, and she meant to do so still. They had told her he was
+dead, and she was very glad to learn that this was false, for she loved
+him as a father and would always do so.
+
+That was her last meeting with Captain Smith. In less than a year
+afterward she was taken sick and died, just as she was about to return
+to her beloved Virginia.
+
+
+
+
+_THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA._
+
+
+Friday, the 22d of March, of the year 1622, dawned brightly over a
+peaceful domain in Virginia. In the fifteen years that had passed since
+the first settlers landed and built themselves homes at Jamestown the
+dominion of the whites had spread, until there were nearly eighty
+settlements, while scattered plantations rose over a space of several
+hundred square miles. Powhatan, the Indian emperor, as he was called,
+had long shown himself the friend of the whites, and friendly relations
+grew up between the new-comers and the old owners of the soil that
+continued unbroken for years.
+
+Everywhere peace and tranquillity now prevailed. The English had settled
+on the fertile lands along the bay and up the many rivers, the musket
+had largely given place to the plough and the sword to the sickle and
+the hoe, and trustful industry had succeeded the old martial vigilance.
+The friendliest intercourse existed between the settlers and the
+natives. These were admitted freely to their houses, often supplied with
+fire-arms, employed in hunting and fishing, and looked upon as faithful
+allies, many of whom had accepted the Christian faith.
+
+But in 1618 the mild-tempered Powhatan had died, and Opechancanough, a
+warrior of very different character, had taken his place as chief of the
+confederacy of tribes. We have met with this savage before, in the
+adventurous career of Captain John Smith. He was a true Indian leader,
+shrewd, cunning, cruel in disposition, patient in suffering, skilled in
+deceit, and possessed of that ready eloquence which always had so strong
+an influence over the savage mind. Jealous of the progress of the
+whites, he nourished treacherous designs against them, but these were
+hidden deep in his savage soul, and he vowed that the heavens should
+fall before he would lift a hand in war against his white friends. Such
+was the tranquil and peaceful state of affairs which existed in Virginia
+in the morning of March 22, 1622. There was not a cloud in the social
+sky, nothing to show that the Indians were other than the devoted allies
+and servants of the whites.
+
+On that morning, as often before, many of the savages came to take their
+breakfast with their white friends, some of them bringing deer, turkeys,
+fish, or fruit, which, as usual, they offered for sale. Others of them
+borrowed the boats of the settlers to cross the rivers and visit the
+outlying plantations. By many a hearth the pipe of peace was smoked, the
+hand of friendship extended, the voice of harmony raised.
+
+Such was the aspect of affairs when the hour of noontide struck on that
+fatal day. In an instant, as if this were the signal of death, the scene
+changed from peace to terror. Knives and tomahawks were drawn and many
+of those with whom the savages had been quietly conversing a moment
+before were stretched in death at their feet. Neither sex nor age was
+spared. Wives were felled, weltering in blood, before the eyes of their
+horrified husbands. The tender infant was snatched from its mother's
+arms to be ruthlessly slain. The old, the sick, the helpless were struck
+down as mercilessly as the young and strong. As if by magic, the savages
+appeared at every point, yelling like demons of death, and slaughtering
+all they met. The men in the fields were killed with their own hoes and
+hatchets. Those in the houses were murdered on their own hearth-stones.
+So unlooked-for and terrible was the assault that in that day of blood
+three hundred and forty-seven men, women, and children fell victims to
+their merciless foes. Not content with their work of death, the savage
+murderers mutilated the bodies of their victims in the most revolting
+manner and revelled shamelessly in their crimes.
+
+Yet with all their treacherous rage, they showed themselves cowardly.
+Wherever they were opposed they fled. One old soldier, who had served
+under Captain John Smith, was severely wounded by his savage assailants.
+He clove the skull of one of them with an axe, and the others at once
+took to flight. In the same way a Mr. Baldwin, whose wife lay bleeding
+from many wounds before his eyes, drove away a throng of murderers by
+one well-aimed discharge from his musket. A number of fugitive settlers
+obtained a few muskets from a ship that was lying in a stream near
+their homes, and with these they routed and dispersed the Indians for a
+long distance around.
+
+The principal settlement, that of Jamestown, was a main point for the
+proposed Indian assault. Here the confidence and sense of security was
+as great as in any of the plantations, and only a fortunate warning
+saved the settlers from a far more terrible loss. One of the young
+converts among the Indians, moved by the true spirit of his new faith,
+warned a white friend of the deadly conspiracy, and the latter hastened
+to Jamestown with the ominous news. As a result, the Indian murderers on
+reaching there found the gates closed and the inhabitants on the alert.
+They made a demonstration, but did not venture on an assault, and
+quickly withdrew.
+
+Such was the first great Indian massacre in America, and one of the most
+unexpected and malignant of them all.
+
+It was the work of Opechancanough, who had laid his plot and organized
+the work of death in the most secret and skilful manner. Passing from
+tribe to tribe, he eloquently depicted their wrongs, roused them to
+revenge, pointed out the defenceless state of the whites, and worked on
+their passions by promises of blood and rapine. A complete organization
+was formed, the day and hour were fixed, and the savages of Virginia
+waited in silence and impatience for the time in which they hoped to rid
+the land of every white settler on its soil and win back their old
+domain.
+
+While they did not succeed in this, they filled the whole colony with
+terror and dismay. The planters who had survived the attack were hastily
+called in to Jamestown, and their homes and fields abandoned, so that of
+the eighty recent settlements only six remained. Some of the people were
+bold enough to refuse to obey the order, arming their servants, mounting
+cannon, and preparing to defend their own homes. One of these bold
+spirits was a woman. But the authorities at Jamestown would not permit
+this, and they were all compelled to abandon their strongholds and unite
+for the general defence.
+
+The reign of peace was at an end. A reign of war had begun. The savages
+were everywhere in arms, with Opechancanough at their head. The
+settlers, as soon as the first period of dread had passed, marched
+against them, burning for revenge, and relentless slaughter became the
+rule. It was the first Indian war in the British settlements, but was of
+the type of them all. Wherever any Indian showed himself he was
+instantly shot down. Wherever a white man ventured within reach of the
+red foe he was slain on the spot or dragged off for the more dreadful
+death by torture. There was no truce, no relaxation; it was war to the
+knife.
+
+Only when seed-time was at hand did necessity demand a temporary pause
+in hostilities. The English now showed that they could be as treacherous
+and lacking in honor as their savage enemy. They offered peace to the
+savages, and in this way induced them to leave their hiding-places and
+plant their fields. While thus engaged the English rushed suddenly upon
+them and cut down a large number, including some of the most valiant
+warriors and leading chiefs.
+
+From that time on there was no talk or thought of peace. Alike the
+plantation buildings of the whites and the villages of the Indians were
+burned. The swords and muskets of the whites, the knives and tomahawks
+of the red men, were ever ready for the work of death. For ten years the
+bloody work continued, and by the end of that time great numbers of the
+Indians had been killed, while of the four thousand whites in Virginia
+only two thousand five hundred remained.
+
+Exhaustion at length brought peace, and for ten years more the reign of
+blood ceased. Yet the irritation of the Indians continued. They saw the
+whites spreading ever more widely through the land and taking possession
+of the hunting-grounds without regard for the rights of the native
+owners, and their hatred for the whites grew steadily more virulent.
+Opechancanough was now a very aged man. In the year 1643 he reached the
+hundreth year of his age. A gaunt and withered veteran, with shrunken
+limbs and a tottering and wasted form, his spirit of hostility to the
+whites burned still unquenched. Age had not robbed him of his influence
+over the tribes. His wise counsel, the veneration they felt for him, the
+tradition of his valorous deeds in the past, gave him unquestioned
+control, and in 1643 he repeated his work of twenty-one years before,
+organizing another secret conspiracy against the whites.
+
+It was a reproduction of the former plot. The Indians were charged to
+the utmost secrecy. They were bidden to ambush the whites in their
+plantations and settlements and at a fixed time to fall upon them and to
+spare none that they could kill. The conspiracy was managed as skilfully
+as the former one. No warning of it was received, and at the appointed
+hour the work of death began. Before it ended five hundred of the
+settlers were ruthlessly slain. They were principally those of the
+outlying plantations. Wherever the settlers were in a position for
+effective resistance, the savages were routed and driven back to their
+forest lurking-places.
+
+Their work of death done, the red-skinned murderers at once dispersed,
+knowing well that they could not withstand their foes in open fight. Sir
+William Berkeley, the governor of Virginia, hastily called out a strong
+force of armed men and marched to the main seat of the slaughter. No
+foes were to be found. The Indians had vanished in the woodland
+wilderness. It was useless to pursue them farther on foot, and the
+governor continued the pursuit with a troop of cavalry, sweeping onward
+through the tribal confines.
+
+The chief result of the expedition was the capture of the organizer of
+the conspiracy, the hoary leader of the tribal confederacy, who was
+found near his place of residence on the Pamunky. Too feeble for hasty
+flight, his aged limbs refusing to bear him and his weakened sight to
+aid him, he was easily overtaken by the pursuers, and was carried back
+in triumph to Jamestown, as the very central figure of Indian hostility.
+
+It was the clement purpose of the governor to send the old chief to
+England as a royal captive, there to be held in honorable custody until
+death should close his career. But this purpose was not to be achieved.
+A death of violence awaited the old Indian chieftain. A wretched fellow
+of the neighborhood, one of the kind who would not have dared to face an
+Indian in arms, slipped secretly behind the famous veteran and shot him
+with his musket through the back, inflicting a deadly wound.
+
+Aged and infirm as Opechancanough was, the wound was not instantly
+mortal. He lingered for a few days in agonizing pain. Yet to the last
+moment of his life his dignity of demeanor was preserved. It was
+especially shown when a crowd of idlers gathered in the room to sate
+their unfeeling curiosity on the actions of the dying chief.
+
+His muscles had grown so weak that he could not raise his eyelids
+without aid, and, on hearing the noise around him, he motioned to his
+attendants to lift his lids that he might see what it meant. When he saw
+the idle and curious crowd, a flash of wounded pride and just resentment
+stirred his vanished powers. Sending for the governor, he said, with a
+keen reproach that has grown historic, "Had I taken Sir William Berkeley
+prisoner, I would not have exposed him as a show to my people." Closing
+his eyes again, in a short time afterward the Indian hero was dead.
+
+With the death of Opechancanough, the confederacy over which Powhatan
+and he had ruled so long came to an end. It was now without a head, and
+the associated tribes fell apart. How long it had been in existence
+before the whites came to Virginia we cannot say, but the tread of the
+white man's foot was fatal to the Indian power, and as that foot
+advanced in triumph over the land the strength of the red men everywhere
+waned and disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+_THE GREAT REBELLION IN THE OLD DOMINION._
+
+
+The years ending in "'76" are remarkable in America as years of struggle
+against tyranny and strife for the right. We shall not soon forget the
+year 1776, when the famous rebellion of the colonies against Great
+Britain reached its climax in the Declaration of Independence. In 1676,
+a century before, there broke out in Virginia what was called the "Great
+Rebellion," a famous movement for right and justice. It was brought
+about by the tyranny of Sir William Berkeley, the governor of the colony
+of Virginia, as that of 1776 was by the tyranny of George III., the King
+of England. It is the story of the first American rebellion that we are
+about to tell.
+
+Sir William had ruled over Virginia at intervals for many years. It was
+he who took old Opechancanough prisoner after the massacre of 1643. In
+1676 he was again governor of the colony. He was a man of high temper
+and revengeful disposition, but for a long time he and the Virginians
+got along very well together, for the planters greatly liked the grand
+style in which he lived on his broad estate of "Green Springs," with his
+many servants, and rich silver plate, and costly entertainments, and
+stately dignity. They lived much that way themselves, so far as their
+means let them, and were proud of their governor's grand display.
+
+But what they did not like was his arbitrary way of deciding every
+question in favor of England and against Virginia, and the tyranny with
+which he enforced every order of the king. Still less were they pleased
+with the fact that, when the Indians in the mountain district began to
+attack the settlers, and put men, women, and children to death, the
+governor took no steps to punish the savage foe, and left the people to
+defend themselves in the best way they could. A feeling of panic like
+that of the older times of massacre ensued. The exposed families were
+forced to abandon their homes and seek places of refuge. Neighbors
+banded together for work in the field, and kept their arms close at
+hand. No man left his door without taking his musket. Even Jamestown was
+in danger, for the woodland stretched nearly to its dwellings, and the
+lurking red men, stealing with noiseless tread through the forest
+shades, prowled from the mountains almost to the sea, like panthers in
+search of prey.
+
+At that time there was a man of great influence in Virginia, named
+Nathaniel Bacon. He was a new-comer, who had been in America less than
+three years, but he had bought a large estate and had been made a member
+of the governor's council. He was a handsome man and a fine speaker,
+and these and other qualities made him very popular with the planters
+and the people.
+
+Bacon's plantation was near the Falls of the James River, where the city
+of Richmond now stands. Here his overseer, to whom he was much attached,
+and one of his servants were killed by the Indians. Highly indignant at
+the outrage, Bacon made up his mind that something must be done. He
+called a meeting of the neighboring planters, and addressed them hotly
+on the delay of the governor in coming to their defence. He advised them
+to act for themselves, and asked if any of them were ready to march
+against the savages, and whom they would choose as their leader. With a
+shout they declared that they were ready, and that he should lead.
+
+This was very much like taking the law into their own hands. If the
+governor would not act, they would. As a proper measure, however, Bacon
+sent to the governor and asked for a commission as captain of the force
+of planters. The governor received the demand in an angry way. It hurt
+his sense of dignity to find these men acting on their own account, and
+he refused to grant a commission or to countenance their action. He went
+so far as to issue a proclamation, in which he declared that all who did
+not return to their homes within a certain time would be held as rebels.
+This so scared the planters that the most of them went home, only
+fifty-seven of them remaining with their chosen leader.
+
+With this small force Bacon marched into the wilderness, where he met
+and defeated a party of Indians, killing many of them, and dispersing
+the remainder. Then he and his men returned home in triumph.
+
+By this time the autocratic old governor was in a high state of rage. He
+denounced Bacon and his men as rebels and traitors, and gathered a force
+to punish them. But when he found that the whole colony was on Bacon's
+side he changed his tone. He had Bacon arrested, it is true, when he
+came to Jamestown as a member of the House of Burgesses, but this was
+only a matter of form, to save his dignity, and when the culprit went
+down on one knee and asked pardon of God, the king, and the governor,
+Berkeley was glad enough to get out of his difficulty by forgiving him.
+But for all this fine show of forgiveness Bacon did not trust the old
+tyrant, and soon slipped quietly out of Jamestown and made his way home.
+
+He was right; the governor was making plans to seize him and hold him
+prisoner; he had issued secret orders, and Bacon had got away in good
+time. Very soon he was back again, this time at the head of four hundred
+planters. As they marched on, others joined them, and when they came
+into the old town, and drew up on the State-house green, there were six
+hundred of them, horse and foot.
+
+The sight of this rebel band threw old Berkeley into a towering rage. He
+rushed out from the State-house at the head of his council, and,
+tearing open his ruffled shirt, cried out, in a furious tone:
+
+"Here, shoot me! 'fore God, fair mark; shoot!"
+
+"No," said Bacon, "may it please your honor, we will not hurt a hair of
+your head, nor of any other man's. We are come for a commission to save
+our lives from the Indians, which you have so often promised; and now we
+will have it before we go."
+
+Both men were in a violent rage, walking up and down and gesticulating
+like men distracted. Soon Sir William withdrew with his council to his
+office in the State-house. Bacon followed, his hand now touching his hat
+in deference, now his sword-hilt as anger rose in his heart. Some of his
+men appeared at a window of the room with their guns cocked and ready,
+crying out, "We will have it; we will have it."
+
+This continued till one of the burgesses came to the window and waved
+his handkerchief, calling out, "You shall have it; you shall have it."
+
+Hearing this, the men drew back and rested their guns on the ground and
+Bacon left the chamber and joined them. The matter ended in Bacon's
+getting his commission as general and commander-in-chief, while an act
+was passed by the legislature justifying him in all he had done, and a
+letter to the same effect was written to the king and signed by the
+governor, council, and assembly. Bacon had won in all he demanded.
+
+His triumph was only temporary. While he was invading the country of
+the Pamunky Indians, killing many of them and destroying their towns,
+Berkeley repudiated all he had done. He proclaimed Bacon a rebel and
+traitor and issued a summons for the train-bands to the number of twelve
+hundred men, bidding them pursue and put down Bacon the rebel. The men
+assembled, but when they heard for what they were wanted they broke out
+into a shout of "Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!" and dispersed again, leaving the
+old tyrant and his attendants alone. News of these events quickly
+reached Bacon and his men in the field. He at once turned and marched
+back.
+
+"While I am hunting wolves which are destroying innocent lambs," he
+exclaimed, indignantly, "here are the governor and his men after me like
+hounds in full cry. I am like one between two millstones, which will
+grind me to powder if I do not look to it."
+
+As he came near Jamestown the governor fled, crossing Chesapeake Bay to
+Accomac, and leaving Bacon in full possession. A new House of Burgesses
+was called into session and Bacon's men pledged themselves not to lay
+down their arms. Sir William had sent to England for soldiers, they
+said, and they would stand ready to fight these soldiers, as they had
+fought the governor. A paper to this effect was drawn up and signed,
+dated August, 1676. It was the first American declaration of
+independence.
+
+[Illustration: JAMESTOWN RUIN.]
+
+The tide of rebellion was now in full flow. The movement against the
+Indians had, by the unwarranted behavior of the governor, been converted
+into civil war, nearly the whole colony supporting Bacon and demanding
+that the tyrant governor should be deposed.
+
+But, while this was going on, the Indians took to the war-path again,
+and Bacon at once marched against them, leaving Sir William to his own
+devices. His first movement was against the Appomattox tribe, which
+dwelt on the river of the same name, where Petersburg now stands. Taking
+them by surprise, he burned their town, killed many of them, and
+dispersed the remainder. Then he marched south and attacked other
+tribes, driving them before him and punishing them so severely as quite
+to cure them of all desire to meddle with the whites.
+
+From that time forward Eastern Virginia was free from Indian troubles,
+and Bacon was looked upon as the deliverer of the colony. But lack of
+provisions forced him to return and disband his forces, only a few men
+remaining with him. He soon learned that he had a worse enemy than the
+Indians to fight at home. Some of his leading supporters in Jamestown,
+Lawrence, Drummond, Hansford, and others, came hastily to his camp,
+saying that they had been obliged to flee for safety, as Sir William was
+back again, with eighteen ships in the river and eight hundred men he
+had gathered in the eastern counties.
+
+The affair had now come to a focus. It was fight, or yield and be
+treated as a traitor. Bacon resolved to fight, and he found many to back
+him in it, for he soon had a force collected. How many there were we do
+not know. Some say only one hundred and fifty, some say eight hundred;
+but however that be, he marched with them on Jamestown, bringing his
+Indian captives with him. Rebels and Royalists the two parties were now
+called; people and tyrant would have been better titles, for Bacon was
+in arms for the public right and had the people at his back.
+
+The old governor was ready. While in Accomac he had taken and hung two
+friends of Bacon, who had gone there to try and capture him. He asked
+for nothing better than the chance to serve Bacon in the same way. His
+ships, armed with cannon, now lay in the river near the town. A
+palisade, ten paces wide, had been built across the neck of the
+peninsula in which Jamestown stood. Behind it lay a strong body of armed
+men. Berkeley felt that he had the best of the situation, and was
+defiant of his foes.
+
+It was at the end of a September day when Bacon and his small army of
+"rebels" arrived. Springing from his horse, he led the tired men up to
+the palisades and surveyed the governor's works of defence. Then he
+ordered his trumpeter to sound defiance and his men to fire on the
+garrison. There was no return fire. Sir William knew that the assailants
+were short of provisions, and trusted to hunger to make them retire. But
+Bacon was versed in the art of foraging. At Green Spring, three miles
+away, was Governor Berkeley's fine mansion, and from this the invading
+army quickly supplied itself. The governor afterwards bitterly
+complained that his mansion "was almost ruined; his household goods, and
+others of great value, totally plundered; that he had not a bed to lie
+on; two great beasts, three hundred sheep, seventy horses and mares, all
+his corn and provisions, taken away." Evidently the "rebels" knew
+something about the art of war.
+
+This was not all, for their leader adopted another stratagem not well in
+accordance with the rules of chivalry. A number of the loyalists of the
+vicinity had joined Berkeley, and Bacon sent out small parties of horse,
+which captured the wives of these men and brought them into camp. Among
+them were the lady of Colonel Bacon, Madame Bray, Madame Page, and
+Madame Ballard. He sent one of these ladies to the town, with a warning
+to the husbands not to attack him in his camp, or they would find their
+wives in front of his line.
+
+What Bacon actually wanted these ladies for was to make use of them in
+building his works. He raised by moonlight a defensive work of trees,
+brushwood and earth around the governor's outwork of palisades, placing
+the ladies in front of the workmen to keep the garrison from firing on
+them. But he had the chivalry to take them out of harm's way when the
+governor's men made a sortie on his camp.
+
+The fight that took place may have been a hard one or a light one. We
+have no very full account of it. The most we know is that Bacon and his
+men won the victory, and that the governor's men were driven back,
+leaving their drum and their dead behind them. Whether hard or light,
+his repulse was enough for Sir William's valor. Well intrenched as he
+was and superior in numbers, his courage suddenly gave out, and he fled
+in haste to his ships, which set sail in equal haste down the river,
+their speed accelerated by the cannon-balls which the "rebels" sent
+after them.
+
+Once more the doughty governor was a fugitive, and Bacon was master of
+the situation. Jamestown, the original Virginia settlement, was in his
+hands. What should he do with it? He could not stay there, for he knew
+that Colonel Brent, with some twelve hundred men, was marching down on
+him from the Potomac. He did not care to leave it for Berkeley to return
+to. In this dilemma he concluded to burn it. To this none of his men
+made any objection. Two of them, indeed, Lawrence and Drummond, who had
+houses in the place, set fire to them with their own hands. And thus the
+famous old town of John Smith and the early settlers was burned to the
+ground. Old as it was, we are told that it contained only a church and
+sixteen or eighteen houses, and in some of these there were no families.
+To-day nothing but the ruined church tower remains.
+
+Bacon now marched north to York River to meet Colonel Brent and his men.
+But by the time he got there the men had dispersed. The news of the
+affair at Jamestown had reached them, and they concluded they did not
+want to fight. Bacon was now master of Virginia, with the power though
+not the name of governor.
+
+What would have come of his movement had he lived it is impossible to
+say, for in the hour of his triumph a more perilous foe than Sir William
+Berkeley was near at hand. While directing his men in their work at the
+Jamestown trenches a fever had attacked him, and this led to a dangerous
+dysentery which carried him off after a few weeks' illness. His death
+was a terrible blow to his followers, for the whole movement rested on
+the courage and ability as a leader of this one man. They even feared
+the vindictive Berkeley would attempt some outrage upon the remains of
+the "rebel" leader, and they buried his body at night in a secret place.
+Some traditions assert that he was dealt with as De Soto had been before
+him, his body being sunk in the bosom of the majestic York River, where
+it was left with the winds and the waves to chant its requiem.
+
+Thus ended what Sir William Berkeley called the "Great Rebellion." Its
+leader dead, there was none to take his place. In despair the men
+returned to their homes. Many of them made their way to North Carolina,
+in which new colony they were warmly welcomed. A few kept up a show of
+resistance, but they were soon dispersed, and Berkeley came back in
+triumph, his heart full of revengeful passion. He had sent to England
+for troops, and the arrival of these gave him support in his cruel
+designs.
+
+All the leading friends of Bacon whom he could seize were mercilessly
+put to death, some of them with coarse and aggravating insults. The wife
+of Major Cheeseman, one of the prisoners, knelt at the governor's feet
+and pitifully pleaded for her husband's life, but all she got in return
+from the old brute was a vulgar insult. The major escaped the gallows
+only by dying in prison.
+
+One of the most important of the prisoners was William Drummond, a close
+friend of Bacon. Berkeley hated him and greeted him with the most
+stinging insult he could think of.
+
+"Mr. Drummond," said he, with a bitter sneer, "you are very welcome; I
+am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, you
+shall be hanged in half an hour."
+
+And he was. His property was also seized, but when the king heard of
+this he ordered it to be restored to his widow.
+
+"God has been inexpressibly merciful to this poor province," wrote
+Berkeley, with sickening hypocrisy, after one of his hangings. Charles
+II., the king, took a different view of the matter, saying: "That old
+fool has hung more men in that naked province than I did for the murder
+of my father." More than twenty of Bacon's chief supporters were hung,
+and the governor's revenge came to an end only when the assembly met and
+insisted that these executions should cease.
+
+We have told how Bacon came to his end. We must do the same for
+Berkeley, his foe. Finding that he was hated and despised in Virginia,
+he sailed for England, many of the people celebrating his departure by
+firing cannon and illuminating their houses. He never returned. The king
+was so angry with him that he refused to see him; a slight which
+affected the old man so severely that he soon died, of a broken heart,
+it is said. Thus ended the first rebellion of the people of the American
+colonies.
+
+
+
+
+_CHEVALIER LA SALLE, THE EXPLORER OF THE MISSISSIPPI._
+
+
+There are two great explorers whose names have been made famous by their
+association with the mighty river of the West, the Mississippi, or
+Father of Waters,--De Soto, the discoverer, and La Salle, the explorer,
+of that stupendous stream. Among all the rivers of the earth the
+Mississippi ranks first. It has its rivals in length and volume, but
+stands without a rival as a noble channel of commerce, the pride of the
+West and the glory of the South. We have told the story of its discovery
+by De Soto, the Spanish adventurer; we have now to tell that of its
+exploration by La Salle, the French chevalier.
+
+Let us say here that though the honor of exploring the Mississippi has
+been given to La Salle, he was not the first to traverse its waters. The
+followers of De Soto descended the stream from the Arkansas to its mouth
+in 1542. Father Marquette and Joliet, the explorer, descended from the
+Wisconsin to the Arkansas in 1673. In 1680 Father Hennepin, a Jesuit
+missionary sent by La Salle, ascended the stream from the Illinois to
+the Falls of St. Anthony. Thus white men had followed the great river
+for nearly its whole length. But the greatest of all these explorers and
+the first to traverse the river for the greater part of its course, was
+the Chevalier Robert de la Salle, and to his name is given the glory of
+revealing this grand stream to mankind.
+
+Never was there a more daring and indefatigable explorer than Robert de
+la Salle. He seemed born to make new lands and new people known to the
+world. Coming to Canada in 1667, he began his career by engaging in the
+fur trade on Lake Ontario. But he could not rest while the great
+interior remained unknown. In 1669 he made an expedition to the west and
+south, and was the first white man to gaze on the waters of the swift
+Ohio. In 1679 he launched on the Great Lakes the first vessel that ever
+spread its sails on those mighty inland seas, and in this vessel, the
+Griffin, he sailed through Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan.
+
+La Salle next descended the Illinois River, and built a fort where the
+city of Peoria now stands. But his vessel was wrecked, and he was forced
+to make his way on foot through a thousand miles of wilderness to obtain
+supplies at Montreal. Such was the early record of this remarkable man,
+and for two years afterward his life was full of adventure and
+misfortune. At length, in 1682, he entered upon the great performance of
+his life, his famous journey upon the bosom of the Father of Waters.
+
+It was midwinter when La Salle and his men set out from the lakes with
+their canoes. On the 4th of January, 1682, they reached the mouth of the
+Chicago River, where its waters enter Lake Michigan. The river was
+frozen hard, and they had to build sledges to drag their large and heavy
+canoes down the ice-closed stream. Reaching the portage to the Illinois,
+they continued their journey across the bleak and snowy waste,
+toilsomely dragging canoes, baggage, and provisions to the other stream.
+Here, too, they found a sheet of ice, and for some days longer trudged
+down the channel of the silent and dreary stream. Its banks had been
+desolated by Indian wars, and where once many flourishing villages rose
+there were to be seen only ashes and smoke-blackened ruins.
+
+About the 1st of February they reached Crevecoeur, the fort La Salle
+had built some years earlier. Below this point the stream was free from
+ice, and after a week's rest the canoes were launched on the liquid
+surface. They were not long in reaching the point where the Illinois
+buries its waters in the mighty main river, the grave of so many broad
+and splendid streams.
+
+Past the point they had now reached the Mississippi poured swiftly
+downward, its waters swollen, and bearing upon them great sheets of ice,
+the contribution of the distant north. It was no safe channel for their
+frail birch-bark canoes, and they were obliged to wait a week till the
+vast freightage of ice had run past. Then, on the 13th of February,
+1682, they launched their canoes on the great stream, and began their
+famous voyage down its mighty course.
+
+A day's journey brought them to the place where the turbulent Missouri
+pours its contribution, gathered from thousands of miles of mountain and
+prairie, into the parent stream, rushing with the force and roar of a
+rapid through a channel half a mile broad, and quickly converting the
+clear Mississippi waters into a turbid yellow torrent, thick with mud.
+
+La Salle, like so many of the early explorers, was full of the idea of
+finding a short route across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, and he
+found the Indians at the mouth of the Missouri ready to tell him
+anything he wanted to know. They said that by sailing ten or twelve days
+up the stream, through populous villages of their people, he would come
+to a range of mountains in which the river rose; and by climbing to the
+summit of these lofty hills he could gaze upon a vast and boundless sea,
+whose waves broke on their farther side. It was one of those imaginative
+stories which the Indians were always ready to tell, and the whites as
+ready to believe, and it was well for La Salle that he did not attempt
+the fanciful adventure.
+
+Savage settlements were numerous along the Mississippi, as De Soto had
+found a century and more earlier. About thirty miles below the Missouri
+they came to another village of peaceful natives, whose souls they made
+happy by a few trifling gifts which were of priceless worth to their
+untutored minds. Then downward still they went for a hundred miles or
+more farther, to the mouth of another great stream, this one flowing
+from the east, and as noble in its milder way as the Missouri had been
+in its turbulent flow. Unlike the latter, this stream was gentle in its
+current, and its waters were of crystal clearness. It was the splendid
+river which the Indians called the Wabash, or Beautiful River, and the
+French by the similar name of La Belle Rivière. It is now known as the
+Ohio, the Indian name being transferred to one of its tributaries. This
+was the stream on whose waters La Salle had gazed with admiration
+thirteen years before.
+
+The voyagers were obliged to proceed slowly. Unable to carry many
+provisions in their crowded canoes, they were often forced to stop and
+fish or hunt for game. As the Indians told them they would find no good
+camping-grounds for many miles below the Ohio, they stopped for ten days
+at its mouth, hunting and gathering supplies. Parties were sent out to
+explore in various directions, and one of the men, Peter Prudhomme,
+failed to return. It was feared that he had been taken captive by the
+Indians, traces of whom had been seen near by, and a party of Frenchmen,
+with Indian guides, was sent out on the trails of the natives. They
+returned without the lost man, and La Salle, at length, reluctantly
+giving him up, prepared to continue the journey. Just as they were
+entering the canoes the missing man reappeared. For nine days he had
+been lost in the forest, vainly seeking his friends, and wandering
+hopelessly. His gun, however, had provided him with food, and he reached
+the stream just in time.
+
+Once more the expedition was launched on the swift-flowing current,
+eight or ten large birch canoes filled with Indians and Frenchmen in
+Indian garb, and laden with supplies. The waters bore them swiftly
+onward, there was little labor with the paddles, the wintry weather was
+passing and the air growing mild, the sky sunny, and the light-hearted
+sons of France enjoyed their daily journey through new and strange
+scenes with the warmest zest.
+
+About one hundred and twenty miles below the Ohio they reached the
+vicinity of the Arkansas River, the point near which the voyage of
+Marquette had ended and that of the followers of De Soto began. Here,
+for the first time in their journey, they met with hostile Indians. As
+the flotilla glided on past the Arkansas bluffs, on the 3d of March, its
+people were startled by hearing the yells of a large body of savages and
+the loud sound of a drum, coming from behind the bluff. The natives had
+taken the alarm, supposing that a war party of their enemies was coming
+to attack them.
+
+La Salle ordered his canoes at once to be paddled to the other side of
+the stream, here a mile wide. The party landing, some intrenchments were
+hastily thrown up, for across the river they could now see a large
+village, filled with excited and armed warriors. Preparations for
+defence made, La Salle advanced to the water's edge and made signs of
+friendship and amity. Pacified by these signals of peace, some of the
+Indian chiefs rowed across until near the bank, when they stopped and
+beckoned to the strangers to come to them.
+
+Father Membré, the priest who accompanied the expedition, entered a
+canoe and was rowed out to the native boat by two Indians. He held out
+to them the calumet, or pipe of peace, the Indian signal of friendship,
+and easily induced the chiefs to go with him to the camp of the whites.
+There were six of them, frank and cordial in manner, and seemingly
+disposed to friendship. La Salle made them very happy with a few small
+presents, and at their request the whole party embarked and accompanied
+them across the river to their village.
+
+All the men of the place crowded to the bank to receive their strange
+visitors, women and children remaining timidly back. They were escorted
+to the wigwams, treated with every show of friendship, and regaled with
+the utmost hospitality. These Arkansas Indians were found to be a
+handsome race, and very different in disposition from the northern
+tribes, for they replaced the taciturn and often sullen demeanor of the
+latter with a gay and frank manner better suited to their warmer clime.
+They were also much more civilized, being skilled agriculturists, and
+working their fields by the aid of slaves captured in war. Corn, beans,
+melons, and a variety of fruits were grown in their fields, and large
+flocks of turkeys and other fowls were seen round their dwellings.
+
+La Salle and his party stayed in the village for some two weeks, and
+before leaving went through the form of taking possession of the
+country in the name of the king of France. This proceeding was conducted
+with all the ceremony possible under the circumstances, a large cross
+being planted in the centre of the village, anthems sung, and religious
+rites performed. The Indians looked on in delight at the spectacle,
+blankly ignorant of what it all meant, and probably thinking it was got
+up for their entertainment. Had they known its full significance they
+might not have been so well pleased.
+
+Embarking again on the 17th of March, the explorers continued their
+journey down the stream, coming after several days to a place where the
+river widened into a lake-like expanse. This broad sheet of water was
+surrounded with villages, forty being counted on the east side and
+thirty-four on the west. On landing in this populous community, they
+found the villages to be well built, the houses being constructed of
+clay mixed with straw, and covered with dome-like roofs of canes. Many
+convenient articles of furniture were found within.
+
+These Southern Indians proved to be organized under a very different
+system from that prevailing in the North. There each tribe was a small
+republic, electing its chiefs, and preserving the liberty of its people.
+Here the tribes were absolute monarchies. The head-chief, or king, had
+the lives and property of all his subjects at his disposal, and kept his
+court with the ceremonious dignity of a European monarch. When he called
+on La Salle, who was too sick at that time to go and see him, the
+ceremony was regal. Every obstruction was removed from his path by a
+party of pioneers, and the way made level for his feet. The spot where
+he gave audience was carefully smoothed and covered with showy mats.
+
+The dusky autocrat made his appearance richly attired in white robes,
+and preceded by two officers who bore plumes of gorgeously colored
+feathers. An official followed with two large plates of polished copper.
+The monarch had the courteous dignity and gravity of one born to the
+throne, though his interview with La Salle was conducted largely with
+smiles and gestures, as no word spoken could be understood. The
+travellers remained among this friendly people for several days,
+rambling through the villages and being entertained in the dwellings,
+and found them far advanced in civilization beyond the tribes of the
+North.
+
+Father Membré has given the following account of their productions: "The
+whole country is covered with palm-trees, laurels of two kinds, plums,
+peaches, mulberry, apple, and pear-trees of every variety. There are
+also five or six kinds of nut-trees, some of which bear nuts of
+extraordinary size. They also gave us several kinds of dried fruit to
+taste. We found them large and good. They have also many varieties of
+fruit-trees which I never saw in Europe. The season was, however, too
+early to allow us to see the fruit. We observed vines already out of
+blossom."
+
+Continuing their journey down the stream, the adventurers next came to
+the country of the Natchez Indians, whom they found as friendly as those
+they had recently left. La Salle, indeed, was a man of such genial and
+kind disposition and engaging manners that he made friends of all he
+met. As Father Membré says, "He so impressed the hearts of these Indians
+that they did not know how to treat us well enough." This was a very
+different reception to that accorded De Soto and his followers, whose
+persistent ill-treatment of the Indians made bitter enemies of all they
+encountered.
+
+The voyagers, however, were soon to meet savages of different character.
+On the 2d of April, as they floated downward through a narrow channel
+where a long island divided the stream, their ears were suddenly greeted
+with fierce war-whoops and the hostile beating of drums. Soon a cloud of
+warriors was seen in the dense border of forest, gliding from tree to
+tree and armed with strong bows and long arrows. La Salle at once
+stopped the flotilla and sent one canoe ahead, the Frenchmen in it
+presenting the calumet of peace. But this emblem here lost its effect,
+for the boat was greeted with a volley of arrows. Another canoe was
+sent, with four Indians, who bore the calumet; but they met with the
+same hostile reception.
+
+Seeing that the savages were inveterately hostile, La Salle ordered his
+men to their paddles, bidding them to hug the opposite bank and to row
+with all their strength. No one was to fire, as no good could come from
+that. The rapidity of the current and the swift play of the paddles
+soon sent the canoes speeding down the stream, and though the natives
+drove their keen arrows with all their strength, and ran down the banks
+to keep up their fire, the party passed without a wound.
+
+A few days more took the explorers past the site of the future city of
+New Orleans and to the head of the delta of the Mississippi, where it
+separates into a number of branches. Here the fleet was divided into
+three sections, each taking a branch of the stream, and very soon they
+found the water salty and the current becoming slow. The weather was
+mild and delightful, and the sun shone clear and warm, when at length
+they came into the open waters of the Gulf and their famous voyage was
+at an end.
+
+Ascending the western branch again until they came to solid ground, a
+massive column bearing the arms of France was erected, and by its side
+was planted a great cross. At the foot of the column was buried a leaden
+plate, on which, in Latin, the following words were inscribed:
+
+"Louis the Great reigns. Robert, Cavalier, with Lord Tonti, Ambassador,
+Zenobia Membré, Ecclesiastic, and twenty Frenchmen, first navigated this
+river from the country of the Illinois, and passed through this mouth on
+the ninth of April, sixteen hundred and eighty-two."
+
+La Salle then made an address, in which he took possession for France of
+the country of Louisiana; of all its peoples and productions, from the
+mouth of the Ohio; of all the rivers flowing into the Mississippi from
+their sources, and of the main stream to its mouth in the sea. Thus,
+according to the law of nations, as then existing, the whole valley of
+the Mississippi was annexed to France; a magnificent acquisition, of
+which that country was destined to enjoy a very small section, and
+finally to lose it all.
+
+[Illustration: Copyright, 1906, by Detroit Publishing Company.
+
+COALING A MOVING BOAT ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.]
+
+We might tell the story of the return voyage and of the fierce conflict
+which the voyagers had with the hostile Quinnipissa Indians, who had
+attacked them so savagely in their descent, but it will be of more
+interest to give the account written by Father Membré of the country
+through which they had passed.
+
+"The banks of the Mississippi," he writes, "for twenty or thirty leagues
+from its mouth are covered with a dense growth of canes, except in
+fifteen or twenty places where there are very pretty hills and spacious,
+convenient landing-places. Behind this fringe of marshy land you see the
+finest country in the world. Our hunters, both French and Indian, were
+delighted with it. For an extent of six hundred miles in length and as
+much in breadth, we were told there are vast fields of excellent land,
+diversified with pleasing hills, lofty woods, groves through which you
+might ride on horseback, so clear and unobstructed are the paths.
+
+"The fields are full of all kinds of game,--wild cattle, does, deer,
+stags, bears, turkeys, partridges, parrots, quails, woodcock, wild
+pigeons, and ring-doves. There are also beaver, otters, and martens.
+The cattle of this country surpass ours in size. Their head is monstrous
+and their look is frightful, on account of the long, black hair with
+which it is surrounded and which hangs below the chin. The hair is fine,
+and scarce inferior to wool.
+
+"We observed wood fit for every use. There were the most beautiful
+cedars in the world. There was one kind of tree which shed an abundance
+of gum, as pleasant to burn as the best French pastilles. We also saw
+fine hemlocks and other large trees with white bark. The
+cottonwood-trees were very large. Of these the Indians dug out canoes,
+forty or fifty feet long. Sometimes there were fleets of a hundred and
+fifty at their villages. We saw every kind of tree fit for
+ship-building. There is also plenty of hemp for cordage, and tar could
+be made in abundance.
+
+"Prairies are seen everywhere. Sometimes they are fifty or sixty miles
+in length on the river front and many leagues in depth. They are very
+rich and fertile, without a stone or a tree to obstruct the plough.
+These prairies are capable of sustaining an immense population. Beans
+grow wild, and the stalks last several years, bearing fruit. The
+bean-vines are thicker than a man's arm, and run to the top of the
+highest trees. Peach-trees are abundant and bear fruit equal to the best
+that can be found in France. They are often so loaded in the gardens of
+the Indians that they have to prop up the branches. There are whole
+forests of mulberries, whose ripened fruit we begin to eat in the month
+of May. Plums are found in great variety, many of which are not known in
+Europe. Grape-vines and pomegranates are common. Three or four crops of
+corn can be raised in a year."
+
+From all this it appears that the good Father was very observant, though
+his observation, or the information he obtained from the Indians, was
+not always to be trusted. He goes on to speak of the tribes, whose
+people and customs he found very different from the Indians of Canada.
+"They have large public squares, games, and assemblies. They seem
+mirthful and full of vivacity. Their chiefs have absolute authority. No
+one would dare to pass between the chief and the cane torch which burns
+in his cabin and is carried before him when he goes out. All make a
+circuit around it with some ceremony."
+
+
+
+
+_THE FRENCH OF LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ INDIANS._
+
+
+The story of the American Indian is one of the darkest blots on the page
+of the history of civilization. Of the three principal peoples of Europe
+who settled the New World,--the Spanish, the British, and the
+French,--the Spanish made slaves of them and dealt with them with
+shocking cruelty, and the British were, in a different way, as unjust,
+and at times little less cruel. As for the French, while they showed
+more sympathy with the natives, and treated them in a more friendly and
+considerate spirit, their dealings with them were by no means free from
+the charge of injustice and cruelty. This we shall seek to show in the
+following story.
+
+When we talk of the Indians of the United States we are very apt to get
+wrong ideas about them. The word Indian means to us a member of the
+savage hunting tribes of the North; a fierce, treacherous, implacable
+foe, though he could be loyal and generous as a friend; a being who made
+war a trade and cruelty a pastime, and was incapable of civilization.
+But this is only one type of the native inhabitants of the land. Those
+of the South were very different. Instead of being rude savages, like
+their Northern brethren, they had made some approach to civilization;
+instead of being roving hunters, they were settled agriculturists;
+instead of being morose and taciturn, they were genial and
+light-hearted; and instead of possessing only crude forms of government
+and religion, they were equal in both these respects to some peoples who
+are classed as civilized.
+
+If any feel a doubt of this, let them read what La Salle and the
+intelligent priest who went with him had to say about the Indians of the
+lower Mississippi, their government, agriculture, and friendliness of
+disposition, and their genial and sociable manner. It is one of the
+tribes of Southern Indians with which we are here concerned, the Natchez
+tribe or nation, with whom La Salle had such pleasing relations.
+
+It may be of interest to our readers to be told something more about the
+customs of the Southern Indians, since they differed very greatly from
+those of the North, and are little known to most readers. Let us take
+the Creeks, for instance,--a powerful association made up of many tribes
+of the Gulf region. They had their chiefs and their governing council,
+like the Northern Indians, but the Mico, who took the place of the
+Sachem of the North, had almost absolute power, and the office was
+hereditary in his family. Agriculture was their principal industry, the
+fields being carefully cultivated, though they were active hunters also.
+The land was the property of the tribe, not of individuals, and each
+family who cultivated it had to deposit a part of their products in the
+public store-house. This was under the full control of the Mico, though
+food was distributed to all in times of need.
+
+Their religion was much more advanced than that of the Northern tribes.
+They had the medicine man and the notions about spirits of the North,
+but they also worshipped the sun as the great deity of the universe, and
+had their temples, and priests, and religious ceremonies. One of their
+great objects of care was the sacred fire, which was carefully
+extinguished at the close of the year, and rekindled with "new fire" for
+the coming year. While it was out serious calamities were feared and the
+people were in a state of terror. There was nothing like this in the
+North.
+
+The most remarkable of the United States Indians were the Natchez, of
+whom we have above spoken. Not only La Salle, but later French writers
+have told us about them. They had a different language and were
+different in other ways from the neighboring Indians. They worshipped
+the sun as their great deity, and had a complete system of temples,
+priests, idols, religious festivals, sacred objects and the like, the
+people being deeply superstitious. Their temples were built on great
+mounds, and in them the sacred fire was very carefully guarded by the
+priests. If it should go out fearful misfortunes were expected to ensue.
+
+Their ruler was high priest as well as monarch. He was called the Sun
+and was believed to be a direct descendant of the great deity. He was a
+complete autocrat, with the power of life and death over the people, and
+his nearest female relative, who was known as the woman chief, had the
+same power. On his death there were many human sacrifices, though it was
+not his son, but that of the woman chief, who succeeded to the throne.
+Not only the ruler, but all the members of the royal caste, were called
+Suns, and had special privileges. Under them there was a nobility, also
+with its powers and privileges, but the common people had very few
+rights. On the temple of the sun were the figures of three eagles, with
+their heads turned to the east. It may be seen that this people was a
+very interesting one, far advanced in culture beyond the rude tribes of
+the North, and it is a great pity that they were utterly destroyed and
+their institutions swept away before they were studied by the scientists
+of the land. Their destruction was due to French injustice, and this is
+how it came about.
+
+Louisiana was not settled by the French until about twenty years after
+La Salle's great journey, and New Orleans was not founded till 1718.
+The French gradually spread their authority over the country, bringing
+the Mississippi tribes under their influence. Among these were the
+Natchez, situated up the river in a locality indicated by the present
+city of Natchez. The trouble with them came about in 1729, through the
+unjust behavior of a French officer named Chopart. He had been once
+removed for injustice, but a new governor, M. Perier, had replaced him,
+not knowing his character.
+
+Chopart, on his return to the Natchez country, was full of great views,
+in which the rights of the old owners of the land did not count. He was
+going to make his province a grand and important one, and in the
+presence of his ambition the old inhabitants must bend the knee. He
+wanted a large space for his projected settlement, and on looking about
+could find no spot that suited him but that which was occupied by the
+Indian village of the White Apple. That the natives might object to this
+appropriation of their land did not seem to trouble his lordly soul.
+
+He sent to the Sun of the village, bidding him to come to the fort,
+which was about six miles away. When the chief arrived there, Chopart
+told him, bluntly enough, that he had decided to build a settlement on
+the site of the White Apple village, and that he must clear away the
+huts and build somewhere else. His only excuse was that it was necessary
+for the French to settle on the banks of the rivulet on whose waters
+stood the Grand Tillage and the abode of the Grand Sun.
+
+The Sun of the Apple was taken aback by this arbitrary demand. He
+replied with dignity that his ancestors had dwelt in that village for as
+many years as there were hairs in his head, and that it was good that he
+and his people should continue there. This reasonable answer threw
+Chopart into a passion, and he violently told the Sun that he must quit
+his village in a few days or he should repent it.
+
+"When your people came to ask us for lands to settle on," said the
+Indian in reply, "you told us that there was plenty of unoccupied land
+which you would be willing to take. The same sun, you said, would shine
+on us all and we would all walk in the same path."
+
+Before he could proceed, Chopart violently interrupted him, saying that
+he wanted to hear no more, he only wanted to be obeyed. At this the
+insulted chief withdrew, saying, with the same quiet dignity as before,
+that he would call together the old men of the village and hold a
+council on the affair.
+
+The Indians, finding the French official so violent and arbitrary, at
+first sought to obtain delay, saying that the corn was just above the
+ground and the chickens were laying their eggs. The commandant replied
+that this did not matter to him, they must obey his order or they should
+suffer for their obstinacy. They next tried the effect of a bribe,
+offering to pay him a basket of corn and a fowl for each hut in the
+village if he would wait till the harvest was gathered. Chopart proved
+to be as avaricious as he was arbitrary, and agreed to accept this
+offer.
+
+He did not know the people he was dealing with. Stung with the injustice
+of the demand, and deeply incensed by the insolence of the commandant,
+the village council secretly resolved that they would not be slaves to
+these base intruders, but would cut them off to a man. The oldest chief
+suggested the following plan. On the day fixed they should go to the
+fort with some corn, and carrying their arms as if going out to hunt.
+There should be two or three Natchez for every Frenchman, and they
+should borrow arms and ammunition for a hunting match to be made on
+account of a grand feast, promising to bring back meat in payment. The
+arms once obtained, the discharge of a gun would be the signal for them
+to fall on the unsuspecting French and kill them all.
+
+He further suggested that all the other villages should be apprised of
+the project and asked to assist. A bundle of rods was to be sent to each
+village, the rods indicating the number of days preceding that fixed for
+the assault. That no mistake might be made, a prudent person in each
+village should be appointed to draw out a rod on each day and throw it
+away. This was their way of counting time.
+
+The scheme was accepted by the council, the Sun warmly approving of it.
+When it was made known to the chiefs of the nation, they all joined in
+approval, including the Grand Sun, their chief ruler, and his uncle, the
+Stung Serpent. It was kept secret, however, from the people at large,
+and from all the women of the noble and royal castes, not excepting the
+woman chief.
+
+This it was not easy to do. Secret meetings were being held, and the
+object of these the female Suns had a right to demand. The woman chief
+at that time was a young princess, scarce eighteen, and little inclined
+to trouble herself with political affairs; but the Strong Arm, the
+mother of the Grand Sun, was an able and experienced woman, and one
+friendly to the French. Her son, strongly importuned by her, told her of
+the scheme, and also of the purpose of the bundle of rods that lay in
+the temple.
+
+Strong Arm was politic enough to appear to approve the project, but
+secretly she was anxious to save the French. The time was growing short,
+and she sought to have the commandant warned by hints of danger. These
+were brought him by soldiers, but in his supercilious self-conceit he
+paid no heed to them, but went on blindly towards destruction. He went
+so far as to put in irons seven of those who warned him of the peril,
+accusing them of cowardice. Finding this effort unavailing, the Strong
+Arm secretly pulled some rods out of the fatal bundle, hoping in this
+way to disarrange the project of the conspirators.
+
+Heedless of all that had been told him, Chopart and some other Frenchmen
+went on the night before the fatal day to the great village of the
+Natchez, on a party of pleasure, not returning till break of day, and
+then the worse for his potations. In the mean time the secret had grown
+more open, and on his entering the fort he was strongly advised to be on
+his guard.
+
+The drink he had taken made a complete fool of him, however, and he at
+once sent to the village from which he had just returned, bidding his
+interpreter to ask the Grand Sun whether he intended to come with his
+warriors and kill the French. The Grand Sun, as might have been
+expected, sent word back that he did not dream of such a thing, and he
+would be very sorry, indeed, to do any harm to his good friends, the
+French. This answer fully satisfied the commandant, and he went to his
+house, near the fort, disdaining the advice of the informers.
+
+It was on the eve of St. Andrew's Day, in 1729, that a party of the
+Natchez approached the French settlement. It was some days in advance of
+that fixed, on account of the meddling with the rods. They brought with
+them one of the common people, armed with a wooden hatchet, to kill the
+commandant, the warriors having too much contempt for him to be willing
+to lay hands on him. The natives strayed in friendly fashion into the
+houses, and many made their way through the open gates into the fort,
+where they found the soldiers unsuspicious of danger and without an
+officer, or even a sergeant, at their head.
+
+Soon the Grand Sun appeared, with a number of warriors laden with corn,
+as if to pay the first installment of the contribution. Their entrance
+was quickly followed by several shots. This being the signal agreed
+upon, in an instant the natives made a murderous assault on the unarmed
+French, cutting them down in their houses and shooting them on every
+side. The commandant, for the first time aware of his blind folly, ran
+in terror into the garden of his house, but he was sharply pursued and
+cut down. The massacre was so well devised and went on so
+simultaneously in all directions that very few of the seven hundred
+Frenchmen in the settlement escaped, a handful of the fugitives alone
+bringing the news of the bloody affair to New Orleans. The Natchez
+completed their vengeance by setting on fire and burning all the
+buildings, so that of the late flourishing settlement only a few ruined
+walls remained.
+
+As may be seen, this massacre was due to the injustice, and to the
+subsequent incompetence, of one man, Chopart, the commandant. It led to
+lamentable consequences, in the utter destruction of the Natchez nation
+and the loss of one of the most interesting native communities in
+America.
+
+No sooner, in fact, had the news of the massacre reached New Orleans
+than active steps were taken for revenge. A force, largely made up of
+Choctaw allies, assailed the fort of the Natchez. The latter asked for
+peace, promising to release the French women and children they held as
+prisoners. This was agreed to, and the Indians took advantage of it to
+vacate the fort by stealth, under cover of night, taking with them all
+their baggage and plunder. They took refuge in a secret place to the
+west of the Mississippi, which the French had much difficulty to
+discover.
+
+The place found, a strong force was sent against the Indians, its route
+being up the Red River, then up the Black River, and finally up Silver
+Creek, which flows from a small lake, near which the Natchez had built a
+fort for defence against the French. This place they maintained with
+some resolution, but when the French batteries were placed and bombs
+began to fall in the fort, dealing death to women and children as well
+as men, the warriors, horrified at these frightful instruments of death,
+made signals of their readiness to capitulate.
+
+Night fell before terms were decided upon, and the Indians asked that
+the settlement should be left till the next day. Their purpose was to
+attempt to escape, as they had done before during the night, but they
+were too closely watched to make this effective. Some of them succeeded
+in getting away, but the great body were driven back into the fort, and
+the next day were obliged to surrender at discretion. Among them were
+the Grand Sun and the women Suns, with many warriors, women, and
+children.
+
+The end of the story of the Natchez is the only instance on record of
+the deliberate annihilation of an Indian tribe. Some have perished
+through the event of war, no other through fixed intention. All the
+captives were carried to New Orleans, where they were used as slaves,
+not excepting the Strong Arm, who had made such efforts to save the
+French. These slaves were afterward sent to St. Domingo to prevent their
+escape, and in order that the Natchez nation might be utterly rooted
+out.
+
+Those of the warriors who had escaped from the fort, and others who were
+out hunting, were still at large, but there were few women among them,
+and the nation was lost past renewal. These fugitives made their way to
+the villages of the Chickasaws, and were finally absorbed in that
+nation, "and thus," says Du Pratz, the historian of this affair, "that
+nation, the most conspicuous in the colony, and most useful to the
+French, was destroyed."
+
+Du Pratz was a resident of New Orleans at the time, and got his
+information from the parties directly concerned. He tells us that among
+the women slaves "was the female Sun called the Strong Arm, who then
+told me all she had done in order to save the French." It appears that
+all she had done was not enough to save herself.
+
+
+
+
+_THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE._
+
+
+On a fine day in the pleasant month of August of the year 1714 a large
+party of horsemen rode along Duke of Gloucester Street, in the city of
+Williamsburg, Virginia, while the men, women, and children of the place
+flocked to the doors of the houses cheering and waving their
+handkerchiefs as the gallant cavaliers passed by. They were gayly
+dressed, in the showy costumes worn by the gentlemen of that time, and
+at their head was a handsome and vigorous man, with the erect bearing
+and manly attitude of one who had served in the wars. They were all
+mounted on spirited horses and carried their guns on their saddles,
+prepared to hunt or perhaps to defend themselves if attacked. Behind
+them followed a string of mules, carrying the packs of the horsemen and
+in charge of mounted servants.
+
+Thus equipped, the showy cavalcade passed through the main streets of
+the small town, which had succeeded Jamestown as the Virginian capital,
+and rode away over the westward-leading road. On they went, mile after
+mile, others joining them, as they passed onward, the party steadily
+increasing in numbers until it reached a place called Germanna, on the
+Rapid Ann--now the Rapidan--River, on the edge of the Spotsylvania
+Wilderness.
+
+No doubt you will wish to know who these men were and what was the
+object of their journey. It was a romantic one, as you will learn,--a
+journey of adventure into the unknown wilderness. At that time Virginia
+had been settled more than a hundred years, yet its people knew very
+little about it beyond the seaboard plain. West of this rose the Blue
+Ridge Mountains, behind which lay a great mysterious land, almost as
+unknown as the mountains of the moon. There were people as late as that
+who thought that the Mississippi River rose in these mountains.
+
+The Virginians had given this land of mystery a name. They called it
+Orange County. There were rumors that it was filled with great forests
+and lofty mountains, that it held fertile valleys watered by beautiful
+rivers, that it was a realm of strange and wonderful scenes. The
+Indians, who had been driven from the east, were still numerous there,
+and wild animals peopled the forests plentifully, but few of the whites
+had ventured within its confines. Now and then a daring hunter had
+crossed the Blue Ridge into this country and brought back surprising
+tales of what was to be seen there, but nothing that could be trusted
+was known about the land beyond the hills.
+
+All this was of great interest to Alexander Spotswood, who was then
+governor of Virginia. He was a man whose life had been one of adventure
+and who had distinguished himself as a soldier at the famous battle of
+Blenheim, and he was still young and fond of adventure when the king
+chose him to be governor of the oldest American colony.
+
+We do not propose to tell the whole story of Governor Spotswood; but as
+he was a very active and enterprising man, some of the things he did may
+be of interest. He had an oddly shaped powder-magazine built at
+Williamsburg, which still stands in that old town, and he opened the
+college of William and Mary free to the sons of the few Indians who
+remained in the settled part of Virginia. Then he built iron-furnaces
+and began to smelt iron for the use of the people. Those were the first
+iron-furnaces in the colonies, and the people called him the "Tubal Cain
+of Virginia," after a famous worker in iron mentioned in the Bible. His
+furnaces were at the settlement of Germanna, where the expedition made
+its first stop. This name came from a colony of Germans whom he had
+brought there to work his iron-mines and forges.
+
+After what has been told it may not be difficult to guess the purpose of
+the expedition. Governor Spotswood was practical enough to wish to
+explore the mysterious land beyond the blue-peaked hills, and romantic
+enough to desire to do this himself, instead of sending out a party of
+pioneers. So he sent word to the planters that he proposed to make a
+holiday excursion over the mountains, and would gladly welcome any of
+them who wished to join.
+
+We may be sure that there were plenty, especially among the younger
+men, who were glad to accept his invitation, and on the appointed day
+many of them came riding in, with their servants and pack-mules, well
+laden with provisions and stores, for they looked on the excursion as a
+picnic on a large scale.
+
+One thing they had forgotten--a very necessary one. At that time iron
+was scarce and costly in Virginia, and as the roads were soft and sandy,
+as they still are in the seaboard country, it was the custom to ride
+horses _barefooted_, there being no need for iron shoes. But now they
+were about to ride up rocky mountain-paths and over the stony summits,
+and it was suddenly discovered that their horses must be shod. So all
+the smiths available were put actively at work making horseshoes and
+nailing them on the horses' feet. It was this incident that gave rise to
+the name of the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," as will appear
+farther on.
+
+At Germanna Governor Spotswood had a summer residence, to which he
+retired when the weather grew sultry in the lower country. Colonel
+William Byrd, a planter on the James River, has told us all about this
+summer house of the governor. One of his stories is, that when he
+visited there a tame deer, frightened at seeing him, leaped against a
+large mirror in the drawing-room, thinking that it was a window, and
+smashed it into splinters. It is not likely the governor thanked his
+visitor for that.
+
+After leaving Germanna the explorers soon entered a region quite unknown
+to them. They were in high spirits, for everything about them was new
+and delightful. The woods were in their full August foliage, the streams
+gurgling, the birds warbling, beautiful views on every hand, and the
+charm of nature's domain on all sides. At mid-day they would stop in
+some green forest glade to rest and pasture their horses, and enjoy the
+contents of their packs with a keen appetite given by the fresh forest
+air.
+
+To these repasts the hunters of the party added their share,
+disappearing at intervals in the woods and returning with pheasant, wild
+turkey, or mayhap a fat deer, to add to the woodland feast. At night
+they would hobble their horses and leave them to graze, would eat
+heartily of their own food with the grass for table-cloth and a fresh
+appetite for sauce, then, wrapping their cloaks around them, would sleep
+as soundly as if in their own beds at home. The story of the ride has
+been written by one of the party, and it goes in much the way here
+described.
+
+The mountains were reached at length, and up their rugged sides the
+party rode, seeking the easiest paths they could find. No one knows just
+where this was, but it is thought that it was near Rockfish Gap, through
+which the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad now passes. There are some who
+say that they crossed the valley beyond the Blue Ridge and rode over the
+Alleghany Mountains also, but this is not at all likely.
+
+When they reached the summit of the range and looked out to the west,
+they saw before them a wild but lovely landscape, a broad valley through
+whose midst ran a beautiful river, the Shenandoah, an Indian name that
+means "daughter of the stars." To the right and left the mountain-range
+extended as far as the eye could reach, the hill summits and sides
+covered everywhere with verdant forest-trees. In front, far off across
+the valley, rose the long blue line of the Alleghanies, concealing new
+mysteries beyond.
+
+The party gazed around in delight, and carved their names on the rocks
+to mark the spot. A peak near at hand they named Mount George, in honor
+of George I., who had just been made king, and a second one Mount
+Alexander, in honor of the governor, and they drank the health of both.
+Then they rode down the western slope into the lovely valley they had
+gazed upon. Here they had no warlike or romantic adventures, fights with
+Indians or wild beasts, but they had a very enjoyable time. After a
+delightful ride through the valley they recrossed the mountains, and
+rode joyously homeward to tell the people of the plain the story of what
+they had seen.
+
+We have said nothing yet of the Golden Horseshoe. That was a fanciful
+idea of Governor Spotswood. He thought the excursion and the fine valley
+it had explored were worthy to be remembered by making them the basis of
+an order of knighthood. He was somewhat puzzled to think of a good name
+for it, but at length he remembered the shoeing of the horses at
+Williamsburg, so he decided to call it the Order of the Golden
+Horseshoe, and sent to England for a number of small golden horseshoes,
+one of which he gave to each of his late companions. There was a Latin
+inscription on them signifying, "Thus we swear to cross the mountains."
+When the king heard of the expedition, he made the governor a knight,
+under the title of Sir Alexander Spotswood, but we think a better title
+for him was that he won for himself,--Sir Knight of the Golden
+Horseshoe.
+
+
+
+
+_HOW OGLETHORPE SAVED GEORGIA FROM SPAIN._
+
+
+On the 5th day of July, in the year 1742, unwonted signs of activity
+might have been seen in the usually deserted St. Simon's harbor, on the
+coast of Georgia. Into that sequestered bay there sailed a powerful
+squadron of fifty-six well-armed war-vessels, one of them carrying
+twenty-four guns and two of them twenty guns each, while there was a
+large following of smaller vessels. A host of men in uniform crowded the
+decks of these vessels, and the gleam of arms gave lustre to the scene.
+It was a strong Spanish fleet, sent to wrest the province of Georgia
+from English hands, and mayhap to punish these intruders in the
+murderous way that the Spaniards had punished the French Huguenots two
+centuries before.
+
+In all the time that had elapsed since the discovery of America, Spain
+had made only one settlement on the Atlantic coast of the United States,
+that of St. Augustine in Florida. But slow as they were in taking
+possession, they were not slow in making claims, for they looked on
+Florida as extending to the Arctic zone. More than once had they tried
+to drive the English out of Charleston, and now they were about to make
+a similar effort in Georgia. That colony had been settled, only ten
+years before, on land which Spain claimed as her own, and the English
+were not there long before hostilities began. In 1739 General
+Oglethorpe, the proprietor of Georgia, invaded Florida and laid siege to
+St. Augustine. He failed in this undertaking, and in 1742 the Spaniards
+prepared to take revenge, sending the strong fleet mentioned against
+their foes. It looked as if Georgia would be lost to England, for on
+these vessels were five thousand men, a force greater than all Georgia
+could raise.
+
+Oglethorpe knew that the Spaniards were coming, and made hasty
+preparations to meet them. Troops of rangers were raised, the planters
+were armed, fortifications built, and a ship of twenty-two guns
+equipped. But with all his efforts his force was pitifully small as
+compared with the great Spanish equipment. Besides the ship named, there
+were some small armed vessels and a shore battery, with which the
+English for four hours kept up a weak contest with their foes. Then the
+fleet sailed past the defences and up the river before a strong breeze,
+and Oglethorpe was obliged to spike the guns and destroy the
+war-material at Fort St. Simon's and withdraw to the stronger post of
+Frederica, where he proposed to make his stand. Not long afterward the
+Spaniards landed their five thousand men four miles below Frederica.
+These marched down the island and occupied the deserted fort.
+
+There may not seem to our readers much of interest in all this, but when
+it is learned that against the fifty-six ships and more than five
+thousand men of the Spaniards the utmost force that General Oglethorpe
+could muster consisted of two ships and six hundred and fifty-two men,
+including militia and Indians, and that with this handful of men he
+completely baffled his assailants, the case grows more interesting. It
+was largely an example of tactics against numbers, as will be seen on
+reading the story of how the Spaniards were put to the right about and
+forced to flee in utter dismay.
+
+On the 7th of July some of the Georgia rangers discovered a small body
+of Spanish troops within a mile of Frederica. On learning of their
+approach, Oglethorpe did not wait for them to attack him in his not very
+powerful stronghold, but at once advanced with a party of Indians and
+rangers, and a company of Highlanders who were on parade. Ordering the
+regiment to follow, he hurried forward with this small detachment,
+proposing to attack the invaders while in the forest defiles and before
+they could deploy in the open plain near the fort.
+
+So furious was his charge and so utter the surprise of the Spaniards
+that nearly their entire party, consisting of one hundred and
+twenty-five of their best woodsmen and forty-five Indians, were either
+killed, wounded, or made prisoners. The few fugitives were pursued for
+several miles through the forest to an open meadow or savannah. Here the
+general posted three platoons of the regiment and a company of Highland
+foot under cover of the wood, so that any Spaniards advancing through
+the meadow would have to pass under their fire. Then he hastened back
+to Frederica and mustered the remainder of his force.
+
+[Illustration: OLD SPANISH FORT, ST. AUGUSTINE.]
+
+Just as they were ready to march, severe firing was heard in the
+direction of the ambushed troops. Oglethorpe made all haste towards them
+and met two of the platoons in full retreat. They had been driven from
+their post by Don Antonia Barba at the head of three hundred grenadiers
+and infantry, who had pushed through the meadow under a drifting rain
+and charged into the wood with wild huzzas and rolling drums.
+
+The affair looked very bad for the English. Forced back by a small
+advance-guard of the invaders, what would be their fate when the total
+Spanish army came upon them? Oglethorpe was told that the whole force
+had been routed, but on looking over the men before him he saw that one
+platoon and a company of rangers were missing. At the same time the
+sound of firing came from the woods at a distance, and he ordered the
+officers to rally their men and follow him.
+
+Let us trace the doings of the missing men. Instead of following their
+retreating comrades, they had, under their officers, Lieutenants
+Sutherland and MacKay, made a skilful détour in the woods to the rear of
+the enemy, reaching a point where the road passed from the forest to the
+open marsh across a small semicircular cove. Here they formed an
+ambuscade in a thick grove of palmettos which nearly surrounded the
+narrow pass.
+
+They had not been there long when the Spaniards returned in high glee
+from their pursuit. Reaching this open spot, well protected from assault
+as it appeared by the open morass on one side and the crescent-shaped
+hedge of palmettos and underwood on the other, they deemed themselves
+perfectly secure, stacking their arms and throwing themselves on the
+ground to rest after their late exertions.
+
+The ambushed force had keenly watched their movements from their
+hiding-place, preserving utter silence as the foe entered the trap. At
+length Sutherland and MacKay raised the signal of attack, a Highland cap
+upon a sword, and in an instant a deadly fire was poured upon the
+unsuspecting enemy. Volley after volley succeeded, strewing the ground
+with the dead and dying. The Spaniards sprang to their feet in confusion
+and panic. Some of their officers attempted to reform their broken
+ranks, but in vain; all discipline was gone, orders were unheard, safety
+alone was sought. In a minute more, with a Highland shout, the platoon
+burst upon them with levelled bayonet and gleaming claymore, and they
+fled like panic-stricken deer; some to the marsh, where they mired and
+were captured; some along the defile, where they were cut down; some to
+the thicket, where they became entangled and lost. Their defeat was
+complete, only a few of them escaping to their camp. Barba, their
+leader, was mortally wounded; other officers and one hundred and sixty
+privates were killed; the prisoners numbered twenty. The feat of arms
+was as brilliant as it was successful, and Oglethorpe, who did not
+reach the scene of action till the victory was gained, promoted the two
+young officers on the spot as a reward for their valor and military
+skill. The scene of the action has ever since been known as the "Bloody
+Marsh."
+
+The enterprise of the Spaniards had so far been attended by misfortune,
+a fact which caused dissention among their leaders. Learning of this,
+Oglethorpe resolved to surprise them by a night attack. On the 12th he
+marched with five hundred men until within a mile of the Spanish
+quarters, and after nightfall went forward with a small party to
+reconnoitre. His purpose was to attack them, if all appeared favorable,
+but he was foiled by the treachery of a Frenchman in his ranks, who
+fired his musket and deserted to the enemy under cover of the darkness.
+Disconcerted by this unlucky circumstance, the general withdrew his
+reconnoitering party; reaching his men, he distributed the drummers
+about the wood to represent a large force, and ordered them to beat the
+grenadier's march. This they did for half an hour; then, all being
+still, they retreated to Frederica.
+
+The defection of the Frenchman threw the general into a state of alarm.
+The fellow would undoubtedly tell the Spaniards how small a force
+opposed them, and advise them that, with their superior land and naval
+forces, they could easily surround and destroy the English. In this
+dilemma it occurred to him to try the effect of stratagem, and seek to
+discredit the traitor's story.
+
+He wrote a letter in French, as if from a friend of the deserter,
+telling him that he had received the money, and advising him to make
+every effort to convince the Spanish commander that the English were
+very weak. He suggested to him to offer to pilot up their boats and
+galleys, and to bring them under the woods where he knew the hidden
+batteries were. If he succeeded in this, his pay would be doubled. If he
+could not do this, he was to use all his influence to keep them three
+days more at Fort St. Simon's. By that time the English would be
+reinforced by two thousand infantry and six men-of-war which had already
+sailed from Charleston. In a postscript he was cautioned on no account
+to mention that Admiral Vernon was about to make an attack on St.
+Augustine.
+
+This letter was given to a Spanish prisoner, who was paid a sum of money
+on his promise that he would carry the letter privately and deliver it
+to the French deserter. The prisoner was then secretly set free, and
+made his way back to the Spanish camp. After being detained and
+questioned at the outposts he was taken before the general, Don Manuel
+de Mantiano. So far all had gone as Oglethorpe hoped. The fugitive was
+asked how he escaped and if he had any letters. When he denied having
+any he was searched and the decoy letter found on his person. It was not
+addressed to any one, but on promise of pardon he confessed that he had
+received money to deliver it to the Frenchman.
+
+As it proved, the deserter had joined the English as a spy for the
+Spaniards. He earnestly protested that he was not false to his
+agreement; that he knew nothing of any hidden battery or of the other
+contents of the letter, and that he had received no money or had any
+correspondence with Oglethorpe. Some of the general's council believed
+him, and looked on the letter as an English trick. But the most of them
+believed him to be a double spy, and advised an immediate retreat. While
+the council was warmly debating on this subject word was brought them
+that three vessels had been seen off the bar. This settled the question
+in their minds. The fleet from Charleston was at hand; if they stayed
+longer they might be hemmed in by sea and land; they resolved to fly
+while the path to safety was still open. Their resolution was hastened
+by an advance of Oglethorpe's small naval force down the stream, and a
+successful attack on their fleet. Setting fire to the fort, they
+embarked so hastily that a part of their military stores were abandoned,
+and fled as if from an overwhelming force, Oglethorpe hastening their
+flight by pursuit with his few vessels.
+
+Thus ended this affair, one of the most remarkable in its outcome of any
+in the military history of the United States. For fifteen days General
+Oglethorpe, with little over six hundred men and two armed vessels, had
+baffled the Spanish general with fifty-six ships and five thousand men,
+defeating him in every encounter in the field, and at length, by an
+ingenious stratagem, compelling him to retreat with the loss of several
+ships and much of his provisions, munitions, and artillery. In all our
+colonial history there is nothing to match this repulse of such a
+formidable force by a mere handful of men. It had the effect of saving
+Georgia, and perhaps Carolina, from falling into the hands of the
+Spanish. From that time forward Spain made no effort to invade the
+English colonies. The sole hostile action of the Spaniards of Florida
+was to inspire the Indians of that peninsula to make raids in Georgia,
+and this annoyance led in the end to the loss of Florida by Spain.
+
+
+
+
+_A BOY'S WORKING HOLIDAY IN THE WILDWOOD._
+
+
+We wish to say something here about a curious old man who lived in
+Virginia when George Washington was a boy, and who was wise enough to
+see that young Washington was anything but a common boy. This man was an
+English nobleman named Lord Fairfax. As the nobles of England were not
+in the habit of coming to the colonies, except as governors, we must
+tell what brought this one across the sea.
+
+It happened in this way. His grandfather, Lord Culpeper, had at one time
+been governor of Virginia, and, like some other governors, had taken
+care to feather his nest. Seeing how rich the land was between the
+Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers, when he went home he asked the king to
+give him all this land, and the king, Charles II., in his good easy way
+of giving away what did not belong to him, readily consented, without
+troubling himself about the rights of the people who lived on the land.
+A great and valuable estate it was. Not many dwelt on it, and Lord
+Culpeper promised to have it settled and cultivated, but we cannot say
+that he troubled himself much about doing so.
+
+When old Culpeper died the Virginia land went to his daughter, and from
+her it descended to her son, Lord Fairfax, who sent out his cousin,
+William Fairfax, to look after his great estate, which covered a whole
+broad county in the wilderness, and counties in those days were often
+very large. Lord Fairfax was not much concerned about the American
+wildwood. He was one of the fashionable young men in London society, and
+something of an author, too, for he helped the famous Addison by writing
+some papers for the "Spectator."
+
+But noblemen, like common men, are liable to fall in love, and this Lord
+Fairfax did. He became engaged to be married to a handsome young lady;
+but she proved to be less faithful than pretty, and when a nobleman of
+higher rank asked her to marry him, she threw her first lover aside and
+gave herself to the richer one.
+
+This was a bitter blow to Lord Fairfax. He went to his country home and
+dwelt there in deep distress, vowing that all women were false-hearted
+and that he would never marry any of them. And he never did. Even his
+country home was not solitary enough for the broken-hearted lover, so he
+resolved to cross the ocean and seek a new home in his wilderness land
+in America. It was this that brought him to Virginia, where he went to
+live at his cousin's fine mansion called Belvoir, a place not far away
+from the Washington estate of Mount Vernon.
+
+Lord Fairfax was a middle-aged man at that time, a tall, gaunt,
+near-sighted personage, who spent much of his time in hunting, of which
+he was very fond. And his favorite companion in these hunting
+excursions was young George Washington, then a fine, fresh, active boy
+of fourteen, who dearly loved outdoor life. There was a strong contrast
+between the old lord and the youthful Virginian, but they soon became
+close friends, riding out fox-hunting together and growing intimate in
+other ways.
+
+Laurence Washington, George's elder brother, who lived at Mount Vernon,
+had married a daughter of William Fairfax, and that brought the Mount
+Vernon and Belvoir families much together, so that when young George was
+visiting his brother he was often at Belvoir. Lord Fairfax grew to like
+him so much that he resolved to give him some important work to do. He
+saw that the boy was strong, manly, and quick-witted, and anxious to be
+doing something for himself, and as George had made some study of
+surveying, he decided to employ him at this.
+
+Lord Fairfax's Virginia estate, as we have said, was very large. The
+best-known part of it lay east, but it also crossed the Blue Ridge
+Mountains, and ran over into the beautiful valley beyond, which the
+Knights of the Golden Horseshoe had visited more than thirty years
+before. This splendid valley was still largely in a wild state, with few
+inhabitants besides the savage Indians and wild beasts. Before it could
+be fairly opened to settlers it must be measured by the surveyor's chain
+and mapped out so that it would be easy to tell where any tract was
+located. It was this that Lord Fairfax asked young Washington to do, and
+which the active boy gladly consented to undertake, for he liked
+nothing better than wild life and adventure in the wilderness, and here
+was the chance to have a delightful time in a new and beautiful country,
+an opportunity that would warm the heart of any live and healthy boy.
+
+This is a long introduction to the story of Washington's wildwood
+outing, but no doubt you will like to know what brought it about. It was
+in the early spring of 1748 that the youthful surveyor set out on his
+ride, the blood bounding warmly in his veins as he thought of the new
+sensations and stirring adventures which lay before him. He was not
+alone. George William Fairfax, a son of the master of Belvoir, went with
+him, a young man of twenty-two. Washington was then just sixteen, young
+enough to be in high spirits at the prospect before him. He brought his
+surveyors' instruments, and they both bore guns as well, for they looked
+for some fine sport in the woods.
+
+The valley beyond the mountains was not the land of mystery which it had
+been thirty-four years before, when Governor Spotswood and his gay troop
+looked down on it from the green mountain summit. There were now some
+scattered settlers in it, and Lord Fairfax had built himself a lodge in
+the wilderness, which he named "Greenway Court," and where now and then
+he went for a hunting excursion.
+
+Crossing the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Gap and fording the bright
+Shenandoah, the young surveyors made their way towards this wildwood
+lodge. It was a house with broad stone gables, its sloping roof coming
+down over a long porch in front. The locality was not altogether a safe
+one. There were still some Indians in that country, and something might
+stir them up against the whites. In two belfries on the roof hung
+alarm-bells, to be rung to collect the neighboring settlers if report of
+an Indian rising should be brought.
+
+[Illustration: HOME OF MARY WASHINGTON, FREDERICKSBURG, VA.
+
+Purchased by George Washington for his mother.]
+
+On the forest road leading to Greenway Court a white post was planted,
+with an arm pointing towards the house, as a direction to visitors. As
+the post decayed or was thrown down by any cause another was erected,
+and on this spot to-day such a post stands, with the village of White
+Post built around it. But when young Washington and Fairfax passed the
+spot only forest trees stood round the post, and they rode on to the
+Court, where they rested awhile under the hospitable care of Lord
+Fairfax's manager.
+
+It was a charming region in which the young surveyors found themselves
+after their brief term of rest, a land of lofty forests and broad grassy
+openings, with the silvery river sparkling through their midst. The buds
+were just bursting on the trees, the earliest spring flowers were
+opening, and to right and left extended long blue mountain-ranges, the
+giant guardians of the charming valley of the Shenandoah. In those days
+there were none of the yellow grain-fields, the old mansions surrounded
+by groves, the bustling villages and towns which now mark the scene,
+but nature had done her best to make it picturesque and beautiful, and
+the youthful visitors enjoyed it as only those of young blood can.
+
+Up the banks of the Shenandoah went the surveyors, measuring and marking
+the land and mapping down its leading features. It was no easy work, but
+they enjoyed it to the full. At night they would stop at the rude house
+of some settler, if one was to be found; if not, they would build a fire
+in the woods, cook the game their guns had brought down, wrap their
+cloaks around them, and sleep heartily under the broad blanket of the
+open air.
+
+Thus they journeyed on up the Shenandoah until they reached the point
+where its waters flow into the Potomac. Then up this stream they made
+their way, crossing the mountains and finally reaching the place which
+is now called Berkeley Springs. It was then in the depth of the
+wilderness, but in time a town grew up around it, and many years
+afterward Washington and his family often went there in the summer to
+drink and bathe in its wholesome mineral waters.
+
+The surveyors had their adventures, and no doubt often made the woodland
+echoes ring with the report of their guns as they brought down partridge
+or pheasant, or tracked a deer through the brushwood. Nothing of special
+note happened to them, the thing which interested them most being the
+sight of a band of Indians, the first they had ever seen. The red men
+had long since disappeared from the part of Virginia in which they
+lived.
+
+These tenants of the forest came along one day when the youths had
+stopped at the house of a settler. There were about thirty of them in
+their war-paint, and one of them had a fresh scalp hanging at his belt.
+This indicated that they had recently been at war with their enemies, of
+whom at least one had been killed. The Indians were given some liquor,
+in return for which they danced their war-dance before the boys. For
+music one of them drummed on a deer-skin which he stretched over an iron
+pot, and another rattled a gourd containing some shot and ornamented
+with a horse's tail. The others danced with wild whoops and yells around
+a large fire they had built. Altogether the spectacle was a singular and
+exciting one on which the boys looked with much interest.
+
+While they had no serious adventures, their life in the forest was not a
+very luxurious one. In many ways they had to rough it. At times they
+were drenched by downpours of rain. They slept anywhere, now and then in
+houses, but most often in the open air. On one occasion some straw on
+which they lay asleep caught fire and they woke just in time to escape
+being scorched by the flames.
+
+"I have not slept above three or four nights in a bed," wrote George to
+a friend, "but after walking a good deal all the day I have lain down
+before the fire on a little straw or fodder, or a bear-skin, whatever
+was to be had, with man, wife, and children, like dogs and cats; and
+happy is he who gets the berth nearest the fire."
+
+Their cooking was often done by impaling the meat on sharp sticks and
+holding it over the fire, while chips cut with their hatchet took the
+place of dishes. But to them all this was enjoyment, their appetites
+were hearty, and anything having the spice of adventure was gladly
+welcomed. It was the event of their young lives.
+
+It was still April when they returned from their long river ride to
+Greenway Court, and here enjoyed for some time the comforts of
+civilization, so far as they had penetrated that frontier scene. Spring
+was still upon the land, though summer was near by, when George and his
+friend rode back across the Blue Ridge and returned to Belvoir with the
+report of what they had done. Lord Fairfax was highly pleased with the
+report, and liked George more than ever for the faithful and intelligent
+manner in which he had carried out his task. He paid the young surveyor
+at the rate of seven dollars a day for the time he was actually at work,
+and half this amount for the remaining time. This was worth a good deal
+more then than the same sum of money would be now, and was very good pay
+for a boy of sixteen. No doubt the lad felt rich with the first money he
+had ever earned in his pocket.
+
+As for Lord Fairfax, he was in high glee to learn what a valuable
+property he had across the hills, and especially how fine a country it
+was for hunting. He soon left Belvoir and made his home at Greenway
+Court, where he spent the remainder of his life. It was a very different
+life from that of his early days in the bustle of fashionable life in
+London, but it seemed to suit him as well or better.
+
+One thing more we have to say about him. He was still living at Greenway
+Court when the Revolutionary War came on. A loyalist in grain, he
+bitterly opposed the rebellion of the colonists. By the year 1781 he had
+grown very old and feeble. One day he was in Winchester, a town which
+had grown up not far from Greenway, when he heard loud shouts and cheers
+in the street.
+
+"What is all that noise about?" he asked his old servant.
+
+"Dey say dat Gin'ral Washington has took Lord Cornwallis an' all his
+army prisoners. Yorktown is surrendered, an' de wa' is ovah."
+
+"Take me to bed, Joe," groaned the old lord; "it is time for me to die."
+
+Five years after his surveying excursion George Washington had a far
+more famous adventure in the wilderness, when the governor of Virginia
+sent him through the great forest to visit the French forts near Lake
+Erie. The story of this journey is one of the most exciting and romantic
+events in American history, yet it is one with which most readers of
+history are familiar, so we have told the tale of his earlier adventures
+instead. His forest experience on the Shenandoah had much to do with
+making Governor Dinwiddie choose him as his envoy to the French forts,
+so that it was, in a way, the beginning of his wonderful career.
+
+
+
+
+_PATRICK HENRY, THE HERALD OF THE REVOLUTION._
+
+
+There was a day in the history of the Old Dominion when a great lawsuit
+was to be tried,--a great one, that is, to the people of Hanover County,
+where it was heard, and to the colony of Virginia, though not to the
+country at large. The Church of England was the legal church in
+Virginia, whose people were expected to support it. This the members of
+other churches did not like to do, and the people of Hanover County
+would not pay the clergymen for their preaching. This question of paying
+the preachers spread far and wide. It came to the House of Burgesses,
+which body decided that the people need not pay them. It crossed the
+ocean and reached the king of England, who decided that the people must
+pay them. As the king's voice was stronger than that of the burgesses,
+the clergy felt that they had an excellent case, and they brought a
+lawsuit to recover their claims. By the old law each clergyman was to be
+paid his salary in tobacco, one hundred and sixty thousand pounds weight
+a year.
+
+There seemed to be nothing to do but pay them, either in cash or
+tobacco. All the old lawyers who looked into the question gave it up at
+once, saying that the people had no standing against the king and the
+clergy. But while men were saying that the case for the county would be
+passed without a trial and a verdict rendered for the clergy, an amusing
+rumor began to spread around. It was said that young Patrick Henry was
+going to conduct the case for the people.
+
+[Illustration: Copyright, 1906, by R. A. Lancaster, Jr.
+
+HOME OF PATRICK HENRY DURING HIS LAST TWO TERMS AS GOVERNOR OF
+VIRGINIA.]
+
+We call this amusing, and so it was to those who knew Patrick Henry. He
+was a lawyer, to be sure, but one who knew almost nothing about the law
+and had never made a public speech in his life. He was only twenty-seven
+years of age, and those years had gone over him mainly in idleness. In
+his boyhood days he had spent his time in fishing, hunting, dancing, and
+playing the fiddle, instead of working on his father's farm. As he grew
+older he liked sport too much and work too little to make a living. He
+tried store-keeping and failed through neglect of his business. He
+married a wife whose father gave him a farm, but he failed with this,
+too, fishing and fiddling when he should have been working, and in two
+years the farm was sold. Then he went back to store-keeping, and with
+the same result. The trouble was his love for the fiddle and the
+fishing-line, which stood very much in the way of business. He was too
+lazy and fond of good company and a good time to make a living for
+himself and his wife.
+
+The easy-going fellow was now in a critical situation. He had to do
+something if he did not want to starve, so he borrowed some old
+law-books and began to read law. Six weeks later he applied to an old
+judge for a license to practise in the courts. The judge questioned him
+and found that he knew nothing about the law; but young Henry pleaded
+with him so ardently, and promised so faithfully to keep on studying,
+that the judge gave him the license and he hung out his shingle as a
+lawyer.
+
+Whatever else Patrick Henry might be good for, people thought that to
+call himself a lawyer was a mere laughing matter. An awkward, stooping,
+ungainly fellow, dressed roughly in leather breeches and yarn stockings,
+and not knowing even how to pronounce the king's English correctly, how
+could he ever succeed in a learned profession? As a specimen of his
+manner of speech at that time we are told that once, when denying the
+advantages of education, he clinched the argument by exclaiming,
+"Nait'ral parts are better than all the larnin' on airth."
+
+As for the law, he did not know enough about it to draw up the simplest
+law-paper. As a result, he got no business, and was forced, as a last
+resort, to help keep a tavern which his father-in-law possessed at
+Hanover Court-House. And so he went on for two or three years, till
+1763, when the celebrated case came up. Those who knew him might well
+look on it as a joke when the word went round that Patrick Henry was
+going to "plead against the parsons." That so ignorant a lawyer should
+undertake to handle a case which all the old lawyers had refused might
+well be held as worthy only of ridicule. They did not know Patrick
+Henry. It is not quite sure that he knew himself. His father sat on the
+bench as judge, but what he thought of his son's audacity history does
+not say.
+
+When the day for the trial came there was a great crowd at Hanover
+Court-House, for the people were much interested in the case. On the
+opening of the court the young lawyer crossed the street from the tavern
+and took his seat behind the bar. What he saw was enough to dismay and
+confuse a much older man. The court-room was crowded, and every man in
+it seemed to have his eyes fixed on the daring young counsel, many of
+them with covert smiles on their faces. The twelve men of the jury were
+chosen. There were present a large number of the clergy waiting
+triumphantly for the verdict, which they were sure would be in their
+favor, and looking in disdain at the young lawyer. On the bench as judge
+sat John Henry, doubtless feeling that he had a double duty to perform,
+to judge at once the case and his son.
+
+The aspiring advocate, so little learned in the law and so poorly
+dressed and ungainly in appearance, looked as if he would have given
+much just then to be out of the court and clear of the case. But the die
+was cast; he was in for it now.
+
+The counsel for the clergymen opened the case. He dwelt much on the law
+of the matter, whose exact meaning he declared was beyond question. The
+courts had already decided on that subject, and so had his sacred
+majesty, the king of England. There was nothing for the jury to do, he
+asserted, but to decide how much money his clients were entitled to
+under the law. The matter seemed so clear that he made but a brief
+address and sat down with a look of complete satisfaction. As he did so
+Patrick Henry rose.
+
+This, as may well be imagined, was a critical moment in the young
+lawyer's life. He rose very awkwardly and seemed thoroughly frightened.
+Every eye was fixed on him and not a sound was heard. Henry was in a
+state of painful embarrassment. When he began to speak, his voice was so
+low that he could hardly be heard, and he faltered so sadly that his
+friends felt that all was at an end.
+
+But, as he himself had once said, "Nait'ral parts are better than all
+the larnin' on airth;" and he had these "nait'ral parts," as he was
+about to prove. As he went on a change in his aspect took place. His
+form became erect, his head uplifted, his voice clearer and firmer. He
+soon began to make it appear that he had thought deeply on the people's
+cause and was prepared to handle it strongly. His eyes began to flash,
+his voice to grow resonant and fill the room; in the words of William
+Wirt, his biographer, "As his mind rolled along and began to glow from
+its own action, all the exuviæ of the clown seemed to shed themselves
+spontaneously."
+
+The audience listened in surprise, the clergy in consternation. Was this
+the Patrick Henry they had known? It was very evident that the young
+advocate knew just what he was talking about, and he went on with a
+forcible and burning eloquence that fairly carried away every listener.
+There was no thought now of his clothes and his uncouthness. The _man_
+stood revealed before them, a man with a gift of eloquence such as
+Virginia had never before known. He said very little on the law of the
+case, knowing that to be against him, but he addressed himself to the
+jury on the rights of the people and of the colony, and told them it was
+their duty to decide between the House of Burgesses and the king of
+England. The Burgesses, he said, were their own people, men of their own
+choice, who had decided in their favor; the king was a stranger to them,
+and had no right to order them what to do.
+
+Here he was interrupted by the old counsel for the clergy, who rose in
+great indignation and exclaimed, "The gentleman has spoken treason."
+
+We do not know just what words Henry used in reply. We have no record of
+that famous speech. But he was not the man to be frightened by the word
+"treason," and did not hesitate to repeat his words more vigorously than
+before. As for the parsons, he declared, their case was worthless. Men
+who led such lives as they were known to have done had no right to
+demand money from the people. So bitterly did he denounce them that all
+those in the room rose and left the court in a body.
+
+By the time the young advocate had reached the end of his speech the
+whole audience was in a state of intense excitement. They had been
+treated to the sensation of their lives, and looked with utter
+astonishment at the marvellous orator, who had risen from obscurity to
+fame in that brief hour. Breathless was the interest with which the
+jury's verdict was awaited. The judge charged that the law was in favor
+of the parsons and that the king's order must be obeyed, but they had
+the right to decide on the amount of damages. They were not long in
+deciding, and their verdict was the astounding one of _one penny
+damages_.
+
+The crowd was now beyond control. A shout of delight and approbation
+broke out. Uproar and confusion followed the late decorous quiet. The
+parsons' lawyer cried out that the verdict was illegal and asked the
+judge to send the jury back. But his voice was lost in the acclamations
+of the multitude. Gathering round Patrick Henry, they picked him up
+bodily, lifted him to their shoulders, and bore him out, carrying him in
+triumph through the town, which rang loudly with their cries and cheers.
+Thus it was that the young lawyer of Hanover rose to fame.
+
+Two years after that memorable day Patrick Henry found himself in a
+different situation. He was now a member of the dignified House of
+Burgesses, the oldest legislative body in America. An aristocratic body
+it was, made up mostly of wealthy landholders, dressed in courtly attire
+and sitting in proud array. There were few poor men among them, and
+perhaps no other plain countryman to compare with the new member from
+Hanover County, who had changed but little in dress and appearance from
+his former aspect.
+
+A great question was before the House. The Stamp Act had been passed in
+England and the people of the colonies were in a high state of
+indignation. They rose in riotous mobs and vowed they would never pay a
+penny of the tax. As for the Burgesses, they proposed to act with more
+loyalty and moderation. They would petition the king to do them justice.
+It was as good as rebellion to refuse to obey him.
+
+The member from Hanover listened to their debate, and said to himself
+that it was weak and its purpose futile. He felt sure that the action
+they proposed would do no good, and when they had fairly exhausted
+themselves he rose to offer his views on the question at issue.
+
+Very likely some of the fine gentlemen there looked at him with surprise
+and indignation. Who was this presumptuous new member who proposed to
+tell the older members what to do? Some of them may have known him and
+been familiar with that scene in Hanover Court-House. Others perhaps
+mentally deplored the indignity of sending common fellows like this to
+sit in their midst.
+
+But Patrick Henry now knew his powers, and cared not a whit for their
+_respectable_ sentiments. He had something to say and proposed to say
+it. Beginning in a quiet voice, he told them that the Stamp Act was
+illegal, as ignoring the right of the House to make the laws for the
+colony. It was not only illegal, but it was oppressive, and he moved
+that the House of Burgesses should pass a series of resolutions which he
+would read.
+
+These resolutions were respectful in tone, but very decided in meaning.
+The last of them declared that nobody but the Burgesses had the right to
+tax Virginians. This statement roused the house. It sounded like
+rebellion against the king. Several speakers rose together and all of
+them denounced the resolutions as injudicious and impertinent. The
+excitement of the loyalists grew as they proceeded, but they subsided
+into silence when the man who had offered the resolutions rose to defend
+them.
+
+Patrick Henry was aroused. As he spoke his figure grew straight and
+erect, his voice loud and resonant, his eye flashed, the very sweep of
+his hand was full of force and power. He for one was not prepared to
+become a slave to England and her king. He denounced the islanders who
+proposed to rob Americans of their vested rights. In what way was an
+Englishman better than a Virginian? he asked. Were they not of one blood
+and born with the same right to liberty and justice? What right had the
+Parliament to act the tyrant to the colonies? Then, referring to the
+king, he bade him in thundering tones to beware of the consequences of
+his acts.
+
+"Cæsar had his Brutus," he exclaimed, in tones of thrilling force,
+"Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third----"
+
+"Treason! Treason!" came from a dozen excited voices, but Henry did not
+flinch.
+
+"May profit by their example." Then, in a quieter tone, he added: "If
+this be treason, make the most of it!"
+
+[Illustration: ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.]
+
+He took his seat. He had said his words. These words still roll down the
+tide of American history as resonantly as when they were spoken. As for
+the House of Burgesses, it was carried away by the strength of this
+wonderful speech. When the resolutions came to a vote it was seen that
+Henry had won. They were carried, even the last and most daring of them,
+by one vote majority. As the Burgesses tumultuously adjourned, one
+member rushed out in great excitement, declaring that he would have
+given five hundred guineas for one vote to defeat the treasonable
+resolutions. But the people with delight heard of what had passed, and
+as Henry passed through the crowd a plain countryman clapped him on the
+shoulder, exclaiming,--
+
+"Stick to us, old fellow, or we are gone."
+
+Ten years later, in the old church of St. John's, at Richmond, Virginia,
+standing not far from the spot where the old Indian emperor, Powhatan,
+once resided, a convention was assembled to decide on the state of the
+country. Rebellion was in the air. In a month more the first shots of
+the Revolution were to be fired at Lexington. Patrick Henry, still the
+same daring patriot as of old, rose and moved that Virginia "be
+immediately put in a state of defence."
+
+This raised almost as much opposition as his former resolutions in the
+House of Burgesses, and his blood was boiling as he rose to speak. It
+was the first speech of his that has been preserved, and it was one that
+still remains unsurpassed in the annals of American eloquence. We give
+its concluding words. He exclaimed, in tones of thunder,--
+
+"There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are
+forged, their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is
+inevitable; and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! It is in
+vain to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, 'Peace, peace,' but
+there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps
+from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our
+brethren are already in the field. What is it that gentlemen wish? What
+would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased
+at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not
+what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me
+death!"
+
+His motion was passed, and Virginia told the world that she was ready to
+fight. A month later there came from the north "the clash of resounding
+arms;" the American Revolution was launched.
+
+"It is not easy to say what we would have done without Patrick Henry,"
+says Thomas Jefferson. "His eloquence was peculiar; if, indeed, it
+should be called eloquence, for it was impressive and sublime beyond
+what can be imagined. After all, it must be allowed that he was our
+leader. He left us all far behind."
+
+
+
+
+_GOVERNOR TRYON AND THE CAROLINA REGULATORS._
+
+
+The first blood shed by "rebels" in America, in those critical years
+when the tide of events was setting strong towards war and revolution,
+was by the settlers on the upper waters of the Cape Fear River in North
+Carolina. A hardy people these were, of that Highland Scotch stock whose
+fathers had fought against oppression for many generations. Coming to
+America for peace and liberty, they found bitter oppression still, and
+fought against it as their ancestors had done at home. It is the story
+of these sturdy "Regulators" that we have here to tell.
+
+It was not the tyranny of king or parliament with which these
+liberty-lovers had to deal, but that of Governor Tryon, the king's
+representative in this colony, and one of the worst of all the royal
+governors. Bancroft has well described his character. "The Cherokee
+chiefs, who knew well the cruelty and craft of the most pernicious beast
+of prey in the mountains, ceremoniously distinguished the governor by
+the name of the Great Wolf." It was this Great Wolf who was placed in
+command over the settlers of North Carolina, and whose lawless acts
+drove them to rebellion.
+
+Under Governor Tryon the condition of the colony of North Carolina was
+worse than that of a great city under the rule of a political "Boss."
+The people were frightfully overtaxed, illegal fees were charged for
+every service, juries were packed, and costs of suits at law made
+exorbitant. The officers of the law were insolent and arbitrary, and by
+trickery and extortion managed to rob many settlers of their property.
+And this was the more hateful to the people from the fact that much of
+the money raised was known to go into the pockets of officials and much
+of it was used by Governor Tryon in building himself a costly and showy
+"palace." Such was the state of affairs which led to the "rebellion" in
+North Carolina.
+
+Many of the people of the mountain districts organized under the name of
+"Regulators," binding themselves to fight against illegal taxes and
+fees, and not to pay them unless forced to do so. The first outbreak
+took place in 1768 when a Regulator rode into Hillsborough, and Colonel
+Fanning wantonly seized his horse for his tax. It was quickly rescued by
+a mob armed with clubs and muskets, some of which were fired at
+Fanning's house.
+
+This brought matters to a head. Supported by the governor, Fanning
+denounced the Regulators as rebels, threatened to call out the militia,
+and sent out a secret party who arrested two of the settlers. One of
+these, Herman Husbands, had never joined the Regulators or been
+concerned in any tumult, and was seized while quietly at home on his
+own land. But he was bound, insulted, hurried to prison, and threatened
+with the gallows. He escaped only by the payment of money and the threat
+of the Regulators to take him by force from the jail.
+
+The next step was taken after Governor Tryon had promised to hear the
+complaints of the people and punish the men guilty of extortion. Under
+this promise Husbands brought suit against Fanning for unjust
+imprisonment. At once the governor showed his real sentiment. He
+demanded the complete submission of the Regulators, called out fifteen
+hundred armed men, and was said to intend to rouse the Indians to cut
+off the men of Orange County as rebels.
+
+In spite of this threatening attitude of the governor, Husbands was
+acquitted on every charge, and Fanning was found guilty on six separate
+indictments. There was also a verdict given against three Regulators.
+This was the decision of the jury alone. That of the judges showed a
+different spirit. They punished Fanning by fining him one penny on each
+charge, while the Regulators were each sentenced to fifty pounds fine
+and six months' imprisonment. To support this one-sided justice Tryon
+threatened the Regulators with fire and sword, and they remained quietly
+at home, brooding moodily over their failure but hesitating to act.
+
+We must now go on to the year 1770. The old troubles had
+continued,--illegal fees and taxes, peculation and robbery. The
+sheriffs and tax-collectors were known to have embezzled over fifty
+thousand pounds. The costs of suits at law had so increased that justice
+lay beyond the reach of the poor. And back of all this reigned Governor
+Tryon in his palace, supporting the spoilers of the people. So incensed
+did they become that at the September court, finding that their cases
+were to be ignored, they seized Fanning and another lawyer and beat them
+soundly with cowhide whips, ending by a destructive raid on Fanning's
+house.
+
+The Assembly met in December. It had been chosen under a state of
+general alarm. The Regulators elected many representatives, among them
+the persecuted Herman Husbands, who was chosen to represent Orange
+County. This defiant action of the people roused the "Great Wolf" again.
+Husbands had been acquitted of everything charged against him, yet Tryon
+had him voted a disturber of the peace and expelled from the House, and
+immediately afterward had him arrested and put in prison without bail,
+though there was not a grain of evidence against him.
+
+The governor followed this act of violence with a "Riot Act" of the most
+oppressive and illegal character. Under it if any ten men assembled and
+did not disperse when ordered to do so, they were to be held guilty of
+felony. For a riot committed either before or after this act was
+published any persons accused might be tried before the Superior Court,
+no matter how far it was from their homes, and if they did not appear
+within sixty days, with or without notice, they were to be proclaimed
+outlaws and to forfeit their lives and property. The governor also sent
+out a request for volunteers to march against the "rebels," but the
+Assembly refused to grant money for this warlike purpose.
+
+Governor Tryon had shown himself as unjust and tyrannous as Governor
+Berkeley of Virginia had done in his contest with Bacon. It did not take
+him long to foment the rebellion which he seemed determined to provoke.
+When the Regulators heard that their representative had been thrown into
+prison, and that they were threatened with exile or death as outlaws,
+they prepared to march on Newbern for the rescue of Husbands, filling
+the governor with such alarm for the safety of his fine new palace that
+he felt it wise to release his captive. He tried to indict the sturdy
+Highlander for a pretended libel, but the Grand Jury refused to support
+him in this, and Husbands was set free. The Regulators thereupon
+dispersed, after a party of them had visited the Superior Court at
+Salisbury and expressed their opinion very freely about the lawyers, the
+officials, and the Riot Act, which they declared had no warrant in the
+laws of England.
+
+As yet the Regulators had done little more than to protest against
+tyranny and oppression and to show an intention to defend their
+representative against unjust imprisonment, yet they had done enough to
+arouse their lordly governor to revenge. Rebels they were, for they had
+dared to question his acts, and rebels he would hold them. As the Grand
+Jury would not support him in his purpose, he took steps to obtain
+juries and witnesses on whom he could rely, and then brought charges
+against many of the leading Regulators of Orange County, several of whom
+had been quietly at home during the riots of which they were accused.
+
+The governor's next step was to call the Grand Jury to his palace and
+volunteer to them to lead troops into the western counties, the haunt of
+the Regulators. The jurymen, who were his own creatures, hastened to
+applaud his purpose, and the Council agreed. The Assembly refused to
+provide funds for such a purpose, but Tryon got over this difficulty by
+issuing a paper currency.
+
+A force of militia was now raised in the lower part of the colony and
+the country of the Regulators was invaded. Tryon marched at the head of
+a strong force into Orange County, and proceeded to deal with it as if
+it were a country conquered in war. As he advanced, the wheat-fields
+were destroyed and the orchards felled. Every house found empty was
+burned to the ground. Cattle, poultry, and all the produce of the
+plantations were seized. The terrified people ran together like sheep
+pursued by a wolf. The men who had been indicted for felony at Newbern,
+and who had failed to submit themselves to the mercy of his packed
+juries and false witnesses, were proclaimed outlaws, whose lives and
+property were forfeit. Never had the colonies been so spoiled on such
+slight pretence.
+
+Thus marching onward like a conquering general of the Middle Ages,
+leaving havoc and ruin in his rear, on the evening of May 14, 1771,
+Tryon reached the great Alamance River, at the head of a force of a
+little over one thousand men. About five miles beyond this stream were
+gathered the Regulators who had fled before his threatening march. They
+were probably superior in numbers to Tryon's men, but many of them had
+no weapons, and they were principally concerned lest the governor "would
+not lend an ear to the just complaints of the people." These "rebels"
+were certainly not in the frame of mind to make rebellion successful.
+
+The Regulators were not without a leader. One of their number, James
+Hunter, they looked upon as their "general," a title of which his
+excellent capacity and high courage made him worthy. On the approach of
+Tryon at the head of his men James Hunter and Benjamin Merrill advanced
+to meet him. They received from him this ultimatum:
+
+"I require you to lay down your arms, surrender up the outlawed
+ringleaders, submit yourselves to the laws, and rest on the lenity of
+the government. By accepting these terms in one hour you will prevent an
+effusion of blood, as you are at this time in a state of war and
+rebellion."
+
+Hopeless as the Regulators felt their cause, they were not ready to
+submit to such a demand as this. There was not an outlaw among them, for
+not one of them had been legally indicted. As to the lenity of the
+government, they had an example before their eyes in the wanton ruin of
+their houses and crops. With such a demand, nothing was left them but to
+fight.
+
+Tryon began the action by firing a field-piece into the group of
+Regulators. At this the more timid of them--perhaps only the unarmed
+ones--withdrew, but the bold remainder returned the fire, and a hot
+conflict began, which was kept up steadily for two hours. The battle, at
+first in the open field, soon shifted to the woodland, where the
+opponents sheltered themselves behind trees and kept up the fight. Not
+until their ammunition was nearly gone, and further resistance was
+impossible, did Hunter and his men retreat, leaving Tryon master of the
+field. They had lost twenty of their number besides the wounded and some
+prisoners taken in the pursuit. Of Tryon's men nine were killed and
+sixty-one wounded. Thus ended the affray known as the battle of the
+Alamance, in which were fired the first shots for freedom from tyranny
+by the people of the American colonies.
+
+The victorious governor hastened to make revengeful use of his triumph.
+He began the next day by hanging James Few, one of the prisoners, as an
+outlaw, and confiscating his estate. A series of severe proclamations
+followed, and his troops lived at free quarters on the Regulators,
+forcing them to contribute provisions, and burning the houses and laying
+waste the plantations of all those who had been denounced as outlaws.
+
+On his return to Hillsborough the governor issued a proclamation
+denouncing Herman Husbands, James Hunter, and some others, asking "every
+person" to shoot them at sight, and offering a large reward for their
+bodies alive or dead. Of the prisoners still in his hands, he had six of
+them hung in his own presence for the crime of treason. Then, some ten
+days later, having played the tyrant to the full in North Carolina, he
+left that colony forever, having been appointed governor of New York.
+The colony was saddled by him with an illegal debt of forty thousand
+pounds, which he left for its people to pay.
+
+As for the fugitive Regulators, there was no safety for them in North
+Carolina, and the governors of South Carolina and Virginia were
+requested not to give them refuge. But they knew of a harbor of refuge
+to which no royal governors had come, over which the flag of England had
+never waved, and where no lawyer or tax-collector had yet set foot, in
+that sylvan land west of the Alleghenies on which few besides Daniel
+Boone, the famous hunter, had yet set foot.
+
+Here was a realm for a nation, and one on which nature had lavished her
+richest treasures. Here in spring the wild crab-apple filled the air
+with the sweetest of perfumes, here the clear mountain-streams flowed
+abundantly, the fertile soil was full of promise of rich harvests, the
+climate was freshly invigorating, and the west winds ripe with the seeds
+of health. Here were broad groves of hickory and oak, of maple, elm,
+and ash, in which the elk and the red deer made their haunts, and the
+black bear, whose flesh the hunter held to be delicious beyond rivalry,
+fattened on the abundant crop of acorns and chestnuts. In the trees and
+on the grasses were quail, turkeys, and pigeons numberless, while the
+golden eagle built its nest on the mountain-peaks and swooped in circles
+over the forest land. Where the thickets of spruce and rhododendron
+threw their cooling shade upon the swift streams, the brook trout was
+abundant, plenty and promise were everywhere, and, aside from the peril
+of the prowling savage, the land was a paradise.
+
+It was not in Kentucky, where Boone then dwelt alone, but in Tennessee
+that the fugitive Regulators sought a realm of safety. James Robertson,
+one of their number, had already sought the land beyond the hills and
+was cultivating his fields of maize on the Watauga's fertile banks. He
+was to become one of the leading men in later Tennessee. Hither the
+Regulators, fleeing from their persecutors, followed him, and in 1772
+founded a republic in the wilderness by a written compact, Robertson
+being chosen one of their earliest magistrates. Thus, still defiant of
+persecution, they "set to the people of America the dangerous example of
+erecting themselves into a separate state, distinct from and independent
+of the authority of the British king."
+
+Thus we owe to the Regulators of North Carolina the first decided step
+in the great struggle for independence so soon to come. And to North
+Carolina we must give the credit of making the earliest declaration of
+independence. More than a year before Jefferson's famous Declaration the
+people of Mecklenburg County passed a series of resolutions in which
+they declared themselves free from allegiance to the British crown. This
+was in May, 1775. On April 12, 1776, North Carolina authorized her
+delegates in the Continental Congress to declare for independence. Thus
+again the Old North State was the first to set her seal for liberty. The
+old Regulators had not all left her soil, and we seem to hear in these
+resolutions an echo of the guns which were fired on the Alamance in the
+first stroke of the colonists of America for freedom from tyranny.
+
+
+
+
+_LORD DUNMORE AND THE GUNPOWDER._
+
+
+In the city of Williamsburg, the old capital of Virginia, there still
+stands a curious old powder magazine, built nearly two centuries ago by
+Governor Spotswood, the hero of the "Golden Horseshoe" adventure. It is
+a strong stone building, with eight-sided walls and roof, which looks as
+if it might stand for centuries to come. On this old magazine hinges a
+Revolutionary tale, which seems to us well worth the telling. The story
+begins on April 19, 1775, the day that the shots at Lexington brought on
+the war for independence.
+
+The British government did not like the look of things in America. The
+clouds in the air, and the occasional lightning flash and thunder roar,
+were full of threat of a coming storm. To prevent this, orders were sent
+from England to the royal governors to seize all the powder and arms in
+the colonies on a fixed day, This is what Governor Gage, of
+Massachusetts, tried to do at Concord on April 19th. In the night of the
+same day, Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, attempted the same thing
+at Williamsburg.
+
+Had this been done openly in Virginia, as in Massachusetts, the story of
+Lexington would have been repeated there. Lord Dunmore took the
+patriots by surprise. A British ship-of-war, the "Magdalen," some time
+before, came sailing up York River, and dropped its anchor in the stream
+not far from Williamsburg. On the 19th of April Lord Dunmore sent word
+to Captain Collins, of the "Magdalen," that all was ready, and after
+dark on that day a party of soldiers, led by the captain, landed from
+the ship. About midnight they marched silently into the town. All was
+quiet, the people in their beds, sleeping the sleep of the just, and not
+dreaming that treachery was at their doors. The captain had the key to
+the magazine and opened its door, setting his soldiers to carry out as
+quietly as possible the half-barrels of gunpowder with which it was
+stored. They came like ghosts, and so departed. All was done so
+stealthily, that the morning of the 20th dawned before the citizens knew
+that anything had been going on in their streets under the midnight
+shadows.
+
+When the news spread abroad the town was in an uproar. What right had
+the governor to meddle with anything bought with the hard cash of
+Virginia and belonging to the colony? In their anger they resolved to
+seize the governor and make him answer to the people for his act. They
+did not like Lord Dunmore, whom they knew to be a false-hearted man, and
+would have liked to make him pay for some former deeds of treachery. But
+the cooler heads advised them not to act in haste, saying that it was
+wiser to take peaceful measures, and to send and tell Dunmore that
+their powder must be returned.
+
+This was done. The governor answered with a falsehood. He said that he
+had heard of some danger of an insurrection among the slaves in a
+neighboring county, and had taken the powder to use against them. If
+nothing happened, he would soon return it; they need not worry, all
+would be right.
+
+This false story quieted the people of Williamsburg for a time. But it
+did not satisfy the people of Virginia. As the news spread through the
+colony the excitement grew intense. What right had Lord Dunmore to carry
+off the people's powder, bought for their defence? Many of them seized
+their arms, and at Fredericksburg seven hundred men assembled and sent
+word that they were ready to march on Williamsburg. Among them were the
+"minute men" of Culpeper, a famous band of frontiersmen, wearing green
+hunting-shirts and carrying knives and tomahawks. "Liberty or Death,"
+Patrick Henry's stirring words, were on their breasts, and over their
+heads floated a significant banner. On it was a coiled rattlesnake, with
+the warning motto, "Don't tread on me!"
+
+Prompt as these men were, there was one man in Virginia still more
+prompt, a man not to be trifled with by any lordly governor. This was
+Patrick Henry, the patriotic orator. The instant he heard of the
+stealing of the powder he sent word to the people in his vicinity to
+meet him at Newcastle, ready to fight for Virginia's rights. They came,
+one hundred and fifty of them, all well armed, and without hesitation he
+led them against the treacherous governor. It looked as if there was to
+be a battle in Virginia, as there had been in Massachusetts. Lord
+Dunmore was scared when he heard that the patriots were marching on him,
+as they had marched on Lord Berkeley a century before. He sent word
+hastily to Patrick Henry to stop his march and that he would pay for the
+powder.
+
+[Illustration: OLD MAGAZINE AT WILLIAMSBURG.]
+
+Very likely this disappointed the indignant orator. Just then he would
+rather have fought Dunmore than take his money. But he had no good
+excuse for refusing it, so the cash was paid over, three hundred and
+thirty pounds sterling,--equal to about sixteen hundred dollars,--and
+Henry and his men marched home.
+
+Lord Dunmore was in a towering rage at his defeat. He did what Berkeley
+had done against Bacon long before, issuing a proclamation in which he
+said that Patrick Henry and all those with him were traitors to the
+king. Then he sent to the "Magdalen" for soldiers, and had arms laid on
+the floors of his lordly mansion ready for use when the troops should
+come.
+
+All was ripe for an outbreak. The people of Virginia had not been used
+to see British troops on their soil. If Lord Dunmore wanted war they
+were quite ready to let him have it. Arms were lacking, and some young
+men broke open the door of the magazine to see if any were there. As
+they did so there was a loud report and one of the party fell back
+bleeding. A spring-gun had been placed behind the door, doubtless by
+Lord Dunmore's orders.
+
+The startling sound brought out the people. When they learned what had
+been done, they ran angrily to the magazine and seized all the arms they
+could find there. In doing so they made a discovery that doubled their
+indignation. Beneath the floor several barrels of gunpowder were hidden,
+as if to blow up any one who entered. While they were saying that this
+was another treacherous trick of the governor's, word was brought them
+that the troops from the "Magdalen" were marching on the town. With
+shouts of fury they ran for their arms. If Lord Dunmore was so eager for
+a fight, they were quite ready to accommodate him and to stand up before
+his British soldiers and strike for American rights. A few words will
+end this part of our story. When the governor saw the spirit of the
+people he did as Berkeley before him had done, fled to his ships and
+relieved Williamsburg of his presence. The Virginians had got rid of
+their governor and his British troops without a fight.
+
+This ends the story of the gunpowder, but there were things that
+followed worth the telling. Virginia was not done with Lord Dunmore.
+Sailing in the "Magdalen" to Chesapeake Bay, he found there some other
+war-vessels, and proceeded with this squadron to Norfolk, of which he
+took possession. Most of the people of that town were true patriots,
+though by promises of plunder he induced some of the lower class of
+whites to join him, and also brought in many negro slaves from the
+country around. With this motley crew he committed many acts of
+violence, rousing all Virginia to resistance. A "Committee of Safety"
+was appointed and hundreds of men eagerly enlisted and were sent to
+invest Norfolk. But their enemy was not easy to find, as they kept out
+of reach most of the time on his ships.
+
+On December 9, 1775, the first battle of the Revolution in the South
+took place. The patriot forces at that time were at a place called Great
+Bridge, near the Dismal Swamp, and not far from Norfolk. Against them
+Dunmore sent a body of his troops. These reached Great Bridge to find it
+a small wooden bridge over a stream, and to see the Americans awaiting
+them behind a breastwork which they had thrown up across the road at the
+opposite end of the bridge. Among them were the Culpeper "minute men,"
+of whom we have spoken, with their rattlesnake standard, and one of the
+lieutenants in their company was a man who was to become famous in after
+years,--John Marshall, the celebrated Chief Justice of the United
+States.
+
+The British posted their cannon and opened fire on the Virginians; then,
+when they fancied they had taken the spirit out of the backwoods
+militia, a force of grenadiers charged across the bridge, led by Captain
+Fordyce. He proved himself a good soldier, but he found the colonials
+good soldiers too. They held back their fire till the grenadiers were
+across the bridge and less than fifty yards away. Then the crack of
+rifles was heard and a line of fire flashed out all along the low
+breastwork. And it came from huntsmen who knew how to bring down their
+game.
+
+Many of the grenadiers fell before this scorching fire. Their line was
+broken and thrown into confusion. Captain Fordyce at their head waved
+his hat, shouting, "The day is ours!" The words were barely spoken when
+he fell. In an instant he was on his feet again, brushing his knee as if
+he had only stumbled. Yet the brave fellow was mortally wounded, no less
+than fourteen bullets having passed through his body, and after a
+staggering step or two he fell dead.
+
+This took the courage out of the grenadiers. They fell back in disorder
+upon the bridge, hastened by the bullets of the patriots. At every step
+some of them fell. The Virginians, their standard-bearer at their head,
+leaped with cheers of triumph over the breastwork and pursued them,
+driving them back in panic flight, and keeping up the pursuit till the
+fugitives were safe in Norfolk. Thus ended in victory the first battle
+for American liberty on the soil of the South.
+
+Lord Dunmore had confidently expected his bold grenadiers to return with
+trophies of their victory over the untrained colonials. The news of
+their complete defeat filled him with fear and fury. At first he
+refused to believe it, and threatened to hang the boy who brought him
+the news. But the sight of the blood-stained fugitives soon convinced
+him, and in a sudden panic he took refuge with all his forces in his
+ships. The triumphant Virginians at once took possession of the town.
+
+Dunmore lingered in the harbor with his fleet, and the victors opened
+fire with their cannon on the ships. "Stop your fire or I will burn your
+town with hot shot," he sent word. "Do your worst," retorted the bold
+Virginia commander, and bade his men to keep their cannons going. The
+ruthless governor kept his word, bombarding the town with red-hot shot,
+and soon it was in flames.
+
+The fire could not be extinguished. For three days it raged, spreading
+in all directions, till the whole town was a sheet of flames. Not until
+there was nothing left to burn did the flames subside. Norfolk was a
+complete ruin. Its six thousand inhabitants, men, women, and children,
+were forced to flee from their burning homes and seek what scant refuge
+they could find in that chill winter season. Dunmore even landed his
+troops to fire on the place. Then, having visited the peaceful
+inhabitants with the direst horrors of war, he sailed in triumph away,
+glorying in his revenge.
+
+The lordly governor now acted the pirate in earnest. He sailed up and
+down the shores of Chesapeake Bay, landing and plundering the
+plantations on every side. At a place called Gwyn's Island, on the
+western shore, he had a fort built, which he garrisoned mainly with the
+negroes and low whites he had brought from Norfolk. Just what was his
+purpose in this is not known, for the Virginians gave him no chance to
+carry it out. General Andrew Lewis, a famous Indian fighter, led a force
+of patriot volunteers against him, planting his cannon on the shore
+opposite the island, and opened a hot fire on the fort and the ships.
+
+The first ball fired struck the "Dunmore," the ship which held the
+governor. A second struck the same ship, and killed one of its crew. A
+third smashed the governor's crockery, and a splinter wounded him in the
+leg. This was more than the courage of a Dunmore could stand, and sail
+was set in all haste, the fleet scattering like a flock of frightened
+birds. The firing continued all day long. Night came, and no signs of
+surrender were seen, though the fire was not returned. At daylight the
+next morning two hundred men were sent in boats to reconnoitre and
+attack the fort. They quickly learned that there was nothing to attack.
+Lord Dunmore had been preparing all night for flight. The fort had been
+dismantled of everything of value, and as the assailants sprang from
+their boats on the island the ships sailed hurriedly away.
+
+The island itself was a sickening spectacle. The cannonade had made
+terrible havoc, and men lay dead or wounded all around, while many of
+the dead had been buried so hastily as to be barely covered. While they
+were looking at the frightful scene, a strong light appeared in the
+direction of the governor's flight. Its meaning was evident at a
+glance. Some of the vessels had grounded in the sands, and, as they
+could not be got off, he had set them afire to save them from the enemy.
+
+That was almost the last exploit of Lord Dunmore. He kept up his
+plundering raids a little longer, and once sailed up the Potomac to
+Mount Vernon, with the fancy that he might find and capture Washington.
+But soon after that he sailed away with his plunder and about one
+thousand slaves whom he had taken from the plantations, and Virginia was
+well rid of her last royal governor. A patriot governor soon followed,
+Patrick Henry being chosen, and occupying the very mansion at
+Williamsburg from which Dunmore had proclaimed him a traitor.
+
+
+
+
+_THE FATAL EXPEDITION OF COLONEL ROGERS._
+
+
+One of the great needs of the Americans in the war of the Revolution was
+ammunition. Gunpowder and cannon-balls were hard to get and easy to get
+rid of, being fired away with the utmost generosity whenever the armies
+came together, and sought for with the utmost solicitude when the armies
+were apart. The patriots made what they could and bought what they
+could, and on one occasion sent as far as New Orleans, on the lower
+Mississippi, to buy some ammunition which the Spaniards were willing to
+sell.
+
+But it was one thing to buy this much needed material and another thing
+to get it where it was needed. In those days it was a long journey to
+New Orleans and back. Yet the only way to obtain the ammunition was to
+send for it, and a valiant man, named Colonel David Rogers, a native of
+Virginia or Maryland, was chosen to go and bring it. His expedition was
+so full of adventure, and ended in such a tragic way, that it seems well
+worth telling about.
+
+It was from the Old Red Stone Fort on the Monongahela River, one of the
+two streams that make up the Ohio, that the expedition was to start, and
+here Colonel Rogers found the boats and men waiting for him at the end
+of his ride across the hill country. There were forty men in the party,
+and embarking with these, Rogers soon floated down past Fort Pitt and
+entered the Ohio, prepared for a journey of some thousands of miles in
+length.
+
+It was in the summer of the year 1778 that these bold men set out on a
+perilous journey from which few of them were to return. But what might
+come troubled them little. The weather was pleasant, the trees along the
+stream were charming in their summer foliage, and their hearts were full
+of hope and joy as they floated and rowed down the "Beautiful River," as
+it had been named by the Indians and the French.
+
+They needed, indeed, to be alert and watchful, for they knew well that
+hundreds of hostile savages dwelt in the forest depths on both sides of
+the stream, eager for blood and scalps. But the rough frontiersmen had
+little fear of the Indians, with the water beneath them and their good
+rifles beside them, and they sang their border songs and chatted in
+jovial tones as they went steadily onward, eating and sleeping in the
+boats, for it was nowhere safe to land. In this way they reached the
+mouth of the Ohio in safety and turned their prows into the broader
+current of the Mississippi.
+
+The first important stopping-point of the expedition was at the spot
+made historic by De Soto and Marquette, at the mouth of the Arkansas
+River, or the Ozark, as it was then called. Here stood a Spanish fort,
+near the locality where La Salle, a century earlier, had spent a
+pleasant week with the friendly Arkansas Indians. Colonel Rogers had
+been told about this fort, and advised to stop there and confer with its
+commander. As he came near them, he notified the Spaniards of his
+approach by a salvo of rifle shots, firing thirteen guns in honor of the
+fighting colonies and as a salute to the lords of the stream. The
+Spanish officer in command replied with three cannon shots, the woods
+echoing back their report.
+
+Colonel Rogers now landed and marched at the head of his men to the
+fort, over them floating the Stars and Stripes, a new-born standard yet
+to become glorious, and to wave in honor all along that stream on whose
+banks it was then for the first time displayed. As they came near the
+fort they were met by the Spanish commandant, Captain Devilie, with his
+troops drawn up behind him, and the flag of Spain waving as if in salute
+to the new banner of the United States. The Spaniard met Rogers with
+dignified courtesy, both of them making low bows and exchanging words of
+friendly greeting. Devilie invited his guest into the fort, and, by way
+of entertaining the Americans, put his men through a series of parade
+movements near the fort. The two officers looked on from the walls,
+Devilie in his showy Spanish uniform and Rogers gay with his gold-laced
+hat and silver-hilted sword.
+
+These performances at an end, Colonel Rogers told his host the purpose
+of his expedition, and was informed by him that the war-material which
+he was seeking was no longer at New Orleans, but had been removed to a
+fort farther up the river, near the locality where the city of St. Louis
+now stands. If the colonel had been advised of this sooner he might have
+saved himself a long journey. But there was the possibility that the
+officer at the St. Louis fort would refuse to surrender the ammunition
+without orders from his superiors. Besides this, he had been directed to
+go to New Orleans. So, on the whole, he thought it best to obey orders
+strictly, and to obtain from the Spanish governor an order to the
+commandant of the fort to deliver the goods. There was one difficulty in
+the way. The English had a hold on the river at a place called Natchez,
+where, as Captain Devilie told the colonel, they had built a fort. They
+might fire on him in passing and sink his boats, or force him to land
+and hold him prisoner. To escape this peril Colonel Rogers left the bulk
+of his men at the Spanish fort, taking only a single canoe and a
+half-dozen men with him. It was his purpose to try and slip past the
+Natchez fort in the night, and this was successfully done, the canoe
+gliding past unseen and conveying the small party safely to New Orleans.
+
+Our readers no doubt remember how, a century before this time, the
+Chevalier La Salle floated down the great river and claimed all the
+country surrounding it for the king of France. Later on French settlers
+came there, and in 1718 they laid out the town of New Orleans, which
+soon became the capital of the province. The settlements here did not
+grow very fast, and it does not seem that France valued them highly, for
+in 1763, after the British had taken Canada from the French, all the
+land west of the Mississippi River was given up by France to Spain. This
+was to pay that country for the loss of Florida, which was given over to
+England. That is how the Spaniards came to own New Orleans, and to have
+forts along the river where French forts had once been.
+
+Colonel Rogers found the Spanish governor at New Orleans as obliging as
+Captain Devilie had been. He got an order for the ammunition without
+trouble, and had nothing before him but to go back up-stream again. But
+that was not so easy to do. The river ran so swiftly that he soon found
+it would be no light matter to row his canoe up against the strong
+current. There was also the English fort at Natchez to pass, which might
+be very dangerous when going slowly up-stream. So he concluded to let
+the boat go and travel by land through the forest. This also was a hard
+task in a land of dense cane-brakes and matted woodland, and the small
+party had a toilsome time of it in pushing through the woods. At length,
+however, the Spanish fort on the Ozark was reached, and the men of the
+expedition were reunited. Bidding farewell to Captain Devilie, they took
+to their boats again and rowed up-stream past the mouth of the Ohio
+until Fort St. Louis was reached. The colonel was received here with the
+same courtesy as below, and on presenting his order was given the
+ammunition without question. It was carefully stowed in the boats,
+good-by was said to the officer who had hospitably entertained them, the
+oars were brought into play again, and the expedition started homeward.
+
+So far all had gone well. The journey had been slow and weeks had
+lengthened into months, but no misadventure had happened, and their
+hearts were full of hope as the deeply laden craft were rowed into the
+Ohio and began the toilsome ascent of that stream. It was now the month
+of October. There was an autumn snap in the air, but this only fitted
+them the better for their work, and all around them was beautiful as
+they moved onward with song and jest, joyful in the hope of soon
+reaching their homes again. They did not know the fate that awaited them
+in those dark Ohio woodlands.
+
+The boats made their way upward to a point in the river near where the
+city of Cincinnati was to be founded a few years later. As they passed
+this locality they saw a small party of Indians in a canoe crossing the
+river not far ahead of them. These were the first of the Ohio Indians
+they had seen, and the sight of them roused the frontier blood of the
+hardy boatmen. Too many cabins on the border had been burned and their
+inmates mercilessly slain for a frontiersman to see an Indian without a
+burning inclination to kill him. The colonel was in the same spirit with
+his men, and the boats were at once turned towards shore in pursuit of
+the savages. At the point they had reached the Licking River empties
+into the Ohio. Rowing into its mouth the men landed and, led by the
+colonel, climbed up the bank to look for the foe.
+
+They found far more than they had counted on. The canoe-load of savages
+was but a decoy to lure them ashore, and as they ascended the river-bank
+a hot fire was opened on them by a large body of Indians hidden in the
+undergrowth. A trap had been laid for them and they had fallen into it.
+
+The sudden and deadly volley threw the party into confusion, though
+after a minute they returned the fire and rushed upon the ambushed foe,
+Colonel Rogers at their head. Following him with cheers and yells, the
+men were soon engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand conflict, the sound of
+blows, shots, and war-cries filling the air, as the whites and red men
+fought obstinately for victory. But the Indians far outnumbered their
+opponents, and when at length the brave Rogers was seen to stagger and
+fall all hope left his followers. It was impossible to regain the boats
+which they had imprudently left, and they broke and fled into the
+forest, pursued by their savage foes.
+
+Many days later the survivors of the bloody contest, thirteen in all,
+came straggling wearily into a white settlement on the Kanawha River in
+Virginia. Of the remainder of their party and their gallant leader
+nothing was ever heard again. One of the men reported that he had stayed
+with the wounded colonel during the night after the battle, where he
+"remained in the woods, in extreme pain and utterly past recovery." In
+the morning he was obliged to leave him to save his own life, and that
+was the last known on earth of Colonel Rogers.
+
+As for the ammunition for which he had been sent, and which he had been
+decoyed by an Indian trick into abandoning, it fell into the hands of
+the savages, and was probably used in the later war in the service of
+those against whom it was intended to be employed. Such is the fortune
+of war.
+
+
+
+
+_HOW COLONEL CLARK WON THE NORTHWEST._
+
+
+On the evening of the 4th of July, 1778, a merry dance was taking place
+at the small settlement of Kaskaskia, in that far western region
+afterward known as Illinois. It must not be imagined that this was a
+celebration of the American Independence day, for the people of
+Kaskaskia knew little and cared less about American independence. It was
+only by chance that this day was chosen for the dance, but it had its
+significance for all that, for the first step was to be taken there that
+day in adding the great Northwest to the United States. The man by whom
+this was to be done was a brave Kentuckian named George Rogers Clark. He
+came of a daring family, for he was a brother of Captain William Clark,
+who, years afterward, was engaged with Captain Lewis in the famous Lewis
+and Clark expedition across the vast unknown wilderness between the
+Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean.
+
+Kaskaskia was one of the settlements made by the French between the
+Great Lakes and the Mississippi. After the loss of Canada this country
+passed to England, and there were English garrisons placed in some of
+the forts. But Kaskaskia was thought so far away and so safe that it was
+left in charge of a French officer and French soldiers. A gay and
+light-hearted people they were, as the French are apt to be; and, as
+they found time hang heavy on their hands at that frontier stronghold,
+they had invited the people of the place, on the evening in question, to
+a ball at the fort.
+
+All this is by way of introduction; now let us see what took place at
+the fort on that pleasant summer night. All the girls of the village
+were there and many of the men, and most of the soldiers were on the
+floor as well. They were dancing away at a jovial rate to the lively
+music of a fiddle, played by a man who sat on a chair at the side. Near
+him on the floor lay an Indian, looking on with lazy eyes at the
+dancers. The room was lighted by torches thrust into the cracks of the
+wall, and the whole party were in the best of spirits.
+
+The Indian was not the only looker-on. In the midst of the fun a tall
+young man stepped into the room and stood leaning against the side of
+the door, with his eyes fixed on the dancers. He was dressed in the garb
+of the backwoods, but it was easy to be seen that he was not a
+Frenchman,--if any of the gay throng had taken the trouble to look at
+him.
+
+All at once there was a startling interruption. The Indian sprang to his
+feet and his shrill war-whoop rang loudly through the room. His keen
+eyes had rested on the stranger and seen at a glance that there was
+something wrong. The new-comer was evidently an American, and that
+meant something there.
+
+His yell of alarm broke up the dance in an instant. The women, who had
+just been laughing and talking, screamed with fright. All, men and women
+alike, huddled together in alarm. Some of the men ran for their guns,
+but the stranger did not move. From his place by the door he simply
+said, in a quiet way, "Don't be scared. Go on with your dance. But
+remember that you are dancing under Virginia and not under England."
+
+[Illustration: VIEW IN THE NORTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS.]
+
+As he was speaking, a crowd of men dressed like himself slipped into the
+room. They were all armed, and in a minute they spread through the fort,
+laying hands on the guns of the soldiers. The fort had been taken
+without a blow or a shot.
+
+Rocheblave, the French commandant, was in bed while these events were
+taking place, not dreaming that an American was within five hundred
+miles. He learned better when the new-comers took him prisoner and began
+to search for his papers. The reason they did not find many of these was
+on account of their American respect for ladies. The papers were in
+Madame Rocheblave's room, which the Americans were too polite to enter,
+not knowing that she was shoving them as fast as she could into the
+fire, so that there was soon only a heap of ashes. A few were found
+outside, enough to show what the Americans wanted to make sure of,--that
+the English were doing their best to stir up the Indians against the
+settlers. To end this part of our story, we may say that the Americans
+got possession of Kaskaskia and its fort, and Rocheblave was sent off,
+with his papers, to Virginia. Probably his wide-awake wife went with
+him.
+
+Now let us go back a bit and see how all this came to pass. Colonel
+Clark was a native of Virginia, but he had gone to Kentucky in his early
+manhood, being very fond of life in the woods. Here he became a friend
+of Daniel Boone, and no doubt often joined him in hunting excursions;
+but his business was that of a surveyor, at which he found plenty to do
+in this new country.
+
+Meanwhile, the war for independence came on, and as it proceeded Clark
+saw plainly that the English at the forts in the West were stirring up
+the Indians to attack the American settlements and kill the settlers. It
+is believed that they paid them for this dreadful work and supplied them
+with arms and ammunition. All this Clark was sure of and he determined
+to try and stop it. So he made his way back to the East and had a talk
+with Patrick Henry, who was then governor of Virginia. He asked the
+governor to let him have a force to attack the English forts in the
+West. He thought he could capture them, and in this way put an end to
+the Indian raids.
+
+Patrick Henry was highly pleased with Clark's plan. He gave him orders
+to "proceed to the defence of Kentucky," which was done to keep his real
+purpose a secret. He was also supplied with a large sum of money and
+told to enlist four companies of men, of whom he was to be the colonel.
+These he recruited among the hunters and pioneers of the frontier, who
+were the kind of men he wanted, and in the spring of 1778 he set out on
+his daring expedition.
+
+With a force of about one hundred and fifty men Colonel Clark floated
+down the Ohio River in boats, landing at length about fifty miles above
+the river's mouth and setting off through the woods towards Kaskaskia.
+It was a difficult journey, and they had many hardships. Their food ran
+out on the way and they had to live on roots to keep from starvation.
+But at length one night they came near enough to hear the fiddle and the
+dancing. How they stopped the dance you have read.
+
+Thus ends the first part of our story. It was easy enough to end, as has
+been seen. But there was a second part which was not so easy. You must
+know that the British had other strongholds in that country. One of them
+was Detroit, on the Detroit River, near Lake Erie. This was their
+starting-point. Far to the south, on the Wabash River, in what is now
+the State of Indiana, was another fort called Vincennes, which lay about
+one hundred and fifty miles to the east of Fort Kaskaskia. This was an
+old French fort also, and it was held by the French for the British as
+Kaskaskia had been. Colonel Clark wanted this fort too, and got it
+without much trouble. He had not men enough to take it by force, so he
+sent a French priest there, who told the people that their best friends
+were the Americans, not the British. It was not hard to make them
+believe this, for the French people had never liked the British. So they
+hauled down the British ensign and hauled up the Stars and Stripes, and
+Vincennes became an American fort.
+
+After that Colonel Clark went back to Kentucky, proud to think that he
+had won the great Northwest Territory for the United States with so
+little trouble. But he might have known that the British would not let
+themselves be driven out of the country in this easy manner, and before
+the winter was over he heard news that was not much to his liking.
+Colonel Hamilton, the English commander at Detroit, had marched down to
+Vincennes and taken the fort back again. It was also said that he
+intended to capture Kaskaskia, and then march south and try and win
+Kentucky for the English. This Hamilton was the man who was said to have
+hired the Indians to murder the American settlers, and Clark was much
+disturbed by the news. He must be quick to act, or all that he had won
+would be lost.
+
+He had a terrible task before him. The winter was near its end and the
+Wabash had risen and overflowed its banks on all sides. For hundreds of
+square miles the country was under water, and Vincennes was in the
+centre of a great shallow lake. It was freezing water, too, for this was
+no longer the warm spring time, as it had been in the march to
+Kaskaskia, but dull and drear February. Yet the brave colonel knew that
+he must act quickly if he was to act at all. Hamilton had only eighty
+men; he could raise twice that many. He had no money to pay them, but a
+merchant in St. Louis offered to lend him all he needed. There was the
+water to cross, but the hardy Kentucky hunters were used to wet and
+cold. So Colonel Clark hastily collected his men and set out for
+Vincennes.
+
+A sturdy set of men they were who followed him, dressed in
+hunting-shirts and carrying their long and tried rifles. On their heads
+were fur caps, ornamented with deer or raccoon tails. They believed in
+Colonel Clark, and that is a great deal in warlike affairs. As they
+trudged onward there came days of cold, hard rain, so that every night
+they had to build great fires to warm themselves and dry their clothes.
+Thus they went on, day after day, through the woods and prairies,
+carrying their packs of provisions and supplies on their backs, and
+shooting game to add to their food supply.
+
+This was holiday work to what lay before them. After a week of this kind
+of travel they came to a new kind. The "drowned lands" of the Wabash lay
+before them. Everywhere nothing but water was to be seen. The winter
+rains had so flooded the streams that a great part of the country was
+overflowed. And there was no way to reach the fort except by crossing
+those waters, for they spread round it on all sides. They must plunge in
+and wade through or give up and go back.
+
+We may be sure that there were faint hearts among them when they felt
+the cold water and knew that there were miles of it to cross, here
+ankle- or knee-deep, there waist-deep. But they had known this when they
+started, and they were not the men to turn back. At Colonel Clark's
+cheery word of command they plunged in and began their long and
+shivering journey.
+
+For nearly a week this terrible journey went on. It was a frightful
+experience. Now and then one of them would stumble and fall, and come up
+dripping. All day long they tramped dismally on through that endless
+waste of icy water. Here and there were islands of dry land over which
+they were glad enough to trudge, but at night they often had trouble to
+find a dry spot to build their fires and cook their food, and to sleep
+on beside the welcome blaze. It was hard enough to find game in that
+dreary waste, and their food ran out, so that for two whole days they
+had to go hungry. Thus they went on till they came to the point where
+White River runs into the Wabash.
+
+Here they found some friends who had come by a much easier way. On
+setting out Colonel Clark had sent Captain Rogers and forty men, with
+two small cannon, in a boat up Wabash River, telling them to stop at the
+White River fork, about fifteen or twenty miles below Vincennes. Here
+their trudging friends found them, and from this point they resumed
+their march in company. It was easy enough now to transport the cannon
+by dragging or rowing the boat through the deep water which they had to
+traverse.
+
+The worst of their difficult journey lay before them, for surrounding
+the fort was a sheet of water four miles wide which was deeper than any
+they had yet gone through. They had waded to their knees, and at times
+to their waists, but now they might have to wade to their necks. Some of
+them thrust their hands into the water and shivered at the touch, saying
+that it was freezing cold. There were men among them who held back,
+exclaiming that it was folly to think of crossing that icy lake.
+
+"We have not come so far to turn back now," said Colonel Clark, sternly.
+"Yonder lies the fort, and a few hours will take us there. Follow me,"
+and he walked boldly into the flood. As he did so he told one of his
+officers to shoot the first man who refused to follow. That settled the
+matter; they all plunged in.
+
+It was the most frightful part of their journey. The water at places, as
+we have said, came at times almost to their necks. Much of it reached
+their waists. They struggled resolutely on, almost benumbed with the
+cold, now stumbling and catching themselves again, holding their guns
+and powder above their heads to keep them from becoming wet, and glad
+enough when they found the water growing shallower. At length dry land
+was reached once more, and none too soon, for some of the men were so
+faint and weak that they fell flat on the ground. Colonel Clark set two
+of his men to pick up these worn-out ones and run them up and down till
+they were warm again. In this way they were soon made all right.
+
+It was now the evening of the 18th of February, 1779. They were near
+enough to the fort to hear the boom of the evening gun. This satisfied
+the colonel that they were at the end of their journey, and he bade his
+men to lie down and sleep and get ready for the work before them. There
+was no more wading to do, but there was likely to be some fighting.
+
+Bright and early the next morning they were up and had got their arms
+and equipments in order. They were on the wrong side of the river, but a
+large boat was found, in which they crossed. Vincennes was now near at
+hand, and one of its people soon appeared, a Frenchman, who looked at
+them with as much astonishment as if they had dropped down from the sky.
+Colonel Clark questioned him about matters in the fort, and then gave
+him a letter to Colonel Hamilton, telling the colonel that they had come
+across the water to take back the fort, and that he had better surrender
+and save trouble.
+
+We may be sure that the English colonel was astounded on receiving such
+a letter at such a time. That any men on earth could have crossed those
+wintry waters he could hardly believe, and it seemed to him that they
+must have come on wings. But there they were, asking him to give up the
+fort, a thing he had no notion of doing without a fight. If Colonel
+Clark wanted the fort he must come and take it.
+
+Colonel Clark did want it. He wanted it badly. And it was not long
+before the two cannon which he had brought with him were loaded and
+pouring their shot into the fort, while the riflemen kept them company
+with their guns. Colonel Hamilton fired back with grape-shot and
+cannon-balls, and for hour after hour the siege went on, the roar of
+cannon echoing back from woodland and water. For fourteen hours the
+cannonade was kept up, all day long and far into the night, the red
+flashes from cannon and rifle lighting up all around. At length both
+sides were worn out, and they lay down to sleep, expecting to begin
+again with the morning light.
+
+But that day's work, and the sure shooting of the Kentucky riflemen, had
+made such havoc in the fort as to teach Colonel Hamilton that the bold
+Kentuckians were too much for him. So when, at day dawn, another
+messenger came with a summons to surrender, he accepted as gracefully as
+he could. He asked to be given the honors of war, and to be allowed to
+march back to Detroit, but Colonel Clark wrathfully answered, "To that I
+can by no means agree. I will not again leave it in your power to spirit
+up the Indian nations to scalp men, women, and children."
+
+Soon into the fort marched the victors, with shouts of triumph, their
+long rifles slanting over their shoulders. And soon the red cross flag
+of England came down and the star-spangled banner of America waved in
+its place. Hamilton and his men were prisoners in American hands.
+
+There was proof enough that this English colonel had been busy in
+stirring the Indians up to their dreadful work. His papers showed that.
+And even while the fight was going on some of the red demons came up
+with the scalps of white men and women to receive their pay. The pay
+they got was in bullets when they fell into the hands of the incensed
+Kentuckians. Colonel Hamilton and his officers were sent as prisoners to
+Williamsburg, Virginia, and were there put in fetters for their
+murderous conduct. It would have served them right to hang them, but the
+laws of war forbade, and they were soon set free.
+
+We have told this story that you may see what brave men Virginia and
+Kentucky bred in the old times. In all American history there is no
+exploit to surpass that of Colonel Clark and his men. And it led to
+something of the greatest importance to the republic of the United
+States, as you shall hear.
+
+It was not long after that time that the war ended and the freedom of
+the colonies was gained. When the treaty of peace was made the question
+arose, "What territory should belong to the new republic and what should
+still be held by England?" It was finally decided that the land which
+each country held at the end of the war should be held still. In that
+way England held Canada. And it would have held the great country north
+of the Ohio, too, if it had not been for George Rogers Clark. His
+capture of Kaskaskia and his splendid two weeks' march through the
+"drowned lands" of the Wabash had won that country for the United
+States, and when the treaty was signed all this fine country became part
+of the territory of the United States. So it is to George Rogers Clark,
+the Virginian and Kentuckian, that this country owes the region which in
+time was divided up into the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
+and Michigan, and perhaps Kentucky also, since only for him the British
+might have taken the new-settled land of Daniel Boone.
+
+
+
+
+_KING'S MOUNTAIN AND THE PATRIOTS OF TENNESSEE._
+
+
+Never was the South in so desperate a plight as in the autumn months of
+that year of peril, 1780. The British had made themselves masters of
+Georgia, and South Carolina and North Carolina were strongly threatened.
+The boastful Gates had been defeated at Camden so utterly that he ran
+away from his army faster than it did from the British, and in three
+days and a half afterward he rode alone into Hillsborough, North
+Carolina, two hundred miles away. Sumter was defeated as badly and rode
+as fast to Charlotte, without hat or saddle. Marion's small band was
+nearly the only American force left in South Carolina.
+
+Cornwallis, the British commander, was in an ecstasy of delight at his
+success. He felt sure that all the South was won. The harvest was ready
+and needed only to be reaped. He laid his plans to march north, winning
+victory after victory, till all America south of Delaware should be
+conquered for the British crown. Then, if the North became free, the
+South would still be under the rule of George the Third. There was only
+one serious mistake in his calculations: he did not build upon the
+spirit of the South.
+
+Cornwallis began by trying to crush out that spirit, and soon brought
+about a reign of terror in South Carolina. He ordered that all who would
+not take up arms for the king should be seized and their property
+destroyed. Every man who had borne arms for the British and afterward
+joined the Americans was to be hanged as soon as taken. Houses were
+burned, estates ravaged, men put to death, women and children driven
+from their homes with no fit clothing, thousands confined in prisons and
+prison-ships in which malignant fevers raged, the whole State rent and
+torn by a most cruel and merciless persecution. Such was the Lord
+Cornwallis ideal of war.
+
+Near the middle of September Cornwallis began his march northward, which
+was not to end till the whole South lay prostrate under his hand. It was
+his aim to fill his ranks with the loyalists of North Carolina and sweep
+all before him. Major Patrick Ferguson, his ablest partisan leader, was
+sent with two hundred of the best British troops to the South Carolina
+uplands, and here he gathered in such Tories as he could find, and with
+them a horde of wretches who cared only for the side that gave them the
+best chance to plunder and ravage. The Cherokee Indians were also bribed
+to attack the American settlers west of the mountains.
+
+But while Cornwallis was thus making his march of triumph, the American
+patriots were not at rest. Marion was flying about, like a wasp with a
+very sharp sting. Sumter was back again, cutting off strays and
+foragers. Other parties of patriots were afoot and active. And in the
+new settlements west of the Alleghanies the hardy backwoodsmen, who had
+been far out of the reach of war and its terrors, were growing eager to
+strike a blow for the country which they loved.
+
+Such was the state of affairs in the middle South in the month of
+September, 1780. And it leads us to a tale of triumph in which the
+Western woodsmen struck their blow for freedom, teaching the
+over-confident Cornwallis a lesson he sadly needed. It is the tale of
+how Ferguson, the Tory leader, met his fate at the hands of the
+mountaineers and hunters of Tennessee and the neighboring regions.
+
+After leaving Cornwallis, Ferguson met with a small party of North
+Carolina militia under Colonel Macdowell, whom he defeated and pursued
+so sharply as to drive them into the mountain wilds. Here their only
+hope of safety lay in crossing the crags and ridges to the great forest
+land beyond. They found a refuge at last among the bold frontiersmen of
+the Watauga in Tennessee, many of whom were the Regulators of North
+Carolina, the refugees from Governor Tryon's tyranny.
+
+The arrival of these fugitives stirred up the woodsmen as they had never
+been stirred before. It brought the evils of the war for the first time
+to their doors. These poor fugitives had been driven from their homes
+and robbed of their all, as the Regulators had been in former years. Was
+it not the duty of the freemen of Tennessee to restore them and strike
+one blow for the liberty of their native land?
+
+The bold Westerners thought so, and lost no time in putting their
+thoughts into effect. Men were quickly enlisted and regiments formed
+under Isaac Shelby and John Sevier, two of their leaders. An express was
+sent to William Campbell, who had under him four hundred of the
+backwoodsmen of Southwest Virginia, asking him to join their ranks. On
+the 25th of September these three regiments of riflemen, with Macdowell
+and his fugitives, met on the Watauga, each man on his own horse, armed
+with his own rifle, and carrying his own provisions, and each bent on
+dealing a telling blow for the relief of their brethren in the East.
+
+True patriots were they, risking their all for their duty to their
+native land. Their families were left in secluded valleys, often at long
+distances apart, exposed to danger alike from the Tories and the
+Indians. Before them lay the highest peaks of the Alleghanies, to be
+traversed only by way of lofty and difficult passes. No highway existed;
+there was not even a bridle-path through the dense forest; and for forty
+miles between the Watauga and the Catawba there was not a single house
+or a cultivated acre. On the evening of the 30th the Westerners were
+reinforced by Colonel Cleveland, with three hundred and fifty men from
+North Carolina who had been notified by them of their approach.
+
+Their foe was before them. After Ferguson had pursued Macdowell to the
+foot of the mountains he shaped his course for King's Mountain, a
+natural stronghold, where he established his camp in what seemed a
+secure position and sent to Cornwallis for a few hundred more men,
+saying that these "would finish the business. This is their last push in
+this quarter." Cornwallis at once despatched Tarleton with a
+considerable reinforcement. He was destined to be too late.
+
+Ferguson did not know all the peril that threatened him. On the east
+Colonel James Williams was pursuing him up the Catawba with over four
+hundred horsemen. A vigilant leader, he kept his scouts out on every
+side, and on October 2 one of these brought him the most welcome of
+news. The backwoodsmen were up, said the scout; half of the people
+beyond the mountains were under arms and on the march. A few days later
+they met him, thirteen hundred strong.
+
+Not a day, not an hour, was lost. Williams told them where their foes
+were encamped, and they resolved to march against them that very night
+and seek to take them by surprise. It was the evening of October 6 when
+the two forces joined. So prompt were they to act that at eight o' clock
+that same evening nine hundred of their best horsemen had been selected
+and were on the march. All night they rode, with the moon to light them
+on their way. The next day they rode still onward, and in the afternoon
+reached the foot of King's Mountain, on whose summit Ferguson lay
+encamped.
+
+This mountain lies just south of the North Carolina border, at the end
+of a branching ridge from, the main line of the Alleghanies. The British
+were posted on its summit, over eleven hundred in number, a thousand of
+them being Tories, the others British regulars. They felt thoroughly
+secure in their elevated fortress, the approach up the mountain-side
+being almost a precipice, the slaty rock cropping out into natural
+breastworks along its sides and on its heights. And, so far as they
+knew, no foe was within many miles.
+
+The Americans dismounted; that craggy hill was impassable to horsemen.
+Though less in number than their foes, and with a steep mountain to
+climb, they did not hesitate. The gallant nine hundred were formed into
+four columns, Campbell's regiment on the right centre and Shelby's on
+the left, taking the post of greatest peril. Sevier, with a part of
+Cleveland's men, led the right wing, and Williams, with the remainder of
+Cleveland's men, the left, their orders being to pass the position of
+Ferguson to right and left and climb the ridge in his rear, while the
+centre columns attacked him in front.
+
+So well was the surprise managed that the Westerners were within a
+quarter of a mile of the enemy before they were discovered. Climbing
+steadily upon their front, the two centre columns quickly began the
+attack. Shelby, a hardy, resolute man, "stiff as iron," brave among the
+bravest, led the way straight onward and upward, with but one thought in
+his mind,--to do that for which he had come. Facing Campbell were the
+British regulars, who sprang to their arms and charged his men with
+fixed bayonets, forcing the riflemen, who had no bayonets, to recoil.
+But they were soon rallied by their gallant leader, and returned eagerly
+to the attack.
+
+For ten or fifteen minutes a fierce and bloody battle was kept up at
+this point, the sharp-shooting woodsmen making havoc in the ranks of the
+foe. Then the right and left wings of the Americans closed in on the
+flank and rear of the British and encircled them with a hot fire. For
+nearly an hour the battle continued, with a heavy fire on both sides. At
+length the right wing gained the summit of the cliff and poured such a
+deadly fire on the foe from their point of vantage that it was
+impossible to bear it.
+
+Ferguson had been killed, and his men began to retreat along the top of
+the ridge, but here they found themselves in the face of the American
+left wing, and their leader, seeing that escape was impossible and
+resistance hopeless, displayed a white flag. At once the firing ceased,
+the enemy throwing down their arms and surrendering themselves prisoners
+of war. More than a third of the British force lay dead, or badly
+wounded; the remainder were prisoners; not more than twenty of the whole
+were missing. The total loss of the Americans was twenty-eight killed
+and sixty wounded, Colonel Williams, a man of great valor and
+discretion, being among the killed.
+
+The battle ended, a thirst for vengeance arose. Among the Tory
+prisoners were known house--burners and murderers. Among the victors
+were men who had seen their cruel work, had beheld women and children,
+homeless and hopeless, robbed and wronged, nestling about fires kindled
+in the ground, where they mourned their slain fathers and husbands.
+Under such circumstances it is not strange that they seized and hanged
+nine or ten of the captives, desisting only when Campbell gave orders
+that this work should cease, and threatened with severe punishment all
+who engaged in it.
+
+The victory of the men of the backwoods at King's Mountain was like the
+former one of Washington at Trenton. It inspired with hope the
+despairing people and changed the whole aspect of the war. It filled the
+Tories of North Carolina with such wholesome dread that they no longer
+dared to join the foe or molest their patriot neighbors. The patriots of
+both the Carolinas were stirred to new zeal. The broken and dispirited
+fragments of Gates's army took courage again and once more came together
+and organized, soon afterward coming under the skilled command of
+General Greene.
+
+Tarleton had reached the forks of the Catawba when news of Ferguson's
+signal defeat reached him and caused him to return in all haste to join
+Cornwallis. The latter, utterly surprised to find an enemy falling on
+his flank from the far wilderness beyond the mountains, whence he had
+not dreamed of a foe, halted in alarm. He dared not leave an enemy like
+this in his rear, and found himself obliged to retreat, giving up his
+grand plan of sweeping the two Carolinas and Virginia into his
+victorious net. Such was the work done by the valiant men of the
+Watauga. They saved the South from loss until Morgan and Greene could
+come to finish the work they had so well begun.
+
+
+
+
+_GENERAL GREENE'S FAMOUS RETREAT._
+
+
+The rain was pouring pitilessly from the skies. The wind blew chill from
+the north. The country was soaked with the falling flood, dark
+rain-clouds swept across the heavens, and a dreary mist shut out all the
+distant view. In the midst of this cheerless scene a solitary horseman
+stood on a lonely roadside, with his military cape drawn closely up, and
+his horse's head drooping as if the poor beast was utterly weary of the
+situation. In truth, they had kept watch and ward there for hours, and
+night was near at hand, the weary watcher still looking southward with
+an anxiety that seemed fast growing into hopeless despondency.
+
+At times, as he waited, a faint, far-off, booming sound was heard, which
+caused the lonely cavalier to lift his head and listen intently. It
+might have been the sound of cannon, it might have been distant thunder,
+but whatever it was, his anxiety seemed steadily to increase.
+
+The day darkened into night, and hour by hour night crept on until
+midnight came and passed, yet the lone watcher waited still, his horse
+beside him, the gloom around him, the rain still plashing on the sodden
+road. It was a wearing vigil, and only a critical need could have kept
+him there through those slow and dreary hours of gloom.
+
+At length he sharply lifted his head and listened more intently than
+before. It was not the dull and distant boom this time, but a nearer
+sound that grew momentarily more distinct, the thud, it seemed, of a
+horse's hoofs. In a few minutes more a horseman rode into the narrow
+circle of view.
+
+"Is that you, sergeant?" asked the watcher.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the other, with an instinctive military salute.
+
+"What news? I have been waiting here for hours for the militia, and not
+a man has come. I trust there is nothing wrong."
+
+"Everything is wrong," answered the new-comer. "Davidson is dead and the
+militia are scattered to the winds. Cornwallis is over the Catawba and
+is in camp five miles this side of the river."
+
+"You bring bad news," said the listener, with a look of agitation.
+"Davidson dead and his men dispersed! That is bad enough. And Morgan?"
+
+"I know nothing about him."
+
+Sad of heart, the questioner mounted his impatient steed and rode
+disconsolately away along the muddy road. He was no less a person than
+General Greene, the newly-appointed commander of the American forces in
+the South, and the tidings he had just heard had disarranged all his
+plans. With the militia on whose aid he had depended scattered in
+flight, and no sign of others coming, his hope of facing Cornwallis in
+the field was gone, and he was a heavy-hearted man when he rode at
+length into the North Carolina town of Salisbury and dismounted at the
+door of Steele's tavern, the house of entertainment in that place. As he
+entered the reception-room of the hotel, stiff and weary from his long
+vigil, he was met by Dr. Read, a friend.
+
+"What! alone, General?" exclaimed Read.
+
+"Yes; tired, hungry, alone, and penniless."
+
+The fate of the patriot cause in the South seemed to lie in those
+hopeless words. Mrs. Steele, the landlady, heard them, and made all
+haste to prepare a bountiful supper for her late guest, who sat seeking
+to dry himself before the blazing fire. As quickly as possible a smoking
+hot supper was on the table before him, and as he sat enjoying it with a
+craving appetite, Mrs. Steele again entered the room.
+
+Closing the door carefully behind her, she advanced with a look of
+sympathy on her face, and drew her hands from under her apron, each of
+them holding a small bag of silver coin.
+
+"Take these, general," she said. "You need them, and I can do without
+them."
+
+A look of hope beamed on Greene's face as he heard these words. With a
+spirit like this in the women of the country, he felt that no man should
+despair. Rising with a sudden impulse, he walked to where a portrait of
+George III. hung over the fireplace, remaining from the old ante-war
+time. He turned the face of this to the wall and wrote these words on
+the back: "Hide thy face, George, and blush."
+
+It is said that this portrait was still hanging in the same place not
+many years ago, with Greene's writing yet legible upon it, and possibly
+it may be there still. As for Mrs. Steele, she had proved herself a
+patriot woman, of the type of Mrs. Motte, who furnished Marion with
+arrows for the burning of her own house when it was occupied by a party
+of British soldiers whom he could not dislodge. And they two were far
+from alone in the list of patriot women in the South.
+
+The incident in General Greene's career above given has become famous.
+And connected with it is the skilful military movement by which he
+restored the American cause in the South, which had been nearly lost by
+the disastrous defeat of General Gates. This celebrated example of
+strategy has often been described, but is worth telling again.
+
+Lord Cornwallis, the most active of the British commanders in the war of
+American Independence, had brought South Carolina and Georgia under his
+control, and was marching north with the expectation of soon bringing
+North Carolina into subjection, and following up his success with the
+conquest of Virginia. This accomplished, he would have the whole South
+subdued. But in some respects he reckoned without his host. He had now
+such men as Greene and Morgan in his front, Marion and Sumter in his
+rear, and his task was not likely to prove an easy one.
+
+As for Morgan, he sent the rough-rider Tarleton to deal with him,
+fancying that the noted rifleman, who had won undying fame in the
+North, would now meet fate in the face, and perhaps be captured, with
+all his men. But Morgan had a word to say about that, as was proved on
+the 17th of January, 1781, when he met Tarleton at the Cowpens, a place
+about five miles south of the North Carolina line.
+
+Tarleton had the strongest and best appointed force, and Morgan, many of
+whose men were untried militia, seemed in imminent danger, especially
+when the men of the Maryland line began to retreat, and the British,
+thinking the day their own, pressed upon them with exultant shouts. But
+to their surprise the bold Marylanders suddenly halted, turned, and
+greeted their pursuers with a destructive volley. At the same time the
+Virginia riflemen, who had been posted on the wings, closed in on both
+flanks of the British and poured a shower of bullets into their ranks.
+The British were stunned by this abrupt change in the situation, and
+when the Maryland line charged upon them with levelled bayonets they
+broke and fled in dismay.
+
+Colonel Washington commanded the small cavalry force, so far held in
+reserve and unseen. This compact body of troopers now charged on the
+British cavalry, more than three times their numbers, and quickly put
+them to flight. Tarleton himself made a narrow escape, for he received a
+wound from Washington's sword in the hot pursuit. So utter was the rout
+of the British that they were pursued for twenty miles, and lost more
+than three hundred of their number in killed and wounded and six
+hundred in prisoners, with many horses, wagons, muskets, and cannon.
+Tarleton's abundant baggage was burned by his own order to save it from
+capture. In this signal victory Morgan lost only ten men killed and
+sixty wounded.
+
+And now began that famous retreat, which was of more advantage to the
+Americans than a victory. Morgan, knowing well that Cornwallis would
+soon be after him to retrieve the disaster at the Cowpens, hastened with
+his prisoners and spoils across the Catawba. Cornwallis, furious at his
+defeat and eager to move rapidly in pursuit, set fire to all his baggage
+and wagons except those absolutely needed, thus turning his army into
+light troops at the expense of the greater part of its food-supply and
+munitions.
+
+But when he reached the Catawba, he found it so swollen with the rains
+that he was forced to halt on its banks while Morgan continued his
+march. Meanwhile, General Greene was making earnest efforts to collect a
+force of militia, directing all those who came in to meet at a certain
+point. Such was the situation on the 1st of February when Greene waited
+for weary hours at the place fixed upon for the militia to assemble,
+only to learn that Cornwallis had forced the passage of the river,
+dispersing the North Carolina militia left to guard the ford, and
+killing General Davidson, their commander. He had certainly abundant
+reason for depression on that wet and dreary night when he rode alone
+into Salisbury.
+
+The Catawba crossed, the next stream of importance was the Yadkin.
+Hither Morgan marched in all haste, crossing the stream on the 2d and 3d
+of February, and at once securing all boats. The rains began to fall
+again before his men were fairly over, and soon the stream was swelling
+with the mountain floods. When Cornwallis reached its banks it was
+swollen high and running madly, and it was the 7th of February before he
+was able to cross. It seemed, indeed, as if Providence had come to the
+aid of the Americans, lowering the rains for them and raising them for
+their foes.
+
+Meanwhile, the two divisions of the American army were marching on
+converging lines, and on the 9th the forces under Greene and Morgan made
+a junction at Guilford Court-House, Cornwallis being then at Salem,
+twenty-five miles distant. A battle was fought at this place a month
+later, but just then the force under Greene's command was too small to
+risk a fight. A defeat at that time might have proved fatal to the cause
+of the South. Nothing remained but to continue the retreat across the
+State to the border of Virginia, and there put the Dan River between him
+and his foe.
+
+To cover the route of his retreat from the enemy, Greene detached
+General Williams with the flower of his troops to act as a light corps,
+watch and impede Cornwallis and strive to lead him towards Dix's ferry
+on the Dan, while the crossing would be made twenty miles lower down.
+
+It was a terrible march which the poor patriots made during the next
+four days. Without tents, with thin and ragged clothes, most of them
+without shoes, "many hundreds of the soldiers tracking the ground with
+their bloody feet," they retreated at the rate of seventeen miles a day
+along barely passable roads, the wagon-wheels sinking deep in the mud,
+and every creek swollen with the rains. In these four days of anxiety
+Greene slept barely four hours, watching every detail with a vigilant
+eye, which nothing escaped. On the 14th they reached the ford, hurrying
+the wagons across and then the troops, and before nightfall Greene was
+able to write that "all his troops were over and the stage was clear."
+
+General Williams had aided him ably in this critical march, keeping just
+beyond reach of Cornwallis, and deceiving him for a day or two as to the
+intention of the Americans. When the British general discovered how he
+had been deceived, he got rid of more of his baggage by the easy method
+of fire, and chased Williams across the State at the speed of thirty
+miles a day. But the alert Americans marched forty miles a day and
+reached the fords of the Dan just as the last of Greene's men had
+crossed. That night the rear guard crossed the stream, and when
+Cornwallis reached its banks, on the morning of the 15th, to his deep
+chagrin he found all the Americans safe on the Virginia side and ready
+to contest the crossing if he should seek to continue the pursuit.
+
+That famous march of two hundred miles, from the south side of the
+Catawba to the north side of the Dan, in which the whole State of North
+Carolina was crossed by the ragged and largely shoeless army, was the
+salvation of the Southern States. In Greene's camp there was only joy
+and congratulation. Little did the soldiers heed their tattered
+garments, their shoeless feet, their lack of blankets and of regular
+food, in their pride at having outwitted the British army and fulfilled
+their duty to their country. With renewed courage they were ready to
+cross the Dan again and attack Cornwallis and his men. Washington wrote
+to General Greene, applauding him highly for his skilful feat, and even
+a British historian gave him great praise and credit for his skill in
+strategy.
+
+Shall we tell in a few words the outcome of this fine feat? Cornwallis
+had been drawn so far from his base of supplies, and had burned so much
+of his war-material, that he found himself in an ugly quandary. On his
+return march Greene became the pursuer, harassing him at every step.
+When Guilford Court-House was reached again Greene felt strong enough to
+fight, and though Cornwallis held the field at the end of the battle he
+was left in such a sorry plight that he was forced to retreat to
+Wilmington and leave South Carolina uncovered. Here it did not take
+Greene long, with the aid of such valiant partisans as Marion, Sumter,
+and Lee, to shut the British up in Charleston and win back the State.
+
+Cornwallis, on the other hand, concluded to try his fortune in
+Virginia, where there seemed to be a fine chance for fighting and
+conquest. But he was not long there before he found himself shut up in
+Yorktown like a rat in a trap, with Washington and his forces in front
+and the French fleet in the rear. His surrender, soon after, not only
+freed the South from its foes, but cured George III. of any further
+desire to put down the rebels in America.
+
+
+
+
+_ELI WHITNEY, THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON-GIN._
+
+
+In the harvest season of the cotton States of the South a vast, fleecy
+snow-fall seems to have come down in the silence of the night and
+covered acres innumerable with its virgin emblem of plenty and
+prosperity. It is the regal fibre which is to set millions of looms in
+busy whirl and to clothe, when duly spun and woven, half the population
+of the earth. That "cotton is king" has long been held as a potent
+political axiom in the United States, yet there was a time when cotton
+was not king, but was an insignificant member of the agricultural
+community. How cotton came to the throne is the subject of our present
+sketch.
+
+In those far-off days when King George of England was trying to force
+the rebellious Americans to buy and drink his tea and pay for his
+stamps, the people of Georgia and South Carolina were first beginning to
+try if they could do something in the way of raising cotton. After the
+war of independence was over, an American merchant in Liverpool received
+from the South a small consignment of eight bags of cotton, holding
+about twelve hundred pounds, the feeble pioneer of the great cotton
+commerce. When it was landed on the wharves in Liverpool, in 1784, the
+custom-house officials of that place looked at it with alarm and
+suspicion. What was this white-faced stranger doing here, claiming to
+come from a land that had never seen a cotton-plant? It must have come
+from somewhere else, and this was only a deep-laid plot to get itself
+landed on English soil without paying an entrance fee.
+
+So the stranger was seized and locked up, and Mr. Rathbone, the
+merchant, had no easy time in proving to the officials that it was
+really a scion of the American soil, and that the ships that brought it
+had the right to do so. But after it was released from confinement there
+was still a difficulty. Nobody would buy it. The manufacturers were
+afraid to handle this new and unknown kind of cotton for fear it would
+not pay to work it up, and at last it had to be sold for a song to get a
+trial. Such was the state of the American industry at the period when
+the great republic was just born. It may be said that the nation and its
+greatest product were born together, like twin children.
+
+[Illustration: COTTON-GIN.]
+
+The new industry grew very slowly, and the planters who were trying to
+raise cotton in their fields felt much like giving it up as something
+that would never pay. In fact, there was a great difficulty in the way
+that gave them no end of trouble, and made the cost of cotton so great
+that there was very little room for profit. For a time it looked as if
+they would have to go back to corn and rice and let cotton go by the
+board.
+
+The trouble lay in the fact that in the midst of each little head of
+cotton fibres, like a young bird in its nest, lay a number of seeds, to
+which the fibres were closely attached. These seeds had to be got out,
+and this was very slow work. It had to be done by hand, and in each
+plantation store-house a group of old negroes might be seen, diligently
+at work in pulling the seeds out from the fibres. Work as hard as they
+could it was not easy to clean more than a pound a day, so that by the
+time the crop was ready for market it had cost so much that the planter
+had to be content with a very small rate of profit. Such was the state
+of the cotton industry as late as 1792, when the total product was one
+hundred and thirty-eight thousand pounds. In 1795 it had jumped to six
+million pounds, and in 1801 to twenty million pounds. This was a
+wonderful change, and it may well be asked how it was brought about.
+This question brings us to our story, which we have next to tell.
+
+In the year 1792 a bright young Yankee came down to Georgia to begin his
+career by teaching in a private family. He was one of the kind who are
+born with a great turn for tinkering. When he was a boy he mended the
+fiddles of all the people round about, and after that took to making
+nails, canes, and hat-pins. He was so handy that the people said there
+was nothing Eli Whitney could not do.
+
+But he seems to have become tired of tinkering, for he went to college
+after he had grown to manhood, and from college he went to Georgia to
+teach. But there he found himself too late, for another teacher had the
+place which he expected to get, so there he was, stranded far from home,
+with nothing to do and with little money in his purse. By good fortune
+he found an excellent friend. Mrs. Greene, the widow of the famous
+General Greene of the Revolution, lived near Savannah, and took quite a
+fancy to the poor young man. She urged him to stay in Georgia and to
+keep up his studies, saying that he could have a home in her house as
+long as he pleased.
+
+This example of Southern hospitality was very grateful to the friendless
+young man, and he accepted the kindly invitation, trying to pay his way
+by teaching Mrs. Greene's children, and at the same time studying law.
+But he was born for an inventor, not a lawyer, and could not keep his
+fingers off of things. Nothing broke down about Mrs. Greene's house that
+he did not soon set working all right again. He fitted up embroidery
+frames for her, and made other things, showing himself so very handy
+that she fancied he could do anything.
+
+One day Mrs. Greene heard some of the neighboring planters complaining
+of the trouble they had in clearing the cotton of its seeds. They could
+manage what was called the long-staple cotton by the use of a rough
+roller machine brought from England, which crushed the seeds, and then
+"bowed" or whipped the dirt out of the lint. But this would not work
+with short-staple cotton, the kind usually grown, and there was nothing
+to do but to pick the hard seeds out by hand, at the rate of a pound a
+day by the fastest workers. The planters said it would be a splendid
+thing if they only had a machine that would do this work. Mrs. Greene
+told them that this might not be so hard to do. "There is a young man at
+my house," she said, "who can make anything;" and to prove it, she
+showed them some of the things he had made. Then she introduced them to
+Eli Whitney, and they asked him if he thought he could make a machine to
+do the work they so badly wanted.
+
+"I don't know about that," he replied. "I know no more about cotton than
+a child knows about the moon."
+
+"You can easily learn all there is to know about it," they urged. "We
+would be glad to show you our fields and our picker-houses and give you
+all the chance you need to study the subject."
+
+Mr. Whitney made other objections. He was interested in his law studies,
+and did not wish to break them off. But a chance to work at machinery
+was too great an attraction for him to withstand, and at length he
+consented to look over the matter and see if he could do anything with
+it.
+
+The young inventor lost no time. This was something much more to his
+liking than poring over the dry books of the law, and he went to work
+with enthusiasm. He went into the fields and studied the growing cotton.
+Then he watched the seed-pickers at their work. Taking specimens of the
+ripe cotton-boll to his room, he studied the seeds as they lay cradled
+in the fibre, and saw how they were fastened to it. To get them out
+there must be some way of dragging them apart, pulling the fibres from
+the seed and keeping them separate.
+
+The inventor studied and thought and dreamed, and in a very short time
+his quick genius saw how the work could be done. And he no sooner saw it
+than he set to work to do it. The idea of the cotton-gin was fully
+formed in his mind before he had lifted his hand towards making one.
+
+It was not easy, in fact. It is often a long road between an inventor's
+first idea and a machine that will do all he wants it to. And he had
+nothing to work with, but had to make his own tools and manufacture his
+own wire, and work upward from the very bottom of things.
+
+In a few months, however, he had a model ready. Mrs. Greene was so
+interested in his work and so proud of his success that she induced him
+to show the model and explain its working to some of her planter
+friends, especially those who had induced him to engage in the work.
+When they saw what he had done, and were convinced of the truth of what
+he told them,--that they could clean more cotton in a day by his machine
+than in many months by the old hand-picking way,--their excitement was
+great, and the report of the wonderful invention spread far and wide.
+
+Shall we say here what this machine was like? The principle was simple
+enough, and from that day to this, though the machine has been greatly
+improved, Whitney's first idea still holds good. It was a saw-gin then,
+and it is a saw-gin still. "Gin," we may say here, is short for
+"engine."
+
+This is the plan. There is a grid, or row of wires, set upright and so
+close together that the seeds will not go through the openings. Behind
+these is a set of circular saws, so placed that their teeth pass through
+the openings between the wires. When the machine is set in motion the
+cotton is put into a hopper, which feeds it to the grid, and the
+revolving saws catch the fibre or lint with their teeth and drag it
+through the wires. The seeds are too large to follow, so the cotton is
+torn loose from them and they slide down and out of the way. As the
+wheel turns round with its teeth full of cotton lint, a revolving brush
+sweeps it away so that the teeth are cleaned and ready to take up more
+lint. A simple principle, you may say, but it took a good head to think
+it out, and to it we owe the famous cotton industry of the South.
+
+But poor Whitney did not get the good from his invention that he
+deserved, for a terrible misfortune happened to him. Many people came to
+see the invention, but he kept the workshop locked, for he did not want
+strangers to see it till he had it finished and his patent granted. The
+end was, that one night some thieves broke into the shop and stole the
+model, and there were some machines made and in operation before the
+poor inventor could make another model and secure his patent.
+
+This is only one of the instances in which an inventor has been robbed
+of the work of his brain, and others have grown rich by it, while he
+has had trouble to make a living. A Mr. Miller, who afterward married
+Mrs. Greene, went into partnership with Whitney, and supplied him with
+funds, and he got out a patent in 1794. But the demand for the machines
+was so great that he could not begin to supply them, and the pirated
+machines, though they were much inferior to his perfected ones, were
+eagerly bought. Then his shop burned with all its contents, and that
+made him a bankrupt.
+
+For years after that Whitney sought to obtain justice. In some of the
+States he was fairly treated and in others he was not, and in 1812
+Congress refused to renew the patent, and the field was thrown open for
+everybody to make the machines. Nearly all he ever got for his invention
+was fifty thousand dollars paid him by the Legislature of South
+Carolina.
+
+In later years Whitney began to make fire-arms for the government, and
+he was so successful in this that he grew rich, while he greatly
+improved the machinery and methods. It was he who first began to make
+each part separately, so it would fit in any gun, a system now used in
+all branches of manufacture. As for the cotton industry, to which Eli
+Whitney gave the first great start, it will suffice to say that its
+product has grown from less than one thousand bales, when he began his
+work, to over ten million bales a year.
+
+
+
+
+_HOW OLD HICKORY FOUGHT THE CREEKS._
+
+
+Shall we seek to picture to our readers a scene in the streets of
+Nashville, Tennessee, less than a century ago, though it seems to belong
+to the days of barbarism? Two groups of men, made up of the most
+respectable citizens of the place, stood furiously shooting at each
+other with pistols and guns, as if this was their idea of after-dinner
+recreation. Their leaders were Colonel Thomas H. Benton, afterward
+famous in the United States Senate, and General Andrew Jackson, famous
+in a dozen ways. The men of the frontier in those days were hot in
+temper and quick in action, and family feuds led quickly to wounds and
+death, as they still do in the mountains of East Tennessee.
+
+Some trifling quarrel, that might perhaps have been settled by five
+minutes of common-sense arbitration, led to this fierce fray, in the
+midst of which Jesse Benton, brother of the colonel, fired at Jackson
+with a huge pistol, loaded to the muzzle with bullets and slugs. It was
+like a charge of grape-shot. A slug from it shattered Jackson's left
+shoulder, a ball sank to the bone in his left arm, and another ball
+splintered a board by his side.
+
+When the fight ended Jackson was found insensible in the entry of a
+tavern, with the blood pouring profusely from his wounds. He was carried
+in and all the doctors of the town were summoned, but before the
+bleeding could be stopped two mattresses were soaked through with blood.
+The doctors said the arm was so badly injured that it must be taken off
+at once. But when Old Hickory set his lips in his grim way, and said,
+"I'll keep my arm," the question was settled; no one dare touch that
+arm.
+
+For weeks afterward Jackson lay, a helpless invalid, while his terrible
+wounds slowly healed. And while he lay there a dreadful event took place
+in the territory to the south, which called for the presence of men like
+Old Hickory, sound of limb and in full strength. This was the frightful
+Indian massacre at Fort Mimms, one of the worst in all our history.
+
+It was now the autumn of the year 1813, the second year of the war with
+England. Tecumseh, the famous Indian warrior and orator, had stirred up
+the savages of the South to take the British side in the war, and for
+fear of an Indian rising the settlers around Fort Mimms, in southern
+Alabama, had crowded into the fort, which was only a rude log stockade.
+On the morning of August 30 more than five hundred and fifty souls, one
+hundred of them being women and children, were crowded within that
+contracted space. On the evening of that day four hundred of them,
+including all the women and children, lay bleeding on the ground,
+scalped and shockingly mangled. A thousand Creek Indians had broken into
+the carelessly guarded fort, and perpetrated one of the most horrid
+massacres in the history of Indian wars. Weathersford, the leader of the
+Indians, tried to stop the ferocious warriors in their dreadful work,
+but they surrounded him and threatened him with their tomahawks while
+they glutted to the full their thirst for blood.
+
+Many days passed before the news of this frightful affair in the
+southern wilderness reached Nashville. The excitement it created was
+intense. The savages were in arms and had tasted blood. The settlements
+everywhere were in peril. The country might be ravaged from the Ohio to
+the Gulf. It was agreed by all that there was only one thing to do, the
+Indians must be put down. But the man best fitted to do it, the man who
+was depended upon in every emergency, lay half dead in his room, slowly
+recovering from his dreadful wound.
+
+A year before Jackson had led two thousand men to Natchez to defend New
+Orleans in case the British should come, and had been made by the
+government a major-general of volunteers. He was the man every one
+wanted now, but to get him seemed impossible, and the best that could be
+done was to get his advice. So a committee was appointed to visit and
+confer with the wounded hero.
+
+When the members of the committee called on the war-horse of the West
+they found him still within the shadow of death, his wounds sore and
+festering, his frame so weak that he could barely raise his head from
+the pillow. But when they told him of the massacre and the revengeful
+feeling of the people, the news almost lifted him from his bed. It
+seemed to send new life coursing through his veins. His voice, weakened
+by illness, yet with its old ring of decision, was raised for quick and
+stern action against the savage foes who had so long menaced Tennessee.
+And if they wanted a leader he was the man.
+
+When the committee reported the next day, they said there was no doubt
+that "our brave and patriotic General Jackson" would be ready to lead
+the men of war by the time they were ready to march. Where Jackson led
+there would be plenty to follow. Four thousand men were called out with
+orders to assemble at Fayetteville, eighty miles south of Nashville, on
+October 4, just one month from the day when Jackson had received his
+wounds. From his bed he took command. By his orders Colonel Coffee rode
+to Huntsville, Alabama, with five hundred men. As he advanced volunteers
+came riding in armed and equipped, till he was at the head of thirteen
+hundred men.
+
+On the 7th of October Jackson himself reached the rendezvous. He was
+still a mere wreck, thin as a shadow, tottering with weakness, and
+needing to be lifted bodily to his horse. His arm was closely bound and
+in a sling. His wounds were so sensitive that the least jar or wrench
+gave him agony. His stomach was in such a state that he was in danger
+of dying from starvation. Several times during his first two days' ride
+he had to be sponged from head to foot with whiskey. Yet his dauntless
+spirit kept him up, and he bore the dreadful ride of eighty miles with a
+fortitude rarely equalled. So resolute was he that he reached
+Fayetteville before half the men had gathered. He was glad there to
+receive news that the Creeks were advancing northward towards Tennessee.
+
+"Give them my thanks for saving me the pain of travelling," he said. "I
+must not be outdone in politeness, and will try to meet them half-way."
+
+On the 11th a new advance was made to Huntsville, the troops riding six
+miles an hour for five hours, a remarkable feat for a man in Jackson's
+condition. Many a twinge of bitter pain he had on that march, but his
+spirit was past yielding. At this point Colonel Coffee was joined, and
+the troops encamped on a bend of the Tennessee River. A false alarm of
+the advance of the Indians had caused this hasty march.
+
+Jackson and his men--twenty-five hundred in number with thirteen hundred
+horses--now found themselves threatened by a foe more terrible than the
+Indians they had come to meet. They were in the heart of the wilderness
+of Alabama, far away from any full supply of food. Jackson thus
+describes this foe, in a letter written by his secretary:
+
+"There is an enemy whom I dread much more than I do the hostile
+Creeks--I mean the meagre monster _Famine_. I shall leave this
+encampment in the morning direct for the Ten Islands, and yet I have
+not on hand two days' supply of bread-stuffs."
+
+[Illustration: JACKSON'S BIRTHPLACE.]
+
+A thousand barrels of flour and a proportionate supply of meat had been
+purchased for him a week before. But the Tennessee River was low, the
+flatboats would not float, and the much-needed food lay in the shallows
+three hundred miles up-stream. There was nothing to do but to live on
+the country, and this Colonel Coffee had swept almost clear of
+provisions on his advance movement.
+
+Under such circumstances Jackson ran a great risk in marching farther
+into the Indian country. Yet the exigency was one in which boldness
+seemed necessary. A reverse movement might have brought the Indians in
+force on the settlers of Tennessee, with sanguinary results. Keeping his
+foragers busy in search of food, he moved steadily southward till the
+Coosa River was reached. Here came the first encounter with the savages.
+There was a large body of them at Tallushatches, thirteen miles away. At
+daybreak on the morning after the Coosa was reached the Indian camp was
+encircled by Colonel Coffee with a thousand men. The savages, taken by
+surprise, fought fiercely and desperately, and fell where they stood,
+fighting while a warrior remained alive. All the prisoners were women
+and children, who were taken to the settlements and kindly treated.
+Jackson himself brought up one of the boys in his own family.
+
+Four days afterward news came that a body of friendly Creeks, one
+hundred and fifty in number, were at Talladega, thirty miles away,
+surrounded by a thousand hostile Indians, cut off from their
+water-supply and in imminent danger of annihilation. A wily chief had
+dressed himself in the skin of a large hog, and in this disguise passed
+unsuspected through the hostile lines, bringing his story to Jackson
+twenty-four hours later.
+
+At that moment the little army had only one day's supply of food, but
+its general did not hesitate. Advancing with all the men fit to move,
+they came within hearing of the yelling enemy, and quickly closed in
+upon them. When that brief battle ended two hundred of the Indian braves
+lay dead on the field and Colonel Coffee with his horsemen was in hot
+pursuit of the remainder. As for the rescued Indians, their joy was
+beyond measure, for they had looked only for death. They gathered around
+their preserver, expressing their gratitude by joyful cries and
+gestures, and gladly gave what little corn they had left to feed the
+hungry soldiers.
+
+The loss of the whites in this raid was fifteen men killed and
+eighty-six wounded. The badly wounded were carried in litters back to
+Fort Strother, where the sick had been left, and where Jackson now fully
+expected to find a full supply of food. To his acute disappointment not
+an ounce had arrived, little in the shape of food being left but a few
+half-starved cattle. For several days Jackson and his staff ate nothing
+but tripe without seasoning.
+
+And now, for ten long weeks, came that dread contest he had feared,--the
+battle with famine. With a good supply of provisions he could have
+ended the war in a fortnight. As it was, the men had simply to wait and
+forage, being at times almost in a starving state. The brave borderers
+found it far harder to sit and starve than it would have been to fight,
+and discontent in the camp rose to the height of mutiny, which it took
+all the general's tact and firmness to overcome.
+
+Part of his men were militia, part of them volunteers, and between these
+there was a degree of jealousy. On one occasion the militia resolved to
+start for home, but when they set out in the early morning they found
+the volunteers drawn up across the road, with their grim general at
+their head. When they saw Jackson they turned and marched back to their
+quarters again. Soon afterward the volunteers were infected with the
+same fancy. But again Jackson was aware of their purpose, and when they
+marched from their quarters they found their way blocked by the militia,
+with Jackson at their head. The tables had been turned on them.
+
+As time went on and hunger grew more relentless, the spirit of
+discontent infected the entire force, and it took all the general's
+power to keep them in camp. On one occasion, a large body of the men
+seized their arms, and, swearing that they would not stay there to be
+starved, got ready to march home. General Jackson, hot with wrath,
+seized a musket, and planting himself before them, swore "by the
+Eternal" that he would shoot the first man that set a foot forward. His
+countenance was appalling in its concentrated rage, his eyes blazed
+with a terrible fire, and the mutineers, confronted by this apparition
+of fury, hesitated, drew back, and retired to their tents.
+
+But the time came at length in which nothing would hold them back.
+Persuasion and threats were alike useless. The general used entreaties
+and promises, saying,--
+
+"I have advices that supply-wagons are on the way, and that there is a
+large drove of cattle near at hand. Wait two days more, and if then they
+do not come, we will all march home together."
+
+The two days passed and the food did not arrive. Much against his will,
+he was obliged to keep his word. "If only two men will stay with me," he
+cried, "I will never give up the post."
+
+One hundred and nine men agreed to remain, and, leaving these in charge
+of the fort, Jackson set out at the head of the others, with their
+promise that, when they procured supplies and satisfied their hunger,
+they would return to the fort and march upon the foe. The next day the
+expected provision-train was met, and the hungry men were well fed. But
+home was in their minds, and it took all the general's indomitable will
+and fierce energy to induce them to turn back, and they did so then in
+sullen discontent. In the end it was necessary to exchange these men for
+fresh volunteers.
+
+When the dissatisfied men got home they told such doleful tales of their
+hardships and sufferings that the people were filled with dismay,
+volunteering came to an end, and even the governor wrote to Jackson,
+advising him to give up the expedition as hopeless and return home.
+
+Had not Andrew Jackson been one man in a million he would not have
+hesitated to obey. A well man might justly have despaired. But to a
+physical wreck, his shoulder still painful, his left arm useless,
+suffering from insufficient food, from acute dyspepsia, from chronic
+diarrhoea, from cramps of terrible severity--to a man in this
+condition, who should have been in bed under a physician's care, to
+remain seemed utter madness, and yet he remained. His indomitable spirit
+triumphed over his enfeebled body. He had set out to subdue the hostile
+Indians and save the settlements from their murderous raids, and, "by
+the Eternal," he would.
+
+He wrote a letter to Governor Blount, eloquent, logical, appealing,
+resolute, and so convincing in its arguments that the governor changed
+his sentiment, the people became enthusiastic, volunteers came forward
+freely, and the most earnest exertions were made to collect and forward
+supplies. But this was not till the spring of 1814, and the lack of
+supplies continued the winter through. Only nine hundred discontented
+troops remained, but with these he won two victories over the Indians,
+in one of which an utter panic was averted only by his courage and
+decision in the hour of peril.
+
+At length fresh troops began to arrive. A regiment of United States
+soldiers, six hundred strong, reached him on February 6. By the 1st of
+March there were six thousand troops near Fort Strother, and only the
+arrival of a good food supply was awaited to make a finishing move. Food
+came slowly, despite all exertions. Over the miry roads the wagon-teams
+could hardly be moved with light loads. Only absolutely necessary food
+was brought,--even whiskey, considered indispensable in those days,
+being barred out. All sick and disabled men were sent home, and the
+non-combatants weeded out so thoroughly that only one man was left in
+camp who could beat the ordinary calls on the drum. At length, about the
+middle of March, a sufficient supply of food was at hand and the final
+advance began.
+
+Meanwhile, the hostile Creeks had made themselves a stronghold at a
+place fifty-five miles to the south. Here was a bend of Tallapoosa
+River, called, from its shape, Tohopeka, or the "Horseshoe." It was a
+well-wooded area, about one hundred acres in extent, across whose neck
+the Indians had built a strong breastwork of logs, with two rows of
+port-holes, the whole so well constructed that it was evident they had
+been aided by British soldiers in its erection. At the bottom of the
+bend was a village of wigwams, and there were many canoes in the stream.
+
+Within this stronghold was gathered the fighting force of the tribe,
+nearly a thousand warriors, and in the wigwams were about three hundred
+women and children. It was evident that they intended to make here their
+final, desperate stand.
+
+The force led against them was two thousand strong. Their route of
+travel lay through the unbroken forest wilds, and it took eleven days to
+reach the Indian fort. A glance at it showed Jackson the weakness of the
+savage engineering. As he said, they had "penned themselves in for
+destruction."
+
+The work began by sending Colonel Coffee across the river, with orders
+to post his men opposite the line of canoes and prevent the Indians from
+escaping. Coffee did more than this; he sent swimmers over who cut loose
+the canoes and brought them across the stream. With their aid he sent
+troops over the bend to attack the savages in the rear while Jackson
+assailed them in front.
+
+The battle began with a fierce assault, but soon settled down to a slow
+slaughter, which lasted for five or six hours,--the fierce warriors, as
+in the former battles, refusing to ask for quarter or to accept their
+lives. Their prophets had told them that if they did they would be put
+to death by torture. When the battle ended few of them were left alive.
+On the side of the whites only fifty-five were killed and about three
+times as many wounded.
+
+This signal defeat ended forever the power of the Cree nation, once the
+leading Indian power of the Gulf region. Such of the chiefs as survived
+surrendered. Among them was Weathersford, their valiant half-breed
+leader. Mounted on his well-known gray horse, famed for its speed and
+endurance, he rode to the door of Jackson's tent. The old soldier looked
+up to see before him this famous warrior, tall, erect, majestic, and
+dignified.
+
+"I am Weathersford," he said; "late your enemy, now your captive."
+
+From without the tent came fierce cries of "Kill him! kill him!"
+
+"You may kill me if you wish," said the proud chief; "but I came to tell
+you that our women and children are starving in the woods. They never
+did you any harm and I came to beg you to send them food."
+
+Jackson looked sternly at the angry throng outside, and said, in his
+vigorous way, "Any man who would kill as brave a man as this would rob
+the dead."
+
+He then invited the chief into his tent, where he promised him the aid
+he asked for and freedom for himself. "I do not war with women and
+children," he said.
+
+So corn was sent to the suffering women, and Weathersford was allowed to
+mount his good gray steed and ride away as he had come. He induced the
+remaining Creeks to accept the terms offered by the victorious general,
+these being peace and protection, with the provision that half their
+lands should be ceded to the United States.
+
+As may well be imagined, a triumphant reception was given Jackson and
+his men on their return to Nashville. Shortly afterward came the news
+that he had been appointed Major-General in the army of the United
+States, to succeed William Henry Harrison, resigned. He had made his
+mark well against the Indians; he was soon to make it as well against
+the British at New Orleans.
+
+
+
+
+_THE PIRATES OF BARATARIA BAY._
+
+
+On the coast of Louisiana, westward from the delta of the Mississippi,
+there lies a strange country, in which sea and land seem struggling for
+dominion, neither being victor in the endless contest. It is a low,
+flat, moist land, where countless water-courses intertwine into a
+complex net-work; while nearer the sea are a multitude of bays,
+stretching far inland, and largely shut off from the salt sea waves by
+barriers of long, narrow islands. Some of these islands are low
+stretches of white sand, flung up by the restless waters which ever wash
+to and fro. Others are of rich earth, brought down by lazy water-ways
+from the fertile north and deposited at the river outlets. Tall marsh
+grasses grow profusely here, and hide alike water and land. Everywhere
+are slow-moving, half-sleeping bayous, winding and twisting
+interminably, and encircling multitudes of islands, which lie hidden
+behind a dense growth of rushes and reeds, twelve feet high.
+
+It was through this region, neither water nor land, that the hapless
+Evangeline, the heroine of Longfellow's famous poem, was rowed, seeking
+her lover in these flooded wilds, and not dreaming that he lay behind
+one of those reedy barrens, almost within touch, yet as unseen as if
+leagues of land separated them.
+
+One of the bays of this liquid coast, some sixty miles south of New
+Orleans, is a large sheet of water, with a narrow island partly shutting
+it off from the Gulf. This is known as Grande Terre, and west of it is
+another island known as Grande Isle. Between these two long land gates
+is a broad, deep channel which serves as entrance to the bay. On the
+western side lies a host of smaller islands, the passes between them
+made by the bayous which straggle down through the land. Northward the
+bay stretches sixteen miles inland, and then breaks up into a medley of
+bayous and small lakes, cutting far into the land, and yielding an easy
+passage to the level of the Mississippi, opposite New Orleans.
+
+Such is Barataria Bay, once the famous haunt of the buccaneers. It seems
+made by nature as a lurking-place for smugglers and pirates, and that is
+the purpose to which it was long devoted. The passages inland served
+admirably for the disposal of ill-gotten goods. For years the pirates of
+Barataria Bay defied the authorities, making the Gulf the scene of their
+exploits and finding a secret and ready market for their wares in New
+Orleans.
+
+The pirate leaders were two daring Frenchmen, Pierre and Jean Lafitte,
+who came from Bordeaux some time after 1800 and settled in New Orleans.
+They were educated men, who had seen much of the world and spoke several
+languages fluently. Pierre, having served in the French army, became a
+skilled fencing-master. Jean set up a blacksmith shop, his slaves doing
+the work. Such was the creditable way in which these worthies began
+their new-world career.
+
+Their occupation changed in 1808, in which year the slave-trade was
+brought to an end by act of Congress. There was also passed an Embargo
+Act, which forbade trade with foreign countries. Here was a double
+opportunity for men who placed gain above law. The Lafittes at once took
+advantage of it, smuggling negroes and British goods, bringing their
+illicit wares inland by way of the bayous of the coastal plain and
+readily disposing of them as honest goods.
+
+Not long after this time the British cruisers broke up the pirate hordes
+which had long infested the West Indies. Their haunts were taken and
+they had to flee. Some of them became smugglers, landing their goods on
+Amelia Island, on the coast of Florida. Others sought the bays of
+Louisiana, where they kept up their old trade.
+
+The Lafittes now found it to their advantage to handle the goods of
+these buccaneers, in which they posed as honest merchants. Later on they
+made piracy their trade, the whole fleet of the rovers coming under
+their control. Throwing off the cloak of honesty, they openly defied the
+laws. Prize goods and negroes were introduced into New Orleans with
+little effort at secrecy, and were sold in disregard of the law and the
+customs. It was well known that the Baratarian rovers were pirates, but
+the weak efforts to dislodge them failed and the government was openly
+despised.
+
+Making Barataria Bay their head-quarters and harbor of refuge, the
+pirates fortified Grande Terre, and built on it their dwellings and
+store-houses. On Grande Isle farms were cultivated and orange-groves
+planted. On another island, named the Temple, they held auctions for the
+sale of their plunder, the purchasers smuggling it up the bayous and
+introducing it under cover of night into New Orleans, where there was
+nothing to show its source, though suspicion was rife. Such was
+Barataria until the war with England began, and such it continued
+through this war till 1814, the Lafittes and their pirate followers
+flourishing in their desperate trade.
+
+We might go on to tell a gruesome story of fearful deeds by these
+bandits of the sea; of vessels plundered and scuttled, and sailors made
+to walk the plank of death; of rich spoil won by ruthless murder, and
+wild orgies on the shores of Grande Terre. But of all this there is
+little record, and the lives of these pirates yield us none of the
+scenes of picturesque wickedness and wholesale murder which embellish
+the stories of Blackbeard, Morgan, and other sea-rovers of old. Yet the
+career of the Lafittes has an historical interest which makes it worth
+the telling.
+
+It was not until 1814, during the height of the war with England, that
+the easy-going Creoles of New Orleans grew indignant enough at the bold
+defiance of law by the Lafittes to make a vigorous effort to stop it. It
+was high time, for the buccaneers had grown so bold as to fire on the
+revenue officers of the government. Determined to bear this disgrace no
+longer, Pierre Lafitte was seized in the streets of New Orleans, and
+with one of his captains, named Dominique Yon, was locked up in the
+calaboosa.
+
+This step was followed by a proclamation from Governor Claiborne,
+offering five hundred dollars for the arrest of Jean Lafitte, the acting
+pirate chief. Lafitte insolently retorted by offering five thousand
+dollars for the head of the governor. This impudent defiance aroused
+Claiborne to more decisive action. A force of militia was called out and
+sent overland to Barataria, with orders to capture and destroy the
+settlement of the buccaneers and seize all the pirates they could lay
+hands on.
+
+The governor did not know the men with whom he had to deal. Their spies
+kept them fully informed of all his movements. Southward trudged the
+citizen soldiers, tracking their oozy way through the water-soaked land.
+All was silent and seemingly deserted. They were near their goal, and
+not a man had been seen. But suddenly a boatswain's whistle sounded, and
+from a dozen secret passages armed men swarmed out upon them, and in a
+few minutes had them surrounded and under their guns. Resistance was
+hopeless, and they were obliged to surrender at discretion. The grim
+pirates stood ready to slaughter them all if a hand were raised in
+self-defence, and Lafitte, stepping forward, invited them to join his
+men, promising them an easy life and excellent pay. Their captain
+sturdily refused.
+
+"Very well," said Lafitte, with disdainful generosity. "You can go or
+stay as you please. Yonder is the road you came by. You are free to
+follow it back. But if you are wise you will in future keep out of reach
+of the Jolly Rovers of the Gulf."
+
+We are not sure if these were Lafitte's exact words, but at any rate the
+captain and his men were set free and trudged back again, glad enough to
+get off with whole skins. Soon after that the war, which had lingered so
+long in the North, showed signs of making its way to the South. A
+British fleet appeared in the Gulf in the early autumn of 1814, and made
+an attack on Mobile. In September a war-vessel from this fleet appeared
+off Barataria Bay, fired on one of the pirate craft, and dropped anchor
+some six miles out. Soon a pinnace, bearing a white flag, put off from
+its side and was rowed shoreward. It was met by a vessel which had put
+off from Grande Terre.
+
+"I am Captain Lockyer, of the 'Sophia,'" said the British officer. "I
+wish to see Captain Lafitte."
+
+"I am he," came a voice from the pirate bark.
+
+"Then this is for you," and Captain Lockyer handed Lafitte a bulky
+package.
+
+"Will you come ashore while I examine this?" asked Lafitte, courteously.
+"I offer you such humble entertainment as we poor mariners can afford."
+
+"I shall be glad to be your guest," answered the officer.
+
+Lafitte now led the way ashore, welcomed the visitors to his island
+domain, and proceeded to open and examine the package brought him. It
+contained four documents, their general purport being to threaten the
+pirates with utter destruction if they continued to prey on the commerce
+of England and Spain, and to offer Lafitte, if he would aid the British
+cause, the rank of captain in the service of Great Britain, with a large
+sum of money and full protection for person and property.
+
+The letters read, Lafitte left the room, saying that he wished time to
+consider before he could answer. But hardly had he gone when some of his
+men rushed in, seized Captain Lockyer and his men, and locked them up as
+prisoners. They were held captive all night, doubtless in deep anxiety,
+for pirates are scarcely safe hosts, but in the morning Lafitte appeared
+with profuse apologies, declaring loudly that his men had acted without
+his knowledge or consent, and leading the way to their boat. Lockyer was
+likely glad enough to find himself on the Gulf waters again, despite the
+pirate's excuses. Two hours later Lafitte sent him word that he would
+accept his offer, but that he must have two weeks to get his affairs in
+order. With this answer, the "Sophia" lifted anchor, spread sails, and
+glided away.
+
+All this was a bit of diplomatic by-play on the part of Jean Lafitte. He
+had no notion of joining the British cause. The "Sophia" had not long
+disappeared when he sent the papers to New Orleans, asking only one
+favor in return, the release of his brother Pierre. This the authorities
+seem to have granted in their own way, for in the next morning's papers
+was an offer of one thousand dollars reward for the capture of Pierre
+Lafitte, who had, probably with their connivance, broken jail during the
+night.
+
+Jean Lafitte now offered Governor Claiborne his services in the war with
+the British. He was no pirate, he said. That was a base libel. His ships
+were legitimate privateers, bearing letters of marque from Venezuela in
+the war of that country with Spain. He was ready and anxious to transfer
+his allegiance to the United States.
+
+His sudden change of tone had its sufficient reason. It is probable that
+Lafitte was well aware of a serious danger just then impending, far more
+threatening than the militia raid which had been so easily defeated. A
+naval expedition was ready to set out against him. It consisted of three
+barges of troops under Commander Patterson of the American navy. These
+were joined at the Balize by six gunboats and a schooner, and proceeded
+against the piratical stronghold.
+
+On the 16th of September the small fleet came within sight of Grande
+Terre, drew up in line of battle, and started for the entrance to
+Barataria Bay. Within this the pirate fleet, ten vessels in all, was in
+line to receive them. Soon there was trouble for the assailants. Shoal
+water stopped the schooner, and the two larger gunboats ran aground. But
+their men swarmed into boats and rowed on in the wake of the other
+vessels, which quickly made their way through the pass and began a
+vigorous attack on its defenders.
+
+Now the war was all afoot, and we should be glad to tell of a gallant
+and nobly contested battle, in which the sea-rovers showed desperate
+courage and reddened the sea with their blood. There might be inserted
+here a battle-piece worthy of the Drakes and Morgans of old, if the
+facts only bore us out. Instead of that, however, we are forced to say
+that the pirates proved sheer caitiffs when matched against honest men,
+and the battle was a barren farce.
+
+Commander Patterson and his men dashed bravely on, and in a very short
+time two of the pirate vessels were briskly burning, a third had run
+aground, and the others were captured. Many of the pirates had fled; the
+others were taken. The battle over, the buildings on Grande Terre and
+Grande Isle were destroyed and the piratical lurking-place utterly
+broken up. This done, the fleet sailed in triumph for New Orleans,
+bringing with them the captured craft and the prisoners who had been
+taken. But among the captives was neither of the Lafittes. They had not
+stood to their guns, but had escaped with the other fugitives into the
+secret places of the bay.
+
+Thus ends the history of Barataria Bay as a haunt of pirates. Since
+that day only honest craft have entered its sheltered waters. But the
+Lafittes were not yet at the end of their career, or at least one of
+them, for of Pierre Lafitte we hear very little after this time. Two
+months after their flight the famous British assault was made on New
+Orleans. General Jackson hurried to its defence and called armed men to
+his aid from all quarters, caring little who they were so they were
+ready to fight.
+
+Among those who answered the summons was Jean Lafitte. He called on Old
+Hickory and told him that he had a body of trained artillerymen under
+his command, tried and capable men, and would like to take a hand in
+defence of the city. Jackson, who had not long before spoken of the
+Lafittes as "hellish banditti," was very glad now to accept their aid.
+We read of his politely alluding to them as "these gentlemen," and he
+gave into their charge the siege-guns in several of the forts.
+
+These guns were skilfully handled and vigorously served, the Baratarians
+fighting far more bravely in defence of the city than they had done in
+defence of their ships. They lent important aid in the defeat of
+Packenham and his army, and after the battle Jackson commended them
+warmly for their gallant conduct, praising the Lafittes also for "the
+same courage and fidelity."
+
+A few words more and we have done. Of the pirates, two only made any
+future mark. Dominique Yon, the captain who had shared imprisonment
+with Pierre Lafitte, now settled down to quiet city life, became a
+leader in ward politics, and grew into something of a local hero,
+fighting in the precincts instead of on the deck.
+
+Jean Lafitte, however, went back to his old trade. From New Orleans he
+made his way to Texas, then a province of Mexico, and soon we hear of
+him at his buccaneering work. For a time he figured as governor of
+Galveston. Then, for some years, he commanded a fleet that wore the thin
+guise of Columbian privateers. After that he threw off all disguise and
+became an open pirate, and as late as 1822 his name was the terror of
+the Gulf. Soon afterward a fleet of the United States swept those waters
+and cleared it of all piratical craft. Jean Lafitte then vanished from
+view, and no one knows whether he died fighting for the black flag or
+ended his life quietly on land.
+
+
+
+
+_THE HEROES OF THE ALAMO._
+
+
+On a day in the year 1835 the people of Nacogdoches, Texas, were engaged
+in the pleasant function of giving a public dinner to one of their
+leading citizens. In the midst of the festivities a person entered the
+room whose appearance was greeted with a salvo of hearty cheers. There
+seemed nothing in this person's appearance to call forth such a welcome.
+He was dressed in a half-Indian, half-hunter's garb, a long-barrelled
+rifle was slanted over his shoulder, and he seemed a favorable specimen
+of the "half-horse, half-alligator" type of the early West. But there
+was a shrewd look on his weather-beaten face and a humorous twinkle in
+his eyes that betokened a man above the ordinary frontier level, while
+it was very evident that the guests present looked upon him as no
+every-day individual.
+
+The visitor was, indeed, a man of fame, for he was no less a personage
+than the celebrated Davy Crockett, the hunter hero of West Tennessee.
+His fame was due less to his wonderful skill with the rifle than to his
+genial humor, his endless stories of adventure, his marvellous power of
+"drawing the long bow." Davy had once been sent to Congress, but there
+he found himself in waters too deep for his footing. The frontier was
+the place made for him, and when he heard that Texas was in revolt
+against Mexican rule, he shouldered his famous rifle and set out to take
+a hand in the game of revolution. It was a question in those days with
+the reckless borderers whether shooting a Mexican or a coon was the
+better sport.
+
+[Illustration: THE ALAMO.]
+
+The festive citizens of Nacogdoches heard that Davy Crockett had arrived
+in their town on his way to join the Texan army, and at once sent a
+committee to invite him to join in their feast. Hearty cheers, as we
+have said, hailed his entrance, and it was not long before he had his
+worthy hosts in roars of laughter with his quaint frontier stories. He
+had come to stay with them as a citizen of Texas, he said, and to help
+them drive out the yellow-legged greasers, and he wanted, then and
+there, to take the oath of allegiance to their new republic. If they
+wanted to know what claim he had to the honor, he would let Old
+Betsy--his rifle--speak for him. Like George Washington, Betsy never
+told a lie. The Nacogdochians were not long in making him a citizen, and
+he soon after set out for the Alamo, the scene of his final exploit and
+his heroic death.
+
+The Alamo was a stronghold in the town of San Antonio de Bexar, in
+Western Texas. It had been built for a mission house of the early
+Spaniards, and though its walls were thick and strong, they were only
+eight feet high and were destitute of bastion or redoubt. The place had
+nothing to make it suitable for warlike use, yet it was to win a great
+name in the history of Texan independence, a name that spread far
+beyond the borders of the "Lone Star State" and made its story a
+tradition of American heroism.
+
+Soon after the insurrection began a force of Texans had taken San
+Antonio, driving out its Mexican garrison. Santa Anna, the president of
+Mexico, quickly marched north with an army, breathing vengeance against
+the rebels. This town, which lay well towards the western border, was
+the first he proposed to take. Under the circumstances the Texans would
+have been wise to retreat, for they were few in number, they had little
+ammunition and provisions, and the town was in no condition for defence.
+But retreat was far from their thoughts, and when, on an afternoon in
+February, 1836, Santa Anna and his army appeared in the vicinity of San
+Antonio, the Texans withdrew to the Alamo, the strongest building near
+the town, prepared to fight to the death.
+
+There were less than two hundred of them in all, against the thousands
+of the enemy, but they were men of heroic mould. Colonel Travis, the
+commander, mounted the walls with eight pieces of artillery, and did all
+he could besides to put the place in a state of defence. To show the
+kind of man Travis was, we cannot do better than to quote his letter
+asking for aid.
+
+     "FELLOW-CITIZENS AND COMPATRIOTS,--I am besieged by a thousand or
+     more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. The enemy have commanded a
+     surrender at discretion; otherwise the garrison is to be put to the
+     sword if the place is taken. I have answered the summons with a
+     cannon-shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I
+     shall never surrender or retreat. Then I call on you in the name of
+     liberty, of patriotism, and of everything dear to the American
+     character, to come to our aid with all despatch. The enemy are
+     receiving reinforcements daily, and will no doubt increase to three
+     or four thousand in four or five days. Though this call may be
+     neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible,
+     and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own
+     honor or that of his country. Victory or death!"
+
+          "W. BARRETT TRAVIS,
+          Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding."
+
+     "P.S.--The Lord is on our side. When the enemy appeared in sight we
+     had not three bushels of corn. We have since found, in deserted
+     houses, eighty or ninety bushels, and got into the walls twenty or
+     thirty head of beeves."
+
+          "T."
+
+
+
+The only reinforcements received in response to this appeal were
+thirty-two gallant men from Gonzales, who made the whole number one
+hundred and eighty-eight. Colonel Fannin, at Goliad, set out with three
+hundred men, but the breaking down of one of his wagons and a scarcity
+of supplies obliged him to return. Among the patriot garrison were Davy
+Crockett and Colonel James Bowie, the latter as famous a man in his way
+as the great hunter. He was a duelist of national fame, in those days
+when the border duels were fought with knife instead of pistol. He
+invented the Bowie knife, a terrible weapon in the hands of a resolute
+man. To be famed as a duelist is no worthy claim to admiration, but to
+fight hand to hand with knife for weapon is significant of high courage.
+
+Small as were their numbers, and slight as were their means of defence,
+the heroes of the Alamo fought on without flinching. Santa Anna planted
+his batteries around the stronghold and kept up a steady bombardment.
+The Texans made little reply; their store of ammunition was so small
+that it had to be kept for more critical work. In the town a blood-red
+banner was displayed in lurid token of the sanguinary purpose of the
+Mexican leader, but the garrison showed no signs of dismay. They were
+the descendants of men who had fought against the Indians of the South
+under like conditions, and they were not likely to forget the traditions
+of their race.
+
+On the 3d of March a battery was erected within musket-shot of the north
+wall of the fort, on which it poured a destructive fire. Travis now sent
+out a final appeal for aid, and with it an affecting note to a friend,
+in which he said,--
+
+"Take care of my boy. If the country should be saved I may make him a
+splendid fortune; but if the country should be lost and I should
+perish, he will have nothing but the proud recollection that he is the
+son of a man who died for his country."
+
+The invading force increased in numbers until, by the 5th of March,
+there were more than four thousand of them around the fort, most of them
+fresh, while the garrison was worn out with incessant toil and watching.
+The end was near at hand. Soon after midnight on the 6th the Mexican
+army gathered close around the fort, prepared for an assault. The
+infantry carried scaling-ladders. Behind them were drawn up the cavalry
+with orders to kill any man who might fly from the ranks. This indicated
+Santa Anna's character and his opinion of his men.
+
+The men within the walls had no need to be driven to their work. Every
+one was alert and at his post, and they met with a hot fire from cannon
+and rifles the Mexican advance. Just as the new day dawned, the ladders
+were placed against the walls and the Mexicans scrambled up their
+rounds. They were driven back with heavy loss. Again the charge for
+assault was sounded and a second rush was made for the walls, and once
+more the bullets of the defenders swept the field and the assailants
+fell back in dismay.
+
+Santa Anna now went through the beaten ranks with threats and promises,
+seeking to inspire his men with new courage, and again they rushed
+forward on all sides of the fort. Many of the Texans had fallen and all
+of them were exhausted. It was impossible to defend the whole circle of
+the walls. The assailants who first reached the tops of the ladders
+were hurled to the ground, but hundreds rushed in to take their places,
+and at a dozen points they clambered over the walls. It was no longer
+possible for the handful of survivors to keep them back.
+
+In a few minutes the fort seemed full of assailants. The Texans
+continued to fight with unflinching courage. When their rifles were
+emptied they used them as clubs and struggled on till overwhelmed by
+numbers. Near the western wall of the fort stood Travis, in the corner
+near the church stood Crockett, both fighting like Homeric heroes. Old
+Betsy had done an ample share of work that fatal night. Now, used as a
+club, it added nobly to its record. The two heroes at length fell, but
+around each was a heap of slain.
+
+Colonel Bowie had taken no part in the fight, having been for some days
+sick in bed. He was there butchered and mutilated. All others who were
+unable to fight met the same fate. It had been proposed to blow up the
+magazine, but Major Evans, the man selected for this duty, was shot as
+he attempted to perform it. The struggle did not end while a man of the
+garrison was alive, the only survivors being two Mexican women, Mrs.
+Dickenson (wife of one of the defenders) and her child, and the negro
+servant of Colonel Travis. As for the dead Texans, their bodies were
+brutally mutilated and then thrown into heaps and burned.
+
+Thus fell the Alamo. Thus did the gallant Travis and his men keep their
+pledge of "victory or death." Like the Spartans at Thermopylæ, the
+heroes of the Alamo did not retreat or ask for quarter, but lay where
+they had stood in obedience to their country's commands. And before and
+around them lay the bodies of more than five hundred of their enemies,
+with as many wounded. The Texans had not perished unavenged. The sun
+rose in the skies until it was an hour high. In the fort all was still;
+but the waters of the aqueduct surrounding resembled in their crimson
+hue the red flag of death flying in the town. The Alamo was the American
+Thermopylæ.
+
+
+
+
+_HOW HOUSTON WON FREEDOM FOR TEXAS._
+
+
+We have told the story of the Alamo. It needs to complete it the story
+of how Travis and his band of heroes were avenged. And this is also the
+story of how Texas won its independence, and took its place in the
+colony of nations as the "Lone Star Republic."
+
+The patriots of Texas had more to avenge than the slaughter at the
+Alamo. The defenders of Goliad, over four hundred in number, under
+Colonel Fannin, surrendered, with a solemn promise of protection from
+Santa Anna. After the surrender they were divided into several
+companies, marched in different directions out of the town, and there
+shot down in cold blood by the Mexican soldiers, not a man of them being
+left alive.
+
+Santa Anna now fancied himself the victor. He had killed two hundred men
+with arms in their hands, and made himself infamous by the massacre of
+four hundred more, and he sent despatches to Mexico to the effect that
+he had put down the rebellion and conquered a peace. What he had really
+done was to fill the Texans with thirst for revenge as well as love of
+independence. He had dealt with Travis and Fannin; he had Sam Houston
+still to deal with.
+
+General Houston was the leader of the Texan revolt. While these
+murderous events were taking place he had only four hundred men under
+his command, and was quite unable to prevent them. Defence now seemed
+hopeless; the country was in a state of panic; the settlers were
+abandoning their homes and fleeing as the Mexicans advanced; but Sam
+Houston kept the field with a spirit like that which had animated the
+gallant Travis.
+
+As the Mexicans advanced Houston slowly retreated. He was manoeuvring
+for time and place, and seeking to increase his force. Finally, after
+having brought up his small army to something over seven hundred men, he
+took a stand on Buffalo Bayou, a deep, narrow stream flowing into the
+San Jacinto River, resolved there to strike a blow for Texan
+independence. It was a forlorn hope, for against him was marshalled the
+far greater force of the Mexican army. But Houston gave his men a
+watchword that added to their courage the hot fire of revenge. After
+making them an eloquent and impassioned address, he fired their souls
+with the war-cry of "Remember the Alamo!"
+
+Soon afterward the Mexican bugles rang out over the prairie, announcing
+the approach of the vanguard of their army, eighteen hundred strong.
+They were well appointed, and made a showy display as they marched
+across the plain. Houston grimly watched their approach. Turning to his
+own sparse ranks, he said, "Men, there is the enemy; do you wish to
+fight?" "We do," came in a fierce shout. "Well, then, remember it is
+for liberty or death! _Remember the Alamo!_"
+
+As they stood behind their light breastworks, ready for an attack, if it
+should be made, a lieutenant came galloping up, his horse covered with
+foam. As he drew near he shouted along the lines, "I've cut down Vince's
+bridge." This was a bridge which both armies had used in coming to the
+battle-field. General Houston had ordered its destruction. Its fall left
+the vanquished in that day's fight without hope of escape.
+
+Santa Anna evidently was not ready for an immediate assault. His men
+halted and intrenched themselves. But Houston did not propose to delay.
+At three in the afternoon, while many of the Mexican officers were
+enjoying their siesta in perfect confidence, Santa Anna himself being
+asleep, the word to charge passed from rank to rank along the Texan
+front, and in a moment the whole line advanced at double-quick time,
+filling the air with vengeful cries of "Remember the Alamo! Remember
+Goliad!"
+
+The Mexican troops sprang to their arms and awaited the attack,
+reserving their fire until the patriots were within sixty paces. Then
+they poured forth a volley which, fortunately for the Texans, went over
+their heads, though a ball struck General Houston's ankle, inflicting a
+very painful wound. Yet, though bleeding and suffering, the old hero
+kept to his saddle till the action was at an end.
+
+The Texans made no reply to the fire of the foe until within
+pistol-shot, and then poured their leaden hail into the very bosoms of
+the Mexicans. Hundreds of them fell. There was no time to reload. Having
+no bayonets, the Texans clubbed their rifles and rushed in fury upon the
+foe, still rending the air with their wild war-cry of "Remember the
+Alamo!" The Mexicans were utterly unprepared for this furious
+hand-to-hand assault, and quickly broke before the violent onset.
+
+On all sides they gave way. On the left the Texans penetrated the
+woodland; the Mexicans fled. On the right their cavalry charged that of
+Santa Anna, which quickly broke and sought safety in flight. In the
+centre they stormed the breastworks, took the enemy's artillery and
+drove them back in dismay. In fifteen minutes after the charge the
+Mexicans were in panic flight, the Texans in mad pursuit. Scarce an hour
+had passed since the patriots left their works, and the battle was won.
+
+Such was the consternation of the Mexicans, so sudden and utter their
+rout, that their cannon were left loaded and their movables untouched.
+Those who were asleep awoke only in time to flee; those who were cooking
+their dinner left it uneaten; those who were playing their favorite game
+of monte left it unfinished. The pursuit was kept up till nightfall, by
+which time the bulk of the Mexican army were prisoners of war. The
+victory had been won almost without loss. Only seven of the Texans were
+killed and twenty-three wounded. The Mexican loss was six hundred and
+thirty, while seven hundred and thirty were made prisoners.
+
+But the man they most wanted was still at large. Santa Anna was not
+among the captives. On the morning of the following day, April 22, the
+Texan cavalry, scouring the country for prisoners, with a sharp eye open
+for the hated leader of the foe, saw a Mexican whom they loudly bade to
+surrender. At their demand he fell on the grass and threw a blanket over
+his head. They had to call on him several times to rise before he slowly
+dragged himself to his feet. Then he went up to Sylvester, the leader of
+the party, and kissed his hand, asking if he was General Houston.
+
+The man was evidently half beside himself with fright. He was only a
+private soldier, he declared; but when his captors pointed to the fine
+studs in the bosom of his shirt he burst into tears and declared that he
+was an aide to Santa Anna. The truth came out as the captors brought him
+back to camp, passing the prisoners, many of whom cried out, "El
+Presidente." It was evidently Santa Anna himself. The President of
+Mexico was a prisoner and Texas was free! When the trembling captive was
+brought before Houston, he said, "General, you can afford to be
+generous,--you have conquered the Napoleon of the West." Had Houston
+done full justice to this Napoleon of the West he would have hung him on
+the spot. As it was, his captors proved generous and his life was
+spared.
+
+The victory of San Jacinto struck the fetters from the hands of Texas.
+No further attempt was made to conquer it, and General Houston became
+the hero and the first president of the new republic. When Texas was
+made a part of the United States, Houston was one of its first senators,
+and in later years he served as governor of the State. His splendid
+victory had made him its favorite son.
+
+
+
+
+_CAPTAIN ROBERT E. LEE AND THE LAVA-BEDS._
+
+
+The Mexican War, brief as was its period of operations in the field, was
+marked by many deeds of daring, and also was the scene of the first
+service in the field of various officers who afterward became prominent
+in the Civil War. Chief among these were the two great leaders on the
+opposite sides, General Lee and General Grant. Lee's services in the
+campaign which Scott conducted against the city of Mexico were
+especially brilliant, and are likely to be less familiar to the reader
+than any incident drawn from his well-known record in the Civil War. The
+most striking among them was his midnight crossing of the lava-fields
+before Contreras.
+
+On the 19th of August, 1847, Scott's army lay in and around San
+Augustin, a place situated on a branch of the main road running south
+from the city of Mexico. This road divided into two at Churubusco, the
+other branch running near Contreras. Between these two roads and a ridge
+of hills south of San Augustin extended a triangular region known as the
+Pedregal, and about as ugly a place to cross as any ground could well
+be.
+
+It was made up of a vast spread of volcanic rock and scoriæ, rent and
+broken into a thousand forms, and with sharp ridges and deep fissures,
+making it very difficult for foot-soldiers to get over, and quite
+impassable for cavalry or artillery. It was like a sea of hardened lava,
+with no signs of vegetation except a few clumps of bushes and dwarf
+trees that found footing in the rocks. The only road across it was a
+difficult, crooked, and barely passable pathway, little better than a
+mule track, leading from San Augustin to the main road from the city of
+Mexico.
+
+On the plateau beyond this sterile region the Mexicans had gathered in
+force. Just beyond it General Valencia lay intrenched, with his fine
+division of about six thousand men and twenty-four guns, commanding the
+approach from San Augustin. A mile or more north of Contreras lay
+General Santa Anna, his force holding the main city road.
+
+Such was the situation of the respective armies at the date given, with
+the Pedregal separating them. Captain Lee, who had already done
+excellent engineering service at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo, assisted by
+Lieutenants Beauregard and Tower of the engineers, had carefully
+reconnoitred the position of the enemy, and on the morning of the 19th
+the advance from San Augustin began, Captain Lee accompanying the troops
+in their arduous passage across the Pedregal. One of those present thus
+describes the exploit:
+
+"Late in the morning of the 19th the brigade of which my regiment was a
+part (Riley's) was sent out from San Augustin in the direction of
+Contreras. We soon struck a region over which it was said no horses
+could go, and men only with difficulty. No road was available; my
+regiment was in advance, my company leading, and its point of direction
+was a church-spire at or near Contreras. Taking the lead, we soon struck
+the Pedregal, a field of volcanic rock like boiling scoria suddenly
+solidified, pathless, precipitous, and generally compelling rapid gait
+in order to spring from point to point of rock, on which two feet could
+not rest and which cut through our shoes. A fall on this sharp material
+would have seriously cut and injured one, whilst the effort to climb
+some of it cut the hands.
+
+"Just before reaching the main road from Contreras to the city of Mexico
+we reached a watery ravine, the sides of which were nearly
+perpendicular, up which I had to be pushed and then to pull others. On
+looking back over this bed of lava or scoria, I saw the troops, much
+scattered, picking their way very slowly; while of my own company, some
+eighty or ninety strong, only five men crossed with me or during some
+twenty minutes after.
+
+"With these five I examined the country beyond, and struck upon the
+small guard of a paymaster's park, which, from the character of the
+country over which we had passed, was deemed perfectly safe from
+capture. My men gained a paymaster's chest well filled with bags of
+silver dollars, and the firing and fuss we made both frightened the
+guard with the belief that the infernals were upon them and made our
+men hasten to our support.
+
+"Before sundown all of Riley's, and I believe of Cadwallader's, Smith's,
+and Pierce's brigades, were over, and by nine o' clock a council of war,
+presided over by Persifer Smith and counselled by Captain R. E. Lee, was
+held at the church. I have always understood that what was devised and
+finally determined upon was suggested by Captain Lee; at all events, the
+council was closed by his saying that he desired to return to General
+Scott with the decision of General Smith, and that, as it was late, the
+decision must be given as soon as possible, since General Scott wished
+him to return in time to give directions for co-operation.
+
+"During the council, and for hours after, the rain fell in torrents,
+whilst the darkness was so intense that one could move only by groping.
+To illustrate: my company again led the way to gain the Mexican rear,
+and when, after two hours of motion, light broke sufficiently to enable
+us to see a companion a few feet off, we had not moved four hundred
+yards, and the only persons present were half a dozen officers and one
+guide."
+
+Much is said of the perils of war and of the courage necessary to face
+them. But who would not rather face a firing-line of infantry in full
+daylight than to venture alone in such a dark and stormy night as was
+this upon such a perilous and threatening region as the Pedregal, in
+which a misstep in the darkness would surely lead to wounds and perhaps
+to death. Its crossing, under such conditions, might well be deemed
+impossible, had not Captain Lee succeeded, borne up by his strong sense
+of duty, in this daring enterprise.
+
+General Scott, who was very anxious to know the position of the advance
+forces, had sent out seven officers about sundown with instructions to
+the troops at Contreras, but they had all returned, completely baffled
+by the insuperable difficulties of the way. Not a man except Robert E.
+Lee had the daring, skill, and persistence to cross this region of
+volcanic knife-blades on that night of rain and gloom.
+
+The writer above quoted from says, "History gives him the credit of
+having succeeded, but it has always seemed incredible to me when I
+recollect the distance amid darkness and storm, and the dangers of the
+Pedregal which he must have traversed. Scarcely a step could be taken
+without danger of death; but that to him, a true soldier, was the
+willing risk of duty in a good cause."
+
+General Scott adds his testimony to this by saying, after mentioning the
+failure of the officers sent out by him, "But the gallant and
+indefatigable Captain Lee, of the engineers, who has been constantly
+with the operating forces, is just in from Shields, Smith, Cadwallader,
+etc., to report, and to request that a powerful diversion be made
+against the centre of the intrenched camp to-morrow morning."
+
+Scott subsequently gave the following testimony to the same effect:
+"Captain Lee, engineers, came to me from the hamlet (Contreras) with a
+message from Brigadier-General Smith, about midnight. He, having passed
+over the difficult ground by daylight, found it just possible to return
+to San Augustin in the dark,--_the greatest feat of physical and moral
+courage performed by any individual, in my knowledge, pending the
+campaign_."
+
+This praise is certainly not misapplied, when we remember that Lee
+passed over miles of the kind of ground above described in a pitch-dark
+night, without light or companion, with no guide but the wind as it
+drove the pelting rain against his face, or an occasional flash of
+lightning, and with the danger of falling into the hands of Valencia or
+Santa Anna if he should happen to stray to the right or the left. It is
+doubtful if another man in the army would have succeeded in such an
+enterprise, if any one had had the courage to attempt it. It took a man
+of the caliber which Robert E. Lee afterward proved himself to possess
+to perform such a deed of daring.
+
+We may briefly describe Lee's connection with the subsequent events. He
+bore an important part in the operations against the Mexicans, guiding
+the troops when they set out about three o'clock in the morning on a
+tedious march through darkness, rain, and mud; an elevation in the rear
+of the enemy's forces being gained about sunrise. An assault was at once
+made on the surprised Mexicans, their intrenchments were stormed, and in
+seventeen minutes after the charge began they were in full flight and
+the American flag was floating proudly above their works.
+
+Thus ended the battle of Contreras. Captain Lee was next sent to
+reconnoitre the well fortified stronghold of Coyacan, while another
+reconnaissance was made towards Churubusco, one mile distant. After Lee
+had completed his task, he was ordered to conduct Pierce's brigade by a
+third road, to a point from which an attack could be made on the enemy's
+right and rear. Shields was ordered to follow Pierce closely and take
+command of the left wing.
+
+The battle soon raged violently along the whole line. Shields, in his
+exposed position, was hard pressed and in danger of being crushed by
+overwhelming forces. In this alarming situation Captain Lee made his way
+to General Scott to report the impending disaster, and led back two
+troops of the Second Dragoons and the Rifles to the support of the left
+wing. The affair ended in the repulse of the enemy and victory for the
+Americans. Soon after a third victory was won at the Molino del Rey.
+
+Scott's army was now rapidly approaching the city of Mexico, the central
+point of all these operations, and the engineer officers, Captain Lee,
+Lieutenant Beauregard, and others, were kept busy in reconnaissances,
+which they performed with daring and success. Then quickly followed the
+boldest and most spectacular exploit of the war, the brilliant charge up
+the steep heights of Chapultepec, a hill that bristled with walls,
+mines, and batteries, and whose summit was crowned with a powerful
+fortress, swarming with confident defenders.
+
+Up this hill went the American infantry like so many panthers, bounding
+impetuously onward in face of the hot fire from the Mexican works,
+scaling crags, clambering up declivities, all with a fiery valor and
+intrepidity which nothing could check, until the heights were carried,
+the works scaled, and the enemy put to flight. In this charge, one of
+the most brilliant in American history, Captain Lee took an active part,
+till he was disabled by a severe wound and loss of blood. General Scott
+again speaks of his service here in complimentary words, saying that he
+was "as distinguished for felicitous execution as for science and
+daring," and also stating that "Captain Lee, so constantly
+distinguished, also bore important orders from me, until he fainted from
+a wound and the loss of two nights' sleep at the batteries."
+
+Scott, indeed, had an exalted opinion of Lee's remarkable military
+abilities, and Hon. Reverdy Johnson has stated that he "had heard
+General Scott more than once say that his success in Mexico was largely
+due to the skill, valor, and undaunted energy of Robert E. Lee." In
+later years Scott said, "Lee is the greatest military genius in
+America."
+
+Lee's services were not left without reward. He received successively
+the brevet rank of major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, the latter
+for his service at Chapultepec. The victory at this point was the
+culminating event of the war. Shortly afterward the Mexican capital was
+occupied, and the Mexicans soon gave up the contest as hopeless. A new
+Cortez was in their streets, who was not to be got rid of except at a
+heavy sacrifice.
+
+As to how Lee occupied himself during this period, we may quote an
+anecdote coming from General Magruder.
+
+"After the fall of Mexico, when the American army was enjoying the ease
+and relaxation which it had bought by toil and blood, a brilliant
+assembly of officers sat over their wine discussing the operations of
+the capture and indulging hopes of a speedy return to the United States.
+
+"One among them rose to propose the health of the Captain of Engineers
+who had found a way for the army into the city, and then it was remarked
+that Captain Lee was absent. Magruder was despatched to bring him to the
+hall, and, departing on his mission, at last found the object of his
+search in a remote room of the palace, busy on a map. Magruder accosted
+him and reproached him for his absence. The earnest worker looked up
+from his labors with the calm, mild gaze which was so characteristic of
+the man, and, pointing to his instruments, shook his head.
+
+"'But,' said Magruder, in his impetuous way, 'this is mere drudgery.
+Make somebody else do it, and come with me.'
+
+"'No,' was the reply; 'no, I am but doing my duty.'"
+
+This is very significant of Lee's subsequent character, in which the
+demands of duty always outweighed any thought of pleasure or relaxation,
+and in which his remarkable ability as an engineer was of inestimable
+advantage to the cause he served.
+
+
+
+
+_A CHRISTMAS DAY ON THE PLANTATION._
+
+
+Shall we not break for a time from our record of special tales and let
+fall on our pages a bit of winter sunshine from the South, the story of
+a Christmas festival in the land of the rose and magnolia? It is a story
+which has been repeated so many successive seasons in the life of the
+South that it has grown to be a part of its being, the joyous festal
+period in the workday world of the year. The writer once spent Christmas
+as a guest in the manor house of old Major Delmar, "away down South,"
+and feels like halting to tell the tale of genial merrymaking and
+free-hearted enjoyment on that gladsome occasion.
+
+On the plantation, Christmas is the beginning and end of the calendar.
+Time is measured by the days "before Christmas" or the days "since
+Christmas." There are other seasons of holiday and enjoyment, alike for
+black and white, but "The Holidays" has one meaning only: it is the
+merry Christmas time, when the work of the year past is ended and that
+of the year to come not begun, and when pleasure and jollity rule
+supreme.
+
+A hearty, whole-souled, genial host and kindly, considerate master was
+the old major, in the days of his reign, "before the war," and
+fortunate was he who received an invitation to spend the midwinter
+festival season under his hospitable roof. It was always crowded with
+well-chosen guests. The members of the family came in from near and far;
+friends were invited in wholesome numbers; an atmosphere of good-will
+spread all around, from master and mistress downward through the young
+fry and to the dusky-faced house-servants and plantation hands;
+everybody, great and small, old and young, black and white, was glad at
+heart when the merry Christmas time came round.
+
+[Illustration: COTTON FIELD ON SOUTHERN PLANTATION.]
+
+As the Yule-tide season approached the work of the plantation was
+rounded up and everything got ready for the festival. The corn was all
+in the cribs; the hog-killing was at an end, the meat salted or cured,
+the lard tried out, the sausage-meat made. The mince-meat was ready for
+the Christmas pies, the turkeys were fattened, especially the majestic
+"old gobbler," whose generous weight was to grace the great dish on the
+manor-house table. The presents were all ready,--new shoes, winter
+clothes, and other useful gifts for the slaves; less useful but more
+artistic and ornamental remembrances for the household and guests. All
+this took no small thought and labor, but it was a labor of love, for
+was it not all meant to make the coming holiday a merry, happy time?
+
+I well remember the jolly stir of it all, for my visit spread over the
+days of busy preparation. In the woods the axe was busy at work,
+cutting through the tough hickory trunks. Other wood might serve for
+other seasons, but nothing but good old hickory would do to kindle the
+Christmas fires. All day long the laden wagons creaked and rumbled along
+the roads, bringing in the solid logs, and in the wood-yards the shining
+axes rang, making the white chips fly, as the great logs were chopped
+down to the requisite length.
+
+From the distant station came the groaning ox-cart, laden with boxes
+from the far-off city, boxes full of mysterious wares, the black driver
+seeking to look as if curiosity did not rend his soul while he stolidly
+drove with his precious goods to the store-room. Here they were unloaded
+with mirthful haste, jokes passing among the laughing workers as to what
+"massa" or "mistis" was going to give them out of those heavy crates.
+The opening of these boxes added fuel to the growing excitement, as the
+well-wrapped-up parcels were taken out, in some cases openly, in others
+with a mysterious secrecy that doubled the curiosity and added to the
+season's charm.
+
+There was another feature of the work of preparation in which all were
+glad to take part, the gathering of the evergreens--red-berried holly,
+mistletoe with its glistening pearls, ground-pine, moss, and other wood
+treasures--for the decoration of parlor, hall, and dining-room, and,
+above all, of the old village church, a gleeful labor in which the whole
+neighborhood took part, and helpers came from miles away. Young men and
+blooming maidens alike joined in, some as artists in decoration, others
+as busy workers, and all as merry aids.
+
+Days rolled on while all this was being done,--the wood chopped and
+heaped away in the wood-sheds and under the back portico; the church and
+house made as green as spring-tide with their abundant decorations,
+tastefully arranged in wreaths and folds and circles, with the great
+green "Merrie Christmas" welcoming all comers from over the high parlor
+mantel. All was finished in ample time before the day of Christmas Eve
+arrived, though there were dozens of final touches still to be made,
+last happy thoughts that had to be worked out in green, red, or white.
+
+On that same day came the finish which all had wished but scarcely dared
+hoped for, a fleecy fall of snow that drifted in feathery particles down
+through the still atmosphere, and covered the ground with an inch-deep
+carpet of white. I well remember old Delmar, with his wrinkled, kindly
+face and abundant white hair, and his "By Jove, isn't that just the
+thing!" as he stood on the porch and looked with boyish glee at the
+fast-falling flakes. And I remember as well his sweet-faced wife, small,
+delicate, yet still pretty in her old age, and placidly sharing his
+enjoyment of the spectacle, rare enough in that climate, in spite of the
+tradition that a freeze and a snow-fall always came with the Christmas
+season.
+
+Christmas Eve! That was a time indeed! Parlor and hall, porch and
+wood-shed, all were well enough in their way, but out in the kitchen
+busy things were going on without which the whole festival would have
+been sadly incomplete. The stoves were heaped with hickory and glowing
+with ardent heat, their ovens crammed full of toothsome preparations,
+while about the tables and shelves clustered the mistress of the place
+and her regiment of special assistants, many of them famous for their
+skill in some branch of culinary art, their glistening faces and shining
+teeth testifying to their pride in their one special talent.
+
+Pies and puddings, cakes and tarts, everything that could be got ready
+in advance, were being drawn from the ovens and heaped on awaiting
+shelves, while a dozen hands busied themselves in getting ready the
+turkey and game and the other essentials of the coming feast that had to
+wait till the next day for their turn at the heated ovens.
+
+As the day moved on the excitement grew. Visitors were expected: the
+boys from college with their invited chums; sons and grandsons, aunts
+and cousins, and invited guests, from near and far. And not only these,
+but "hired out" servants from neighboring towns, whose terms were fixed
+from New Year to Christmas, so that they could spend the holiday week at
+home, made their appearance and were greeted with as much hilarious
+welcome in the cabins as were the white guests in the mansion. In the
+manor house itself they were welcomed like home-coming members of the
+family, as, already wearing their presents of new winter clothes, they
+came to pay their "respecs to massa and mistis."
+
+As the day went on the carriages were sent to the railroad station for
+the expected visitors, old and young, and a growing impatience testified
+to the warmth of welcome with which their arrival would be greeted. They
+are late--to be late seems a fixed feature of the situation, especially
+when the roads are heavy with unwonted snow. Night has fallen, the stars
+are out in the skies, before the listening ears on the porch first catch
+the distant creak of wheels and axles. The glow of the wood-fires on the
+hearths and of candles on table and mantel is shining out far over the
+snow when at length the carriages come in sight, laden outside and in
+with trunks and passengers, whose cheery voices and gay calls have
+already heralded their approach.
+
+What a time there is when they arrive, the boys and girls tumbling and
+leaping out and flying up the steps, to be met with warm embraces or
+genial welcomes; the elders coming more sedately, to be received with
+earnest handclasps and cordial greetings, Never was there a happier man
+than the old major when he saw his house filled with guests, and bade
+the strangers welcome with a dignified, but earnest, courtesy. But when
+the younger comers stormed him, with their glad shouts of "uncle" or
+"grandpa" or other titles of relationship, and their jovial echo of
+"Merry Christmas," the warm-hearted old fellow seemed fairly transformed
+into a boy again. Guest as I was, I felt quite taken off my feet by the
+flood of greetings, and was swept into the general overflow of high
+spirits and joyful welcomes.
+
+The frosty poll of the major and the silvery hair of his good wife were
+significant of venerable age, but there were younger people in the
+family, and with them a fair sprinkling of children. Of these the
+diminutive stockings were duly hung in a row over the big fireplace,
+waiting for the expected coming of Santa Claus, while their late wearers
+were soon huddled in bed, though with little hope of sleep in the
+excitement and sense of enchantment that surrounded them. Their
+disappearance made little void in the crowd that filled the parlor, a
+gay and merry throng, full of the spirit of fun and hearty enjoyment,
+and thoroughly genuine in their mirth, not a grain of airiness or
+ostentation marring their pleasure, though in its way it was as refined
+as in more showy circles.
+
+Morning dawned,--Christmas morning. Little chance was there for
+sleepy-heads to indulge themselves that sunny Yule-tide morn. The stir
+began long before the late sun had risen, that of the children first of
+all; stealing about like tiny, white-clad spectres, with bulging
+stockings clasped tightly in their arms; craftily opening bedroom doors
+and shouting "Christmas gift!" at drowsy slumberers, then scurrying away
+and seeking the hearth-side, whose embers yielded light enough for a
+first glance at their treasures.
+
+Soon the opening and closing of doors was heard, and one by one the
+older inmates of the mansion appeared, with warm "Merry Christmas"
+greetings, and all so merry-hearted that the breakfast-table was a
+constant round of quips and jokes, and of stories of pranks played in
+the night by representatives of Santa Claus. Where all are bent on
+having a good time, it is wonderful how little will serve to kindle
+laughter and set joy afloat.
+
+Aside from the church-going,--with the hymns and anthems sung in concert
+and the reading of the service,--the special event of the day was the
+distribution of the mysterious contents of the great boxes which had
+come days before. There were presents for every one; nobody, guest or
+member of the family, was forgotten, and whether costly, or homely but
+useful, the gifts seemed to give equal joy. It was the season of
+good-will, in which the kindly thought, not the costliness of the gift,
+was alone considered, and when all tokens of kindliness were accepted in
+the same spirit of gratefulness and enjoyment.
+
+A special feature of a Christmas on the plantation, especially "before
+the war," was the row of shining, happy black faces that swarmed up to
+the great house in the morning light, with their mellow outcry of "Merry
+Christmas, massa!" "Merry Christmas, missis!" and their hopeful looks
+and eyes bulging with expectation. Joyful was the time when their gifts
+were handed out,--useful articles of clothing, household goods, and the
+like, all gladly and hilariously received, with a joy as childlike as
+that of the little ones with their stockings. Off they tripped merrily
+through the snow with their burdens, laughing and joking, to their
+cabins, where dinners awaited them which were humble copies of that
+preparing for the guests at the master's table. Turkey was not wanting,
+varied here and there by that rare dish of raccoon or "'possum" which
+the Southern darky so highly enjoys.
+
+The great event of the mansion house was the dinner. All day till the
+dinner-hour the kitchen was full of busy preparation for this crowning
+culmination of the festival. Cooks there were in plenty, and the din of
+their busy labor and the perfume of their culinary triumphs seemed to
+pervade the whole house.
+
+When the dinner was served, it was a sight to behold. The solid old
+mahogany table groaned with the weight laid upon it. In the place of
+honor was the big gobbler, brown as a berry and done to a turn. For
+those who preferred other meat there was a huge round of venison and an
+artistically ornamented ham. These formed the backbone of the feast, but
+with and around them were every vegetable and delicacy that a Southern
+garden could provide, and tasteful dishes which it took all the
+ingenuity of a trained mistress of the kitchen to prepare. This was the
+season to test the genius of the dusky Southern cooks, and they had
+exhausted their art and skill for that day's feast. On the ample
+sideboard, shining with glass, was the abundant dessert, the cakes,
+pies, puddings, and other aids to a failing appetite that had been
+devised the day before.
+
+That this dinner was done honor to need scarcely be said. The journey
+the day before and the outdoor exercise in that day's frosty air had
+given every one an excellent appetite, and the appearance of the table
+at the end of the feast showed that the skill of Aunt Dinah and her
+assistants had been amply appreciated. After dinner came apple-toddy and
+eggnog, and the great ovation to the Christmas good cheer was at an end.
+
+But the festival was not over. Games and dances followed the feast. The
+piano-top was lifted, and light fingers rattled out lively music to
+which a hundred flying feet quickly responded. Country-dances they were,
+the lancers and quadrilles. Round dances were still looked upon in that
+rural locality as an improper innovation. The good old major, in his
+frock coat and high collar, started the ball, seizing the prettiest girl
+by the hand and leading her to the head of the room, while the others
+quickly followed in pairs. Thus, with the touch of nimble fingers on the
+ivory keys and the tap of feet and the whirl of skirts over the unwaxed
+floor, mingled with jest and mirth, the evening passed gayly on, the
+old-fashioned Virginia reel closing the ball and bringing the day's busy
+reign of festivity to an end.
+
+But the whites did not have all the fun to themselves. The colored
+folks had their parties and festivities as well, their mistresses
+superintending the suppers and decorating the tables with their own
+hands, while ladies and gentlemen from the mansion came to look on, an
+attention which was considered a compliment by the ebon guests. And the
+Christmas season rarely passed without a colored wedding, the holidays
+being specially chosen for this interesting ceremony.
+
+The dining-room or the hall of the mansion often served for this
+occasion, the master joining in matrimony the happy couple; or a colored
+preacher might perform the ceremony in the quarters. But in either case
+the event went gayly off, the family attending to get what amusement
+they could out of the occasion, while the mistress arranged the
+trousseau for the dusky bride.
+
+But it is with the one Christmas only that we are here concerned, and
+that ended as happily and merrily as it had begun, midnight passing
+before the festivities came to an end. How many happy dreams followed
+the day of joy and how many nightmares the heavy feast is more than we
+are prepared to put on record.
+
+
+
+
+_CAPTAIN GORDON AND THE RACCOON ROUGHS._
+
+
+The outbreak of the Civil War, the most momentous conflict of recent
+times, was marked by a wave of fervent enthusiasm in the States of the
+South which swept with the swiftness of a prairie fire over the land.
+Pouring in multitudes into the centres of enlistment, thousands and tens
+of thousands of stalwart men offered their services in defence of their
+cause, gathering into companies and regiments far more rapidly than they
+could be absorbed. This state of affairs, indeed, existed in the North
+as well as in the South, but it is with the extraordinary fervor of
+patriotism in the latter that we are here concerned, and especially with
+the very interesting experience of General John B. Gordon, as related by
+him in his "Reminiscences of the Civil War."
+
+When the war began Gordon, as he tells us, was practically living in
+three States. His house was in Alabama, his post-office in Tennessee,
+and he was engaged in coal-mining enterprises in the mountains of
+Georgia, the locality being where these three States meet in a point. No
+sooner was the coming conflict in the air than the stalwart mountaineers
+of the mining district became wild with eagerness to fight for the
+Confederacy, and Gordon, in whom the war spirit burned as hotly as in
+any of them, needed but a word to gather about him a company of
+volunteers. They unanimously elected him their captain, and organized
+themselves at once into a cavalry company, most of them, like so many of
+the sons of the South, much preferring to travel on horseback than on
+foot.
+
+As yet the war was only a probability, and no volunteers had been called
+for. But with the ardor that had brought them together, Gordon's company
+hastened to offer their services, only to be met with the laconic and
+disappointing reply, "No cavalry now needed."
+
+What was to be done? They did not relish the idea of giving up their
+horses, yet they wanted to fight still more than to ride, and the fear
+came upon them that if they waited till cavalry was needed they might be
+quite lost sight of in that mountain corner and the war end before they
+could take a hand in it. This notion of a quick end to the war was
+common enough at that early day, very few foreseeing the vastness of the
+coming conflict; and, dreading that they might be left out in the cold,
+the ardent mountaineers took a vote on the question, "Shall we dismount
+and go as infantry?" This motion was carried with a shout of approval,
+and away went the stalwart recruits without arms, without uniform,
+without military training, with little beyond the thirst to fight, the
+captain knowing hardly more of military tactics than his men. They had
+courage and enthusiasm, and felt that all things besides would come to
+them.
+
+As for arms suitable for modern warfare, the South at that time was
+sadly lacking in them. Men looked up their old double-barrelled
+shot-guns and squirrel rifles, and Governor Brown, of Georgia, set men
+at work making what were called "Joe Brown's pikes," being a sort of
+steel-pointed lances or bayonets on poles, like those used by pikemen in
+mediæval warfare. In modern war they were about as useful as
+knitting-needles would have been. Governor Brown knew this well enough,
+but the volunteers were coming in such numbers and were so eager to
+fight that the pikes were made more to satisfy them than with hope of
+their being of any service in actual war.
+
+Gordon's company was among the earliest of these volunteers. Reluctantly
+leaving their horses, and not waiting for orders, they bade a quick
+adieu to all they had held dear and set off cheerily for Milledgeville,
+then the capital of Georgia. They were destined to a sad disappointment.
+On reaching Atlanta they were met by a telegram from the governor, who
+had been advised of their coming, telling them to go back home and wait
+until advised that they were wanted.
+
+This was like a shower of cold water poured on the ardor of the
+volunteers. Go home? After they had cut loose from their homes and
+started for the war? They would do nothing of the kind; they were on
+foot to fight and would not consent to be turned back by Governor Brown
+or any one else. The captain felt very much like his men. He too was an
+eager Confederate patriot, but his position was one demanding obedience
+to the constituted authorities, and by dint of much persuasion and a
+cautious exercise of his new authority he induced his men to board the
+train heading back for their homes.
+
+But the repressed anger of the rebellious mountaineers broke forth again
+when the engine-bell rang and the whistle gave its shrill starting
+signal. Some of the men rushed forward and tore out the coupling of the
+foremost car, and the engine was left in condition to make its journey
+alone. While the trainmen looked on in astonishment the mountaineers
+sprang from the train, gathered round their captain, and told him that
+they had made up their minds on the matter and were not going back. They
+had enlisted for the war and intended to go to it; if Governor Brown
+would not take them, some other governor would.
+
+There was nothing left for the young captain but to lead his
+undisciplined and rebellious company through Atlanta in search of a
+suitable camping-place. Their disregard of discipline did not trouble
+him greatly, for in his heart he sympathized with them, and he knew well
+that in their rude earnestness was the stuff of which good soldiers are
+made.
+
+Gordon gives an interesting and amusing description of the appearance
+his men made and the interest they excited in Atlanta's streets. These
+were filled with citizens, who looked upon the motley crew with a
+feeling in which approval was tempered by mirth. The spectacle of the
+march--or rather the straggle--of the mountaineers was one not soon to
+be forgotten. Utterly untrained in marching, they walked at will, no two
+keeping step, while no two were dressed alike. There were almost as many
+different hues and cuts in their raiment as there were men in their
+ranks. The nearest approach to a uniform was in their rough fur caps
+made of raccoon skins, and with the streaked and bushy tail of the
+raccoon hanging down behind.
+
+The amusement of the people was mingled with curiosity. "Are you the
+captain of this company?" some of them asked Gordon, who was rather
+proud of his men and saw nothing of the grotesque in their appearance.
+
+"I am, sir," he replied, in a satisfied tone.
+
+"What company is it, captain?"
+
+As yet the company had no name other than one which he had chosen as
+fine sounding and suitable, but had not yet mentioned to the men.
+
+"This company is the Mountain Rifles," said the captain, proudly.
+
+His pride was destined to a fall. From a tall mountaineer in the ranks
+came, in words not intended for his ears, but plainly audible, the
+disconcerting words,--
+
+"Mountain hell! We are no Mountain Rifles. We are the Raccoon Roughs."
+
+And Raccoon Roughs they continued through all the war, Gordon's
+fine-spun name being never heard of again. The feeble remnant of the
+war-scarred company which was mustered out at Appomattox was still
+known as Raccoon Roughs.
+
+Who would have them, since Governor Brown would not, was now the
+question. Telegrams sped out right and left to governors of other
+States, begging a chance for the upland patriots. An answer came at
+length from Governor Moore, of Alabama, who consented to incorporate the
+Raccoon Roughs and their captain in one of the new regiments he was
+organizing. Gordon gladly read the telegram to his eager company, and
+from their hundred throats came the first example of the "rebel yell" he
+had ever heard,--a wild and thrilling roar that was to form the
+inspiration to many a mad charge in later years.
+
+No time was lost by the gallant fellows in setting out on their journey
+to Montgomery. As they went on they found the whole country in a blaze
+of enthusiasm. No one who saw the scene would have doubted for a moment
+that the South was an ardent unit in support of its cause. By day the
+troop trains were wildly cheered as they passed; at night bonfires
+blazed on the hills and torchlight processions paraded the streets of
+the towns. As no cannon were at hand to salute the incoming volunteers,
+blacksmith anvils took their place, ringing with the blows of hammers
+swung by muscular arms. Every station was a throng of welcoming people,
+filling the air with shouts and the lively sound of fife and drum, and
+bearing banners of all sizes and shapes, on which Southern independence
+was proclaimed and the last dollar and man pledged to the cause. The
+women were out as enthusiastically as the men; staid matrons and ardent
+maids springing upon the cars, pinning blue cockades on the lapels of
+the new soldiers' coats, and singing the war-songs already in vogue, the
+favorite "Dixie" and the "Bonnie Blue Flag," in whose chorus the harsh
+voices of the Raccoon Boughs mingled with the musical tones of their
+fair admirers.
+
+Montgomery was at length reached to find it thronged with shouting
+volunteers, every man of them burning with enthusiasm. Mingled with them
+were visiting statesmen and patriotic citizens, for that city was the
+cradle of the new-born Confederacy and the centre of Southern
+enthusiasm. Every heart was full of hope, every face marked with energy,
+a prayer for the success of the cause on every lip. Never had more
+fervent and universal enthusiasm been seen. On the hills and around the
+capital cannon boomed welcome to the inflowing volunteers, wagons
+rumbled by carrying arms and ammunition to the camps, on every street
+marched untrained but courageous recruits. As for the Raccoon Roughs,
+Governor Moore kept his word, assigning them to a place in the Sixth
+Alabama Regiment, of which Captain Gordon, unexpectedly and against his
+wishes, was unanimously elected major.
+
+Such were the scenes which the coming war excited in the far South, such
+the fervid enthusiasm with which the coming conflict for Southern
+independence was hailed. So vast was the number of volunteers, in
+companies and in regiments, each eager to be accepted, that the Hon.
+Leroy P. Walker, the first Secretary of War of the Confederacy, was
+fairly overwhelmed by the flood of applicants that poured in on him day
+and night. Their captains and colonels waylaid him on the streets to
+urge the immediate acceptance of their services, and he was obliged to
+seek his office by roundabout ways to avoid the flood of importunities.
+It is said that before the Confederate government left Montgomery for
+Richmond, about three hundred and sixty thousand volunteers, very many
+of them from the best element of the Southern population, had offered to
+devote their lives and fortunes to their country's cause.
+
+Many striking examples of this outburst of enthusiasm and patriotic
+devotion might be adduced, but we must content ourselves with one, cited
+as an instance in point by General Gordon. This was the case of Mr. W.
+C. Heyward, of South Carolina, a West Point graduate and a man of
+fortune and position. The Confederate government was no sooner organized
+than Mr. Heyward sought Montgomery, tendering his services and those of
+a full regiment enlisted by him for the war. Such was the pressure upon
+the authorities, and so far beyond the power of absorption at that time
+the offers of volunteers, that Mr. Heyward sought long in vain for an
+interview with the Secretary of War. When this was at last obtained he
+found the ranks so filled that it was impossible to accept his
+regiment. Returning home in deep disappointment, but with his patriotism
+unquenched, this wealthy and trained soldier joined the Home Guards and
+died in the war as a private in the ranks.
+
+Such was the unanimity with which the sons of the South, hosts of them
+armed with no better weapons than old-fashioned flint and steel muskets,
+double-barrelled shot-guns, and long-barrelled squirrel rifles, rushed
+to the defence of their States, with a spontaneous and burning
+enthusiasm that has never been surpassed. The impulse of self-defence
+was uppermost in their hearts. It was not the question of the
+preservation of slavery that sustained them in the terrible conflict for
+four years of desolating war. It was far more that of the sovereignty of
+the States. The South maintained that the Union formed under the
+Constitution was one of consent and not of force; that each State
+retained the right to resume its independence on sufficient cause, and
+that the Constitution gave no warrant for the attempt to invade and
+coerce a sovereign State. It was for this, not to preserve slavery, that
+the people sprang as one man to arms and fought as men had rarely fought
+before.
+
+
+
+
+_STUART'S FAMOUS CHAMBERSBURG RAID._
+
+
+Of all the minor operations of the Civil War, the one most marked at
+once by daring and success was the pioneer invasion of the Northern
+States, the notable Chambersburg raid of the most famous cavalry leader
+of the Confederacy, General J. E. B. Stuart. This story of bold venture
+and phenomenal good fortune, though often told, is worth giving again in
+its interesting details.
+
+The interim after the battle of Sharpsburg or Antietam was one of rest
+and recuperation in both the armies engaged. During this period the
+cavalry of Lee's army was encamped in the vicinity of Charlestown, some
+ten miles to the southward of Harper's Ferry. Stuart's head-quarters
+were located under the splendid oaks which graced the lawn of "The
+Bower," whose proprietor, Mr. A. S. Dandridge, entertained the officers
+with an open-hearted and genial hospitality which made their stay one of
+great pleasure and enjoyment.
+
+There were warriors in plenty who would not have been hasty to break up
+that agreeable period of rest and social intercourse, but Stuart was not
+of that class. He felt that he must be up and doing, demonstrating that
+the Army of Northern Virginia had not gone to sleep; and the early days
+of October, 1862, saw a stir about head-quarters which indicated that
+something out of the ordinary was afoot. During the evening of the 8th
+the officers were engaged in a lively social intercourse with the ladies
+of "The Bower," the entertainment ending in a serenade in which the
+banjo and fiddle took chief part. Warlike affairs seemed absent from the
+thoughts of all, with the exception that the general devoted more time
+than usual to his papers.
+
+[Illustration: COLONIAL MANSION.]
+
+With the morning of the 9th a new state of affairs came on. The roads
+suddenly appeared full of well-mounted and well-appointed troopers,
+riding northward with jingling reins and genial calls, while the cheery
+sound of the bugle rang through the fresh morning air. There were
+eighteen hundred of these horsemen, selected from the best mounted and
+most trustworthy men in the corps, for they were chosen for an
+expedition that would need all their resources of alertness, activity,
+and self-control, no less a one than an invasion of Pennsylvania, a
+perilous enterprise in which the least error might expose them all to
+capture or death.
+
+On reaching the appointed place of rendezvous, at Darksville, Stuart
+issued an address in which he advised his followers that the enterprise
+in which they were to engage demanded the greatest coolness, decision,
+and courage, implicit obedience to orders, and the strictest order and
+sobriety. While the full purpose of the expedition must still be kept
+secret, he said, it was one in which success would reflect the highest
+credit on their arms. The seizure of private property in the State of
+Maryland was strictly prohibited, and it was to be done in Pennsylvania
+only under orders from the brigade commanders, individual plundering
+being strongly forbidden.
+
+These preliminaries adjusted, the march northward began, the command
+being divided into three detachments of six hundred men each, under the
+direction of General Wade Hampton, Colonel W. H. F. Lee, and Colonel W.
+E. Jones. A battery of four guns accompanied the expedition. It was with
+high expectations that the men rode forward, the secrecy of the
+enterprise giving it an added zest. Most of them had followed Stuart in
+daring rides in the earlier months of that year, and all were ready to
+follow wherever he chose to lead.
+
+Darkness had fallen when they reached Hedgesville, the point on the
+Potomac where it was designed to cross. Here they bivouacked for the
+night, a select party of some thirty men being sent across the river,
+their purpose being to capture the Federal picket on the Maryland side.
+In this they failed, but the picket was cut off from its reserve, so
+that the fugitives were not able to report the attack. Day had not
+dawned when all the men were in their saddles, and as soon as word of
+the result of the night's enterprise was received, the foremost troops
+plunged into the river and the crossing began. It was completed without
+difficulty, and Colonel Butler, leading the advance, rode briskly
+forward to the National turnpike which joins Hancock and Hagerstown.
+
+Along this road, a few hours before, General Cox's division of Federal
+infantry had passed, Butler coming so close to his rear that the
+stragglers were captured. But a heavy fog covered the valley and hid all
+things from sight, so that Cox continued his march in ignorance that a
+strong body of Confederate cavalry was so close upon his track. On
+Fairview Heights, near the road, was a Federal signal-station, which a
+squad was sent to capture. The two officers in charge of it escaped, but
+two privates and all its equipments were taken.
+
+Yet, despite all efforts at secrecy, the march had not gone on unseen. A
+citizen had observed the crossing and reported it to Captain Logan of
+the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, and the news spread with much rapidity.
+But there was no strong force of cavalry available to check the
+movement, and Stuart's braves passed steadily forward unopposed. Their
+line of march was remote from telegraph or railroad, and the
+Pennsylvania farmers, who did not dream of the war invading their
+fields, were stricken with consternation when Stuart's bold riders
+crossed Mason and Dixon's line and appeared on their soil.
+
+It was hard for them to believe it. One old gentleman, whose sorrel mare
+was taken from his cart, protested bitterly, saying that orders from
+Washington had forbidden the impressment of horses, and threatening the
+vengeance of the government on the supposed Federal raiders. A shoe
+merchant at Mercersburg completely equipped Butler's advance guard with
+foot-wear, and was sadly surprised when paid with a receipt calling on
+the Federal government to pay for damages. While nothing was disturbed
+in Maryland, horses were diligently seized in Pennsylvania, the country
+on both sides of the line of march being swept clean of its farm
+animals. Ladies on the road, however, were not molested, and the men
+were strictly prohibited from seizing private property--even from taking
+provisions for themselves.
+
+Chambersburg, the goal of the expedition, was reached on the evening of
+the 10th, after a day's hard ride. So rapid and well conducted had been
+the journey that as yet scarce one enemy had been seen; and when the
+town was called on to surrender within thirty minutes, under penalty of
+a bombardment, resistance was out of the question; there was no one
+capable of resisting, and the troops were immediately marched into the
+town, where they were drawn up in the public square.
+
+The bank was the first place visited. Colonel Butler, under orders from
+his chief, entered the building and demanded its funds. But the cashier
+assured him that it was empty of money, all its cash having been sent
+away that morning, and convinced him of this by opening the safe and
+drawers for his inspection. Telegraphic warning had evidently reached
+the town. Butler had acted with such courtesy that the cashier now
+called the ladies of his family, and bade them to prepare food for the
+men who had made the search. That the captors of the town behaved with
+like courtesy throughout we have the evidence of Colonel A. K. McClure,
+subsequently editor of the Philadelphia _Times_, who then dwelt in the
+near vicinity of Chambersburg. Though a United States officer and
+subject to arrest or parole, and though he had good opportunity to
+escape, he resolved to stay and share the fate of his fellow-townsmen.
+We quote from his description of the incidents of that night. After
+speaking of an interview he had--as one of the committee of three
+citizens to surrender the town--with General Hampton, and the courteous
+manner of the latter, he proceeds:
+
+"With sixty acres of corn in shock, and three barns full of grain,
+excellent farm and saddle horses, and a number of best blooded cattle,
+the question of property was worthy of a thought. I resolved to stay, as
+I felt so bound by the terms of surrender, and take my chances of
+discovery and parole....
+
+"I started in advance of them for my house, but not in time to save the
+horses. I confidently expected to be overrun by them, and to find the
+place one scene of desolation in the morning. I resolved, however, that
+things should be done soberly, if possible, and I had just time to
+destroy all the liquors about the house. As their pickets were all
+around me I could not get it off. I finished just in time, for they were
+soon upon me in force, and every horse in the barn, ten in all, was
+promptly equipped and mounted by a rebel cavalryman. They passed on
+towards Shippensburg, leaving a picket force on the road.
+
+"In an hour they returned with all the horses they could find, and
+dismounted to spend the night on the turnpike in front of my door. It
+was now midnight, and I sat on the porch observing their movements. They
+had my best corn-field beside them and their horses fared well. In a
+little while one entered the yard, came up to me, and after a profound
+bow, politely asked for a few coals to start a fire. I supplied him, and
+informed him as blandly as possible where he would find wood
+conveniently, as I had dim visions of camp-fires made of my palings. I
+was thanked in return, and the mild-mannered villain proceeded at once
+to strip the fence and kindle fires. Soon after a squad came and asked
+permission to get some water. I piloted them to the pump, and again
+received a profusion of thanks....
+
+"About one o'clock, half a dozen officers came to the door and asked to
+have some coffee made for them, offering to pay liberally for it in
+Confederate scrip. After concluding a treaty with them on behalf of the
+colored servants, coffee was promised them, and they then asked for a
+little bread with it. They were wet and shivering, and, seeing a bright,
+open wood-fire in the library, they asked permission to enter and warm
+themselves until their coffee should be ready, assuring me that under
+no circumstances should anything in the house be disturbed by their men.
+I had no alternative but to accept them as my guests until it might
+please them to depart, and I did so with as good grace as possible.
+
+"Once seated round the fire all reserve seemed to be forgotten on their
+part, and they opened a general conversation on politics, the war, the
+different battles, the merits of generals of both armies. They spoke
+with entire freedom upon every subject but their movement into
+Chambersburg. Most of them were men of more than ordinary intelligence
+and culture, and their demeanor was in all respects eminently courteous.
+I took a cup of coffee with them, and have never seen anything more
+keenly relished. They said that they had not tasted coffee for weeks
+before, and that then they had paid from six to ten dollars per pound
+for it. When they were through they asked whether there was any coffee
+left, and finding that there was some, they proposed to bring some more
+officers and a few privates, who were prostrated by exposure, to get
+what was left. They were, of course, as welcome as those present, and on
+they came in squads of five or more until every grain of brown coffee
+was exhausted. Then they asked for tea, and that was served to some
+twenty more.
+
+"In the mean time a subordinate officer had begged of me a little bread
+for himself and a few men, and he was supplied in the kitchen. He was
+followed by others in turn, until nearly a hundred had been supplied
+with something to eat or drink. All, however, politely asked permission
+to enter the house, and behaved with entire propriety. They did not make
+a single rude or profane remark, even to the servants. In the mean time
+the officers who had first entered the house had filled their pipes from
+the box of Killikinick on the mantel--after being assured that smoking
+was not offensive--and we had another hour of free talk on matters
+generally....
+
+"At four o'clock in the morning the welcome blast of the bugle was
+heard, and they rose hurriedly to depart. Thanking me for the
+hospitality they had received, we parted, mutually expressing the hope
+that should we ever meet again, it would be under more pleasant
+circumstances. In a few minutes they were mounted and moved into
+Chambersburg. About seven o'clock I went into town....
+
+"General Stuart sat on his horse in the centre of the town, surrounded
+by his staff, and his command was coming in from the country in large
+squads, leading their old horses and riding the new ones they had found
+in the stables hereabouts. General Stuart is of medium size, has a keen
+eye, and wears immense sandy whiskers and moustache. His demeanor to our
+people was that of a humane soldier. In several instances his men
+commenced to take private property from stores, but they were arrested
+by General Stuart's provost-guard. In a single instance only, that I
+heard of, did they enter a store by intimidating the proprietor. All of
+our stores and shops were closed, and with a very few exceptions were
+not disturbed."
+
+This was certainly not like the usual behavior of soldiers on foreign
+soil, and the incident at once illustrates the strict control which
+General Stuart held over his men and the character of the men
+themselves, largely recruited, as they were, from the higher class of
+Southern society. Though Colonel McClure evidently felt that the lion's
+claws lay concealed under the silken glove, he certainly saw no evidence
+of it in the manners of his unbidden guests.
+
+Return was now the vital question before General Stuart and his band.
+Every hour of delay added to the dangers surrounding them. Troops were
+hastily marching to cut off their retreat; cavalry was gathering to
+intercept them; scouts were watching every road and every movement.
+Worst of all was the rain, which had grown heavy in the night and was
+now falling steadily, with a threat of swelling the Potomac and making
+its fords impassable. The ride northward had been like a holiday
+excursion; what would the ride southward prove?
+
+With the dawn of day the head of the column set out on the road towards
+Gettysburg, no damage being done in the town except to railroad property
+and the ordnance store-house, which contained a large quantity of
+ammunition and other army supplies. This was set on fire, and the sound
+of the explosion, after the flames reached the powder, came to the ears
+of the vanguard when already at a considerable distance on the return
+route.
+
+At Cashtown the line turned from the road to Gettysburg and moved
+southward, horses being still diligently collected till the Maryland
+line was crossed, when all gathering of spoil ceased. Emmittsburg was
+reached about sunset, the hungry cavaliers there receiving a warm
+welcome and being supplied with food as bountifully as the means of the
+inhabitants permitted.
+
+Meanwhile, the Federal military authorities were busy with efforts to
+cut off the ventursome band. The difficulty was to know at what point on
+the Potomac a crossing would be sought, and the troops were held in
+suspense until Stuart's movements should unmask his purpose. General
+Pleasanton and his cavalry force were kept in uncertain movement, now
+riding to Hagerstown, then, on false information, going four miles
+westward, then, halted by fresh orders, turning east and riding to
+Mechanicstown, twenty miles from Hagerstown. They had marched fifty
+miles that day, eight of which were wasted, and when they halted, Stuart
+was passing within four miles of them without their knowledge. Midnight
+brought Pleasanton word of Stuart's movements, and the weary men and
+horses were put on the road again, reaching the mouth of the Monocacy
+about eight o'clock the next morning. But most of his command had
+dropped behind in that exhausting ride of seventy-eight miles within
+twenty-eight hours, only some four hundred of them being still with him.
+
+While the Federals were thus making every effort to cut off the bold
+raiders and to garrison the fords through a long stretch of the Potomac,
+Stuart was riding south from Emmittsburg, after a brief stop at that
+place, seeking to convey the impression by his movements that he
+proposed to try some of the upper and nearer fords. His real purpose was
+to seek a crossing lower down, so near to the main body of the Federals
+that they would not look for him there. Yet the dangers were growing
+with every moment, three brigades of infantry guarded the lower fords,
+Pleasanton was approaching the Monocacy, and it looked as if the bold
+raider was in a net from which there could be no escape.
+
+Stuart reached Hyattstown at daylight on the 12th, having marched
+sixty-five miles in twenty hours. The abundance of captured horses
+enabled him to make rapid changes for the guns and caissons and to
+continue the march without delay. Two miles from Hyattstown the road
+entered a large piece of woodland, which served to conceal his movements
+from observation from any signal-tower. Here a disused road was found,
+and, turning abruptly to the west, a rapid ride was made under cover.
+
+Soon after the open country was reached again a Federal squadron was
+encountered; but it was dispersed by a charge, and from this point a
+rapid ride was made for White's Ford, the nearest available crossing.
+All now seemed to depend upon whether this ford was occupied in force
+by the enemy. As Colonel Lee approached it this question was settled;
+what appeared a large body of Federal infantry was in possession, posted
+on a steep bluff quite close to the ford. It seemed impossible to
+dislodge it, but foes were closing up rapidly from behind, and if all
+was not to be lost something must be done, and done at once.
+
+To attack the men on the bluff seemed hopeless, and before doing so Lee
+tried the effect of putting a bold face on the matter. He sent a
+messenger under a flag of truce, telling the Federal commander that
+Stuart's whole force was before him, that resistance was useless, and
+calling on him to surrender. If this was not done in fifteen minutes a
+charge in force would be made. The fifteen minutes passed. No sign of
+yielding appeared. Lee, with less than a forlorn hope of success, opened
+fire with his guns and ordered his men to advance. He listened for the
+roar of the Federal guns in reply, when a wild shout rang along the
+line.
+
+"They are retreating! Hurrah! they are retreating!"
+
+Such was indeed the case. The infantry on the bluff were marching away
+with flying flags and beating drums, abandoning their strong position
+without a shot. A loud Confederate cheer followed them as they marched.
+No shot was fired to hinder them. Their movement was the salvation of
+Stuart's corps, for it left an open passage to the ford, and safety was
+now assured.
+
+But there was no time to lose. Pleasanton and his men might be on them
+at any minute. Other forces of the enemy were rapidly closing in. Haste
+was the key to success. One piece of artillery was hurried over the dry
+bed of the canal, across the river ford, and up the Virginia bluff,
+where it was posted to command the passage. Another gun was placed so as
+to sweep the approaches on the Maryland side, and soon a stream of
+horsemen were rapidly riding through the shallow water to Virginia and
+safety. With them went a long train of horses captured from Pennsylvania
+farms.
+
+Up came the others and took rapidly to the water, Pelham meanwhile
+facing Pleasanton with a single gun, which was served with all possible
+rapidity. But there was one serious complication. Butler with the
+rear-guard had not yet arrived, and no one knew just where he was.
+Stuart, in deep concern for his safety, sent courier after courier to
+hasten his steps, but no tidings came back.
+
+"I fear it is all up with Butler," he said, despondently. "I cannot get
+word of him, and the enemy is fast closing in on his path."
+
+"Let me try to reach him," said Captain Blackford, to whom the general
+had spoken.
+
+After a moment's hesitation Stuart replied,--
+
+"All right! If we don't meet again, good-by, old fellow! You run a
+desperate chance of being raked in."
+
+Away went Blackford at full speed, passing the lagging couriers one by
+one, and at length reaching Butler, whom he found halted and facing the
+enemy, in complete ignorance of what was going on at the front. He had
+his own and a North Carolina regiment and one gun.
+
+"We are crossing the ford, and Stuart orders you up at once," shouted
+Blackford. "Withdraw at a gallop or you will be cut off."
+
+"Very good," said Butler, coolly. "But how about that gun? I fear the
+horses can't get it off in time."
+
+"Let the gun go. Save yourself and your men."
+
+Butler did not see it in that light. Whip and spur were applied to the
+weary artillery horses, and away they went down the road, whirling the
+gun behind them, and followed at a gallop by Butler and his men. As they
+turned towards the ford they were saluted by the fire of a Federal
+battery. Further on the distant fire of infantry from down the river
+reached them with spent balls. Ten minutes later and the rear-guard
+would have been lost. As it was, a wild dash was made across the stream
+and soon the last man stood on Virginia soil. The expedition was at an
+end, and the gallant band was on its native heath once more.
+
+Thus ended Stuart's famous two days' ride. The first crossing of the
+Potomac had been on the morning of the 10th. The final crossing was on
+the morning of the 12th. Within twenty-seven hours he had ridden eighty
+miles, from Chambersburg to White's Ford, with his artillery and
+captured horses, and had crossed the Potomac under the eyes of much
+superior numbers, his only losses being the wounding of one man and the
+capture of two who had dropped out of the line of march--a remarkable
+record of success, considering the great peril of the expedition.
+
+The gains of the enterprise were about twelve hundred horses, but the
+great strain of the ride forced the men to abandon many of their own.
+Stuart lost two of his most valued animals--Suffolk and Lady
+Margrave--through the carelessness of his servant Bob, who, overcome by
+too free indulgence in ardent spirits, fell out of the line to take a
+nap, and ended by finding himself and his horses in hostile hands.
+
+The value of the property destroyed at Chambersburg, public and
+railroad, was estimated at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; a few
+hundred sick and wounded soldiers were paroled, and about thirty
+officials and prominent citizens were brought off as prisoners, to be
+held as hostages for imprisoned citizens of the Confederacy.
+
+On the whole, it was eminently a dare-devil enterprise of the type of
+the knightly forays of old, its results far less in importance than the
+risk of loss to the Confederacy had that fine body of cavalry been
+captured. Yet it was of the kind of ventures calculated to improve the
+morale of an army, and inspire its men to similar deeds of daring and
+success. Doubtless it gave the cue to Morgan's later and much less
+fortunate invasion of the North.
+
+
+
+
+_FORREST'S CHASE OF THE RAIDERS._
+
+
+Foremost in dash and daring among the cavalry leaders of the Confederacy
+was Lieutenant-General Nathan B. Forrest, a hero in the saddle, some of
+whose exploits were like the marvels of romance. There is one of his
+doings in particular which General Lord Wolseley says "reads like a
+romance." This was his relentless pursuit and final capture of the
+expedition under Colonel Abel D. Streight, one of the most brilliant
+deeds in the cavalry history of the war. Accepting Wolseley's opinion,
+we give the story of this exploit.
+
+In General Rosecrans's campaign against General Bragg, it was a matter
+of importance to him to cut the railroad lines and destroy bridges,
+arsenals, etc., in Bragg's rear. He wished particularly to cut the
+railroads leading from Chattanooga to Atlanta and Nashville, and thus
+prevent the free movement of troops. The celebrated Andrews expedition
+of scouts, described in a previous volume of this series, failed in an
+effort to do this work. Colonel Streight, a stalwart, daring cavalry
+leader, made a second effort to accomplish it, and would doubtless have
+succeeded but for the bulldog-like persistence with which "that devil,
+Forrest" clung to his heels.
+
+Colonel Streight's expedition was made up of four regiments of mounted
+infantry and two companies of cavalry, about two thousand men in all.
+Rome, Georgia, an important point on the railroad from Chattanooga to
+Atlanta, was its objective point. The route to be traversed included a
+barren, mountainous track of country, chosen from the fact that its
+sparse population was largely composed of Union sympathizers. But the
+road was likely to be so steep and rocky, and forage so scarce, that
+mules were chosen instead of horses for the mounts, on account of their
+being more surefooted and needing less food.
+
+The expedition was sent by steamboat from Nashville, Tennessee, to
+Eastport, Alabama, which place was reached on the 19th of April, 1863.
+This movement was conducted with all possible secrecy, and was masked by
+an expedition under General Dodge, at the head of a force of some ten
+thousand men. The unfortunate feature about the affair was the mules. On
+their arrival at Eastport these animals, glad to get on solid land
+again, set up a bray that trumpeted the story of their arrival for miles
+around, and warned the cavalry of General Rodney, who had been
+skirmishing with General Dodge, that new foes were in the field.
+
+When night fell some of Rodney's cavalry lads crept into the corral, and
+there, with yells and hoots and firing of guns and pistols, they
+stampeded nearly four hundred of the mules. This caused a serious delay,
+only two hundred of the mules being found after two day's search, while
+more time was lost in getting others. From Eastport the expedition
+proceeded to Tuscumbia, General Rodney stubbornly resisting the advance.
+Here a careful inspection was made, and all unfit men left out, so that
+about fifteen hundred picked men, splendidly armed and equipped,
+constituted the final raiding force.
+
+But the delay gave time for the news that some mysterious movement was
+afoot to spread far and wide, and Forrest led his corps of hard riders
+at top-speed from Tennessee to the aid of Rodney in checking it. On the
+27th he was in Dodge's front, helping Rodney to give him what trouble he
+could, though obliged to fall back before his much greater force.
+
+Streight was already on his way. He had set out at midnight of the 26th,
+in pouring rain and over muddy roads. At sunset of the next day he was
+thirty-eight miles from the starting-point. On the afternoon of the 28th
+the village of Moulton was reached without trace of an enemy in front or
+rear. The affair began to look promising. Next morning the mule brigade
+resumed its march, heading east towards Blountsville.
+
+Not until the evening of the 28th did Forrest hear of this movement.
+Then word was brought him that a large body of Union troops had passed
+Mount Hope, riding eastward towards Moulton. The quick-witted leader
+guessed in a moment what all this meant, and with his native energy
+prepared for a sharp pursuit. In all haste he picked out a suitable
+force, had several days' rations cooked for the men and corn gathered
+for the horses, and shortly after midnight was on the road, leaving what
+men he could spare to keep Dodge busy and prevent pursuit. His command
+was twelve hundred strong, the most of them veterans whose metal had
+been tried on many a hard-fought field, and who were ready to follow
+their daring leader to the death, reckless and hardy "irregulars,"
+brought up from childhood to the use of horses and arms, the sturdy sons
+of the back country.
+
+Streight was now in the ugly mountain country through which his route
+lay, and was advancing up Sand Mountain by a narrow, stony, winding
+road. He had two days the start of his pursuer, but with such headlong
+speed did Forrest ride, that at dawn on the 30th, when the Federals were
+well up the mountain, the boom of a cannon gave them the startling
+notice that an enemy was in pursuit. Forrest had pushed onward at his
+usual killing pace, barely drawing rein until Streight's camp-fires came
+in sight, when his men lay down by their horses for a night's rest.
+
+Captain William Forrest, a brother of the general, had been sent ahead
+to reconnoitre, and in the early morning was advised of the near
+presence of the enemy by as awful a noise as human ears could well bear,
+the concentrated breakfast bray of fifteen hundred hungry mules.
+
+The cannon-shot which had warned Colonel Streight that an enemy was
+near, was followed by the yell of Captain Forrest's wild troopers, as
+they charged hotly up the road. Their recklessness was to be severely
+punished, for as they came headlong onward a volley was poured into them
+from a ridge beside the road. Their shrewd opponent had formed an
+ambuscade, into which they blindly rode, with the result that Captain
+Forrest fell from his horse with a crushed thigh-bone, and many of his
+men and horses were killed and wounded before they could get out of the
+trap into which they had ridden.
+
+The attack was followed up by Forrest's whole force. Edmonson's men,
+dismounted, advanced within a hundred yards of the Federal line, Roddy
+and Julian rode recklessly forward in advance, and Forrest's escort and
+scouts occupied the left. It was a precipitous movement, which
+encountered a sudden and sharp reverse, nearly the whole line being met
+with a murderous fire and driven back. Then the Federals sprang forward
+in a fierce charge, driving the Confederates back in confusion over
+their own guns, two of which were captured with their caissons and
+ammunition.
+
+The loss of his guns threw Forrest into a violent rage, in which he made
+the air blue with his forcible opinions. Those guns must be taken back,
+he swore, at the risk of all their lives. He bade every man to dismount
+and tie their horses to saplings--there were to be no horse-holders in
+this emergency. Onward swept the avengers, but to their surprise and
+chagrin only a small rear-guard was found, who fled on their mules after
+a few shots. Streight, with the captured guns, was well on the road
+again, and Forrest's men were obliged to go back, untie their horses,
+and get in marching order, losing nearly an hour of precious time.
+
+From this period onward the chase was largely a running fight. Forrest's
+orders to his men were to "shoot at everything blue and keep up the
+scare." Streight's purpose was to make all haste forward to Rome,
+outriding his pursuers, and do what damage he could. But he had to deal
+with the "Rough Riders" of the Confederate army, men sure to keep on his
+track day and night, and give him no rest while a man on mule-back
+remained.
+
+Forrest's persistence was soon shown. His advance troopers came up with
+the enemy again at Hog's-back ridge an hour before dark and at once
+charged right and left. They had their own guns to face, Streight
+keeping up a hot fire with the captured pieces till the ammunition was
+exhausted, when, being short of horses, he spiked and abandoned the
+guns.
+
+The fight thus begun was kept up vigorously till ten o'clock at night,
+and was as gallant and stubbornly contested as any of the minor
+engagements of the war, the echoes of that mountain desert repeating
+most unwonted sounds. General Forrest seemed everywhere, and so
+fearlessly exposed himself that one horse was killed and two were
+wounded under him, though he escaped unhurt. In the end Colonel Streight
+was taught that he could not drive off his persistent foe, and took to
+the road again, but twice more during the night he was attacked, each
+time repelling his foes by an ambuscade.
+
+About ten o'clock the next morning Blountsville was reached. The
+Federals were now clear of the mountains and in an open and fertile
+country where food and horses were to be had. Both were needed; many of
+the mules had given out, leaving their riders on foot, while mules and
+men alike were short of food. It was the first of May, and the village
+was well filled with country people, who saw with dismay the Yankee
+troopers riding in and confiscating all the horses on which they could
+lay hands.
+
+Streight now decided to get on with pack-mules, and the wagons were
+bunched and set on fire, the command leaving them burning as it moved
+on. They did not burn long. Forrest's advance came on with a yell, swept
+the Federal rear-guard from the village, and made all haste to
+extinguish the flames, the wagons furnishing them a rich and much-needed
+supply. Few horses or mules, however, were to be had, as Streight's men
+had swept the country as far as they could reach on both sides of the
+road.
+
+On went the raiders and on came their pursuers, heading east, keeping in
+close touch, and skirmishing briskly as they went, for ten miles more.
+This brought them to a branch of the Black Warrior River. The ford
+reached by the Federals was rocky, and they had their foe close in the
+rear, but by an active use of skirmishers and of his two howitzers
+Straight managed to get his command across and to hold the ford until a
+brief rest was taken.
+
+The Yankee troopers were not long on the road again before Forrest was
+over the stream, and the hot chase was on once more. The night that
+followed was the fourth night of the chase, which had been kept up with
+only brief snatches of rest and with an almost incessant contest. On the
+morning of the 2d the skirmishing briskly began again, Forrest with an
+advance troop attacking the Federal rear-guard, and fighting almost
+without intermission during the fifteen miles ride to Black Creek.
+
+Here was a deep and sluggish stream walled in with very high banks. It
+was spanned at the road by a wooden bridge, over which Colonel Streight
+rushed his force at top speed, and at once set the bridge on fire,
+facing about with his howitzers to check pursuit. One man was left on
+the wrong side of the stream, and was captured by Forrest himself as he
+dashed up to the blazing bridge at the head of his men.
+
+Colonel Streight might now reasonably believe that he had baffled his
+foe for a time, and might safely take the repose so greatly needed. The
+stream was said to be too deep to ford, and the nearest bridge, two
+miles away, was a mere wreck, impassable for horses. Forrest was in a
+quandary as to how he should get over that sluggish but deep ditch, and
+stood looking at it in dismay. He was obliged to wait in any event, for
+his artillery and the bulk of his command had been far outridden. In
+this dilemma the problem was solved for him by a country girl who lived
+near by, Emma Sanson by name. Near the burning bridge was a little
+one-storied, four-roomed house, in which dwelt the widow Sanson and her
+two daughters. She had two sons in the service, and the three women,
+like many in similar circumstances in the Confederacy, were living as
+best they could.
+
+The girl Emma watched with deep interest the rapid flight, the burning
+of the bridge, and the headlong pursuit of the Confederate troop. Seeing
+Forrest looking with a dubious countenance at the dark stream, she came
+up and accosted him.
+
+"You are after those Yankees?" she asked.
+
+"I should think so," said Forrest, "and would give my best hat to get
+across this ugly ditch."
+
+"I think you can do it," she replied.
+
+"Aha! my good girl. That is news worth more than my old hat. How is it
+to be done? Let me know at once."
+
+"I know a place near our farm where I have often seen cows wade across
+when the water was low. If you will lend me a horse to put my saddle on,
+I will show you the place."
+
+"There's no time for that; get up behind me," cried Forrest.
+
+In a second's time the alert girl was on the horse behind him. As they
+were about to ride off her mother came out and asked, in a frightened
+tone, where she was going. Forrest explained and promised to bring her
+back safe, and in a moment more was off. The ride was not a long one,
+the place sought being soon reached. Here the general and his guide
+quickly dismounted, the girl leading down a ravine to the water's edge,
+where Forrest examined the depth and satisfied himself that the place
+might prove fordable.
+
+Mounting again, they rode back, now under fire, for a sharp engagement
+was going on across the creek between the Confederates and the Federal
+rear-guard. Forrest was profuse in his thanks as he left the
+quick-witted girl at her home. He gave her as reward a horse and also
+wrote her a note of thanks, and asked her to send him a lock of her
+hair, which he would be glad to have and cherish in memory of her
+service to the cause.
+
+The Lost Ford, as the place has since been called, proved available, the
+horses finding foothold, while the ammunition was taken from the
+caissons and carried across by the horsemen. This done, the guns and
+empty caissons were pulled across by ropes, and soon all was in
+readiness to take up the chase again.
+
+Colonel Streight had reached Gadsden, four miles away, when to his
+surprise and dismay he heard once more the shouts of his indefatigable
+foemen as they rode up at full speed. It seemed as if nothing could stop
+the sleuth-hounds on his track. For the succeeding fifteen miles there
+was a continual skirmish, and, when Streight halted to rest, the fight
+became so sharp that his weary men were forced to take to the road
+again. Rest was not for them, with Forrest in their rear. Streight here
+tried for the last time his plan of ambuscading his enemy, but the
+wide-awake Forrest was not to be taken in as before, and by a flank
+movement compelled the weary Federals to resume their march.
+
+All that night they rode despondently on, crossing the Chattanooga River
+on a bridge which they burned behind them, and by sunrise reaching Cedar
+Bluff, twenty-eight miles from Gadsden. At nine o'clock they stopped to
+feed, and the worn-out men had no sooner touched the ground than they
+were dead asleep. Forrest had taken the opportunity to give his men a
+night's rest, detaching two hundred of them to follow the Federals and
+"devil them all night." Streight had also detached two hundred of his
+best-mounted men, bidding them to march to Rome and hold the bridge at
+that place. But Forrest had shrewdly sent a fast rider to the same
+place, and when Russell got up he found the bridge strongly held and his
+enterprise hopeless.
+
+When May 3 dawned the hot chase was near its end. Forrest had given his
+men ten hours' sleep while Streight's worn-out men were plodding
+desperately on. This all-night's ride was a fatal error for the
+Federals, and was a main cause of their final defeat. The short distance
+they had made was covered by Forrest's men, fresh from their night's
+sleep, in a few hours, and at half-past nine, while the Federals were at
+breakfast, the old teasing rattle of small-arms called them into line
+again. About the same time word came from Russell that he could not
+take the bridge at Rome, and news was received that a flanking movement
+of Confederates had cut in between Rome and the Yankee troopers.
+
+The affair now looked utterly desperate, but the brave Streight rallied
+his men on a ridge in a field and skirmishing began. So utterly
+exhausted, however, were the Federals that many of them went to sleep as
+they lay in line of battle behind the ridge while looking along their
+gun barrels with finger on trigger.
+
+The game was fairly up. Forrest sent in a flag of truce, with a demand
+for surrender. Streight asked for an interview, which was readily
+granted.
+
+"What terms do you offer?" asked Streight.
+
+"Immediate surrender. Your men to be treated as prisoners of war,
+officers to retain their side-arms and personal property."
+
+During the conversation Streight asked, "How many men have you?"
+
+"Enough here to run over you, and a column of fresh troops between you
+and Rome."
+
+In reality Forrest had only five hundred men left him, the remainder
+having been dropped from point to point as their horses gave out and no
+new mounts were to be had. But the five hundred made noise enough for a
+brigade, it being Forrest's purpose to conceal the weakness of his
+force.
+
+As they talked a section of the artillery of the pursuers came in sight
+within a short range. Colonel Streight objected to this, and Forrest
+gave orders that the guns must come no nearer. But the artillerymen
+moved around a neighboring hill as if putting several small batteries
+into position.
+
+"Have you many guns, general?" asked Streight.
+
+"Enough to blow you all to pieces before an hour," was the grandiloquent
+reply.
+
+Colonel Streight looked doubtfully at the situation, not knowing how
+much to believe of what he saw and heard. After some more words he
+said,--
+
+"I cannot decide without consulting my officers."
+
+"As you please," said Forrest, with a sublime air of indifference. "It
+will soon be over, one way or the other."
+
+Streight had not all the fight taken out of him yet, but he found all
+his officers in favor of a surrender and felt obliged to consent. The
+men accordingly were bidden to stack their arms and were marched back
+into a field, Forrest managing as soon as he conveniently could to get
+his men between them and their guns. The officers were started without
+delay and under a strong escort for Rome, twenty miles away. On their
+route thither they met Captain Russell returning and told him of what
+had taken place. With tears in his eyes he surrendered his two hundred
+men.
+
+Thus ended one of the most striking achievements of the Civil War.
+Forrest's relentless and indefatigable pursuit, his prompt overcoming of
+the difficulties of the way, and his final capture of Streight's men
+with less than half their force, have been commended by military critics
+as his most brilliant achievement and one of the most remarkable
+exploits in the annals of warfare.
+
+The outcome of Colonel Streight's raid to the South was singularly like
+that of General Morgan's famous raid to the North. Morgan's capture,
+imprisonment, and escape were paralleled in Streight's career. Sent to
+Richmond, and immured in Libby Prison, he and four of his officers took
+part in the memorable escape by a tunnel route in February, 1864. In his
+report, published after his escape, he blames his defeat largely on the
+poor mules, and claims that Forrest's force outnumbered him three to
+one. It is not unlikely that he believed this, judging from the
+incessant trouble they had given him, but the truth seems established
+that at the surrender Forrest had less than half the available force of
+his foe.
+
+
+
+
+_EXPLOITS OF A BLOCKADE-RUNNER._
+
+
+There were no more daring adventures and hair-breadth escapes during the
+Civil War than those encountered in running the blockade, carrying
+sadly-needed supplies into the ports of the Confederacy, and returning
+with cargoes of cotton and other valuable products of the South. There
+was money in it for the successful, much money; but, on the other hand,
+there was danger of loss of vessel and cargo, long imprisonment, perhaps
+death, and only men of unusual boldness and dare-devil recklessness were
+ready to engage in it. The stories told by blockade-runners are full of
+instances of desperate risk and thrilling adventure. As an example of
+their more ordinary experience, we shall give, from Thomas E. Taylor's
+"Running the Blockade," the interesting account of his first run to
+Wilmington harbor.
+
+This town, it must be premised, lies some sixteen miles up Cape Fear
+River, at whose principal entrance the formidable Fort Fisher obliged
+the blockading fleet to lie out of the range of its guns, and thus gave
+some opportunity for alert blockade-runners to slip in. Yet this was far
+from safe and easy. Each entrance to the river was surrounded by an
+in-shore squadron of Federal vessels, anchored in close order during
+the day, and at night weighing anchor and patrolling from shore to
+shore. Farther out was a second cordon of cruisers, similarly alert, and
+beyond these again gunboats were stationed at intervals, far enough out
+to sight by daybreak any vessels that crossed Wilmington bar at high
+tide in the night. Then, again, there were free cruisers patrolling the
+Gulf Stream, so that to enter the river unseen was about as difficult as
+any naval operation could well be. With this preliminary statement of
+the situation, let us permit Mr. Taylor to tell his story.
+
+"The 'Banshee's' engines proved so unsatisfactory that, under ordinary
+conditions, nine or ten knots was all we could get out of her; she was
+therefore not permitted to run any avoidable risks, and to this I
+attribute her extraordinary success where better boats failed. As long
+as daylight lasted a man was never out of the cross-trees, and the
+moment a sail was seen the 'Banshee's' stern was turned to it till it
+was dropped below the horizon. The look-out man, to quicken his eyes,
+had a dollar for every sail he sighted, and if it were seen from the
+deck first he was fined five. This may appear excessive, but the
+importance in blockade-running of seeing before you are seen is too
+great for any chance to be neglected; and it must be remembered that the
+pay of ordinary seamen for each round trip in and out was from £50 to
+£60.
+
+"Following these tactics, we crept noiselessly along the shores of the
+Bahamas, invisible in the darkness, and ran on unmolested for the first
+two days out [from the port of Nassau], though our course was often
+interfered with by the necessity of avoiding hostile vessels; then came
+the anxious moment on the third, when, her position having been taken at
+noon to see if she was near enough to run under the guns of Fort Fisher
+before the following daybreak, it was found there was just time, but
+none to spare for accidents or delay. Still, the danger of lying out
+another day so close to the blockaded port was very great, and rather
+than risk it we resolved to keep straight on our course and chance being
+overtaken by daylight before we were under the fort.
+
+"Now the real excitement began, and nothing I have ever experienced can
+compare with it. Hunting, pig-sticking, steeple-chasing, big-game
+shooting, polo--I have done a little of each--all have their thrilling
+moments, but none can approach 'running a blockade;' and perhaps my
+readers may sympathize with my enthusiasm when they consider the dangers
+to be encountered, after three days of constant anxiety and little
+sleep, in threading our way through a swarm of blockaders, and the
+accuracy required to hit in the nick of time the mouth of a river only
+half a mile wide, without lights and with a coast-line so low and
+featureless that, as a rule, the first intimation we had of its nearness
+was the dim white line of the surf.
+
+"There were, of course, many different plans of getting in, but at this
+time the favorite dodge was to run up some fifteen or twenty miles to
+the north of Cape Fear, so as to round the northernmost of the
+blockaders, instead of dashing right through the inner squadron; then to
+creep down close to the surf till the river was reached; and this was
+the course the 'Banshee' intended to adopt.
+
+"We steamed cautiously on until nightfall; the night proved dark, but
+dangerously clear and calm. No lights were allowed--not even a cigar;
+the engine-room hatch-ways were covered with tarpaulins, at the risk of
+suffocating the unfortunate engineers and stokers in the almost
+insufferable atmosphere below. But it was absolutely imperative that not
+a glimmer of light should appear. Even the binnacle was covered, and the
+steersman had to see as much of the compass as he could through a
+conical aperture carried almost up to his eyes.
+
+"With everything thus in readiness, we steamed on in silence, except for
+the stroke of the engines and the beat of the paddle-floats, which in
+the calm of the night seemed distressingly loud; all hands were on deck,
+crouching behind the bulwarks, and we on the bridge, namely, the
+captain, the pilot, and I, were straining our eyes into the darkness.
+Presently Burroughs made an uneasy movement.
+
+"'Better get a cast of the lead, captain,' I heard him whisper.
+
+"A muttered order down the engine-room tube was Steele's reply, and the
+'Banshee' slowed, and then stopped. It was an anxious moment while a dim
+figure stole into the fore-chains,--for there is always a danger of
+steam blowing off when engines are unexpectedly stopped, and that would
+have been enough to betray our presence for miles around. In a minute or
+two came back the report, 'Sixteen fathoms--sandy bottom with black
+specks.'
+
+"'We are not in as far as I thought, captain,' said Burroughs, 'and we
+are too far to the southward. Port two points and go a little faster.'
+
+"As he explained, we must be well to the north of the speckled bottom
+before it was safe to head for the shore, and away we went again. In
+about an hour Burroughs quietly asked for another sounding. Again she
+was gently stopped, and this time he was satisfied.
+
+"'Starboard, and go ahead easy,' was the order now, and as we crept in
+not a sound was heard but that of the regular beat of the paddle-floats,
+still dangerously loud in spite of our snail's pace. Suddenly Burroughs
+gripped my arm,--
+
+"'There's one of them, Mr. Taylor,' he whispered, 'on the starboard
+bow.'
+
+"In vain I strained my eyes to where he pointed, not a thing could I
+see; but presently I heard Steele say, beneath his breath, 'All right,
+Burroughs, I see her. Starboard a little, steady!' was the order passed
+aft.
+
+"A moment afterward I could make out a long, low black object on our
+starboard side, lying perfectly still. Would she see us? that was the
+question; but no, though we passed within a hundred yards of her we were
+not discovered, and I breathed again. Not very long after we had
+dropped her, Burroughs whispered,--
+
+"'Steamer on the port bow.'
+
+"And another cruiser was made out close to us.
+
+"'Hard-a-port,' said Steele, and round she swung, bringing our friend
+upon our beam. Still unobserved, we crept quietly on, when all at once a
+third cruiser shaped itself out of the gloom right ahead, and steaming
+slowly across our bows.
+
+"'Stop her,' said Steele, in a moment; and as we lay like dead our enemy
+went on and disappeared in the darkness. It was clear there was a false
+reckoning somewhere, and that instead of rounding the head of the
+blockading line we were passing through the very centre of it. However,
+Burroughs was now of opinion that we must be inside the squadron, and
+advocated making the land. So 'slow ahead' we went again, until the
+low-lying coast and the surf-line became dimly visible. Still we could
+not tell where we were, and, as time was getting on alarmingly near
+dawn, the only thing to do was to creep down along the surf as close in
+and as fast as we dared. It was a great relief when we suddenly heard
+Burroughs say, 'It's all right. I see the Big Hill.'
+
+"The 'Big Hill' was a hillock about as high as a full-grown oak, but it
+was the most prominent feature for miles on that dreary coast, and
+served to tell us exactly how far we were from Fort Fisher. And
+fortunate it was for us we were so near. Daylight was already breaking,
+and before we were opposite the fort we could make out six or seven
+gunboats, which steamed rapidly towards us and angrily opened fire.
+Their shots were soon dropping close around us, an unpleasant sensation
+when you know you have several tons of gunpowder under your feet.
+
+"To make matters worse, the North Breaker Shoal now compelled us to haul
+off the shore and steam farther out. It began to look ugly for us, when
+all at once there was a flash from the shore followed by a sound that
+came like music to our ears,--that of a shell whirring over our heads.
+It was Fort Fisher, wide awake and warning the gunboats to keep their
+distance. With a parting broadside they steamed sulkily out of range,
+and in half an hour we were safely over the bar.
+
+"A boat put off from the fort, and then--well, it was the days of
+champagne cocktails, not whiskeys and sodas, and one did not run a
+blockade every day. For my part I was mightily proud of my first attempt
+and my baptism of fire. Blockade-running seemed the pleasantest and most
+exhilarating of pastimes. I did not know then what a very serious
+business it could be."
+
+On the return trip the "Banshee" was ballasted with tobacco and laden
+with cotton, three tiers of it even on deck. She ran impudently straight
+through the centre of the cordon, close by the flag-ship, and got
+through the second cordon in safety, though chased by a gunboat. When
+Nassau was reached and profits summed up, they proved to amount to £50
+a ton on the war material carried in, while the tobacco carried out
+netted £70 a ton for a hundred tons and the cotton £50 a bale for five
+hundred bales. It may be seen that successful blockade-running paid.
+
+It may be of interest to our readers to give some other adventures in
+which the "Banshee" figured. On one of her trips, when she was creeping
+down the land about twelve miles above Fort Fisher, a cruiser appeared
+moving along about two hundred yards from shore. An effort was made to
+pass her inside, hoping to be hidden by the dark background of the land.
+But there were eyes open on the cruiser, and there came the ominous
+hail, "Stop that steamer or I will sink you!"
+
+"We haven't time to stop," growled Steele, and shouted down the
+engine-room tube to "pile on the coals." There was nothing now but to
+run and hope for luck. The cruiser at once opened fire, and as the
+"Banshee" began to draw ahead a shot carried away her foremast and a
+shell exploded in her bunkers. Grape and canister followed, the crew
+escaping death by flinging themselves flat on the deck. Even the
+steersman, stricken by panic, did the same, and the boat swerved round
+and headed straight for the surf. A close shave it was as Taylor rushed
+aft, clutched the wheel, and just in time got her head off the land.
+Before they got in two other cruisers brought them under fire, but they
+ran under Fort Fisher in safety.
+
+One more adventure of the "Banshee" and we shall close. It was on her
+sixth trip out. She had got safely through the fleet and day had dawned.
+All was joy and relaxation when Erskine, the engineer, suddenly
+exclaimed: "Mr. Taylor, look astern!" and there, not four miles away,
+and coming down under sail and steam, was a large side-wheel steamer,
+left unseen by gross carelessness on the part of the look-out.
+
+Erskine rushed below, and soon volumes of smoke were pouring from the
+funnels, but it was almost too late, for the chaser was coming up so
+fast that the uniformed officers on her bridge could be distinctly seen.
+
+"This will never do," said Steele, and ordered the helm to be altered so
+as to bring the ship up to the wind. It took them off the course to
+Nassau, but it forced their pursuer to take in her sails, and an
+exciting chase under steam right into the wind's eye began. Matters at
+length became so critical that no hope remained but to lighten the boat
+by throwing overboard her deck-load of cotton--a sore necessity in view
+of the fact that the bales which went bobbing about on the waves were
+worth to them £50 or £60 apiece.
+
+In clearing out the bales they cleared out something more, a runaway
+slave, who had been standing wedged between two bales for at least
+forty-eight hours. He received an ovation on landing at Nassau, but they
+were obliged to pay four thousand dollars to his owner on their return
+to Wilmington.
+
+The loss of the cotton lightened the boat and it began to gain in the
+race, both craft plunging into the great seas that had arisen, yet
+neither slackening speed. A fresh danger arose when the bearings of the
+engine became overheated from the enormous strain put upon them. It was
+necessary to stop, despite the imminence of the chase, and to loosen the
+bearings and feed them liberally with salad oil mixed with gunpowder
+before they were in working order again. Thus, fifteen weary hours
+passed away, and nightfall was at hand when the chaser, then only five
+miles astern, turned and gave up the pursuit. It was learned afterward
+that her stokers were dead beat.
+
+But port was still far away, they having been chased one hundred and
+fifty miles out of their course, and fuel was getting perilously low. At
+the end of the third day the last coal was used, and then everything
+that would burn was shoved into the furnaces,--main-mast, bulwarks, deck
+cabin, with cotton and turpentine to aid,--and these only sufficed to
+carry them into a Bahama Island, still sixty miles from Nassau. They
+were not there two hours before they saw a Federal steamer glide slowly
+past, eying them as the fox eyed the grapes.
+
+The adventure was still not at its end. Mr. Taylor hired a schooner in
+the harbor to go to Nassau and bring back a cargo of coal, he and Murray
+Aynsely, a passenger, going in it. But the night proved a terrible one,
+a hurricane rising, and the crew growing so terrified by the fury of the
+gale and the vividness of the lightning that they nearly wrecked the
+schooner on the rocks. When the weather moderated the men refused to
+proceed, and it was only by dint of a show of revolvers and promise of
+reward that Taylor and his passenger induced them to go on. On reaching
+Nassau they were utterly worn out, having been almost without sleep for
+a week, while Taylor's feet were so swollen that his boots had to be cut
+off.
+
+Thus ended one of the most notable chases in the history of
+blockade-running, it having lasted fifteen hours and covered nearly two
+hundred miles. Fortunate was it for the "Banshee" that the "James
+Adger," her pursuer, had no bow-chasers, and that the weather was too
+ugly for her to venture to yaw and use her broadside guns, or the
+"Banshee" might have there and then ended her career.
+
+
+
+
+_FONTAIN, THE SCOUT, AND THE BESIEGERS OF VICKSBURG._
+
+
+The Civil War was not lacking in its daring and interesting adventures
+of scouts, spies, despatch-bearers, and others of that interesting tribe
+whose field of operations lies between the armies in the field, and
+whose game is played with life as the stake, this being fair prey for
+the bullet if pursued, and often for the rope if captured. We have the
+story of one these heroes of hazard to tell, a story the more
+interesting from the fact that he was a cripple who seemed fit only to
+hobble about his home. It is the remarkable feat of Lamar Fontain, a
+Confederate despatch-bearer, which the record of the war has nothing to
+surpass.
+
+Fontain's disability came from a broken leg, which had left him so
+disabled that he could not take a step without a crutch, and in mounting
+a horse was obliged to lift the useless leg over the saddle with his
+right hand. But once in the saddle he was as good a man as his fellow,
+and his dexterity with the pistol rendered him a dangerous fellow to
+face when it became a question of life or death.
+
+We must seek him at that period in 1863 when the stronghold of
+Vicksburg, on which depended the Confederacy's control of the
+Mississippi, was closely invested by the army of General Grant, the
+siege lines so continuous, alike in the rear of the town and on the
+Mississippi and its opposite shore, that it seemed as if hardly a bird
+could enter or leave its streets. General Johnston kept the field in the
+rear, but Grant was much too strong for him, and he was obliged to trust
+to the chapter of chances for the hope of setting Pemberton free from
+the net by which he was surrounded.
+
+Knowing the daring and usual success of Lamar Fontain in very hazardous
+enterprises, Johnston engaged him to endeavor to carry a verbal message
+to General Pemberton, sending him out on the perilous and seemingly
+impossible venture of making his way into the closely beleaguered city.
+In addition to his message, he took with him a supply of some forty
+pounds of percussion caps for the use of the besieged garrison.
+
+On the 24th of May, 1863, Fontain set out from his father's home, at a
+considerable distance in the rear of the Federal lines. He was well
+mounted, and armed with an excellent revolver and a good sabre, which he
+carried in a wooden scabbard to prevent its rattling. His other burdens
+were his packet of percussion caps, his blanket, and his crutches.
+
+That night he crossed Big Black River, and before dawn of the next day
+was well within the lines of the enemy. Travel by day was now out of the
+question, so he hid his horse in a ravine, and found a place of shelter
+for himself in a fallen tree that overlooked the road. From his
+hiding-place he saw a confused and hasty movement of the enemy,
+seemingly in retreat from too hot a brush with the garrison. Waiting
+till their columns had passed and the nightfall made it safe for him to
+move, he mounted again and continued his journey in the direction of
+Snyder's Bluff on the Yazoo.
+
+Entering the telegraphic road from Yazoo City to Vicksburg, he had not
+gone far before he was confronted and hailed by a picket of the enemy.
+Spurring his spirited steed, he dashed past at full speed. A volley
+followed him, one of the balls striking his horse, though none of them
+touched him. The good steed had received a mortal wound, but by a final
+and desperate effort it carried its rider to the banks of the Yazoo
+River. Here it fell dead, leaving its late rider afoot, and lacking one
+of his crutches, which had been caught and jerked away by the limb of a
+tree as he dashed headlong past.
+
+With the aid of his remaining crutch, and carrying his baggage, Fontain
+groped his way along the river side, keenly looking for some means of
+conveyance on its waters. He soon found what he wanted in the shape of a
+small log canoe, tied to a tree on the river bank. Pressing this into
+his service, and disposing himself and his burden safely within, he
+paddled down the stream, hoping to reach the Mississippi and drift down
+to the city front before break of day.
+
+Success was not to come so easily. A sound of puffing steam came from
+down the river, and soon a trio of gunboats loomed through the gloom,
+heading towards Yazoo City. These were avoided by taking shelter among
+a bunch of willows that overhung the bank and served to hide the boat
+from view. The gunboats well past, Fontain took to the current again,
+soon reaching Snyder's Bluff, which was lighted up and a scene of
+animation. Whites and blacks mingled on the bank, and it looked like a
+midnight ball between the Yankee soldiers and belles of sable hue.
+Gunboats and barges lined the shore and the light was thrown far out
+over the stream. But those present were too hilarious to be watchful,
+and, lying flat in his canoe, the scout glided safely past, the dug-out
+not distinguishable from a piece of driftwood. Before the new day dawned
+he reached the backwater of the Mississippi, but in the darkness he
+missed the outlet of the Yazoo and paddled into what is called "Old
+River."
+
+The new day reddened in the east while he was still vainly searching for
+an opening into the broad parent stream. Then his familiarity with the
+locality showed him his mistake, and he was forced to seek a
+hiding-place for himself and his boat. He had now been out two days and
+nights. The little food he brought had long been devoured, and hunger
+was assailing him. Sleep had also scarcely visited his eyes, and the
+strain was growing severe.
+
+Getting some slumber that day in his covert, he set out again as soon as
+night fell, paddling back into the Yazoo, from which he soon reached the
+Mississippi. He was here on a well-peopled stream, boats and lights
+being abundant. As he glided on through the gloom he passed forty or
+fifty transports, but had the good fortune to be seen by only one man,
+who hailed him from the stern of a steamer and asked him where he was
+going.
+
+"To look after my fishing-lines," he replied.
+
+"All right; hope you'll have a good catch." And he floated on.
+
+Farther down in the bend of the stream above Vicksburg he came upon a
+more animated scene. Here were the mortar-boats in full blast,
+bombarding the city, every shot lighting up the stream for a wide space
+around. But the gun crews were too busy to pay any attention to the
+seeming drift-log that glided silently by the fleet or to notice the man
+that lay at full length within it. On he went, trusting to the current
+and keeping his recumbent position. The next day's dawn found him in the
+midst of the Confederate picket-boats in front of the city. Here, tying
+a white handkerchief to his paddle, he lifted it as a flag of truce, and
+sat upright with a loud hurrah for Jeff Davis and the Southern
+Confederacy. As may well be imagined, his cheers were echoed by the
+boatmen when they learned his mission, and he was borne in triumph
+ashore and taken to General Pemberton's head-quarters. He received a
+warm welcome from the general, alike for the message he brought and the
+very desirable supply of percussion caps. It was with no little
+admiration that Pemberton heard the story of a daring feat that seemed
+utterly impossible for a cripple on crutches.
+
+During the next day the scout wandered about the beleaguered city,
+viewing the animated and in many respects terrible scene of warfare
+which it presented,--the fierce bombardment from the Federal works,
+extending in a long curve from the river above to the river below the
+city; the hot return fire of the defendants; the equally fierce exchange
+of fire between the gunboats and mortars and the intrenchments on the
+bluffs; the bursting of shells in the city streets; the ruined
+habitations, and the cave-like refuges in which the citizens sought
+safety from the death-dealing missiles. It was a scene never to be
+forgotten, a spectacle of ruin, suffering, and death. And the suffering
+was not alone from the terrible enginery of war, but from lack of food
+as well, for that dread spectre of famine, that in a few weeks more was
+to force the surrender of the valiantly defended city, was already
+showing its gaunt form in the desolated streets and the foodless homes.
+
+Fontain was glad enough after his day and night among the besieged to
+seek again the more open field of operations outside. Receiving a
+despatch from General Pemberton to his colleague in the field, and a
+suitable reward for his service, he betook himself again to the canoe
+which had stood him in such good stead and resumed his task of danger.
+He was on a well-guarded river and had to pass through a country full of
+foes, and the peril of his enterprise was by no means at an end.
+
+The gloom of evening lay on the stream when he once more trusted
+himself to its swift current, which quickly brought him among the craft
+of the enemy below the city. Avoiding their picket-boats on both sides
+of the river, he floated near the gunboats as safer, passing so near one
+of them that through an open port-hole he could see a group of men
+playing cards and hear their conversation. He made a landing at length
+at Diamond Place, bidding adieu to his faithful dug-out and gladly
+setting foot on land again.
+
+Hobbling with the aid of his crutch through the bottom-lands, the scout
+soon reached higher ground, and here made his way to the house of an
+acquaintance, hoping to find a mount. But all the useful horses and
+mules on the place had been confiscated by the foe, there remaining only
+a worthless old gelding and a half-broken colt, of which he was offered
+the choice. He took the colt, but found it to travel so badly that he
+wished he had chosen the gelding.
+
+In this dilemma fortune favored him, for in the bottom he came upon a
+fine horse, tied by a blind bridle and without a saddle. A basket and an
+old bag were lying close by, and he inferred from this that a negro had
+left the horse and that a camp of the enemy was near at hand. Here was
+an opportunity for confiscation of which he did not hesitate to avail
+himself, and in all haste he exchanged bridles, saddled the horse,
+turned loose the colt, mounted, and was off.
+
+He took a course so as to avoid the supposed camp, but had not gone far
+before he came face to face with a Federal soldier who was evidently
+returning from a successful foray for plunder, for he was well laden
+with chickens and carried a bucket of honey. He began questioning
+Fontain with a curiosity that threatened unpleasant consequences, and
+the alert scout ended the colloquy with a pistol bullet which struck the
+plunderer squarely in the forehead. Leaving him stretched on the path,
+with his poultry and honey beside him, Fontain made all haste from that
+dangerous locality.
+
+Reaching a settlement at a distance from the stream, he hired a guide to
+lead him to Hankerson's Ferry, on the Big Black River, promising him
+fifty dollars if he would take him there without following any road.
+They proceeded till near the ferry, when Fontain sent his guide ahead to
+learn if any of the enemy were in that vicinity. But there was something
+about the manner and talk of the man that excited his suspicion, and as
+soon as the fellow was gone he sought a hiding-place from which he could
+watch his return. The man was gone much longer than appeared necessary.
+At length he came back alone and reported that the track was clear,
+there being no Yankees near the ferry.
+
+Paying and dismissing the guide, without showing his suspicions, Fontain
+took good care not to obey his directions, but selected his course so as
+to approach the river at a point above the ferry. By doing so he escaped
+a squad of soldiers that seemed posted to intercept him, for as he
+entered the road near the river bank a sentinel rose not more than ten
+feet away and bade him to halt. He seemed to form the right flank of a
+line of sentinels posted to command the ferry.
+
+It was a time for quick and decisive action. Fontain had approached,
+pistol in hand, and as the man hailed he felled him with a bullet, then
+wheeled his horse and set out at full gallop up the stream. A shower of
+balls followed him, one of them striking his right hand and wounding all
+four of its fingers. Another grazed his right leg and a third cut a hole
+through his sword scabbard. The horse fared worse, for no fewer than
+seven bullets struck it. Keeling from its wounds it still had strength
+to bear up for a mile, when it fell and died.
+
+He had outridden his foes, who were all on foot, and, dividing his arms
+and clothes into two packages, he trusted himself to the waters of the
+Big Black, which he swam in safety. On the other side he was in friendly
+territory, and did not walk far before he came to the house of a
+patriotic Southern woman, who loaned him the only horse she had. It was
+a stray one which had come to her place after the Yankee foragers had
+carried off all the horses she owned.
+
+Fontain was now in a safe region. His borrowed horse carried him to
+Raymond by two o'clock the next morning, and was here changed for a
+fresh one, which enabled him to reach Jackson during the forenoon. Here
+he delivered his despatch to General Johnston, having successfully
+performed a feat which, in view of its difficulties and his physical
+disability, may well be classed as phenomenal.
+
+
+
+
+_GORDON AND THE BAYONET CHARGE AT ANTIETAM._
+
+
+In the opening chapter of General John B. Gordon's interesting
+"Reminiscences of the Civil War" he tells us that the bayonet, so far as
+he knew, was very rarely used in that war, and never effectively. The
+bayonet, the lineal descendant of the lance and spear of far-past
+warfare, had done remarkable service in its day, but with the advent of
+the modern rifle its day ended, except as a weapon useful in repelling
+cavalry charges or defending hollow squares. Fearful as their glittering
+and bristling points appeared when levelled in front of a charging line,
+bayonets were rarely reddened with the blood of an enemy in the Civil
+War, and the soldiers of that desperate conflict found them more useful
+as tools in the rapid throwing up of light earthworks than as weapons
+for use against their foes.
+
+Later in his work Gordon gives a case in point, in his vivid description
+of a bayonet charge upon the line under his command on the bloody field
+of Antietam. This is well worth repeating as an illustration of the
+modern ineffectiveness of the bayonet, and also as a story of thrilling
+interest in itself. As related by Gordon, there are few incidents in
+the war which surpass it in picturesqueness and vitality.
+
+The battle of Antietam was a struggle unsurpassed for its desperate and
+deadly fierceness in the whole war, the losses, in comparison with the
+numbers engaged, being the greatest of any battle-field of the conflict.
+The plain in which it was fought was literally bathed in blood.
+
+It is not our purpose to describe this battle, but simply that portion
+of it in which General Gordon's troops were engaged. For hour after hour
+a desperate struggle continued on the left of Lee's lines, in which
+charge and counter-charge succeeded each other, until the green corn
+which had waved there looked as if had been showered upon by a rain of
+blood. But during those hours of death not a shot had been fired upon
+the centre. Here General Gordon's men held the most advanced position,
+and were without a supporting line, their post being one of imminent
+danger in case of an assault in force.
+
+As the day passed onward the battle on the left at length lulled, both
+sides glad of an interval of rest. That McClellan's next attempt would
+be made upon the centre General Lee felt confident, and he rode thither
+to caution the leaders and bid them to hold their ground at any
+sacrifice. A break at that point, he told them, might prove ruinous to
+the army. He especially charged Gordon to stand stiffly with his men, as
+his small force would feel the first brunt of the expected assault.
+Gordon, alike to give hope to Lee and to inspire his own men, said in
+reply,--
+
+"These men are going to stay here, general, till the sun goes down or
+victory is won."
+
+Lee's military judgment, as usual, was correct. He had hardly got back
+to the left of his line when the assault predicted by him came. It was a
+beautiful and brilliant day, scarcely a cloud mantling the sky. Down the
+slope opposite marched through the clear sunlight a powerful column of
+Federal troops. Crossing the little Antietam Creek they formed in column
+of assault, four lines deep. Their commander, nobly mounted, placed
+himself at their right, while the front line came to a "charge bayonets"
+and the other lines to a "right shoulder shift." In the rear front the
+band blared out martial music to give inspiration to the men. To the
+Confederates, looking silently and expectantly on the coming corps, the
+scene was one of thrilling interest. It might have been one of terror
+but for their long training in such sights.
+
+Who were these men so spick and span in their fresh blue uniforms, in
+strange contrast to the ragged and soiled Confederate gray? Every man of
+them wore white gaiters and neat attire, while the dust and smoke of
+battle had surely never touched the banners that floated above their
+heads. Were they new recruits from some military camp, now first to test
+their training in actual war? In the sunlight the long line of bayonets
+gleamed like burnished silver. As if fresh from the parade-ground they
+advanced with perfect alignment, their steps keeping martial time to the
+steady beat of the drum. It was a magnificent spectacle as the line
+advanced, a show of martial beauty which it seemed a shame to destroy by
+the rude hand of war.
+
+One thing was evident to General Gordon. His opponent proposed to trust
+to the bayonet and attempt to break through Lee's centre by the sheer
+weight of his deep charging column. It might be done. Here were four
+lines of blue marching on the one in gray. How should the charge be met?
+By immediate and steady fire, or by withholding his fire till the lines
+were face to face, and then pouring upon the Federals a blighting storm
+of lead? Gordon decided on the latter, believing that a sudden and
+withering burst of deadly hail in the faces of men with empty guns would
+be more than any troops could stand.
+
+All the horses were sent to the rear and the men were ordered to lie
+down in the grass, they being told by their officers that the Federals
+were coming with unloaded guns, trusting to the bayonet, and that not a
+shot must be heard until the word "Fire!" was given. This would not be
+until the Federals were close at hand. In the old Revolutionary phrase,
+they must wait "till they saw the whites of their eyes."
+
+On came the long lines, still as steady and precise in movement as if
+upon holiday drill. Not a rifle-shot was heard. Neither side had
+artillery at this point, and no roar of cannon broke the strange
+silence. The awaiting boys in gray grew eager and impatient and had to
+be kept in restraint by their officers. "Wait! wait for the word!" was
+the admonition. Yet it was hard to lie there while that line of bayonets
+came closer and closer, until the eagles on the buttons of the blue
+coats could be seen, and at length the front rank was not twenty yards
+away.
+
+The time had come. With all the power of his lungs Gordon shouted out
+the word "Fire!" In an instant there burst from the prostrate line a
+blinding blaze of light, and a frightful hail of bullets rent through
+the Federal ranks. Terrible was the effect of that consuming volley.
+Almost the whole front rank of the foe seemed to go down in a mass. The
+brave commander and his horse fell in a heap together. In a moment he
+was on his feet; it was the horse, not the man, that the deadly bullet
+had found.
+
+In an instant more the recumbent Confederates were on their feet, an
+appalling yell bursting from their throats as they poured new volleys
+upon the Federal lines. No troops on earth could have faced that fire
+without a chance to reply. Their foes bore unloaded guns. Not a bayonet
+had reached the breast for which it was aimed. The lines recoiled,
+though in good order for men swept by such a blast of death. Large
+numbers of them had fallen, yet not a drop of blood had been lost by one
+of Gordon's men.
+
+The gallant man who led the Federals was not yet satisfied that the
+bayonet could not break the ranks of his foes. Reforming his men, now in
+three lines, he led them again with empty guns to the charge. Again they
+were driven back with heavy loss. With extraordinary persistence he
+clung to his plan of winning with the bayonet, coming on again and again
+until four fruitless charges had been made on Gordon's lines, not a man
+in which had fallen, while the Federal loss had been very heavy. Not
+until convinced by this sanguinary evidence that the day of the bayonet
+was past did he order his men to load and open fire on the hostile
+lines. It was an experiment in an obsolete method of warfare which had
+proved disastrous to those engaged in it.
+
+[Illustration: GORDON HOUSE.]
+
+In the remaining hours of that desperate conflict Gordon and his men had
+another experience to face. The fire from both sides grew furious and
+deadly, and at nightfall, when the carnage ceased, so many of the
+soldiers in gray had fallen that, as one of the officers afterward said,
+he could have walked on the dead bodies of the men from end to end of
+the line. How true this was Gordon was unable to say, for by this time
+he was himself a wreck, fairly riddled with bullets.
+
+As he tells us, his previous record was remarkably reversed in this
+fight, and we cannot better close our story than with a description of
+his new experience. He had hitherto seemed almost to bear a charmed
+life. While numbers had fallen by his side in battle, and his own
+clothing had been often pierced and torn by balls and fragments of
+shells, he had not lost a drop of blood, and his men looked upon him as
+one destined by fate not to be killed in battle. "They can't hit him;"
+"He's as safe in one place as another," form a type of the expressions
+used by them, and Gordon grew to have much the same faith in his
+destiny, as he passed through battle after battle unharmed.
+
+At Antietam the record was decidedly broken. The first volley from the
+Federal troops sent a bullet whirling through the calf of his right leg.
+Soon after another ball went through the same leg, at a higher point. As
+no bone was broken, he was still able to walk along the line and
+encourage his men to bear the deadly fire which was sweeping their
+lines. Later in the day a third ball came, this passing through his arm,
+rending flesh and tendons, but still breaking no bone. Through his
+shoulder soon came a fourth ball, carrying a wad of clothing into the
+wound. The men begged their bleeding commander to leave the field, but
+he would not flinch, though fast growing faint from loss of blood.
+
+Finally came the fifth ball, this time striking him in the face, and
+passing out, just missing the jugular vein. Falling, he lay unconscious
+with his face in his cap, into which poured the blood from his wound
+until it threatened to smother him. It might have done so but for still
+another ball, which pierced the cap and let out the blood.
+
+When Gordon was borne to the rear he had been so seriously wounded and
+lost so much blood that his case seemed hopeless. Fortunately for him,
+his faithful wife had followed him to the war and now became his nurse.
+As she entered the room, with a look of dismay on seeing him, Gordon,
+who could scarcely speak from the condition of his face, sought to
+reassure her with, the faintly articulated words, "Here's your handsome
+husband; been to an Irish wedding."
+
+It was providential for him that he had this faithful and devoted nurse
+by his side. Only her earnest and incessant care saved him to join the
+war again. Day and night she was beside him, and when erysipelas
+attacked his wounded arm and the doctors told her to paint the arm above
+the wound three or four times a day with iodine, she obeyed by painting
+it, as he thought, three or four hundred times a day. "Under God's
+providence," he says, "I owe my life to her incessant watchfulness night
+and day, and to her tender nursing through weary weeks and anxious
+months."
+
+
+
+
+_THE LAST TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON._
+
+
+The story of the battle of Chancellorsville and of Jackson's famous
+flank movement, with its disastrous result to Hooker's army, and to the
+Confederates in the loss of their beloved leader, has been often told.
+But these narratives are from the outside; we propose to give one here
+from the inside, in the graphic description of Heros Von Borcke, General
+J. E. B. Stuart's chief of staff, who took an active part in the
+stirring events of that critical 2d of May, 1863.
+
+It is a matter of general history how General Hooker led his army across
+the Rappahannock into that ugly region at Chancellorsville, with its
+morasses, hills, and ravines, its dense forest of scrub-oaks and pines,
+and its square miles of tangled undergrowth, which was justly known as
+The Wilderness; and how he strongly intrenched himself against an attack
+in front, with breastworks of logs and an abattis of felled trees. It is
+equally familiar how Lee, well aware of the peril of attacking these
+formidable works, accepted the bold plan of Stonewall Jackson, who
+proposed to make a secret flank movement and fall with his entire corps
+on Hooker's undefended rear. This was a division of Lee's army which
+might have led to disaster and destruction; but he had learned to trust
+in Jackson's star. He accordingly made vigorous demonstrations in
+Hooker's front, in order to attract his attention and keep him employed,
+while Jackson was marching swiftly and stealthily through the thick
+woods, with Stuart's cavalry between him and the foe, to the Orange
+plank-road, four miles westward from Chancellorsville. With this
+introductory sketch of the situation we leave the details of the march
+to Von Borcke.
+
+"All was bustle and confusion as I galloped along the lines on the
+morning of the 2d, to obtain, according to Stuart's orders, the latest
+instructions for our cavalry from General Lee, who was located at a
+distance of some miles to our right. Anderson's and McLaws's
+sharp-shooters were advancing and already exchanging shots with the
+enemy's skirmishers--the line of battle of these two divisions having
+been partially extended over the space previously occupied by Jackson's
+corps, that they might cover its movements.
+
+"This splendid corps meanwhile was marching in close columns in a
+direction which set us all wondering what could be the intentions of old
+Stonewall; but as we beheld him riding along, heading the troops
+himself, we should as soon have thought of questioning the sagacity of
+our admired chief as of hesitating to follow him blindly wherever he
+should lead. The orders of the cavalry were to report to Jackson and to
+form his advanced-guard; and in that capacity we marched silently along
+through the forest, taking a small by-road, which brought us several
+times so near the enemy's lines that the stroke of axes, mingled with
+the hum of voices from their camp, was distinctly audible.
+
+"Thus commenced the famous flank march which, more than any other
+operation of the war, proved the brilliant strategical talents of
+General Lee and the consummate ability of his lieutenant. About two
+o'clock a body of Federal cavalry came in sight, making, however, but
+slight show of resistance, and falling back slowly before us. By about
+four o'clock we had completed our movement without encountering any
+material obstacle, and reached a patch of woods in rear of the enemy's
+right wing, formed by the Eleventh Corps, Howard's, which was encamped
+in a large open field not more than half a mile distant.
+
+"Halting here, the cavalry threw forward a body of skirmishers to occupy
+the enemy's attention, while the divisions of Jackson's corps--A. P.
+Hill's, Colston's, and Rode's, numbering in all about twenty-eight
+thousand men--moved into line of battle as fast as they arrived. Ordered
+to reconnoitre the position of the Federals, I rode cautiously forward
+through the forest, and reached a point whence I obtained a capital view
+of the greater part of the troops, whose attitude betokened how totally
+remote was any suspicion that a numerous host was so near at hand.
+
+"It was evident that the whole movement we had thus so successfully
+executed was regarded as merely an unimportant cavalry raid, for only a
+few squadrons were drawn up in line to oppose us, and a battery of four
+guns were placed in a position to command the plank-road from Germana,
+over which we had been marching for the last two hours. The main body of
+the troops were listlessly reposing, while some regiments were looking
+on, drawn up on dress parade; artillery horses were quietly grazing at
+some distance from their guns, and the whole scene presented a picture
+of the most perfect heedlessness and nonchalance, compatible only with
+utter unconsciousness of impending danger.
+
+"While complacently gazing on this extraordinary spectacle, somewhat
+touched myself apparently with the spell of listless incaution in which
+our antagonists were locked, I was startled with the sound of closely
+approaching footsteps, and, turning in their direction, beheld a patrol
+of six or eight of the enemy's infantry just breaking through the bushes
+and gazing at me with most unmistakable astonishment. I had no time to
+lose here, that was certain; so quickly tugging my horse's head round in
+the direction of my line of retreat, and digging my spurs into his
+sides, I dashed off from before the bewildered Yankees, and was out of
+sight ere they had time to take steady aim, the bullets that came
+whizzing after me flying far wide of the mark.
+
+"On my return to the spot where I had left Stuart, I found him, with
+Jackson and the officers of their respective staffs, stretched out along
+the grass beneath a gigantic oak, and tranquilly discussing their plans
+for the impending battle which both seemed confidently to regard as
+likely to end in a great and important victory for our arms. Towards
+five o'clock Jackson's adjutant, Major Pendleton, galloped up to us and
+reported that the line of battle was formed and all was in readiness for
+immediate attack. Accordingly the order was at once given for the whole
+corps to advance. All hastened forthwith to their appointed posts,
+General Stuart and his staff joining the cavalry, which was to operate
+on the left of our infantry.
+
+"Scarcely had we got up to our men when the Confederate yell, which
+always preceded a charge, burst forth along our lines, and Jackson's
+veterans, who had been with difficulty held back till that moment,
+bounded forward towards the astounded and perfectly paralyzed enemy,
+while the thunder of our horse-artillery, on whom devolved the honor of
+opening the ball, reached us from the other extremity of the line. The
+more hotly we sought to hasten to the front, the more obstinately did we
+get entangled in the undergrowth, while our infantry moved on so rapidly
+that the Federals were already completely routed by the time we had got
+thoroughly quit of the forest.
+
+[Illustration: TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON.]
+
+"It was a strange spectacle that now greeted us. The whole of the
+Eleventh Corps had broken at the first shock of the attack; entire
+regiments had thrown down their arms, which were lying in regular lines
+on the ground, as if for inspection; suppers just prepared had been
+abandoned; tents, baggage, wagons, cannons, half-slaughtered oxen,
+covered the foreground in chaotic confusion, while in the background a
+host of many thousand Yankees were discerned scampering for their lives
+as fast as their limbs could carry them, closely followed by our men,
+who were taking prisoners by the hundreds, and scarcely firing a shot."
+
+That the story of panic here told is not too much colored by the
+writer's sympathy for his cause, may be seen by the following extract
+from Lossing's "Civil War in America," a work whose sympathies are
+distinctly on the other side. After saying that Jackson's march had not
+passed unobserved by the Federals, who looked on it as a retreat towards
+Richmond, and were preparing for a vigorous pursuit of the supposed
+fugitives, Lossing thus describes the Confederate onset and the Federal
+rout:
+
+"He (Jackson) had crossed the Orange plank-road, and, under cover of the
+dense jungle of the wilderness, had pushed swiftly northward to the old
+turnpike and beyond, feeling his enemy at every step. Then he turned his
+face towards Chancellorsville, and, just before six o'clock in the
+evening, he burst from the thickets with twenty-five thousand men, and,
+like a sudden, unexpected, and terrible tornado, swept on towards the
+flank and rear of Howard's corps, which occupied the National right; the
+game of the forest--deers, wild turkeys, and hares--flying wildly before
+him, and becoming to the startled Unionists the heralds of the
+approaching tempest of war. These mute messengers were followed by the
+sound of bugles; then by a few shots from approaching skirmishers; then
+by a tremendous yell from a thousand throats and a murderous fire from a
+strong battle line. Jackson, in heavy force, was upon the Eleventh Corps
+at the moment when the men were preparing for supper and repose, without
+a suspicion of danger near. Deven's division, on the extreme right,
+received the first blow, and almost instantly the surprised troops,
+panic-stricken, fled towards the rear, along the line of the corps,
+communicating their emotions of alarm to the other divisions.... In the
+wildest confusion the fugitives rushed along the road towards
+Chancellorsville, upon the position of General Carl Schurz, whose
+division had already retreated, in anticipation of the onset, and the
+turbulent tide of frightened men rolled back upon General A. Von
+Steinwehr, utterly regardless of the exertions of the commander of the
+corps and his subordinate officers to check their flight. Only a few
+regiments, less demoralized than the others, made resistance, and these
+were instantly scattered like chaff, leaving half their number dead or
+dying on the field."
+
+With this vivid picture of an army in a panic, we shall again take up
+Von Borcke's personal narrative at the point where we left it:
+
+"The broken nature of the ground was against all cavalry operations, and
+though we pushed forward with all our will, it was with difficulty we
+could keep up with Jackson's 'Foot-cavalry,' as this famous infantry was
+often called. Meanwhile, a large part of the Federal army, roused by the
+firing and the alarming reports from the rear, hastened to the field of
+action, and exerted themselves in vain to arrest the disgraceful rout of
+their comrades of the Eleventh Corps. Numerous batteries having now
+joined the conflict, a terrific cannonade roared along the lines, and
+the fury of the battle was soon at its full height. Towards dark a
+sudden pause ensued in the conflict, occasioned by Jackson giving orders
+for his lines to reform for the continuation of the combat, the rapid
+and prolonged pursuit of the enemy having thrown them into considerable
+confusion. Old Stonewall being thoroughly impressed with the conviction
+that in a few hours the enemy's whole forces would be defeated, and that
+their principal line of retreat would be in the direction of Ely's Ford,
+Stuart was ordered to proceed at once towards that point with a portion
+of his cavalry, in order to barricade the road and as much as possible
+impede the retrograde movement of the enemy.
+
+"In this operation we were joined by a North Carolina infantry regiment,
+which was already on its way towards the river. Leaving the greater part
+of the brigade behind us under Fitz Lee's command, we took only the
+First Virginia Cavalry with us, and, trotting rapidly along a small
+bypath, overtook the infantry about two miles from the ford. Riding with
+Stuart a little ahead of our men, I suddenly discovered, on reaching
+the summit of a slight rise in the road, a large encampment in the
+valley to our right, not more than a quarter of a mile from where we
+stood; and, farther still, on the opposite side of the river, more
+camp-fires were visible, indicating the presence of a large body of
+troops.
+
+"Calling a halt, the general and I rode cautiously forward to
+reconnoitre the enemy a little more closely, and we managed to approach
+near enough to hear distinctly the voices and distinguish the figures of
+the men sitting around their fires or strolling through the camp. The
+unexpected presence of so large a body of the enemy immediately in our
+path entirely disconcerted our previous arrangements. Nevertheless
+Stuart determined on giving them a slight surprise and disturbing their
+comfort by a few volleys from our infantry. Just as the regiment,
+mustering about a thousand, had formed into line according to orders,
+and was prepared to advance on the enemy, two officers of General A. P.
+Hill's staff rode up in great haste and excitement, and communicated
+something in a low tone to General Stuart, by which he seemed greatly
+startled and affected.
+
+"'Take the command of that regiment, and act on your own
+responsibility,' were his whispered injunctions to me, as he immediately
+rode off, followed by the other officers and the cavalry at their
+topmost speed.
+
+"The thunder of the cannon, which for the last hour had increased in
+loudness, announced that Jackson had recommenced the battle, but as to
+the course or actual position of affairs I had not an iota of
+information, and my anxiety being moreover increased by the suddenness
+of Stuart's departure on some unknown emergency, I felt rather awkwardly
+situated. Here was I in the darkness of the night, in an unknown and
+thickly wooded country, some six miles from our main army, and opposite
+to a far superior force, whom I was expected to attack with troops whom
+I had never before commanded, and to whom I was scarcely known. I felt,
+however, that there was no alternative but blind obedience, so I
+advanced with the regiment to within about fifty yards of the enemy's
+encampment and gave the command to fire.
+
+"A hail of bullets rattled through the forest, and as volley after
+volley was fired, the confusion and dismay occasioned in the camp were
+indescribable. Soldiers and officers could be plainly seen by the light
+of the fires walking helplessly about, horses were galloping wildly in
+all directions, and the sound of bugles and drums mingled with the cries
+of the wounded and flying, who sought in the distant woods a shelter
+against the murderous fire of their unseen enemy. The troops whom we
+thus dispersed and put to flight consisted, as I was afterward informed,
+of the greater part of Averil's cavalry division, and a great number of
+the men of this command were so panic-stricken that they did mot
+consider themselves safe until they had reached the opposite side of
+the Rapidan, when they straggled off for miles all through Culpeper
+County.
+
+"Our firing had been kept up for about half an hour, and had by this
+time stirred up alarm in the camps on the other side of the river, the
+troops of which were marching on us from various directions.
+Accordingly, I gave orders to my North Carolinians to retire, leaving
+the task of bringing his command back to the colonel; while, anxious to
+rejoin Stuart as soon as I could, I galloped on ahead through the dark
+forest, whose solemn silence was only broken by the melancholy cry of
+hosts of whippoorwills. The firing had now ceased altogether, and all
+fighting seemed to have been entirely given up, which greatly increased
+my misgivings. After a tedious ride of nearly an hour over the field of
+battle, still covered with hundreds of wounded groaning in their agony,
+I at last discovered Stuart seated under a solitary plum-tree, busily
+writing despatches by the dim light of a lantern.
+
+"From General Stuart I now received the first intimation of the heavy
+calamity which had befallen us by the wounding of Jackson. After having
+instructed his men to fire at everything approaching from the direction
+of the enemy, in his eagerness to reconnoitre the position of the
+Federals, and entirely forgetting his own orders, he had been riding
+with his staff-officers outside our pickets, when, on their return,
+being mistaken for the enemy, the little party were received by a South
+Carolina regiment with a volley that killed or wounded nearly every man
+of them and laid low our beloved Stonewall himself. The Federals
+advancing at the same time, a severe skirmish ensued, in the course of
+which one of the bearers of the litter on which the general was being
+carried was killed, and Jackson fell heavily to the ground, receiving
+soon afterward a second wound. For a few minutes, in fact, the general
+was in the hands of the enemy, but his men, becoming aware of his
+perilous position, rushed forward, and, speedily driving back the
+advancing foe, carried their wounded commander to the rear."
+
+Jackson received three balls, one in the right hand and two in the left
+arm, one of these shattering the bone just below the shoulder and
+severing an artery. He was borne to the Wilderness tavern, where a
+Confederate hospital had been established, and there his arm was
+amputated. Eight days after receiving his wounds, on the 10th of May, he
+died, an attack of pneumonia being the chief cause of his death. His
+last words were, as a smile of ineffable sweetness passed over his pale
+face, "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the
+trees."
+
+Thus died the man who was justly named the "right hand" of General Lee,
+and whose death converted his last great victory into a serious disaster
+for the Confederate cause, the loss of a leader like Stonewall Jackson
+being equivalent to the destruction of an army.
+
+
+
+
+_JOHN MORGAN'S FAMOUS RAID._
+
+
+The romance of war dwells largely upon the exploits of partisan leaders,
+men with a roving commission to do business on their own account, and in
+whose ranks are likely to gather the dare-devils of the army, those who
+love to come and go as they please, and leave a track of adventure and
+dismay behind them. There were such leaders in both armies during the
+Civil War, and especially in that of the South; and among the most
+daring and successful of them was General John H. Morgan, whose famous
+raid through Indiana and Ohio it is our purpose here to describe.
+
+Morgan was a son of the people, not of the aristocratic cavalier class,
+but was just the man to make his mark in a conflict of this character,
+being richly supplied by nature with courage, daring, and
+self-possession in times of peril. He became a cavalry leader in the
+regular service, but was given a free foot to control his own movements,
+and had gathered about him a body of men of his own type, with whom he
+roamed about with a daring and audacity that made him a terror to the
+enemy.
+
+Morgan's most famous early exploit was his invasion of Kentucky in 1862,
+in which he kept the State in a fever of apprehension during most of
+the summer, defeating all who faced him and venturing so near to
+Cincinnati that the people of that city grew wild with apprehension.
+Only the sharp pursuit of General G. C. Smith, with a superior cavalry
+force, saved that rich city from being made an easy prey to Morgan and
+his men.
+
+As preliminary to our main story, we may give in brief one of Morgan's
+characteristic exploits. The town of Gallatin, twenty miles north of
+Nashville, was occupied by a small Federal force and seemed to Morgan to
+offer a fair field for one of his characteristic raids. His men were
+ready,--they always were for an enterprise promising danger and
+loot,--and they fell on the town with a swoop that quickly made them its
+masters and its garrison their captives.
+
+While the victors were paying themselves for their risk by spoiling the
+enemy, Morgan proceeded to the telegraph office, with the hope that he
+might find important despatches. So sudden had been the assault that the
+operator did not know that anything out of the usual had taken place,
+and took Morgan for a Northern officer. When asked what was going on, he
+replied,--
+
+"Nothing particular, except that we hear a good deal about the doings of
+that rebel bandit, Morgan. If he should happen to come across my path, I
+have pills enough here to satisfy him." He drew his revolver and
+flourished it bravely in the air.
+
+Morgan turned on the braggart with a look and tone that quite robbed him
+of his courage, saying, "I am Morgan! You are speaking to Morgan, you
+miserable wretch. Do you think you have any pills to spare for me?"
+
+The operator almost sank on his knees with terror, while the weapon fell
+from his nerveless hand.
+
+"Don't be scared," said the general. "I will not hurt you. But I want
+you to send off this despatch at once to Prentiss."
+
+The much-scared operator quickly ticked off the following message,--
+
+     "MR. PRENTISS,--As I learn at this telegraph office that you intend
+     to proceed to Nashville, perhaps you will allow me to escort you
+     there at the head of my troop."
+
+          "JOHN MORGAN."
+
+What effect this despatch had on Prentiss history sayeth not.
+
+With this preliminary account of Morgan and the character of his
+exploits, we proceed to the most famous incident of his career, his
+daring invasion of the North, one of the most stirring and exciting
+incidents of the war.
+
+The main purpose of this invasion is said to have been to contrive a
+diversion in favor of General Buckner, who proposed to make a dash
+across Kentucky and seize Louisville, and afterward, with Morgan's aid,
+to capture Cincinnati. It was also intended to form a nucleus for an
+armed counter-revolution in the Northwest, where the "Knights of the
+Golden Circle" and the "Sons of Liberty," associations in sympathy with
+the South, were strong. But with these ulterior purposes we have
+nothing here to do, our text being the incidents of the raid itself.
+
+General Morgan started on this bold adventure on June 27, 1863, with a
+force of several thousand mounted men, and with four pieces of
+artillery. The start was made from Sparta, Tennessee, where the swollen
+Cumberland was crossed in boats and canoes on the 1st and 2d of July,
+the horses, with some difficulty, being made to swim.
+
+After successful encounters with Jacob's cavalry and a troop of
+Wolford's cavalry, the adventurers pushed on, reaching the stockade at
+Green River Bridge on July 4. Here Colonel Moore was strongly intrenched
+with a small body of Michigan troops, and sent the following reply to
+Morgan's demand for a surrender: "If it was any other day I might
+consider the demand, but the 4th of July is a bad day to talk about
+surrender, and I must therefore decline."
+
+Moore proved quite capable, with the aid of his intrenchments, of making
+good his refusal, Morgan being repulsed, after a brisk engagement, with
+a loss of about sixty men, as estimated by Captain Cunningham, an
+officer of his staff. Lebanon was taken, after a severe engagement, on
+the 5th, yielding the Confederates a good supply of guns and ammunition,
+and the Ohio was reached, at Brandenburg, in a drenching rain, on the
+evening of the 7th. Here two steamers were seized and the whole force
+crossed on the next day to the Indiana shore.
+
+General Morgan's force had been swelled, by recruits gained in
+Kentucky, until it now numbered four thousand six hundred men, and its
+four guns had become ten. But he was being hotly pursued by General
+Hobson, who had hastily got on his track with a cavalry force stronger
+than his own. This reached the river to see the last of Morgan's men
+safe on the Indiana shore, and one of the steamers they had used
+floating, a mass of flames, down the stream.
+
+Hobson's loss of time in crossing the stream gave Morgan twenty-four
+hours' advance, which he diligently improved. The advance of Rosecrans
+against Bragg had prevented the proposed movement of Buckner to the
+north, and there remained for Morgan only an indefinite movement through
+the Northern States with the secondary hope of finding aid and sympathy
+there. It was likely to be an enterprise of the utmost peril, with
+Hobson hotly on his track, and the home-guards rising in his front, but
+the dauntless Morgan did not hesitate in his desperate adventure.
+
+The first check was at Corydon, where a force of militia had gathered.
+But these were quickly overpowered, the town was forced to yield its
+quota of spoil, three hundred fresh horses were seized, and Morgan
+adopted a shrewd system of collecting cash contributions from the
+well-to-do, demanding one thousand dollars from the owner of each mill
+and factory as a condition of saving their property from the flames. It
+may be said here that Corydon was the principal place in which any
+strong opposition was made by the people, the militia being concentrated
+at the large towns, which Morgan took care to avoid, pursuing his way
+through the panic-stricken villages and rural districts. There were
+other brushes with the home-guards, but none of much importance.
+
+The failure of the original purpose of the movement, and the brisk
+pursuit of the Federal cavalry, left Morgan little to hope for but to
+get in safety across the Ohio again. In addition to Hobson's cavalry
+force, General Judah's division was in active motion to intercept him,
+and the whole line of the Ohio swarmed with foes. The position of the
+raiders grew daily more desperate, but they rode gallantly on, trusting
+the result to destiny and the edge of their good swords.
+
+On swept Morgan and his men; on rushed Hobson and his troopers. But the
+former rode on fresh horses; the latter followed on jaded steeds. For
+five miles on each side of his line of march Morgan swept the country
+clear of horses, leaving his own weary beasts in their stead, while
+Hobson's force, finding no remounts, grew steadily less in number from
+the exhaustion of his horses. The people, through fear, even fed and
+watered the horses of Morgan's men with the greatest promptness, thus
+adding to the celerity of his movements.
+
+Some anecdotes of the famous ride may here be fitly given. At one point
+on his ride through Indiana Morgan left the line of march with three
+hundred and fifty of his men to visit a small town, the main body
+marching on. Dashing into the place, he found a body of some three
+hundred home-guards, each with a good horse. They were dismounted and
+their horses tied to the fences. Their captain, a confiding individual,
+on the wrong side of sixty, looked with surprise at this irruption, and
+asked,--
+
+"Whose company is this?"
+
+"Wolford's cavalry," was the reply.
+
+"What? Kentucky boys? Glad to see you. Where's Wolford?"
+
+"There he sits," answered the man, pointing to Morgan, who was
+carelessly seated sideways on his horse. Walking up to Wolford,--as he
+thought him,--the Indiana captain saluted him,--
+
+"Captain, how are you?"
+
+"Bully; how are you? What are you going to do with all these men and
+horses?"
+
+"Why, you see that horse-thieving John Morgan is in this part of the
+country, cutting up the deuce. Between you and me, captain, if he comes
+this way, we'll try and give him the best we've got in the shop."
+
+"You'll find him hard to catch. We've been after him for fourteen days
+and can't see him at all," said Morgan.
+
+"If our hosses would only stand fire we'd be all right."
+
+"They won't stand, eh?"
+
+"Not for shucks. I say, captain, I'd think it a favor if you and your
+men would put your saddles on our hosses, and give our lads a little
+idea of a cavalry drill. They say you're prime at that."
+
+"Why, certainly; anything to accommodate. I think we can show you some
+useful evolutions."
+
+Little time was lost in changing the saddles from the tired to the fresh
+horses, the hoosier boys aiding in the work, and soon the Confederates,
+delighted with the exchange, were in their saddles and ready for the
+word. Morgan rode up and down the column, then moved to the front, took
+off his hat, and said,--
+
+"All right now, captain. If you and your men will form a double line
+along the road and watch us, we will try to show you a movement you have
+never seen."
+
+The captain gave the necessary order to his men, who drew up in line.
+
+"Are you ready?" asked Morgan.
+
+"All right, Wolford."
+
+"Forward!" shouted Morgan, and the column shot ahead at a rattling pace,
+soon leaving nothing in sight but a cloud of dust. When the news became
+whispered among the astonished hoosiers that the polite visitor was
+Morgan instead of Wolford, there was gnashing of teeth in that town,
+despite the fact that each man had been left a horse in exchange for his
+own.
+
+As Morgan rode on he continued his polite method of levying a tax from
+the mill-owners instead of burning their property. At Salem, the next
+place after leaving Corydon, he collected three thousand dollars from
+three mill-owners. Capturing, at another time, Washington De Pauw, a man
+of large wealth, he said to him,--
+
+"Sir, do you consider your flour-mill worth two thousand dollars?"
+
+De Pauw thought it was worth that.
+
+"Very well; you can save it for that much money."
+
+De Pauw promptly paid the cash.
+
+"Now," said Morgan, "do you think your woollen-mill worth three thousand
+dollars?"
+
+"Yes," said De Pauw, with more hesitation.
+
+"You can buy it from us for that sum."
+
+The three thousand dollars was paid over less willingly, and the
+mill-owner was heartily glad that he had no other mills to redeem.
+
+Another threat to burn did not meet with as much success. Colonel
+Craven, of Ripley, who was taken prisoner, talked in so caustic a tone
+that Morgan asked where the colonel lived.
+
+"At Osgood," was the answer.
+
+"That little town on the railroad?"
+
+"Yes," said the colonel.
+
+"All right; I shall send a detachment there to burn the town."
+
+"Burn and be hanged!" said the colonel; "it isn't much of a town,
+anyhow."
+
+Morgan laughed heartily at the answer.
+
+"I like the way you talk, old fellow," he said, "and I guess your town
+can stand."
+
+As the ride went on Morgan had more and more cause for alarm. Hobson
+was hanging like a burr on his rear, rarely more than half a day's march
+behind--the lack of fresh horses kept him from getting nearer. Judah was
+on his flank, and had many of his men patrolling the Ohio. The governors
+had called for troops, and the country was rising on all sides. The Ohio
+was now the barrier between him and safety, and Morgan rode thither at
+top speed, striking the river on the 19th at Buffington Ford, above
+Pomeroy, in Ohio. For the past week, as Cunningham says, "every
+hill-side contained an enemy and every ravine a blockade, and we reached
+the river dispirited and worn down."
+
+At the river, instead of safety, imminent peril was found. Hundreds of
+Judah's men were on the stream in gunboats to head him off. Hobson,
+Wolford, and other cavalry leaders were closing in from behind. The
+raiders seemed environed by enemies, and sharp encounters began. Judah
+struck them heavily in flank. Hobson assailed them in the rear, and,
+hemmed in on three sides and unable to break through the environing
+lines, five hundred of the raiders, under Dick Morgan and Ward, were
+forced to surrender.
+
+"Seeing that the enemy had every advantage of position," says
+Cunningham, "an overwhelming force of infantry and cavalry, and that we
+were becoming completely environed in the meshes of the net set for us,
+the command was ordered to move up the river at double-quick, ... and
+we moved rapidly off the field, leaving three companies of dismounted
+men, and perhaps two hundred sick and wounded, in the enemy's
+possession. Our cannon were undoubtedly captured at the river."
+
+Morgan now followed the line of the stream, keeping behind the hills out
+of reach of the gunboat fire, till Bealville, fourteen miles above, was
+reached. Here he rode to the stream, having distanced the gunboats, and
+with threats demanded aid from the people in crossing. Flats and scows
+were furnished for only about three hundred of the men, who managed to
+cross before the gunboats appeared in sight. Others sought to cross by
+swimming. In this effort Cunningham had the following experience:
+
+"My poor mare being too weak to carry me, turned over and commenced
+going down; encumbered by clothes, sabre, and pistols, I made but poor
+progress in the turbid stream. But the recollections of home, of a
+bright-eyed maiden in the sunny South, and an inherent love of life,
+actuated me to continue swimming.... But I hear something behind me
+snorting! I feel it passing! Thank God, I am saved! A riderless horse
+dashes by; I grasp his tail; onward he bears me, and the shore is
+reached!" And thus Cunningham passes out of the story.
+
+The remainder of the force fled inland, hotly pursued, fighting a
+little, burning bridges, and being at length brought to bay, surrounded
+by foes, and forced to surrender, except a small party with Morgan
+still at their head. Escape for these seemed hopeless. For six days more
+they rode onward, in a desperate effort to reach the Ohio at some
+unguarded point. They were sharply pursued, and, at length, on Sunday,
+July 26, found themselves very hotly pressed. Along one road dashed
+Morgan, at the full speed of his mounts. Over a road at right angles
+rushed Major Rue, thundering along. It was a sharp burst for the
+intersection. Morgan reached it first, and Rue thought he had escaped.
+But the major knew the country like a book. His horses were fresh and
+Morgan's were jaded. Another tremendous dash was made for the Beaver
+Creek road, and this the major reached a little ahead.
+
+It was all up now with the famous raid. Morgan's men were too few to
+break through the intercepting force. He made the bluff of sending a
+flag with a demand to surrender; but Rue couldn't see it in that light,
+and a few minutes afterward Morgan rode up to him, saying, "You have
+beat me this time," and expressing himself as gratified that a
+Kentuckian was his captor.
+
+A mere fragment of the command remained, the others having been
+scattered and picked up at various points, and thus ended the career, in
+capture or death, of nearly all the more than four thousand bold raiders
+who had crossed the Ohio three weeks before. They had gained fame, but
+with captivity as its goal.
+
+Morgan and several of his officers were taken to Columbus, the capital
+of Ohio, and were there confined in felon cells in the penitentiary.
+Four months afterward the leader and six of his captains escaped and
+made their way in safety to the Confederate lines. Here is the story in
+outline of how they got free from durance vile.
+
+Two small knives served them for tools, with which they dug through the
+floors of their cells, composed of cement and nine inches of brickwork,
+and in this way reached an air-chamber below. They had now only to dig
+through the soft earth under the foundation walls of the penitentiary
+and open a passage into the yard. They had furnished themselves with a
+strong rope, made of their bed-clothes, and with this they scaled the
+walls. In some way they had procured citizen's clothes, so that those
+who afterward saw them had no suspicion.
+
+In the cell Morgan left the following note: "Cell No. 20. November 20,
+1863. Commencement, November 4, 1863. Conclusion, November 20, 1863.
+Number of hours of labor per day, three. Tools, two small knives. _La
+patience est amère, mais son fruit est doux_ [Patience is bitter, but
+its fruit is sweet]. By order of my six honorable confederates."
+
+Morgan and Captain Hines went immediately to the railroad station (at
+one o'clock in the morning) and boarded a train going towards
+Cincinnati. When near this city, they went to the rear car, slackened
+the speed by putting on the brake, and jumped off, making their way to
+the Ohio. Here they induced a boy to row them across, and soon found
+shelter with friends in Kentucky.
+
+A reward of one thousand dollars was offered for Morgan, "alive or
+dead," but the news of the ovation with which he was soon after received
+in Richmond proved to his careless jailers that he was safely beyond
+their reach.
+
+A few words will finish the story of Morgan's career. He was soon at the
+head of a troop again, annoying the enemy immensely in Kentucky. One of
+his raiding parties, three hundred strong, actually pushed General
+Hobson, his former pursuer, into a bend of the Licking River, and
+captured him with twelve hundred well-armed men. This was Morgan's last
+exploit. Soon afterward he, with a portion of his staff, were surrounded
+when in a house at Greenville by Union troops, and the famous
+Confederate leader was shot dead while seeking to escape.
+
+
+
+
+_HOME-COMING OF GENERAL LEE AND HIS VETERANS._
+
+
+Sad is defeat, and more than sad was the last march of General Lee's
+gallant army after its four years of heroic struggle, as it despondently
+made its way along the Virginian roads westward from the capital city
+which it had defended so long and valiantly. It was the verdant
+spring-tide, but the fresh green foliage had no charms for the
+heart-broken and starving men, whose food supplies had grown so low that
+they were forced to gnaw the young shoots of the trees for sustenance.
+It is not our purpose here to tell what followed the surrounding of the
+fragment of an army by an overwhelming force of foes, the surrender and
+parole, and the dispersion of the veteran troops to the four winds, but
+to confine ourselves to the homeward journey of General Lee and a few of
+his veterans.
+
+Shortly after the surrender, General Lee returned to Richmond, riding
+slowly from the scene on his iron-gray war-horse, "Traveller," which had
+borne him so nobly through years of battle and siege. His parting with
+his soldiers was pathetic, and everywhere on his road to Richmond he
+received tokens of admiration and respect from friend and foe. Reaching
+Richmond, he and his companions passed sadly through a portion of the
+city which exhibited a distressing scene of blackened ruins from the
+recent conflagration. As he passed onward he was recognized, and the
+people flocked to meet him, cheering and waving hats and handkerchiefs.
+The general, to whom this ovation could not have been agreeable, simply
+raised his hat in response to the greetings of the citizens, and rode on
+to his residence in Franklin Street. The closing of its doors upon his
+retiring form was the final scene in that long drama of war of which for
+years he had been the central figure. He had returned to that private
+family life for which his soul had yearned even in the most active
+scenes of the war.
+
+It is our purpose here to reproduce a vivid personal account of the
+adventures of some of the retiring soldiers, especially as General Lee
+bore a part in their experiences. The narrative given is the final one
+of a series of incidents in the life of the private soldier, related by
+Private Carlton McCarthy. These papers, in their day, were widely read
+and much admired, and an extract from them cannot fail still to be of
+interest. We take up the story of the "Brave Survivors, homeward bound:"
+
+"Early in the morning of Wednesday, the 12th of April, without the
+stirring drum or the bugle call of old, the camp awoke to the new life.
+Whether or not they had a country, these soldiers did not know. Home to
+many, when they reached it, was graves and ashes. At any rate, there
+must be, somewhere on earth, a better place than a muddy, smoky camp in
+a piece of scrubby pines; better company than gloomy, hungry comrades
+and inquisitive enemies, and something in the future more exciting, if
+not more hopeful, than nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep, nothing to do,
+and nowhere to go. The disposition to start was apparent, and the
+preparations were promptly begun.
+
+"To roll up the old blanket and oil-cloth, gather up the haversack,
+canteen, axe, perhaps, and a few trifles,--in time of peace of no
+value,--eat the fragments that remained, and light a pipe, was the work
+of a few moments. This slight employment, coupled with pleasant
+anticipations of the unknown, and therefore possibly enjoyable future,
+served to restore somewhat the usual light-hearted manner of soldiers
+and relieve the final farewells of much of their sadness. There was even
+a smack of hope and cheerfulness as the little groups sallied out into
+the world to combat they scarcely knew what. As we cannot follow all
+these groups, we will join ourselves to one and see them home.
+
+"Two 'brothers-in-arms,' whose objective-point is Richmond, take the
+road on foot. They have nothing to eat and no money. They are bound for
+their home in a city which, when they last heard from it, was in flames.
+What they will see when they arrive there they cannot imagine, but the
+instinctive love of home urges them. They walk on steadily and rapidly,
+and are not diverted by surroundings. It does not even occur to them
+that their situation, surrounded on all sides by armed enemies and
+walking a road crowded by them, is at all novel. They are suddenly
+aroused to a sense of their situation by a sharp 'Halt! Show your
+parole.' They had struck the cordon of picket-posts which surrounded the
+surrendered army. It was the first exercise of authority by the Federal
+army. A sergeant, accompanied by a couple of muskets, stepped into the
+road, with a modest air examined the paroles, and said, quietly, 'Pass
+on.'
+
+[Illustration: LEE'S HOUSE AT RICHMOND.]
+
+"This strictly military part of the operation being over, the social
+commenced. As the two 'survivors' passed on they were followed by
+numerous remarks, such as, 'Hello, Johnny! I say--going home?' 'Ain't
+you glad?' They made no reply, these wayfarers, but they _thought_ some
+very emphatic remarks.
+
+"From this point 'on to Richmond' was the grand thought. Steady work it
+was. The road, strangely enough, considering the proximity of two
+armies, was quite lonesome, and not an incident of interest occurred
+during the day. Darkness found the two comrades still pushing on.
+
+"Some time after dark a light was seen a short distance ahead, and there
+was a 'sound of revelry.' On approaching, the light was seen to proceed
+from a large fire, built on the floor of an old and dilapidated
+outhouse, and surrounded by a ragged, hungry, singing, and jolly crowd
+of paroled prisoners of the Army of Northern Virginia, who had gotten
+possession of a quantity of cornmeal and were waiting for the ash-cakes
+then in the ashes. Being liberal, they offered the new-comers some of
+their bread. Being hungry, they accepted and ate their first meal that
+day. Finding the party noisy and riotous, the comrades pushed on in the
+darkness after a short rest and spent the night on the road.
+
+"Thursday morning they entered the village of Buckingham Court-House,
+and traded a small pocket-mirror for a substantial breakfast. There was
+quite a crowd of soldiers gathered around a cellar-door, trying to
+persuade an ex-Confederate A. A. A. Commissary of Subsistence that he
+might as well, in view of the fact that the army had surrendered, let
+them have some of the stores; and, after considerable persuasion and
+some threats, he decided to forego the hope of keeping them for himself
+and told the men to help themselves. They did so.
+
+"As the two tramps were about to leave the village and were hurrying
+along the high-road which led through it, they saw a solitary horseman
+approaching from the rear. It was easy to recognize at once General Lee.
+He rode slowly, calmly along. As he passed an old tavern on the roadside
+some ladies and children waved their handkerchiefs, smiled, and wept.
+The general raised his eyes to the porch on which they stood, and,
+slowly raising his hand to his hat, lifted it slightly and as slowly
+again dropped his hand to his side. The 'survivors' did not weep, but
+they had strange sensations. They passed on, steering, so to speak, for
+Cartersville and the ferry.
+
+"Before leaving the village it was the sad duty of the 'survivors' to
+stop at the humble abode of Mrs. P. and tell her of the death of her
+husband, who fell mortally wounded, pierced by a musket-ball, near
+Sailor's Creek. She was also told that a companion who was by his side
+when he fell, but who was not able to stay with him, would come along
+soon and give her the particulars. That comrade came and repeated the
+story. In a few days the dead man reached home alive and scarcely hurt.
+He was originally an infantryman, recently transferred to artillery, and
+therefore wore a small knapsack, as infantry did. The ball struck the
+knapsack with a 'whack!' and knocked the man down. That was all."
+
+The night was spent in an old building near the ferry, and in the
+morning the ferryman cheerfully put them across the river without
+charge.
+
+"Soon after crossing, a good, silver-plated tablespoon, bearing the
+monogram of one of the travellers, purchased from an aged colored woman
+a large chunk of ash-cake and about half a gallon of buttermilk. This
+old darky had lived in Richmond in her younger days. She spoke of grown
+men and women there as 'chillun what I raised.' 'Lord! boss--does you
+know Miss Sadie? Well, I nussed her and I nussed all uv their chillun;
+that I did, sah. You chillun does look hawngry, that you does. Well,
+you's welcome to these vittles, and I'm pow'ful glad to git dis spoon.
+God bless you, honey!' A big log on the roadside furnished a comfortable
+seat for the consumption of the before-mentioned ash-cake and milk.
+
+"The feast was hardly begun when the tramp of a horse's hoofs were
+heard. Looking up, the 'survivors' saw with surprise General Lee
+approaching. He was entirely alone and rode slowly along. Unconscious
+that any one saw him, he was yet erect, dignified, and apparently as
+calm and peaceful as the fields and woods around him. Having caught
+sight of the occupants of the log, he kept his eyes fixed on them, and
+as he passed turned slightly, saluted, and said, in the most gentle
+manner, 'Good-morning, gentlemen; taking your breakfast?' The soldiers
+had only time to rise, salute, and say, 'Yes, sir,' and he was gone.
+
+"It seems that General Lee pursued the road which the 'survivors' chose,
+and, starting later than they, overtook them, he being mounted and they
+on foot. At any rate, it was their good fortune to see him three times
+on the road from Appomattox to Richmond. The incidents introducing
+General Lee are peculiarly interesting, and the reader may rest assured
+of the truthfulness of the narration as to what occurred and what was
+said and done.
+
+"After the feast of bread and milk, the no longer hungry men passed on.
+About the time when men who have eaten a hearty breakfast become again
+hungry,--as good fortune would have it happen,--they reached a house
+pleasantly situated, and a comfortable place withal. Approaching the
+house, they were met by an exceedingly kind, energetic, and hospitable
+woman. She promptly asked, 'You are not deserters?' 'No,' said the
+soldiers; 'we have our paroles; we are from Richmond; we are homeward
+bound, and called to ask if you could spare us a dinner.' 'Spare you a
+dinner? Certainly I can. My husband is a miller; his mill is right
+across the road there, down the hill, and I have been cooking all day
+for the poor, starving men. Take a seat on the porch there, and I will
+get you something to eat.'
+
+"By the time the travellers were seated, this admirable woman was in the
+kitchen at work. The 'pat-a-pat, pat, pat, pat, pat-a-pat, pat' of the
+sifter, and the cracking and 'fizzing' of the fat bacon as it fried,
+saluted their hungry ears, and the delicious smell tickled their
+olfactory nerves most delightfully. Sitting thus, entertained by
+delightful sounds, breathing the air and wrapped in meditation, or
+anticipation, rather, the soldiers saw the dust rise in the air and
+heard the sound of an approaching party.
+
+"Several horsemen rode up to the road-gate, threw their bridles over the
+posts or tied them to the overhanging boughs, and dismounted. They were
+evidently officers, well-dressed, fine-looking men, and about to enter
+the gate. Almost at once the men on the porch recognized General Lee and
+his son. They were accompanied by other officers. An ambulance had
+arrived at the gate also. Without delay they entered and approached the
+house, General Lee preceding the others. Satisfied that it was the
+general's intention to enter the house, the two 'brave survivors,'
+instinctively and respectfully venerating the approaching man,
+determined to give him and his companions the porch. As they were
+executing a rather rapid and undignified flank movement to gain the
+right and rear of the house, the voice of General Lee overhauled them
+thus, 'Where are you men going?' 'This lady has offered to give us a
+dinner, and we are waiting for it,' replied the soldiers. 'Well, you had
+better move on now--this gentleman will have quite a large party on him
+to-day,' said the general. The soldiers touched their caps, said, 'Yes,
+sir,' and retired, somewhat hurt, to a strong position on a hen-coop in
+the rear of the house. The party then settled on the porch.
+
+"The general had, of course, no authority, and the surrender of the
+porch was purely respectful. Knowing this, the soldiers were at first
+hurt, but a moment's reflection satisfied them that the general was
+right. He, no doubt, had suspicions of plunder, and these were increased
+by the movement of the men to the rear as he approached. He
+misinterpreted their conduct.
+
+"The lady of the house--_a reward for her name_--hearing the dialogue in
+the yard, pushed her head through the crack of the kitchen door and, as
+she tossed a lump of dough from hand to hand and gazed eagerly out,
+addressed the soldiers: 'Ain't that old General Lee?' 'Yes, General Lee
+and his son and other officers come to dine with you,' they replied.
+'Well,' she said, 'he ain't no better than the men that fought for him,
+and I don't reckon he is as hungry; so you just come in here. I am going
+to give you yours first, and then I'll get something for him.'
+
+"What a meal it was! Seated at the kitchen table, the large-hearted
+woman bustling about and talking away, the ravenous tramps attacked a
+pile of old Virginia hoecake and corn-dodger, a frying-pan with an inch
+of gravy and slices of bacon, streak of lean and streak of fat, very
+numerous. To finish--as much rich buttermilk as the drinkers could
+contain. With many heartfelt thanks the 'survivors' bade farewell to
+this immortal woman, and leaving the general and his party in the quiet
+possession of the front porch, pursued their way.
+
+"Night found the 'survivors' at the gate of a quiet, handsome, framed
+country residence. The weather was threatening, and it was desirable to
+have shelter as well as rest. Entering and knocking at the door, they
+were met by a servant girl. She was sent to her mistress with a request
+for permission to sleep on her premises. The servant returned, saying,
+'Mistis says she is a widder, and there ain't no gentleman in the house,
+and she can't let you come in.' She was sent with a second message,
+which informed the lady that the visitors were from Richmond, members of
+a certain company from there, and would be content with permission to
+sleep on the porch, in the stable, or in the barn. They would protect
+her property, etc., etc., etc.
+
+"This message brought the lady of the house to the door. She said, 'If
+you are members of the ---- ----, you must know my nephew, he was in that
+company. Of course they knew him, 'old chum,' 'comrade,' 'particular
+friend,' 'splendid fellow,' 'hope he was well when you heard from him;
+glad to meet you, madam.' These and similar hearty expressions brought
+the longed-for 'Come in, gentlemen. You are welcome. I will see that
+supper is prepared for you at once.' (Invitation accepted.)
+
+"The old haversacks were deposited in a corner under the steps and their
+owners conducted downstairs to a spacious dining-room, quite prettily
+furnished. A large table occupied the centre of the room, and at one
+side there was a handsome display of silver in a glass-front case. A
+good big fire lighted the room. The lady sat quietly working at some
+woman's work, and from time to time questioning, in a rather suspicious
+manner, her guests. Their direct answers satisfied her, and their
+respectful manner reassured her, so that by the time supper was brought
+in she was chatting and laughing with her 'defenders.'
+
+"The supper came in steaming hot. It was abundant, well prepared, and
+served elegantly. Splendid coffee, hot biscuit, luscious butter, fried
+ham, eggs, fresh milk! The writer could not expect to be believed if he
+should tell the quantity eaten at that meal. The good lady of the house
+enjoyed the sight. She relished every mouthful, and no doubt realized
+then and there the blessing which is conferred on hospitality, and the
+truth of that saying of old, 'It is more blessed to give than to
+receive.'
+
+"The wayfarers were finally shown to a neat little chamber. The bed was
+soft and glistening white; too white and clean to be soiled by the
+occupancy of two Confederate soldiers who had not had a change of
+underclothing for many weeks. They looked at it, felt of it, and then
+spread their old blankets on the neat carpet and slept there till near
+the break of day.
+
+"While it was yet dark the travellers, unwilling to lose time waiting
+for breakfast, crept out of the house, leaving their thanks for their
+kind hostess, and passed rapidly on to Manikin Town, on the James River
+and Kanawha Canal, half a day's march from Richmond, where they arrived
+while it was yet early morning. The greensward between the canal and
+river was inviting, and the 'survivors' laid there awhile to rest and
+determine whether or not they would push on to the city. They desired to
+do so as soon as they could find a breakfast to fit them for the day's
+march."
+
+In this venture they met with a new experience, the party applied to, a
+well-fed, hearty man, gruffly repulsing them, and complaining that some
+scoundrels had stolen his best horse the night before. He finally
+invited them in and set before them the bony remnants of some fish he
+had had for breakfast. Rising indignantly from the table, the veterans
+told their inhospitable host that they were not dogs, and would
+consider it an insult to the canine race to call him one. Apparently
+fearing that the story of his behavior to old soldiers would be spread
+to his discredit, he now apologized for the "mistake," and offered to
+have a breakfast cooked for them, but they were past being mollified,
+and left him with the most uncomplimentary epithets at the command of
+two old soldiers of four years' service.
+
+"At eleven A.M. of the same day two footsore, despondent, and penniless
+men stood facing the ruins of the home of a comrade who had sent a
+message to his mother. 'Tell mother I am coming.' The ruins yet smoked.
+A relative of the lady whose home was in ashes, and whose son said, 'I
+am coming,' stood by the 'survivors.' 'Well, then,' he said, 'it must
+be true that General Lee has surrendered.' The solemnity of the remark,
+coupled with the certainty in the minds of the 'survivors,' was almost
+amusing. The relative pointed out the temporary residence of the mother,
+and thither the 'survivors' wended their way.
+
+"A knock at the door startled the mother, and with agony in her eyes she
+appeared at the opened door, exclaiming, 'My poor boys!' 'Are safe and
+coming home,' said the 'survivors.' 'Thank God!' said the mother, and
+the tears flowed down her cheeks.
+
+"A rapid walk through ruined and smoking streets, some narrow escapes
+from negro soldiers on police duty, the satisfaction of seeing two of
+the 'boys in blue' hung up by their thumbs for pillaging, a few
+handshakings, and the 'survivors' found their way to the house of a
+relative, where they did eat bread with thanks.
+
+"A friend informed the 'survivors' that day that farm hands were needed
+all around the city. They made a note of that and the name of one
+farmer. Saturday night the old blankets were spread on the parlor floor.
+Sunday morning, the 16th of April, they bade farewell to the household
+and started for the farmer's house.
+
+"As they were about to start away, the head of the family took from his
+pocket a handful of odd silver pieces, and extending them to the guests,
+told them it was all he had, _but they were welcome to half of it_.
+Remembering that he had a wife and three or four children to feed, the
+soldiers smiled through _their_ tears at _his_, bade him keep it all,
+and 'weep for himself rather than for them.' So saying, they departed,
+and at sundown were at the farmer's house, fourteen miles away.
+
+"Monday morning, the 17th, they 'beat their swords (muskets in this
+case) into ploughshares' and did the first day's work of the sixty which
+the _simple_ farmer secured at a cost to himself of about half rations
+for two men. Behold the gratitude of a people! Where grow now the shrubs
+which of old bore leaves and twigs for garlands? The brave live! are the
+fair dead? Shall time of calamity, downfall or ruin, annihilate
+sacrifice or hatch an ingrate brood?"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Historical Tales, Vol. 2 (of 15), by Charles Morris
+
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Historical Tales, Volume 2, by Charles Morris.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Historical Tales, Vol. 2 (of 15), by Charles Morris
+
+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: Historical Tales, Vol. 2 (of 15)
+       The Romance of Reality
+
+Author: Charles Morris
+
+Release Date: April 19, 2008 [EBook #25103]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORICAL TALES, VOL. 2 (OF 15) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Kline, Greg Bergquist and The Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/front.jpg" width="600" height="358" alt="BATTLE OF ANTIETAM." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><a name="BATTLE_OF_ANTIETAM" id="BATTLE_OF_ANTIETAM"></a>Battle of Antietam.</span>
+</div>
+<hr />
+
+
+
+<p class="old">&Eacute;dition d'&Eacute;lite</p>
+
+
+<h1>Historical Tales</h1>
+<p class="t1">The Romance of Reality<br /><br /></p>
+
+<p class="center">By</p>
+<p class="t2">CHARLES MORRIS</p>
+
+<p class="center"><small><i>Author of "Half-Hours with the Best American Authors," "Tales from the<br />
+Dramatists," etc.</i></small><br /><br /></p>
+
+
+<p class="t3">IN FIFTEEN VOLUMES</p>
+<p class="t4">Volume II<br /><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+
+<p class="old2">American</p>
+<p class="center">2<br /><br /></p>
+
+
+<p class="t2">J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY</p>
+<p class="center">PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p class="center"><small>Copyright, 1904, by <span class="smcap">J. B. Lippincott Company</span>.</small></p>
+
+<p class="center"><small>Copyright, 1908, by <span class="smcap">J. B. Lippincott Company</span>.</small></p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a><i>CONTENTS.</i></h2>
+<hr class="short" />
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC">
+<tr><td class="td1">&nbsp;</td><td class="td2"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">De Soto and the Father of Waters</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The Lost Colony of Roanoke</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The Thrilling Adventure of Captain John Smith</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The Indian Massacre in Virginia</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The Great Rebellion in the Old Dominion</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Chevalier La Salle the Explorer of the Mississippi</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The French of Louisiana and the Natchez Indians</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">How Oglethorpe saved Georgia from Spain</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">A Boy's Working Holiday in the Wildwood</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Patrick Henry, the Herald of the Revolution</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Governor Tryon and the Carolina Regulators</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Lord Dunmore and the Gunpowder</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The Fatal Expedition of Colonel Rogers</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">How Colonel Clark won the Northwest</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">King's Mountain and the Patriots of Tennessee</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">General Greene's Famous Retreat</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Eli Whitney, the Inventor of the Cotton-Gin</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">How Old Hickory fought the Creeks</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The Pirates of Barataria Bay</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The Heroes of the Alamo</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">How Houston won Freedom for Texas</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Captain Robert E. Lee and the Lava-Beds</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_231">231</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">A Christmas Day on the Plantation</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_241">241</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Captain Gordon and the Raccoon Roughs</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_252">252</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Stuart's Famous Chambersburg Raid</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Forrest's Chase of the Raiders</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Exploits of a Blockade-Runner</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_291">291</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Fontain, the Scout, and the Besiegers of Vicksburg</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_302">302</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Gordon and the Bayonet Charge at Antietam</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_311">311</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The Last Triumph of Stonewall Jackson</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_319">319</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">John Morgan's Famous Raid</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_331">331</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Home-Coming of General Lee and his Veterans</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_347">347</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2>
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="center"><big>AMERICAN.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;VOLUME II.</big></p>
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations">
+<tr><td class="td1">&nbsp;</td><td class="td2"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Battle of Antietam</span></td><td class="td2"><i><a href="#BATTLE_OF_ANTIETAM">Frontispiece.</a></i></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Along the Coast of Florida</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">De Soto Discovering the Mississippi</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Pocahontas</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Jamestown Ruin</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Coaling a Moving Boat on the Mississippi River</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Old Spanish Fort, St. Augustine</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Home of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Va</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Home of Patrick Henry During His Last Two Terms As Governor of Virginia</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">St. John's Church</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Old Magazine at Williamsburg</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">View in the Northwestern Mountains</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Cotton-Gin</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Jackson's Birthplace</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">The Alamo</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Cotton Field on Southern Plantation</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Colonial Mansion</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Gordon House</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_316">316</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Triumph of Stonewall Jackson</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_323">323</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1"><span class="smcap">Lee's House at Richmond</span></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_348">348</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A golden</span> Easter day was that of the far-away year 1513, when a small
+fleet of Spanish ships, sailing westward from the green Bahamas, first
+came in sight of a flower-lined shore, rising above the blue Atlantic
+waves, and seeming to smile a welcome as the mariners gazed with eyes of
+joy and hope on the inviting arcades of its verdant forest depths. Never
+had the eyes of white men beheld this land of beauty before. English
+ships had sailed along the coast to the north, finding much of it bleak
+and uninviting. The caravels of Columbus had threaded the glowing line
+of tropic isles, and later ships had borne settlers to these lands of
+promise. But the rich southlands of the continent had never before been
+seen, and well was this unknown realm of beauty named Florida by the
+Spanish chief, whether by this name he meant to call it the "land of
+flowers" or referred to the Spanish name for Easter, Pascua Florida.
+However that be, he was the first of the discoverers to set foot on the
+soil of the great coming republic of the United States, and it is of
+interest that this was done within the domain of the sunny South.</p>
+
+<p>The weight of half a century of years lay upon the shoulders of Juan
+Ponce de Leon, the discoverer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> but warm hope burned in his heart, that
+of winning renewed boyhood and youthful strength, for it was a magic
+vision that drew him to these new shores, in whose depths he felt sure
+the realm of enchantment lay. Somewhere amid those green copses or along
+those liquid streams, he had been told, a living fountain sprang up
+clear and sparkling from the earth, its waters of such a marvellous
+quality that whoever should bathe in them would feel new life coursing
+through his veins and the vigor of youth bounding along his limbs. It
+was the Fountain of Youth he sought, that fabled fountain of which men
+had dreamed for centuries, and which was thought to lie somewhere in
+eastern Asia. Might not its waters upspring in this new land, whose
+discovery was the great marvel of the age, and which men looked upon as
+the unknown east of Asia? Such was the new-comer's dream.</p>
+
+<p>Ponce de Leon was a soldier and cavalier of Spain in those days when
+Spain stood first among the nations of Europe, first in strength and
+enterprise and daring. Brave as the bravest, he had fought with
+distinguished courage against the Moors of Granada at the time when
+Columbus was setting out on his famous voyage over the unknown seas of
+the West. Drawn by the fame of the discovery of the New World, De Leon
+sailed with Columbus in his second voyage, and proved himself a gallant
+soldier in the wars for the conquest of Hispaniola, of whose eastern
+half he was made governor.</p>
+
+<p>To the eastward lay another island, the fair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> tropic land ever since
+known as Porto Rico. De Leon could see from the high hills of Hispaniola
+the far green shores of this island, which he invaded and finally
+subdued in 1509, making himself its governor. A stern oppressor of the
+natives, he won great wealth from his possessions here and in
+Hispaniola. But, like many men in his position, his heart was sore from
+the loss of the youthful vigor which would have enabled him to enjoy to
+the full his new-found wealth.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p9.jpg" width="600" height="356" alt="ALONG THE COAST OF FLORIDA." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Along the Coast of Florida.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Could he but discover the wondrous fountain of youth and plunge in its
+life-giving waters! Was not this the region in which it was said to lie?
+He eagerly questioned the Indians about it, and was told by them that
+they had often heard of such a fountain somewhere not far to the north.
+It is probable enough that the Indians were ready to tell anything,
+false or true, that would rid them of the unwelcome Spaniards; but it
+may be that among their many fables they believed that such a fountain
+existed. However that may be, De Leon gladly heard their story, and lost
+no time in going forth like a knight errant in quest of the magic fount.
+On March 3, 1513, he sailed with three ships from Porto Rico, and, after
+threading the fair Bahama Islands, landing on those of rarest tropic
+charm, he came on Easter Sunday, March 27, in sight of the beautiful
+land to which he gave the name of Florida.</p>
+
+<p>Bad weather kept him for a time from the shore, and it was not until
+April 9 that he was able to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> land. It was near the mouth of the St. John
+River, not far from where St. Augustine now stands, that he set foot on
+shore, the first white man's foot to tread the soil of the coming United
+States since the days of the Northmen, five centuries before. He called
+his place of landing the Bay of the Cross, and took possession of the
+land for the king of Spain, setting up a stone cross as a sign of
+Spain's jurisdiction.</p>
+
+<p>And now the eager cavalier began the search for that famous fount which
+was to give him perpetual youth. It is not likely he was alone in this,
+probably most of his followers being as eager as he, for in those days
+magic was firmly believed in by half of mankind, and many wild fancies
+were current which no one now accepts. Deep into the dense woodland they
+plunged, wandering through verdant miles, bathing in every spring and
+stream they met, led on and on by the hope that some one of these might
+hold the waters of youth. Doubtless they fancied that the fountain
+sought would have some special marks, something to distinguish it from
+the host of common springs. But this might not be the case. The most
+precious things may lie concealed under the plainest aspect, like the
+fabled jewel in the toad's forehead, and it was certainly wisest to let
+no waters pass untried.</p>
+
+<p>Months passed on. Southward along the coast they sailed, landing here
+and there and penetrating inland, still hopeful of finding the enchanted
+spring. But wherever it might lie hidden, they found it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> not, for the
+marks of age which nature had brought clung to them still, and a
+bitterly disappointed man was Juan Ponce de Leon when he turned the
+prows of his ships away from the new-found shores and sailed back to
+Porto Rico.</p>
+
+<p>The Will-o'-the-wisp he sought had baffled him, yet something of worth
+remained, for he had made a discovery of importance, the "Island of
+Florida," as he called it and thought it to be. To Spain he went with
+the news of his voyage, and told the story of his discovery to King
+Ferdinand, to whom Columbus had told his wonderful tale some twenty
+years before. The king at once appointed him governor of Florida, and
+gave him full permission to plant a colony in the new land&mdash;continent or
+island as it might prove to be.</p>
+
+<p>De Leon may still have nourished hopes in his heart of finding the
+fabled fountain when, in 1521, he returned to plant the colony granted
+by the king. But the natives of Florida had seen enough of the Spaniards
+in their former visit, and now met them with arrows instead of flowers
+and smiles. Fierce fights ensued, and their efforts to establish
+themselves on the new shores proved in vain. In the end their leader
+received so severe an arrow wound that he withdrew and left to the
+victorious Indians the ownership of their land. The arrow was poisoned,
+and his wound proved mortal. In a short time after reaching Cuba he
+died, having found death instead of youth in the land of flowers.</p>
+
+<p>We may quote the words of the historian Robertson<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> in support of the
+fancy which led De Leon in the path of discovery: "The Spaniards, at
+that period, were engaged in a career of activity which gave a romantic
+turn to their imagination and daily presented to them strange and
+marvellous objects. A new world was opened to their view. They visited
+islands and continents of whose existence mankind in former ages had no
+conception. In those delightful countries nature seemed to assume
+another form; every tree and plant and animal was different from those
+of the ancient hemisphere. They seemed to be transported into enchanted
+ground; and, after the wonders which they had seen, nothing, in the
+warmth and novelty of their imagination, appeared to them so
+extraordinary as to be beyond belief. If the rapid succession of new and
+striking scenes made such impression on the sound understanding of
+Columbus that he boasted of having found the seat of Paradise, it will
+not appear strange that Ponce de Leon should dream of discovering the
+fountain of youth."</p>
+
+<p>All we need say farther is that the first attempt to colonize the shores
+of the great republic of the future years ended in disaster and death.
+Yet De Leon's hope was not fully amiss, for in our own day many seek
+that flowery land in quest of youthful strength. They do not now hope to
+find it by bathing in any magic fountain, but it comes to them by
+breathing its health-giving atmosphere and basking in its magic clime.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>DE SOTO AND THE FATHER OF WATERS.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">America</span> was to the Spaniards the land of gold. Everywhere they looked
+for the yellow metal, more precious in their eyes than anything else the
+earth yields. The wonderful adventures of Cortez in Mexico and of
+Pizarro in Peru, and the vast wealth in gold found by those sons of
+fame, filled their people with hope and avarice, and men of enterprise
+began to look elsewhere for great and rich Indian nations to subdue and
+plunder.</p>
+
+<p>North of the Gulf of Mexico lay a vast, mysterious region, which in time
+to come was to be the seat of a great and mighty nation. To the
+Spaniards it was a land of enchantment, the mystic realm of the unknown,
+perhaps rich in marvels and wealthy beyond their dreams. It was fabled
+to contain the magic fountain of youth, the hope to bathe in whose
+pellucid waters lured Ponce de Leon to his death. Another explorer, De
+Ayllon, sailed north of Florida, seeking a sacred stream which was said
+to possess the same enchanted powers. A third, De Narvaez, went far into
+the country, with more men than Cortez led to the conquest of Mexico,
+but after months of wandering only a handful of his men returned, and
+not a grain of gold was found to pay for their suffering.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span></p><p>But these failures only stirred the cavaliers of Spain to new thirst
+for adventure and gain. They had been told of fertile plains, of
+splendid tropical forests, of the beauty of the Indian maidens, of
+romantic incidents and hair-breadth escapes, of the wonderful influence
+exercised by a white man on tribes of dusky warriors, and who knew what
+fairy marvels or unimagined wealth might be found in the deep interior
+of this land of hope and mystery. Thus when Hernando de Soto, who had
+been with Pizarro in Peru and seen its gold-plated temples, called for
+volunteers to explore and conquer the unknown northland, hundreds of
+aspiring warriors flocked to his standard, burning with love of
+adventure and filled with thirst for gold.</p>
+
+<p>On the 30th of May, 1539, De Soto, with nine vessels and six or seven
+hundred well-armed followers, sailed into Tampa Bay, on the Gulf coast
+of Florida. Here they at once landed and marched inland, greedy to reach
+and grasp the spectral image of gold which floated before their eyes. A
+daring but a cruel man was this new adventurer. He brought with him
+blood-hounds to hunt the Indians and chains to fetter them. A drove of
+hogs was brought to supply the soldiers with fresh meat. They were
+provided with horses, with fire-arms, with cannon, with steel armor,
+with everything to overawe and overcome the woodland savages. Yet two
+things they needed; these were judgment and discretion. It would have
+been wise to make friends of the Indians. Instead, by their cruelty,
+they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> turned them into bitter and relentless enemies. So wherever they
+went they had bold and fierce foes to fight, and wounds and death marked
+their pathway across the land.</p>
+
+<p>Let us follow De Soto and his men into the realm of the unknown. They
+had not gone far before a strange thing happened. Out of a crowd of
+dusky Indians a white man rode on horseback to join them, making
+gestures of delight. He was a Spaniard, Juan Ortiz by name, one of the
+Narvaez band, who had been held in captivity among the Indians for ten
+years. He knew the Indian language well and offered himself as an
+interpreter and guide. Heaven seemed to have sent him, for he was worth
+a regiment to the Spaniards.</p>
+
+<p>Juan Ortiz had a strange story to tell. Once his captors had sought to
+burn him alive by a slow fire as a sacrifice to the evil spirit. Bound
+hand and foot, he was laid on a wooden stage and a fire kindled under
+him. But at this moment of frightful peril the daughter of the chieftain
+begged for his life, and her father listened to her prayer. Three years
+later the savage captors again decided to burn him, and again the dusky
+maiden saved his life. She warned him of his danger and led him to the
+camp of another chief. Here he stayed till the Spaniards came. What
+became of the warm-hearted maiden we are not told. She did not win the
+fame of the Pocahontas of a later day.</p>
+
+<p>Many and strange were the adventures of the Spaniards as they went
+deeper and deeper into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> new land of promise. Misfortune tracked
+their footsteps and there was no glitter of gold to cheer their hearts.
+A year passed over their heads and still the land of gold lay far away.
+An Indian offered to lead them to a distant country, governed by a
+woman, telling them that there they would find abundance of a yellow
+metal. Inspired by hope, they now pushed eagerly forward, but the yellow
+metal proved to be copper instead of gold, and their high hopes were
+followed by the gloom of disappointment and despair. But wherever they
+went their trail was marked by blood and pillage, and the story of their
+ruthless deeds stirred up the Indians in advance to bitter hostility.</p>
+
+<p>Fear alone made any of the natives meet them with a show of peace, and
+this they repaid by brutal deeds. One of their visitors was an Indian
+queen&mdash;as they called her&mdash;the woman chief of a tribe of the South. When
+the Spaniards came near her domain she hastened to welcome them, hoping
+by this means to make friends of her dreaded visitors. Borne in a litter
+by four of her subjects, the dusky princess alighted before De Soto and
+came forward with gestures of pleasure, as if delighted to welcome her
+guests. Taking from her neck a heavy double string of pearls, she hung
+it on that of the Spanish leader. De Soto accepted it with the courtly
+grace of a cavalier, and pretended friendship while he questioned his
+hostess.</p>
+
+<p>But he no sooner obtained the information he wanted than he made her a
+prisoner, and at once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> began to rob her and her people of all the
+valuables they possessed. Chief among these were large numbers of
+pearls, most of them found in the graves of the distinguished men of the
+tribe. But the plunderers did not gain all they hoped for by their act
+of vandalism, for the poor queen managed to escape from her guards, and
+in her flight took with her a box of the most valuable of the pearls.
+They were those which De Soto had most prized and he was bitterly stung
+by their loss.</p>
+
+<p>The adventurers were now near the Atlantic, on ground which had been
+trodden by whites before, and they decided to turn inland and explore
+the country to the west. After months more of wandering, and the loss of
+many men through their battles with the Indians, they found themselves
+in the autumn of 1540 at a large village called Mavilla. It stood where
+stands to-day the city of Mobile. Here a large force of Indians was
+gathered.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian chief or cacique met De Soto with a show of friendship, and
+induced him and a few of his men to follow him within the palisades
+which surrounded the village. No sooner had they got there than the
+chief shouted some words of insult in his own tongue and darted into one
+of the houses. A minor chief got into a dispute with a Spanish soldier,
+who, in the usual Spanish fashion, carried forward the argument with a
+blow from his sword. This served as a signal for hostilities. In an
+instant clouds of arrows poured from the houses, and before the
+Spaniards could escape nearly the whole of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> them were slain. Only De
+Soto and a few others got out with their lives from the trap into which
+they had been beguiled.</p>
+
+<p>Filled with revengeful rage, the Spanish forces now invested and
+assailed the town, and a furious conflict began, lasting for nine hours.
+In the end the whites, from their superior weapons and organization, won
+the victory. But theirs was a costly triumph, for many of them had
+fallen and nearly all their property had been destroyed. Mavilla was
+burned and hosts of the Indians were killed, but the Spaniards were in a
+terrible situation, far from their ships, without medicine or food, and
+surrounded by brave and furious enemies.</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers felt that they had had enough adventure of this kind, and
+clamored to be led back to their ships. De Soto had been advised that
+the ships were then in the Bay of Pensacola, only six days' journey from
+Mavilla, but he kept this a secret from his men, for hopes of fame and
+wealth still filled his soul. In the end, despite their entreaties, he
+led the men to the north, spending the winter in a small village of the
+Chickasaw Indians.</p>
+
+<p>When spring opened the adventurers resumed their journey into the
+unknown. In his usual forcible fashion De Soto seized on Indians to
+carry his baggage, and in this way he brought on a violent battle, in
+which the whites met with a serious defeat and were in imminent danger
+of annihilation. Not a man of them would have lived to tell the tale if
+the savages had not been so scared at their own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> success that they drew
+back just when they had the hated Spaniards in their power.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p19.jpg" width="600" height="369" alt="DE SOTO DISCOVERING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER." title="" />
+<span class="caption">De Soto Discovering the Mississippi River.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>A strange-looking army was that which the indomitable De Soto led
+forward from this place. Many of the uniforms of the men had been
+carried off by the enemy, and these were replaced with skins and mats
+made of ivy-leaves, so that the adventurers looked more like forest
+braves than Christian warriors. But onward still they trudged, sick at
+heart many of them, but obeying the orders of their resolute chief, and
+in the blossoming month of May they made that famous discovery by which
+the name of Hernando de Soto has ever since been known. For they stood
+on the banks of one of the mightiest rivers of the earth, the great
+Father of Waters, the grand Mississippi. From thousands of miles to the
+north had come the waters which now rolled onward in a mighty volume
+before their eyes, hastening downward to bury themselves in the still
+distant Gulf.</p>
+
+<p>A discovery such as this might have been enough to satisfy the cravings
+of any ordinary man, but De Soto, in his insatiable greed for gold, saw
+in the glorious stream only an obstacle to his course, "half a league
+over." To build boats and cross the stream was the one purpose that
+filled his mind, and with much labor they succeeded in getting across
+the great stream themselves and the few of their horses that remained.</p>
+
+<p>At once the old story began again. The Indians beyond the Mississippi
+had heard of the Spaniards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> and their methods, and met them with
+relentless hostility. They had hardly landed on the opposite shore
+before new battles began. As for the Indian empire, with great cities,
+civilized inhabitants, and heaps of gold, which Be Soto so ardently
+sought, it seemed as far off as ever, and he was a sadly disappointed
+man as he led the miserable remnant of his once well-equipped and
+hopeful followers up the left bank of the great stream, dreams of wealth
+and renown not yet quite driven from his mind.</p>
+
+<p>At length they reached the region of the present State of Missouri. Here
+the simple-minded people took the white strangers to be children of the
+Sun, the god of their worship, and they brought out their blind, hoping
+to have them restored to sight by a touch from the healing hands of
+these divine visitors. Leaving after a time these superstitious tribes,
+De Soto led his men to the west, lured on still by the phantom of a
+wealthy Indian realm, and the next winter was passed near where Little
+Rock, Arkansas, is now built.</p>
+
+<p>Spring returned at length, and the weary wanderings of the devoted band
+were resumed. Depressed, worn-out, hopeless, they trudged onward, hardly
+a man among them looking for aught but death in those forest wilds. Juan
+Ortiz, the most useful man in the band, died, and left the enterprise
+still more hopeless. But De Soto, worn, sick, emaciated, was indomitable
+still and the dream of a brilliant success lingered as ever in his
+brain. He tried now to win over the Indians by pretending to be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span>immortal and to be gifted with supernatural powers, but it was too late
+to make them credit any such fantastic notion.</p>
+
+<p>The band encamped in an unhealthy spot near the great river. Here
+disease attacked the men; scouts were sent out to seek a better place,
+but they found only trackless woods and rumors of Indian bands creeping
+stealthily up on all sides to destroy what remained of the little army
+of whites.</p>
+
+<p>Almost for the first time De Soto's resolute mind now gave way. Broken
+down by his many labors and cares, perhaps assailed by the disease that
+was attacking his men, he felt that death was near at hand. Calling
+around him the sparse remnant of his once gallant company, he humbly
+begged their pardon for the sufferings and evils he had brought upon
+them, and named Luis de Alvaredo to succeed him in command. The next
+day, May 21, 1542, the unfortunate hero died. Thus passed away one of
+the three greatest Spanish explorers of the New World, a man as great in
+his way and as indomitable in his efforts as his rivals, Cortez and
+Pizarro, though not so fortunate in his results. For three years he had
+led his little band through a primitive wilderness, fighting his way
+steadily through hosts of savage foes, and never yielding until the hand
+of death was laid upon his limbs.</p>
+
+<p>Fearing a fierce attack from the savages if they should learn that the
+"immortal" chief of the whites was dead, Alvaredo had him buried
+secretly outside the walls of the camp. But the new-made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> grave was
+suspicious. The prowling Indians might dig it up and discover the noted
+form it held. To prevent this, Alvaredo had the body of De Soto dug up
+in the night, wrapped it in cloths filled with sand, and dropped it into
+the Mississippi, to whose bottom it immediately sank. Thus was the great
+river he had discovered made the famous explorer's final resting-place.</p>
+
+<p>With the death of De Soto the work of the explorers was practically at
+an end. To the Indians who asked what had become of the Child of the
+Sun, Alvaredo answered that he had gone to heaven for a visit, but would
+soon return. Then, while the Indians waited this return of the chief,
+the camp was broken up and the band set out again on a westward course,
+hoping to reach the Pacific coast, whose distance they did not dream.
+Months more passed by in hopeless wandering, then back to the great
+river they came and spent six months more in building boats, as their
+last hope of escape.</p>
+
+<p>On the 2d of July, 1543, the scanty remnant of the once powerful band
+embarked on the waters of the great river, and for seventeen days
+floated downward, while the Indians on the bank poured arrows on them
+incessantly as they passed. Fifty days later a few haggard, half-naked
+survivors of De Soto's great expedition landed at the Spanish settlement
+of Panuco in Mexico. They had long been given up as lost, and were
+received as men risen from the grave.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the year 1584 two wandering vessels, like the caravels of Columbus a
+century earlier, found themselves in the vicinity of a new land; not, as
+in the case of Columbus, by seeing twigs and fruit floating on the
+water, but in the more poetical way of being visited, while far at sea,
+by a sweet fragrance, as of a delicious garden full of perfumed flowers.
+A garden it was, planted not by the hand of man, but by that of nature,
+on the North Carolinian shores. For this was the first expedition sent
+out by Sir Walter Raleigh, the earliest of Englishmen to attempt to
+settle the new-discovered continent, and it was at that season as truly
+a land of flowers as the more southern Florida.</p>
+
+<p>The ships soon reached shore at a beautiful island called by the Indians
+Wocokon, where the mariners gazed with wonder and delight on the scene
+that lay before them. Wild flowers, whose perfume had reached their
+senses while still two days' sail from land, thickly carpeted the soil,
+and grapes grew so plentifully that the ocean waves, as they broke upon
+the strand, dashed their spray upon the thick-growing clusters. "The
+forests formed themselves into wonderfully beautiful bowers, frequented
+by multitudes of birds. It was like a Garden of Eden, and the gentle,
+friendly inhabitants appeared in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> unison with the scene. On the island
+of Roanoke they were received by the wife of the king, and entertained
+with Arcadian hospitality."</p>
+
+<p>When these vessels returned to England and the mariners told of what
+they had seen, the people were filled with enthusiasm. Queen Elizabeth
+was so delighted with what was said of the beauty of the country that
+she gave it the name of Virginia, in honor of herself as a virgin queen.
+The next year a larger expedition was sent out, carrying one hundred and
+fifty colonists, who were to form the vanguard of the British dominion
+in the New World.</p>
+
+<p>They found the land all they had been told. Ralph Lane, the governor,
+wrote home: "It is the goodliest soil under the cope of heaven; the most
+pleasing territory in the world; the continent is of a huge and unknown
+greatness, and very well peopled and towned, though savagely. The
+climate is so wholesome that we have none sick. If Virginia had but
+horses and kine, and were inhabited by Englishmen, no realm in
+Christendom were comparable with it."</p>
+
+<p>But they did not find the natives so kindly disposed as in the year
+before, and no wonder; for the first thing the English did after landing
+on Roanoke Island was to accuse the Indians of stealing a silver cup,
+for which they took revenge by burning a village and destroying the
+standing corn. Whether this method was copied from the Spaniards or not,
+it proved a most unwise one, for at once the colonists<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> found themselves
+surrounded by warlike foes, instead of in intercourse with confiding
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>The English colonists had the same fault as those of Spain. The stories
+of the wonderful wealth of Mexico and Peru had spread far and wide over
+Europe, and the thirst for gold was in all hearts. Instead of planting
+grain and building homes, the new-comers sought the yellow evil far and
+wide, almost as if they expected the soil to be paved with it. The
+Indians were eagerly questioned and their wildest stories believed. As
+the natives of Porto Rico had invented a magic fountain to rid
+themselves of Ponce de Leon and his countrymen, so those of Roanoke told
+marvellous fables to lure away the unwelcome English. The Roanoke River,
+they said, gushed forth from a rock so near the western ocean that in
+storms the salt sea-water was hurled into the fresh-water stream. Far
+away on its banks there dwelt a nation rich in gold, and inhabiting a
+city the walls of which glittered with precious pearls.</p>
+
+<p>Lane himself, whom we may trust to have been an educated man, accepted
+these tales of marvel as readily as the most ignorant of his people. In
+truth, he had much warrant for it in the experience of the Spaniards.
+Taking a party of the colonists, he ascended the river in search of the
+golden region. On and on they went, finding nothing but the unending
+forest, hearing nothing but the cries of wild beasts and the Indian
+war-cries, but drawn onward still by hope until their food ran out and
+bitter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> famine assailed them. Then, after being forced to kill their
+dogs for food, they came back again, much to the disappointment of the
+Indians, who fancied they were well rid of their troublesome guests.</p>
+
+<p>As the settlers were not to be disposed of by fairy-stories of cities of
+gold, the natives now tried another plan. They resolved to plant no more
+corn, so that the English must either go away or starve. Lane made
+matters worse by a piece of foolish and useless cruelty. Wisdom should
+have taught him to plant corn himself. But what he did was to invite the
+Indians to a conference, and then to attack them, sword in hand, and
+kill the chief, with many braves of the tribe. He might have expected
+what followed. The furious natives at once cut off all supplies from the
+colonists, and they would have died of hunger if Sir Francis Drake, in
+one of his expeditions, had not just then appeared with a large fleet.</p>
+
+<p>Here ended the first attempt to plant an English colony in America.
+Drake, finding the people in a desperate state, took them in his ships
+and sailed with them for England. Hardly had they gone before other
+ships came and the missing colonists were sought for in vain. Then
+fifteen men were left on the island to hold it for England, and the
+ships returned.</p>
+
+<p>In 1587 Raleigh's last colony reached Roanoke Island. This time he took
+care to send farmers instead of gold-seekers, and sent with them a
+supply<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> of farming tools. But it was not encouraging when they looked
+for the fifteen men left the year before to find only some of their
+bones, while their fort was a ruin and their deserted dwellings
+overgrown with vines. The Indians had taken revenge on their oppressors.
+One event of interest took place before the ship returned, the birth of
+the first English child born in America. In honor of the name which the
+queen had given the land, this little waif was called Virginia Dare.</p>
+
+<p>Now we come to the story of the mysterious fate of this second English
+colony. When the ships which had borne it to Roanoke went back to
+England they found that island in an excited state. The great Spanish
+Armada was being prepared to invade and conquer Elizabeth's realm, and
+hasty preparations were making to defend the British soil. The fate of
+the Armada is well known. England triumphed. But several years passed
+before Raleigh, who was now deep laden with debt, was able to send out a
+vessel to the relief of his abandoned colonists.</p>
+
+<p>When the people sent by him landed on the island, they looked around
+them in dismay. Here were no happy homes, no smiling fields, no bustling
+colonists. The island was deserted. What had become of the inhabitants
+was not easy to guess. Not even their bones had been left, as in the
+case of the hapless fifteen, though many relics of their dwelling-places
+were found. The only indication of their fate was the single word
+"Croatan" cut into the bark of a tree.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span></p><p>Croatan was the name of an island not far from that on which they were,
+but it was the stormy season of the year, and John White, the captain,
+made this an excuse for not venturing there. So he sailed again for home
+with only the story of a vanished colony.</p>
+
+<p>From that time to this the fate of the colony has been a mystery. No
+trace of any of its members was ever found. If they had made their way
+to Croatan, they were never seen there. Five times the noble-hearted
+Raleigh sent out ships to search for them, but all in vain; they had
+gone past finding; the forest land had swallowed them up.</p>
+
+<p>It has been conjectured that they had mingled with a friendly tribe of
+Indians and become children of the forest like their hosts. Some
+tradition of this kind remained among the Indians, and it has been
+fancied that the Hatteras Indians showed traces of English blood. But
+all this is conjecture, and the fate of the lost colonists of Roanoke
+must remain forever unknown.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>THE THRILLING ADVENTURE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">For</span> those who love stories of the Indians, and the strange and perilous
+adventures of white men in dealing with the forest tribes, we cannot do
+better than give a remarkable anecdote of life in the Virginia woodlands
+three centuries ago.</p>
+
+<p>On a day near the opening of the winter of 1608 a small boat, in which
+were several men, might have been seen going up the James River under
+the shadow of the high trees that bordered its banks.</p>
+
+<p>They came at length to a point where a smaller stream flowed into the
+James, wide at its mouth but soon growing narrow. Into this the boat was
+turned and rowed briskly onward, under the direction of the leader of
+the expedition. They were soon in the heart of the wildwood, whose dense
+forest growth clustered thickly on either bank of the stream, which ran
+in a narrow silver thread through the green wilderness. The stream they
+pursued is that now known as the Chickahominy River, so called from an
+Indian tribe of that name, the most daring and warlike of all the
+savages of the region.</p>
+
+<p>As they went on the stream grew narrower still, and in time became so
+shallow that the boat could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> go no farther. As they sat there in doubt,
+debating what had better be done, the bushes by the waterside were
+thrust aside and dusky faces looked out upon them through the leaves.
+The leader of the whites beckoned to them and two men stepped out of the
+bushy thicket, making signs of great friendliness. They pointed to the
+large boat, and indicated by gestures that they had smaller craft near
+at hand and would lend one to the whites if they wished to go farther
+up. They would go along with them and show them the way.</p>
+
+<p>The leader of the party of whites was named John Smith. This is a very
+common name, but he was the one John Smith who has made the name famous
+in history. He had met many Indians before and found most of them
+friendly, but he had never seen any of the Chickahominies and did not
+know that they were enemies to the whites. So he accepted the offer of
+the Indians. The boat was taken back down the stream to a sort of wide
+bay where he thought it would be safe. Here the Indians brought him one
+of their light but strong canoes. Smith wanted to explore the stream
+higher up, and, thinking that he could trust these very friendly looking
+red men, he got into the canoe, bidding two of his men to come with him.
+To the others he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Do not leave your boat on any account. These fellows seem all right,
+but they are never to be trusted too far. There may be more of them in
+the woods, so be wide awake and keep your wits about you."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span></p><p>The two Indians now got into the canoe with Smith and his men and began
+to paddle it up the stream, keeping on until they were miles from the
+starting-point. Undergrowth rose thickly on the banks and vines hung
+down in green masses from the trees, so that the boat they had left was
+quickly lost to sight. Soon after that the men in the large boat did a
+very foolish thing. Heedless of the orders of their leader, they left
+the boat and strolled into the woods. They had not gone far before a
+party of savages came rushing at them with wild cries, and followed them
+fiercely as they turned and ran back to their boat. One of them was
+caught by the savages, and as the fugitives sprang into their boat they
+were horrified to see the hapless fellow killed by his captors. This
+lesson taught them not to leave the boat again.</p>
+
+<p>Ignorant of all this, Smith went on, the boat being paddled here under a
+low canopy of vines, there through open spaces, until far up the stream.
+At length, as passage grew more difficult, he bade his guides to stop,
+and stepped ashore. Taking one of the Indians with him, he set out,
+carbine on shoulder, saying that he would provide food for the party. He
+cautioned his two followers, as he had done those in the large boat, to
+keep a sharp look-out and not let themselves be surprised.</p>
+
+<p>But these men proved to be as foolish and reckless as the others. The
+air was cool and they built a fire on the bank. Then, utterly heedless
+of danger, they lay down beside it and soon were fast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> asleep. As they
+lay slumbering the Indians, who had started up the stream after killing
+their prisoner at the boat, came upon them in this helpless state. They
+at once killed the foolish pair, and then started into the woods on the
+trail of Smith.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 448px;">
+<img src="images/p32.jpg" width="448" height="600" alt="POCAHONTAS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Pocahontas.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Daring and full of resources as Captain John Smith was, he had taken a
+dangerous risk in thus venturing alone into those forest depths, peopled
+only by prowling and hostile savages. It proved to be the most desperate
+crisis of his life, full of adventure as this life had been. As a
+youthful soldier he had gone through great perils in the wars with the
+Turks, and once had killed three Turkish warriors in single combat
+between two armies, but never before had he been in such danger of death
+as he was now, alone with a treacherous Indian while a dozen or more of
+others, bent on his death, were trailing him through the woods.</p>
+
+<p>He was first made aware of his danger when a flight of arrows came from
+the low bushes near by. Then, with fierce war-whoops, the Indian braves
+rushed upon him with brandished knives and tomahawks. But desperate as
+was his situation, in the heart of the forest, far from help, surrounded
+by foes who thirsted for his blood, Smith did not lose his courage or
+his coolness. He fired his pistol at the Indians, two of them falling
+wounded or dead. As they drew back in dismay, he seized his guide and
+tied him to his left arm with his garter as a protection from their
+arrows, and then started through the woods in the direction of the
+canoe.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> Walking backward, with his face to his pursuers, and keeping
+them off with his weapons, he had not taken many steps before he found
+his feet sinking in the soft soil. He was in the edge of the great swamp
+still known in that region, and before he was aware of the danger he
+sank into it to his waist and his guide with him. The other Indians held
+back in fear until he had thrown away his weapons, when they rushed upon
+him, drew him out of the mud, and led him captive to the fire where his
+two companions lay dead.</p>
+
+<p>Smith's case now seemed truly desperate. He knew enough of the savages
+to have very little hope of life. Yet he was not inclined to give up
+while a shadowy chance remained. Taking from his pocket a small compass,
+which he carried to aid him in his forest journeys, he gave it to the
+Indian chief, showing him how the needle always pointed to the north.
+But while the chief was looking curiously at this magic toy, as it
+seemed to him, the other Indians bound their captive to a tree, and bent
+their bows to shoot him. Their deadly purpose was prevented by the
+chief, who waved the compass in the air and bade them stop. For the time
+the mystery of the compass seemed to have saved the captive's life.</p>
+
+<p>Smith was now taken through the woods, the journey ending at an Indian
+village called Orapakes. Here the dusky women and children took the
+captive in hand, dancing wildly around him, with fierce cries and
+threatening gestures, while the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span>warriors looked grimly on. Yet Smith
+bore their insults and threats with impassive face and unflinching
+attitude. At length Opechancanough, the chief, pleased to find that he
+had a brave man for captive, bade them cease, and food was brought forth
+for Smith and his captors.</p>
+
+<p>While they were in this village two interesting examples of the
+simplicity of Indian thought took place. Smith wrote a message to
+Jamestown, the settlement of the whites, sending it by one of the
+Indians, and receiving an answer. On his reading this and speaking of
+what he had learned from it, the Indians looked on it as the work of
+enchantment. They could not comprehend how "paper could talk." Another
+thing was the following: They showed him a bag of gunpowder which they
+had somehow obtained, saying that they were going to sow it in the
+ground the next spring and gather a crop of this useful substance. After
+spending some days in this and other villages, the captive was taken
+into the woods, his captors making him understand that they were going
+on a long journey.</p>
+
+<p>Whither he was being taken or what was to be his fate Smith was not
+aware. The language of gestures, which was his only way of conversing
+with the savages, soon reached its limit, and he was quite ignorant of
+what they proposed to do with him, though his heart must have sunk as
+they went on day after day, northward through the forest. On they walked
+in single file, Smith unbound and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> seemingly free in their midst, but
+with a watchful Indian guard close beside him, ready to shoot him if he
+made any effort to escape. Village after village was passed, in each of
+which the women and children danced and shrieked around him as at
+Orapakes. It was evident they knew the value of their prisoner, and
+recognized that they had in their hands the great chief of the Pale
+Faces.</p>
+
+<p>In fact, the Chickahominy chief felt that his captive was of too much
+importance to be dealt with hastily, and was taking him to the village
+of the great chief Powhatan, who ruled like an emperor over a powerful
+confederation of tribes. In summer his residence was near the Falls of
+the James River, but he was in the habit of spending the winter on the
+banks of York River, his purpose being to enjoy the fish and oysters of
+the neighboring Chesapeake. Wesowocomoca was the name of this winter
+residence, and here the captive was at length brought, after the long
+woodland journey.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Smith had met the old Indian emperor before, at his summer home
+on the James River, near where the city of Richmond now stands. But that
+was as a freeman, with his guard around him and his hands unbound. Now
+he was brought before him as a captive, subject to his royal will or
+caprice.</p>
+
+<p>He found the famous lord of the tribes in his large wigwam, with his
+wives around him, and his vigilant guard of warriors grouped on the
+greensward outside, where the Indian lodges stretched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> in a considerable
+village along the stream. Powhatan wore a large robe made of raccoon
+skins. A rich plume of feathers ornamented his head and a string of
+beads depended from his neck. At his head and feet sat two young Indian
+girls, his favorite wives, wearing richly adorned dresses of fur, with
+plumes in their hair and necklaces of pearls. Other women were in the
+room, and a number of the leading warriors who sat around gave the
+fierce war-cry of the tribe as the captive was brought in.</p>
+
+<p>The old chieftain looked with keen eyes on his famous prisoner, of whose
+capture he had been advised by runners sent before. There was a look of
+triumph and malignity in his eyes, but Captain Smith stood before him
+unmoved. He had been through too many dangers to be easily dismayed, and
+near death's door too often to yield to despair. Powhatan gave an order
+to a young Indian woman, who brought him a wooden basin of water that he
+might wash his hands. Then she presented him a bunch of feathers to
+serve as a towel. This done, meat and corn-bread were placed before him.
+As he ate Powhatan talked with his warriors, consulting with them, the
+captive feared, upon his fate. But he finished his meal with little loss
+of appetite, trusting to the Providence which had saved him more than
+once before to come to his aid again.</p>
+
+<p>As he ate, his vigilant eyes looked heedfully around the room. Many who
+were there gazed on him with interest, and one of them, a young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> Indian
+girl of twelve or thirteen years of age, with pity and concern. It was
+evident that she was of high rank in the tribe, for she was richly
+dressed and wore in her hair a plume of feathers like that of Powhatan,
+and on her feet moccasins embroidered like his. There was a troubled and
+compassionate look in her eyes, as she gazed on the captive white man, a
+look which he may perhaps have seen and taken comfort from in his hour
+of dread.</p>
+
+<p>No such feeling as this seemed to rest in the heart of the old chief and
+his warriors. Their conference quickly ended, and, though its words were
+strange to him, the captive could read his fate in their dark and
+frowning faces. They had grown to hate the whites, and now that their
+leader was a captive before them, they decided to put him to death.</p>
+
+<p>There was no loss of time in preparation for the execution of the fatal
+decree. At an order from Powhatan the captive was seized and securely
+bound, then he was laid on the floor of the hut, with his head on a
+large stone brought in from outside. Beside him stood a stalwart savage
+grasping a huge war-club. A word, a signal from Powhatan, was alone
+needed and the victim's brains would have been dashed out.</p>
+
+<p>At this critical moment Smith's good angel watched over him. A low cry
+of pity was heard, and the young girl who had watched him with such
+concern sprang forward and clasped her arms around the poor prisoner,
+looking up at the Indian emperor with beseeching eyes. It was
+Pocahontas,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> his favorite daughter. Her looks touched the old man's
+heart, and he bade the executioner to stand back, and gave orders that
+the captive should be released. Powhatan soon showed that he was in
+earnest in his act of mercy. He treated the prisoner in a friendly
+fashion, and two days later set him free to return to Jamestown.</p>
+
+<p>All that he asked in return was that the whites should send him two of
+their great guns and a grindstone. Smith readily consented, no doubt
+with a secret sense of amusement, and set out for the settlement, led by
+Indian guides. Rawhunt, a favorite servant of Powhatan, was one of the
+guides, and on reaching Jamestown Smith showed him two cannon and a
+grindstone, and bade him carry them home to his master. Rawhunt tried,
+but when he found that he could not stir one of the weighty presents
+from the ground, he was quite content to take back less bulky presents
+in their place.</p>
+
+<p>So runs the story of Captain Smith's remarkable adventure. No doubt it
+is well to say here that there are writers who doubt the whole story of
+Pocahontas and her deed of mercy, simply because Captain Smith did not
+speak of it in his first book. But there is no very good reason to doubt
+it, and we know that things like this happened in other cases. Thus, in
+the story of De Soto we have told how Juan Ortiz, the Spanish captive,
+was saved from being burned alive by an Indian maiden in much the same
+way.</p>
+
+<p>Pocahontas after that was always a friend of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> English, and often
+visited them in Jamestown. Once she stole away through the woods and
+told her English friends that Powhatan and his warriors were going to
+attack them. Then she stole back again. When the Indians came they found
+the English ready, and concluded to defer their attack. Later, after she
+had grown up, she was taken prisoner and held in Jamestown as a hostage
+to make her father quit threatening the English. While there a young
+planter named John Rolfe fell deeply in love with her, and she loved him
+warmly in return.</p>
+
+<p>In the end Pocahontas became a Christian and was baptized at Jamestown
+under the name of Rebecca. Then she and John Rolfe were married and went
+to live in England, where she was known as the "Lady Rebecca" and
+treated as if she were indeed a princess. She met John Smith once more,
+and was full of joy at sight of her "father," as she called him. But
+when he told her that she must not call him that, and spoke to her very
+respectfully as Lady Rebecca, she covered her face with her hands and
+began to weep. She had always called him father, she said, and he had
+called her child, and she meant to do so still. They had told her he was
+dead, and she was very glad to learn that this was false, for she loved
+him as a father and would always do so.</p>
+
+<p>That was her last meeting with Captain Smith. In less than a year
+afterward she was taken sick and died, just as she was about to return
+to her beloved Virginia.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Friday</span>, the 22d of March, of the year 1622, dawned brightly over a
+peaceful domain in Virginia. In the fifteen years that had passed since
+the first settlers landed and built themselves homes at Jamestown the
+dominion of the whites had spread, until there were nearly eighty
+settlements, while scattered plantations rose over a space of several
+hundred square miles. Powhatan, the Indian emperor, as he was called,
+had long shown himself the friend of the whites, and friendly relations
+grew up between the new-comers and the old owners of the soil that
+continued unbroken for years.</p>
+
+<p>Everywhere peace and tranquillity now prevailed. The English had settled
+on the fertile lands along the bay and up the many rivers, the musket
+had largely given place to the plough and the sword to the sickle and
+the hoe, and trustful industry had succeeded the old martial vigilance.
+The friendliest intercourse existed between the settlers and the
+natives. These were admitted freely to their houses, often supplied with
+fire-arms, employed in hunting and fishing, and looked upon as faithful
+allies, many of whom had accepted the Christian faith.</p>
+
+<p>But in 1618 the mild-tempered Powhatan had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> died, and Opechancanough, a
+warrior of very different character, had taken his place as chief of the
+confederacy of tribes. We have met with this savage before, in the
+adventurous career of Captain John Smith. He was a true Indian leader,
+shrewd, cunning, cruel in disposition, patient in suffering, skilled in
+deceit, and possessed of that ready eloquence which always had so strong
+an influence over the savage mind. Jealous of the progress of the
+whites, he nourished treacherous designs against them, but these were
+hidden deep in his savage soul, and he vowed that the heavens should
+fall before he would lift a hand in war against his white friends. Such
+was the tranquil and peaceful state of affairs which existed in Virginia
+in the morning of March 22, 1622. There was not a cloud in the social
+sky, nothing to show that the Indians were other than the devoted allies
+and servants of the whites.</p>
+
+<p>On that morning, as often before, many of the savages came to take their
+breakfast with their white friends, some of them bringing deer, turkeys,
+fish, or fruit, which, as usual, they offered for sale. Others of them
+borrowed the boats of the settlers to cross the rivers and visit the
+outlying plantations. By many a hearth the pipe of peace was smoked, the
+hand of friendship extended, the voice of harmony raised.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the aspect of affairs when the hour of noontide struck on that
+fatal day. In an instant, as if this were the signal of death, the scene
+changed from peace to terror. Knives and tomahawks were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> drawn and many
+of those with whom the savages had been quietly conversing a moment
+before were stretched in death at their feet. Neither sex nor age was
+spared. Wives were felled, weltering in blood, before the eyes of their
+horrified husbands. The tender infant was snatched from its mother's
+arms to be ruthlessly slain. The old, the sick, the helpless were struck
+down as mercilessly as the young and strong. As if by magic, the savages
+appeared at every point, yelling like demons of death, and slaughtering
+all they met. The men in the fields were killed with their own hoes and
+hatchets. Those in the houses were murdered on their own hearth-stones.
+So unlooked-for and terrible was the assault that in that day of blood
+three hundred and forty-seven men, women, and children fell victims to
+their merciless foes. Not content with their work of death, the savage
+murderers mutilated the bodies of their victims in the most revolting
+manner and revelled shamelessly in their crimes.</p>
+
+<p>Yet with all their treacherous rage, they showed themselves cowardly.
+Wherever they were opposed they fled. One old soldier, who had served
+under Captain John Smith, was severely wounded by his savage assailants.
+He clove the skull of one of them with an axe, and the others at once
+took to flight. In the same way a Mr. Baldwin, whose wife lay bleeding
+from many wounds before his eyes, drove away a throng of murderers by
+one well-aimed discharge from his musket. A number of fugitive settlers
+obtained a few muskets from a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> ship that was lying in a stream near
+their homes, and with these they routed and dispersed the Indians for a
+long distance around.</p>
+
+<p>The principal settlement, that of Jamestown, was a main point for the
+proposed Indian assault. Here the confidence and sense of security was
+as great as in any of the plantations, and only a fortunate warning
+saved the settlers from a far more terrible loss. One of the young
+converts among the Indians, moved by the true spirit of his new faith,
+warned a white friend of the deadly conspiracy, and the latter hastened
+to Jamestown with the ominous news. As a result, the Indian murderers on
+reaching there found the gates closed and the inhabitants on the alert.
+They made a demonstration, but did not venture on an assault, and
+quickly withdrew.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the first great Indian massacre in America, and one of the most
+unexpected and malignant of them all.</p>
+
+<p>It was the work of Opechancanough, who had laid his plot and organized
+the work of death in the most secret and skilful manner. Passing from
+tribe to tribe, he eloquently depicted their wrongs, roused them to
+revenge, pointed out the defenceless state of the whites, and worked on
+their passions by promises of blood and rapine. A complete organization
+was formed, the day and hour were fixed, and the savages of Virginia
+waited in silence and impatience for the time in which they hoped to rid
+the land of every white settler on its soil and win back their old
+domain.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span></p><p>While they did not succeed in this, they filled the whole colony with
+terror and dismay. The planters who had survived the attack were hastily
+called in to Jamestown, and their homes and fields abandoned, so that of
+the eighty recent settlements only six remained. Some of the people were
+bold enough to refuse to obey the order, arming their servants, mounting
+cannon, and preparing to defend their own homes. One of these bold
+spirits was a woman. But the authorities at Jamestown would not permit
+this, and they were all compelled to abandon their strongholds and unite
+for the general defence.</p>
+
+<p>The reign of peace was at an end. A reign of war had begun. The savages
+were everywhere in arms, with Opechancanough at their head. The
+settlers, as soon as the first period of dread had passed, marched
+against them, burning for revenge, and relentless slaughter became the
+rule. It was the first Indian war in the British settlements, but was of
+the type of them all. Wherever any Indian showed himself he was
+instantly shot down. Wherever a white man ventured within reach of the
+red foe he was slain on the spot or dragged off for the more dreadful
+death by torture. There was no truce, no relaxation; it was war to the
+knife.</p>
+
+<p>Only when seed-time was at hand did necessity demand a temporary pause
+in hostilities. The English now showed that they could be as treacherous
+and lacking in honor as their savage enemy. They offered peace to the
+savages, and in this way induced them to leave their hiding-places and
+plant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> their fields. While thus engaged the English rushed suddenly upon
+them and cut down a large number, including some of the most valiant
+warriors and leading chiefs.</p>
+
+<p>From that time on there was no talk or thought of peace. Alike the
+plantation buildings of the whites and the villages of the Indians were
+burned. The swords and muskets of the whites, the knives and tomahawks
+of the red men, were ever ready for the work of death. For ten years the
+bloody work continued, and by the end of that time great numbers of the
+Indians had been killed, while of the four thousand whites in Virginia
+only two thousand five hundred remained.</p>
+
+<p>Exhaustion at length brought peace, and for ten years more the reign of
+blood ceased. Yet the irritation of the Indians continued. They saw the
+whites spreading ever more widely through the land and taking possession
+of the hunting-grounds without regard for the rights of the native
+owners, and their hatred for the whites grew steadily more virulent.
+Opechancanough was now a very aged man. In the year 1643 he reached the
+hundreth year of his age. A gaunt and withered veteran, with shrunken
+limbs and a tottering and wasted form, his spirit of hostility to the
+whites burned still unquenched. Age had not robbed him of his influence
+over the tribes. His wise counsel, the veneration they felt for him, the
+tradition of his valorous deeds in the past, gave him unquestioned
+control, and in 1643 he repeated his work of twenty-one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> years before,
+organizing another secret conspiracy against the whites.</p>
+
+<p>It was a reproduction of the former plot. The Indians were charged to
+the utmost secrecy. They were bidden to ambush the whites in their
+plantations and settlements and at a fixed time to fall upon them and to
+spare none that they could kill. The conspiracy was managed as skilfully
+as the former one. No warning of it was received, and at the appointed
+hour the work of death began. Before it ended five hundred of the
+settlers were ruthlessly slain. They were principally those of the
+outlying plantations. Wherever the settlers were in a position for
+effective resistance, the savages were routed and driven back to their
+forest lurking-places.</p>
+
+<p>Their work of death done, the red-skinned murderers at once dispersed,
+knowing well that they could not withstand their foes in open fight. Sir
+William Berkeley, the governor of Virginia, hastily called out a strong
+force of armed men and marched to the main seat of the slaughter. No
+foes were to be found. The Indians had vanished in the woodland
+wilderness. It was useless to pursue them farther on foot, and the
+governor continued the pursuit with a troop of cavalry, sweeping onward
+through the tribal confines.</p>
+
+<p>The chief result of the expedition was the capture of the organizer of
+the conspiracy, the hoary leader of the tribal confederacy, who was
+found near his place of residence on the Pamunky. Too feeble for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> hasty
+flight, his aged limbs refusing to bear him and his weakened sight to
+aid him, he was easily overtaken by the pursuers, and was carried back
+in triumph to Jamestown, as the very central figure of Indian hostility.</p>
+
+<p>It was the clement purpose of the governor to send the old chief to
+England as a royal captive, there to be held in honorable custody until
+death should close his career. But this purpose was not to be achieved.
+A death of violence awaited the old Indian chieftain. A wretched fellow
+of the neighborhood, one of the kind who would not have dared to face an
+Indian in arms, slipped secretly behind the famous veteran and shot him
+with his musket through the back, inflicting a deadly wound.</p>
+
+<p>Aged and infirm as Opechancanough was, the wound was not instantly
+mortal. He lingered for a few days in agonizing pain. Yet to the last
+moment of his life his dignity of demeanor was preserved. It was
+especially shown when a crowd of idlers gathered in the room to sate
+their unfeeling curiosity on the actions of the dying chief.</p>
+
+<p>His muscles had grown so weak that he could not raise his eyelids
+without aid, and, on hearing the noise around him, he motioned to his
+attendants to lift his lids that he might see what it meant. When he saw
+the idle and curious crowd, a flash of wounded pride and just resentment
+stirred his vanished powers. Sending for the governor, he said, with a
+keen reproach that has grown historic, "Had I taken Sir William Berkeley
+prisoner, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> would not have exposed him as a show to my people." Closing
+his eyes again, in a short time afterward the Indian hero was dead.</p>
+
+<p>With the death of Opechancanough, the confederacy over which Powhatan
+and he had ruled so long came to an end. It was now without a head, and
+the associated tribes fell apart. How long it had been in existence
+before the whites came to Virginia we cannot say, but the tread of the
+white man's foot was fatal to the Indian power, and as that foot
+advanced in triumph over the land the strength of the red men everywhere
+waned and disappeared.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>THE GREAT REBELLION IN THE OLD DOMINION.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> years ending in "'76" are remarkable in America as years of struggle
+against tyranny and strife for the right. We shall not soon forget the
+year 1776, when the famous rebellion of the colonies against Great
+Britain reached its climax in the Declaration of Independence. In 1676,
+a century before, there broke out in Virginia what was called the "Great
+Rebellion," a famous movement for right and justice. It was brought
+about by the tyranny of Sir William Berkeley, the governor of the colony
+of Virginia, as that of 1776 was by the tyranny of George III., the King
+of England. It is the story of the first American rebellion that we are
+about to tell.</p>
+
+<p>Sir William had ruled over Virginia at intervals for many years. It was
+he who took old Opechancanough prisoner after the massacre of 1643. In
+1676 he was again governor of the colony. He was a man of high temper
+and revengeful disposition, but for a long time he and the Virginians
+got along very well together, for the planters greatly liked the grand
+style in which he lived on his broad estate of "Green Springs," with his
+many servants, and rich silver plate, and costly entertainments,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> and
+stately dignity. They lived much that way themselves, so far as their
+means let them, and were proud of their governor's grand display.</p>
+
+<p>But what they did not like was his arbitrary way of deciding every
+question in favor of England and against Virginia, and the tyranny with
+which he enforced every order of the king. Still less were they pleased
+with the fact that, when the Indians in the mountain district began to
+attack the settlers, and put men, women, and children to death, the
+governor took no steps to punish the savage foe, and left the people to
+defend themselves in the best way they could. A feeling of panic like
+that of the older times of massacre ensued. The exposed families were
+forced to abandon their homes and seek places of refuge. Neighbors
+banded together for work in the field, and kept their arms close at
+hand. No man left his door without taking his musket. Even Jamestown was
+in danger, for the woodland stretched nearly to its dwellings, and the
+lurking red men, stealing with noiseless tread through the forest
+shades, prowled from the mountains almost to the sea, like panthers in
+search of prey.</p>
+
+<p>At that time there was a man of great influence in Virginia, named
+Nathaniel Bacon. He was a new-comer, who had been in America less than
+three years, but he had bought a large estate and had been made a member
+of the governor's council. He was a handsome man and a fine speaker,
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> these and other qualities made him very popular with the planters
+and the people.</p>
+
+<p>Bacon's plantation was near the Falls of the James River, where the city
+of Richmond now stands. Here his overseer, to whom he was much attached,
+and one of his servants were killed by the Indians. Highly indignant at
+the outrage, Bacon made up his mind that something must be done. He
+called a meeting of the neighboring planters, and addressed them hotly
+on the delay of the governor in coming to their defence. He advised them
+to act for themselves, and asked if any of them were ready to march
+against the savages, and whom they would choose as their leader. With a
+shout they declared that they were ready, and that he should lead.</p>
+
+<p>This was very much like taking the law into their own hands. If the
+governor would not act, they would. As a proper measure, however, Bacon
+sent to the governor and asked for a commission as captain of the force
+of planters. The governor received the demand in an angry way. It hurt
+his sense of dignity to find these men acting on their own account, and
+he refused to grant a commission or to countenance their action. He went
+so far as to issue a proclamation, in which he declared that all who did
+not return to their homes within a certain time would be held as rebels.
+This so scared the planters that the most of them went home, only
+fifty-seven of them remaining with their chosen leader.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span></p><p>With this small force Bacon marched into the wilderness, where he met
+and defeated a party of Indians, killing many of them, and dispersing
+the remainder. Then he and his men returned home in triumph.</p>
+
+<p>By this time the autocratic old governor was in a high state of rage. He
+denounced Bacon and his men as rebels and traitors, and gathered a force
+to punish them. But when he found that the whole colony was on Bacon's
+side he changed his tone. He had Bacon arrested, it is true, when he
+came to Jamestown as a member of the House of Burgesses, but this was
+only a matter of form, to save his dignity, and when the culprit went
+down on one knee and asked pardon of God, the king, and the governor,
+Berkeley was glad enough to get out of his difficulty by forgiving him.
+But for all this fine show of forgiveness Bacon did not trust the old
+tyrant, and soon slipped quietly out of Jamestown and made his way home.</p>
+
+<p>He was right; the governor was making plans to seize him and hold him
+prisoner; he had issued secret orders, and Bacon had got away in good
+time. Very soon he was back again, this time at the head of four hundred
+planters. As they marched on, others joined them, and when they came
+into the old town, and drew up on the State-house green, there were six
+hundred of them, horse and foot.</p>
+
+<p>The sight of this rebel band threw old Berkeley into a towering rage. He
+rushed out from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> State-house at the head of his council, and,
+tearing open his ruffled shirt, cried out, in a furious tone:</p>
+
+<p>"Here, shoot me! 'fore God, fair mark; shoot!"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Bacon, "may it please your honor, we will not hurt a hair of
+your head, nor of any other man's. We are come for a commission to save
+our lives from the Indians, which you have so often promised; and now we
+will have it before we go."</p>
+
+<p>Both men were in a violent rage, walking up and down and gesticulating
+like men distracted. Soon Sir William withdrew with his council to his
+office in the State-house. Bacon followed, his hand now touching his hat
+in deference, now his sword-hilt as anger rose in his heart. Some of his
+men appeared at a window of the room with their guns cocked and ready,
+crying out, "We will have it; we will have it."</p>
+
+<p>This continued till one of the burgesses came to the window and waved
+his handkerchief, calling out, "You shall have it; you shall have it."</p>
+
+<p>Hearing this, the men drew back and rested their guns on the ground and
+Bacon left the chamber and joined them. The matter ended in Bacon's
+getting his commission as general and commander-in-chief, while an act
+was passed by the legislature justifying him in all he had done, and a
+letter to the same effect was written to the king and signed by the
+governor, council, and assembly. Bacon had won in all he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>His triumph was only temporary. While he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> invading the country of
+the Pamunky Indians, killing many of them and destroying their towns,
+Berkeley repudiated all he had done. He proclaimed Bacon a rebel and
+traitor and issued a summons for the train-bands to the number of twelve
+hundred men, bidding them pursue and put down Bacon the rebel. The men
+assembled, but when they heard for what they were wanted they broke out
+into a shout of "Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!" and dispersed again, leaving the
+old tyrant and his attendants alone. News of these events quickly
+reached Bacon and his men in the field. He at once turned and marched
+back.</p>
+
+<p>"While I am hunting wolves which are destroying innocent lambs," he
+exclaimed, indignantly, "here are the governor and his men after me like
+hounds in full cry. I am like one between two millstones, which will
+grind me to powder if I do not look to it."</p>
+
+<p>As he came near Jamestown the governor fled, crossing Chesapeake Bay to
+Accomac, and leaving Bacon in full possession. A new House of Burgesses
+was called into session and Bacon's men pledged themselves not to lay
+down their arms. Sir William had sent to England for soldiers, they
+said, and they would stand ready to fight these soldiers, as they had
+fought the governor. A paper to this effect was drawn up and signed,
+dated August, 1676. It was the first American declaration of
+independence.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 372px;">
+<img src="images/p54.jpg" width="372" height="600" alt="JAMESTOWN RUIN." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Jamestown Ruin.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The tide of rebellion was now in full flow. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> movement against the
+Indians had, by the unwarranted behavior of the governor, been converted
+into civil war, nearly the whole colony supporting Bacon and demanding
+that the tyrant governor should be deposed.</p>
+
+<p>But, while this was going on, the Indians took to the war-path again,
+and Bacon at once marched against them, leaving Sir William to his own
+devices. His first movement was against the Appomattox tribe, which
+dwelt on the river of the same name, where Petersburg now stands. Taking
+them by surprise, he burned their town, killed many of them, and
+dispersed the remainder. Then he marched south and attacked other
+tribes, driving them before him and punishing them so severely as quite
+to cure them of all desire to meddle with the whites.</p>
+
+<p>From that time forward Eastern Virginia was free from Indian troubles,
+and Bacon was looked upon as the deliverer of the colony. But lack of
+provisions forced him to return and disband his forces, only a few men
+remaining with him. He soon learned that he had a worse enemy than the
+Indians to fight at home. Some of his leading supporters in Jamestown,
+Lawrence, Drummond, Hansford, and others, came hastily to his camp,
+saying that they had been obliged to flee for safety, as Sir William was
+back again, with eighteen ships in the river and eight hundred men he
+had gathered in the eastern counties.</p>
+
+<p>The affair had now come to a focus. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> fight, or yield and be
+treated as a traitor. Bacon resolved to fight, and he found many to back
+him in it, for he soon had a force collected. How many there were we do
+not know. Some say only one hundred and fifty, some say eight hundred;
+but however that be, he marched with them on Jamestown, bringing his
+Indian captives with him. Rebels and Royalists the two parties were now
+called; people and tyrant would have been better titles, for Bacon was
+in arms for the public right and had the people at his back.</p>
+
+<p>The old governor was ready. While in Accomac he had taken and hung two
+friends of Bacon, who had gone there to try and capture him. He asked
+for nothing better than the chance to serve Bacon in the same way. His
+ships, armed with cannon, now lay in the river near the town. A
+palisade, ten paces wide, had been built across the neck of the
+peninsula in which Jamestown stood. Behind it lay a strong body of armed
+men. Berkeley felt that he had the best of the situation, and was
+defiant of his foes.</p>
+
+<p>It was at the end of a September day when Bacon and his small army of
+"rebels" arrived. Springing from his horse, he led the tired men up to
+the palisades and surveyed the governor's works of defence. Then he
+ordered his trumpeter to sound defiance and his men to fire on the
+garrison. There was no return fire. Sir William knew that the assailants
+were short of provisions, and trusted to hunger to make them retire. But
+Bacon was versed in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> art of foraging. At Green Spring, three miles
+away, was Governor Berkeley's fine mansion, and from this the invading
+army quickly supplied itself. The governor afterwards bitterly
+complained that his mansion "was almost ruined; his household goods, and
+others of great value, totally plundered; that he had not a bed to lie
+on; two great beasts, three hundred sheep, seventy horses and mares, all
+his corn and provisions, taken away." Evidently the "rebels" knew
+something about the art of war.</p>
+
+<p>This was not all, for their leader adopted another stratagem not well in
+accordance with the rules of chivalry. A number of the loyalists of the
+vicinity had joined Berkeley, and Bacon sent out small parties of horse,
+which captured the wives of these men and brought them into camp. Among
+them were the lady of Colonel Bacon, Madame Bray, Madame Page, and
+Madame Ballard. He sent one of these ladies to the town, with a warning
+to the husbands not to attack him in his camp, or they would find their
+wives in front of his line.</p>
+
+<p>What Bacon actually wanted these ladies for was to make use of them in
+building his works. He raised by moonlight a defensive work of trees,
+brushwood and earth around the governor's outwork of palisades, placing
+the ladies in front of the workmen to keep the garrison from firing on
+them. But he had the chivalry to take them out of harm's way when the
+governor's men made a sortie on his camp.</p>
+
+<p>The fight that took place may have been a hard one or a light one. We
+have no very full account<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> of it. The most we know is that Bacon and his
+men won the victory, and that the governor's men were driven back,
+leaving their drum and their dead behind them. Whether hard or light,
+his repulse was enough for Sir William's valor. Well intrenched as he
+was and superior in numbers, his courage suddenly gave out, and he fled
+in haste to his ships, which set sail in equal haste down the river,
+their speed accelerated by the cannon-balls which the "rebels" sent
+after them.</p>
+
+<p>Once more the doughty governor was a fugitive, and Bacon was master of
+the situation. Jamestown, the original Virginia settlement, was in his
+hands. What should he do with it? He could not stay there, for he knew
+that Colonel Brent, with some twelve hundred men, was marching down on
+him from the Potomac. He did not care to leave it for Berkeley to return
+to. In this dilemma he concluded to burn it. To this none of his men
+made any objection. Two of them, indeed, Lawrence and Drummond, who had
+houses in the place, set fire to them with their own hands. And thus the
+famous old town of John Smith and the early settlers was burned to the
+ground. Old as it was, we are told that it contained only a church and
+sixteen or eighteen houses, and in some of these there were no families.
+To-day nothing but the ruined church tower remains.</p>
+
+<p>Bacon now marched north to York River to meet Colonel Brent and his men.
+But by the time he got there the men had dispersed. The news of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span>
+affair at Jamestown had reached them, and they concluded they did not
+want to fight. Bacon was now master of Virginia, with the power though
+not the name of governor.</p>
+
+<p>What would have come of his movement had he lived it is impossible to
+say, for in the hour of his triumph a more perilous foe than Sir William
+Berkeley was near at hand. While directing his men in their work at the
+Jamestown trenches a fever had attacked him, and this led to a dangerous
+dysentery which carried him off after a few weeks' illness. His death
+was a terrible blow to his followers, for the whole movement rested on
+the courage and ability as a leader of this one man. They even feared
+the vindictive Berkeley would attempt some outrage upon the remains of
+the "rebel" leader, and they buried his body at night in a secret place.
+Some traditions assert that he was dealt with as De Soto had been before
+him, his body being sunk in the bosom of the majestic York River, where
+it was left with the winds and the waves to chant its requiem.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended what Sir William Berkeley called the "Great Rebellion." Its
+leader dead, there was none to take his place. In despair the men
+returned to their homes. Many of them made their way to North Carolina,
+in which new colony they were warmly welcomed. A few kept up a show of
+resistance, but they were soon dispersed, and Berkeley came back in
+triumph, his heart full of revengeful passion. He had sent to England
+for troops, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> the arrival of these gave him support in his cruel
+designs.</p>
+
+<p>All the leading friends of Bacon whom he could seize were mercilessly
+put to death, some of them with coarse and aggravating insults. The wife
+of Major Cheeseman, one of the prisoners, knelt at the governor's feet
+and pitifully pleaded for her husband's life, but all she got in return
+from the old brute was a vulgar insult. The major escaped the gallows
+only by dying in prison.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most important of the prisoners was William Drummond, a close
+friend of Bacon. Berkeley hated him and greeted him with the most
+stinging insult he could think of.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Drummond," said he, with a bitter sneer, "you are very welcome; I
+am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, you
+shall be hanged in half an hour."</p>
+
+<p>And he was. His property was also seized, but when the king heard of
+this he ordered it to be restored to his widow.</p>
+
+<p>"God has been inexpressibly merciful to this poor province," wrote
+Berkeley, with sickening hypocrisy, after one of his hangings. Charles
+II., the king, took a different view of the matter, saying: "That old
+fool has hung more men in that naked province than I did for the murder
+of my father." More than twenty of Bacon's chief supporters were hung,
+and the governor's revenge came to an end only when the assembly met and
+insisted that these executions should cease.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span></p><p>We have told how Bacon came to his end. We must do the same for
+Berkeley, his foe. Finding that he was hated and despised in Virginia,
+he sailed for England, many of the people celebrating his departure by
+firing cannon and illuminating their houses. He never returned. The king
+was so angry with him that he refused to see him; a slight which
+affected the old man so severely that he soon died, of a broken heart,
+it is said. Thus ended the first rebellion of the people of the American
+colonies.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>CHEVALIER LA SALLE, THE EXPLORER OF THE MISSISSIPPI.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> are two great explorers whose names have been made famous by their
+association with the mighty river of the West, the Mississippi, or
+Father of Waters,&mdash;De Soto, the discoverer, and La Salle, the explorer,
+of that stupendous stream. Among all the rivers of the earth the
+Mississippi ranks first. It has its rivals in length and volume, but
+stands without a rival as a noble channel of commerce, the pride of the
+West and the glory of the South. We have told the story of its discovery
+by De Soto, the Spanish adventurer; we have now to tell that of its
+exploration by La Salle, the French chevalier.</p>
+
+<p>Let us say here that though the honor of exploring the Mississippi has
+been given to La Salle, he was not the first to traverse its waters. The
+followers of De Soto descended the stream from the Arkansas to its mouth
+in 1542. Father Marquette and Joliet, the explorer, descended from the
+Wisconsin to the Arkansas in 1673. In 1680 Father Hennepin, a Jesuit
+missionary sent by La Salle, ascended the stream from the Illinois to
+the Falls of St. Anthony. Thus white men had followed the great river
+for nearly its whole length. But the greatest of all these explorers and
+the first to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> traverse the river for the greater part of its course, was
+the Chevalier Robert de la Salle, and to his name is given the glory of
+revealing this grand stream to mankind.</p>
+
+<p>Never was there a more daring and indefatigable explorer than Robert de
+la Salle. He seemed born to make new lands and new people known to the
+world. Coming to Canada in 1667, he began his career by engaging in the
+fur trade on Lake Ontario. But he could not rest while the great
+interior remained unknown. In 1669 he made an expedition to the west and
+south, and was the first white man to gaze on the waters of the swift
+Ohio. In 1679 he launched on the Great Lakes the first vessel that ever
+spread its sails on those mighty inland seas, and in this vessel, the
+Griffin, he sailed through Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan.</p>
+
+<p>La Salle next descended the Illinois River, and built a fort where the
+city of Peoria now stands. But his vessel was wrecked, and he was forced
+to make his way on foot through a thousand miles of wilderness to obtain
+supplies at Montreal. Such was the early record of this remarkable man,
+and for two years afterward his life was full of adventure and
+misfortune. At length, in 1682, he entered upon the great performance of
+his life, his famous journey upon the bosom of the Father of Waters.</p>
+
+<p>It was midwinter when La Salle and his men set out from the lakes with
+their canoes. On the 4th of January, 1682, they reached the mouth of the
+Chicago River, where its waters enter Lake<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> Michigan. The river was
+frozen hard, and they had to build sledges to drag their large and heavy
+canoes down the ice-closed stream. Reaching the portage to the Illinois,
+they continued their journey across the bleak and snowy waste,
+toilsomely dragging canoes, baggage, and provisions to the other stream.
+Here, too, they found a sheet of ice, and for some days longer trudged
+down the channel of the silent and dreary stream. Its banks had been
+desolated by Indian wars, and where once many flourishing villages rose
+there were to be seen only ashes and smoke-blackened ruins.</p>
+
+<p>About the 1st of February they reached Crevec&#339;ur, the fort La Salle
+had built some years earlier. Below this point the stream was free from
+ice, and after a week's rest the canoes were launched on the liquid
+surface. They were not long in reaching the point where the Illinois
+buries its waters in the mighty main river, the grave of so many broad
+and splendid streams.</p>
+
+<p>Past the point they had now reached the Mississippi poured swiftly
+downward, its waters swollen, and bearing upon them great sheets of ice,
+the contribution of the distant north. It was no safe channel for their
+frail birch-bark canoes, and they were obliged to wait a week till the
+vast freightage of ice had run past. Then, on the 13th of February,
+1682, they launched their canoes on the great stream, and began their
+famous voyage down its mighty course.</p>
+
+<p>A day's journey brought them to the place where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> the turbulent Missouri
+pours its contribution, gathered from thousands of miles of mountain and
+prairie, into the parent stream, rushing with the force and roar of a
+rapid through a channel half a mile broad, and quickly converting the
+clear Mississippi waters into a turbid yellow torrent, thick with mud.</p>
+
+<p>La Salle, like so many of the early explorers, was full of the idea of
+finding a short route across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, and he
+found the Indians at the mouth of the Missouri ready to tell him
+anything he wanted to know. They said that by sailing ten or twelve days
+up the stream, through populous villages of their people, he would come
+to a range of mountains in which the river rose; and by climbing to the
+summit of these lofty hills he could gaze upon a vast and boundless sea,
+whose waves broke on their farther side. It was one of those imaginative
+stories which the Indians were always ready to tell, and the whites as
+ready to believe, and it was well for La Salle that he did not attempt
+the fanciful adventure.</p>
+
+<p>Savage settlements were numerous along the Mississippi, as De Soto had
+found a century and more earlier. About thirty miles below the Missouri
+they came to another village of peaceful natives, whose souls they made
+happy by a few trifling gifts which were of priceless worth to their
+untutored minds. Then downward still they went for a hundred miles or
+more farther, to the mouth of another great stream, this one flowing
+from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> east, and as noble in its milder way as the Missouri had been
+in its turbulent flow. Unlike the latter, this stream was gentle in its
+current, and its waters were of crystal clearness. It was the splendid
+river which the Indians called the Wabash, or Beautiful River, and the
+French by the similar name of La Belle Rivi&egrave;re. It is now known as the
+Ohio, the Indian name being transferred to one of its tributaries. This
+was the stream on whose waters La Salle had gazed with admiration
+thirteen years before.</p>
+
+<p>The voyagers were obliged to proceed slowly. Unable to carry many
+provisions in their crowded canoes, they were often forced to stop and
+fish or hunt for game. As the Indians told them they would find no good
+camping-grounds for many miles below the Ohio, they stopped for ten days
+at its mouth, hunting and gathering supplies. Parties were sent out to
+explore in various directions, and one of the men, Peter Prudhomme,
+failed to return. It was feared that he had been taken captive by the
+Indians, traces of whom had been seen near by, and a party of Frenchmen,
+with Indian guides, was sent out on the trails of the natives. They
+returned without the lost man, and La Salle, at length, reluctantly
+giving him up, prepared to continue the journey. Just as they were
+entering the canoes the missing man reappeared. For nine days he had
+been lost in the forest, vainly seeking his friends, and wandering
+hopelessly. His gun, however, had provided him with food, and he reached
+the stream just in time.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span></p><p>Once more the expedition was launched on the swift-flowing current,
+eight or ten large birch canoes filled with Indians and Frenchmen in
+Indian garb, and laden with supplies. The waters bore them swiftly
+onward, there was little labor with the paddles, the wintry weather was
+passing and the air growing mild, the sky sunny, and the light-hearted
+sons of France enjoyed their daily journey through new and strange
+scenes with the warmest zest.</p>
+
+<p>About one hundred and twenty miles below the Ohio they reached the
+vicinity of the Arkansas River, the point near which the voyage of
+Marquette had ended and that of the followers of De Soto began. Here,
+for the first time in their journey, they met with hostile Indians. As
+the flotilla glided on past the Arkansas bluffs, on the 3d of March, its
+people were startled by hearing the yells of a large body of savages and
+the loud sound of a drum, coming from behind the bluff. The natives had
+taken the alarm, supposing that a war party of their enemies was coming
+to attack them.</p>
+
+<p>La Salle ordered his canoes at once to be paddled to the other side of
+the stream, here a mile wide. The party landing, some intrenchments were
+hastily thrown up, for across the river they could now see a large
+village, filled with excited and armed warriors. Preparations for
+defence made, La Salle advanced to the water's edge and made signs of
+friendship and amity. Pacified by these signals of peace, some of the
+Indian chiefs rowed across until<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> near the bank, when they stopped and
+beckoned to the strangers to come to them.</p>
+
+<p>Father Membr&eacute;, the priest who accompanied the expedition, entered a
+canoe and was rowed out to the native boat by two Indians. He held out
+to them the calumet, or pipe of peace, the Indian signal of friendship,
+and easily induced the chiefs to go with him to the camp of the whites.
+There were six of them, frank and cordial in manner, and seemingly
+disposed to friendship. La Salle made them very happy with a few small
+presents, and at their request the whole party embarked and accompanied
+them across the river to their village.</p>
+
+<p>All the men of the place crowded to the bank to receive their strange
+visitors, women and children remaining timidly back. They were escorted
+to the wigwams, treated with every show of friendship, and regaled with
+the utmost hospitality. These Arkansas Indians were found to be a
+handsome race, and very different in disposition from the northern
+tribes, for they replaced the taciturn and often sullen demeanor of the
+latter with a gay and frank manner better suited to their warmer clime.
+They were also much more civilized, being skilled agriculturists, and
+working their fields by the aid of slaves captured in war. Corn, beans,
+melons, and a variety of fruits were grown in their fields, and large
+flocks of turkeys and other fowls were seen round their dwellings.</p>
+
+<p>La Salle and his party stayed in the village for some two weeks, and
+before leaving went through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> the form of taking possession of the
+country in the name of the king of France. This proceeding was conducted
+with all the ceremony possible under the circumstances, a large cross
+being planted in the centre of the village, anthems sung, and religious
+rites performed. The Indians looked on in delight at the spectacle,
+blankly ignorant of what it all meant, and probably thinking it was got
+up for their entertainment. Had they known its full significance they
+might not have been so well pleased.</p>
+
+<p>Embarking again on the 17th of March, the explorers continued their
+journey down the stream, coming after several days to a place where the
+river widened into a lake-like expanse. This broad sheet of water was
+surrounded with villages, forty being counted on the east side and
+thirty-four on the west. On landing in this populous community, they
+found the villages to be well built, the houses being constructed of
+clay mixed with straw, and covered with dome-like roofs of canes. Many
+convenient articles of furniture were found within.</p>
+
+<p>These Southern Indians proved to be organized under a very different
+system from that prevailing in the North. There each tribe was a small
+republic, electing its chiefs, and preserving the liberty of its people.
+Here the tribes were absolute monarchies. The head-chief, or king, had
+the lives and property of all his subjects at his disposal, and kept his
+court with the ceremonious dignity of a European monarch. When he called
+on La Salle, who was too sick at that time to go and see him, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span>
+ceremony was regal. Every obstruction was removed from his path by a
+party of pioneers, and the way made level for his feet. The spot where
+he gave audience was carefully smoothed and covered with showy mats.</p>
+
+<p>The dusky autocrat made his appearance richly attired in white robes,
+and preceded by two officers who bore plumes of gorgeously colored
+feathers. An official followed with two large plates of polished copper.
+The monarch had the courteous dignity and gravity of one born to the
+throne, though his interview with La Salle was conducted largely with
+smiles and gestures, as no word spoken could be understood. The
+travellers remained among this friendly people for several days,
+rambling through the villages and being entertained in the dwellings,
+and found them far advanced in civilization beyond the tribes of the
+North.</p>
+
+<p>Father Membr&eacute; has given the following account of their productions: "The
+whole country is covered with palm-trees, laurels of two kinds, plums,
+peaches, mulberry, apple, and pear-trees of every variety. There are
+also five or six kinds of nut-trees, some of which bear nuts of
+extraordinary size. They also gave us several kinds of dried fruit to
+taste. We found them large and good. They have also many varieties of
+fruit-trees which I never saw in Europe. The season was, however, too
+early to allow us to see the fruit. We observed vines already out of
+blossom."</p>
+
+<p>Continuing their journey down the stream, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> adventurers next came to
+the country of the Natchez Indians, whom they found as friendly as those
+they had recently left. La Salle, indeed, was a man of such genial and
+kind disposition and engaging manners that he made friends of all he
+met. As Father Membr&eacute; says, "He so impressed the hearts of these Indians
+that they did not know how to treat us well enough." This was a very
+different reception to that accorded De Soto and his followers, whose
+persistent ill-treatment of the Indians made bitter enemies of all they
+encountered.</p>
+
+<p>The voyagers, however, were soon to meet savages of different character.
+On the 2d of April, as they floated downward through a narrow channel
+where a long island divided the stream, their ears were suddenly greeted
+with fierce war-whoops and the hostile beating of drums. Soon a cloud of
+warriors was seen in the dense border of forest, gliding from tree to
+tree and armed with strong bows and long arrows. La Salle at once
+stopped the flotilla and sent one canoe ahead, the Frenchmen in it
+presenting the calumet of peace. But this emblem here lost its effect,
+for the boat was greeted with a volley of arrows. Another canoe was
+sent, with four Indians, who bore the calumet; but they met with the
+same hostile reception.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that the savages were inveterately hostile, La Salle ordered his
+men to their paddles, bidding them to hug the opposite bank and to row
+with all their strength. No one was to fire, as no good could come from
+that. The rapidity of the current<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> and the swift play of the paddles
+soon sent the canoes speeding down the stream, and though the natives
+drove their keen arrows with all their strength, and ran down the banks
+to keep up their fire, the party passed without a wound.</p>
+
+<p>A few days more took the explorers past the site of the future city of
+New Orleans and to the head of the delta of the Mississippi, where it
+separates into a number of branches. Here the fleet was divided into
+three sections, each taking a branch of the stream, and very soon they
+found the water salty and the current becoming slow. The weather was
+mild and delightful, and the sun shone clear and warm, when at length
+they came into the open waters of the Gulf and their famous voyage was
+at an end.</p>
+
+<p>Ascending the western branch again until they came to solid ground, a
+massive column bearing the arms of France was erected, and by its side
+was planted a great cross. At the foot of the column was buried a leaden
+plate, on which, in Latin, the following words were inscribed:</p>
+
+<p>"Louis the Great reigns. Robert, Cavalier, with Lord Tonti, Ambassador,
+Zenobia Membr&eacute;, Ecclesiastic, and twenty Frenchmen, first navigated this
+river from the country of the Illinois, and passed through this mouth on
+the ninth of April, sixteen hundred and eighty-two."</p>
+
+<p>La Salle then made an address, in which he took possession for France of
+the country of Louisiana; of all its peoples and productions, from the
+mouth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> of the Ohio; of all the rivers flowing into the Mississippi from
+their sources, and of the main stream to its mouth in the sea. Thus,
+according to the law of nations, as then existing, the whole valley of
+the Mississippi was annexed to France; a magnificent acquisition, of
+which that country was destined to enjoy a very small section, and
+finally to lose it all.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p73.jpg" width="600" height="360" alt="COALING A MOVING BOAT ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><small>Copyright, 1906, by Detroit Publishing Company.</small><br />
+
+COALING A MOVING BOAT ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>We might tell the story of the return voyage and of the fierce conflict
+which the voyagers had with the hostile Quinnipissa Indians, who had
+attacked them so savagely in their descent, but it will be of more
+interest to give the account written by Father Membr&eacute; of the country
+through which they had passed.</p>
+
+<p>"The banks of the Mississippi," he writes, "for twenty or thirty leagues
+from its mouth are covered with a dense growth of canes, except in
+fifteen or twenty places where there are very pretty hills and spacious,
+convenient landing-places. Behind this fringe of marshy land you see the
+finest country in the world. Our hunters, both French and Indian, were
+delighted with it. For an extent of six hundred miles in length and as
+much in breadth, we were told there are vast fields of excellent land,
+diversified with pleasing hills, lofty woods, groves through which you
+might ride on horseback, so clear and unobstructed are the paths.</p>
+
+<p>"The fields are full of all kinds of game,&mdash;wild cattle, does, deer,
+stags, bears, turkeys, partridges, parrots, quails, woodcock, wild
+pigeons, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span>ring-doves. There are also beaver, otters, and martens.
+The cattle of this country surpass ours in size. Their head is monstrous
+and their look is frightful, on account of the long, black hair with
+which it is surrounded and which hangs below the chin. The hair is fine,
+and scarce inferior to wool.</p>
+
+<p>"We observed wood fit for every use. There were the most beautiful
+cedars in the world. There was one kind of tree which shed an abundance
+of gum, as pleasant to burn as the best French pastilles. We also saw
+fine hemlocks and other large trees with white bark. The
+cottonwood-trees were very large. Of these the Indians dug out canoes,
+forty or fifty feet long. Sometimes there were fleets of a hundred and
+fifty at their villages. We saw every kind of tree fit for
+ship-building. There is also plenty of hemp for cordage, and tar could
+be made in abundance.</p>
+
+<p>"Prairies are seen everywhere. Sometimes they are fifty or sixty miles
+in length on the river front and many leagues in depth. They are very
+rich and fertile, without a stone or a tree to obstruct the plough.
+These prairies are capable of sustaining an immense population. Beans
+grow wild, and the stalks last several years, bearing fruit. The
+bean-vines are thicker than a man's arm, and run to the top of the
+highest trees. Peach-trees are abundant and bear fruit equal to the best
+that can be found in France. They are often so loaded in the gardens of
+the Indians that they have to prop up the branches. There are whole
+forests of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span>mulberries, whose ripened fruit we begin to eat in the month
+of May. Plums are found in great variety, many of which are not known in
+Europe. Grape-vines and pomegranates are common. Three or four crops of
+corn can be raised in a year."</p>
+
+<p>From all this it appears that the good Father was very observant, though
+his observation, or the information he obtained from the Indians, was
+not always to be trusted. He goes on to speak of the tribes, whose
+people and customs he found very different from the Indians of Canada.
+"They have large public squares, games, and assemblies. They seem
+mirthful and full of vivacity. Their chiefs have absolute authority. No
+one would dare to pass between the chief and the cane torch which burns
+in his cabin and is carried before him when he goes out. All make a
+circuit around it with some ceremony."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>THE FRENCH OF LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ INDIANS.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> story of the American Indian is one of the darkest blots on the page
+of the history of civilization. Of the three principal peoples of Europe
+who settled the New World,&mdash;the Spanish, the British, and the
+French,&mdash;the Spanish made slaves of them and dealt with them with
+shocking cruelty, and the British were, in a different way, as unjust,
+and at times little less cruel. As for the French, while they showed
+more sympathy with the natives, and treated them in a more friendly and
+considerate spirit, their dealings with them were by no means free from
+the charge of injustice and cruelty. This we shall seek to show in the
+following story.</p>
+
+<p>When we talk of the Indians of the United States we are very apt to get
+wrong ideas about them. The word Indian means to us a member of the
+savage hunting tribes of the North; a fierce, treacherous, implacable
+foe, though he could be loyal and generous as a friend; a being who made
+war a trade and cruelty a pastime, and was incapable of civilization.
+But this is only one type of the native inhabitants of the land. Those
+of the South were very different. Instead of being rude savages, like
+their Northern brethren, they had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> made some approach to civilization;
+instead of being roving hunters, they were settled agriculturists;
+instead of being morose and taciturn, they were genial and
+light-hearted; and instead of possessing only crude forms of government
+and religion, they were equal in both these respects to some peoples who
+are classed as civilized.</p>
+
+<p>If any feel a doubt of this, let them read what La Salle and the
+intelligent priest who went with him had to say about the Indians of the
+lower Mississippi, their government, agriculture, and friendliness of
+disposition, and their genial and sociable manner. It is one of the
+tribes of Southern Indians with which we are here concerned, the Natchez
+tribe or nation, with whom La Salle had such pleasing relations.</p>
+
+<p>It may be of interest to our readers to be told something more about the
+customs of the Southern Indians, since they differed very greatly from
+those of the North, and are little known to most readers. Let us take
+the Creeks, for instance,&mdash;a powerful association made up of many tribes
+of the Gulf region. They had their chiefs and their governing council,
+like the Northern Indians, but the Mico, who took the place of the
+Sachem of the North, had almost absolute power, and the office was
+hereditary in his family. Agriculture was their principal industry, the
+fields being carefully cultivated, though they were active hunters also.
+The land was the property of the tribe, not of individuals, and each
+family who cultivated it had to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> deposit a part of their products in the
+public store-house. This was under the full control of the Mico, though
+food was distributed to all in times of need.</p>
+
+<p>Their religion was much more advanced than that of the Northern tribes.
+They had the medicine man and the notions about spirits of the North,
+but they also worshipped the sun as the great deity of the universe, and
+had their temples, and priests, and religious ceremonies. One of their
+great objects of care was the sacred fire, which was carefully
+extinguished at the close of the year, and rekindled with "new fire" for
+the coming year. While it was out serious calamities were feared and the
+people were in a state of terror. There was nothing like this in the
+North.</p>
+
+<p>The most remarkable of the United States Indians were the Natchez, of
+whom we have above spoken. Not only La Salle, but later French writers
+have told us about them. They had a different language and were
+different in other ways from the neighboring Indians. They worshipped
+the sun as their great deity, and had a complete system of temples,
+priests, idols, religious festivals, sacred objects and the like, the
+people being deeply superstitious. Their temples were built on great
+mounds, and in them the sacred fire was very carefully guarded by the
+priests. If it should go out fearful misfortunes were expected to ensue.</p>
+
+<p>Their ruler was high priest as well as monarch. He was called the Sun
+and was believed to be a direct descendant of the great deity. He was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span>
+complete autocrat, with the power of life and death over the people, and
+his nearest female relative, who was known as the woman chief, had the
+same power. On his death there were many human sacrifices, though it was
+not his son, but that of the woman chief, who succeeded to the throne.
+Not only the ruler, but all the members of the royal caste, were called
+Suns, and had special privileges. Under them there was a nobility, also
+with its powers and privileges, but the common people had very few
+rights. On the temple of the sun were the figures of three eagles, with
+their heads turned to the east. It may be seen that this people was a
+very interesting one, far advanced in culture beyond the rude tribes of
+the North, and it is a great pity that they were utterly destroyed and
+their institutions swept away before they were studied by the scientists
+of the land. Their destruction was due to French injustice, and this is
+how it came about.</p>
+
+<p>Louisiana was not settled by the French until about twenty years after
+La Salle's great journey, and New Orleans was not founded till 1718.
+The French gradually spread their authority over the country, bringing
+the Mississippi tribes under their influence. Among these were the
+Natchez, situated up the river in a locality indicated by the present
+city of Natchez. The trouble with them came about in 1729, through the
+unjust behavior of a French officer named Chopart. He had been once
+removed for injustice, but a new governor,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> M. Perier, had replaced him,
+not knowing his character.</p>
+
+<p>Chopart, on his return to the Natchez country, was full of great views,
+in which the rights of the old owners of the land did not count. He was
+going to make his province a grand and important one, and in the
+presence of his ambition the old inhabitants must bend the knee. He
+wanted a large space for his projected settlement, and on looking about
+could find no spot that suited him but that which was occupied by the
+Indian village of the White Apple. That the natives might object to this
+appropriation of their land did not seem to trouble his lordly soul.</p>
+
+<p>He sent to the Sun of the village, bidding him to come to the fort,
+which was about six miles away. When the chief arrived there, Chopart
+told him, bluntly enough, that he had decided to build a settlement on
+the site of the White Apple village, and that he must clear away the
+huts and build somewhere else. His only excuse was that it was necessary
+for the French to settle on the banks of the rivulet on whose waters
+stood the Grand Tillage and the abode of the Grand Sun.</p>
+
+<p>The Sun of the Apple was taken aback by this arbitrary demand. He
+replied with dignity that his ancestors had dwelt in that village for as
+many years as there were hairs in his head, and that it was good that he
+and his people should continue there. This reasonable answer threw
+Chopart into a passion, and he violently told the Sun that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> must quit
+his village in a few days or he should repent it.</p>
+
+<p>"When your people came to ask us for lands to settle on," said the
+Indian in reply, "you told us that there was plenty of unoccupied land
+which you would be willing to take. The same sun, you said, would shine
+on us all and we would all walk in the same path."</p>
+
+<p>Before he could proceed, Chopart violently interrupted him, saying that
+he wanted to hear no more, he only wanted to be obeyed. At this the
+insulted chief withdrew, saying, with the same quiet dignity as before,
+that he would call together the old men of the village and hold a
+council on the affair.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians, finding the French official so violent and arbitrary, at
+first sought to obtain delay, saying that the corn was just above the
+ground and the chickens were laying their eggs. The commandant replied
+that this did not matter to him, they must obey his order or they should
+suffer for their obstinacy. They next tried the effect of a bribe,
+offering to pay him a basket of corn and a fowl for each hut in the
+village if he would wait till the harvest was gathered. Chopart proved
+to be as avaricious as he was arbitrary, and agreed to accept this
+offer.</p>
+
+<p>He did not know the people he was dealing with. Stung with the injustice
+of the demand, and deeply incensed by the insolence of the commandant,
+the village council secretly resolved that they would not be slaves to
+these base intruders, but would cut them off to a man. The oldest chief
+suggested the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> following plan. On the day fixed they should go to the
+fort with some corn, and carrying their arms as if going out to hunt.
+There should be two or three Natchez for every Frenchman, and they
+should borrow arms and ammunition for a hunting match to be made on
+account of a grand feast, promising to bring back meat in payment. The
+arms once obtained, the discharge of a gun would be the signal for them
+to fall on the unsuspecting French and kill them all.</p>
+
+<p>He further suggested that all the other villages should be apprised of
+the project and asked to assist. A bundle of rods was to be sent to each
+village, the rods indicating the number of days preceding that fixed for
+the assault. That no mistake might be made, a prudent person in each
+village should be appointed to draw out a rod on each day and throw it
+away. This was their way of counting time.</p>
+
+<p>The scheme was accepted by the council, the Sun warmly approving of it.
+When it was made known to the chiefs of the nation, they all joined in
+approval, including the Grand Sun, their chief ruler, and his uncle, the
+Stung Serpent. It was kept secret, however, from the people at large,
+and from all the women of the noble and royal castes, not excepting the
+woman chief.</p>
+
+<p>This it was not easy to do. Secret meetings were being held, and the
+object of these the female Suns had a right to demand. The woman chief
+at that time was a young princess, scarce eighteen, and little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> inclined
+to trouble herself with political affairs; but the Strong Arm, the
+mother of the Grand Sun, was an able and experienced woman, and one
+friendly to the French. Her son, strongly importuned by her, told her of
+the scheme, and also of the purpose of the bundle of rods that lay in
+the temple.</p>
+
+<p>Strong Arm was politic enough to appear to approve the project, but
+secretly she was anxious to save the French. The time was growing short,
+and she sought to have the commandant warned by hints of danger. These
+were brought him by soldiers, but in his supercilious self-conceit he
+paid no heed to them, but went on blindly towards destruction. He went
+so far as to put in irons seven of those who warned him of the peril,
+accusing them of cowardice. Finding this effort unavailing, the Strong
+Arm secretly pulled some rods out of the fatal bundle, hoping in this
+way to disarrange the project of the conspirators.</p>
+
+<p>Heedless of all that had been told him, Chopart and some other Frenchmen
+went on the night before the fatal day to the great village of the
+Natchez, on a party of pleasure, not returning till break of day, and
+then the worse for his potations. In the mean time the secret had grown
+more open, and on his entering the fort he was strongly advised to be on
+his guard.</p>
+
+<p>The drink he had taken made a complete fool of him, however, and he at
+once sent to the village from which he had just returned, bidding his
+interpreter to ask the Grand Sun whether he intended to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> come with his
+warriors and kill the French. The Grand Sun, as might have been
+expected, sent word back that he did not dream of such a thing, and he
+would be very sorry, indeed, to do any harm to his good friends, the
+French. This answer fully satisfied the commandant, and he went to his
+house, near the fort, disdaining the advice of the informers.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the eve of St. Andrew's Day, in 1729, that a party of the
+Natchez approached the French settlement. It was some days in advance of
+that fixed, on account of the meddling with the rods. They brought with
+them one of the common people, armed with a wooden hatchet, to kill the
+commandant, the warriors having too much contempt for him to be willing
+to lay hands on him. The natives strayed in friendly fashion into the
+houses, and many made their way through the open gates into the fort,
+where they found the soldiers unsuspicious of danger and without an
+officer, or even a sergeant, at their head.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the Grand Sun appeared, with a number of warriors laden with corn,
+as if to pay the first installment of the contribution. Their entrance
+was quickly followed by several shots. This being the signal agreed
+upon, in an instant the natives made a murderous assault on the unarmed
+French, cutting them down in their houses and shooting them on every
+side. The commandant, for the first time aware of his blind folly, ran
+in terror into the garden of his house, but he was sharply pursued and
+cut down. The massacre was so well devised and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> went on so
+simultaneously in all directions that very few of the seven hundred
+Frenchmen in the settlement escaped, a handful of the fugitives alone
+bringing the news of the bloody affair to New Orleans. The Natchez
+completed their vengeance by setting on fire and burning all the
+buildings, so that of the late flourishing settlement only a few ruined
+walls remained.</p>
+
+<p>As may be seen, this massacre was due to the injustice, and to the
+subsequent incompetence, of one man, Chopart, the commandant. It led to
+lamentable consequences, in the utter destruction of the Natchez nation
+and the loss of one of the most interesting native communities in
+America.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner, in fact, had the news of the massacre reached New Orleans
+than active steps were taken for revenge. A force, largely made up of
+Choctaw allies, assailed the fort of the Natchez. The latter asked for
+peace, promising to release the French women and children they held as
+prisoners. This was agreed to, and the Indians took advantage of it to
+vacate the fort by stealth, under cover of night, taking with them all
+their baggage and plunder. They took refuge in a secret place to the
+west of the Mississippi, which the French had much difficulty to
+discover.</p>
+
+<p>The place found, a strong force was sent against the Indians, its route
+being up the Red River, then up the Black River, and finally up Silver
+Creek, which flows from a small lake, near which the Natchez had built a
+fort for defence against the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> French. This place they maintained with
+some resolution, but when the French batteries were placed and bombs
+began to fall in the fort, dealing death to women and children as well
+as men, the warriors, horrified at these frightful instruments of death,
+made signals of their readiness to capitulate.</p>
+
+<p>Night fell before terms were decided upon, and the Indians asked that
+the settlement should be left till the next day. Their purpose was to
+attempt to escape, as they had done before during the night, but they
+were too closely watched to make this effective. Some of them succeeded
+in getting away, but the great body were driven back into the fort, and
+the next day were obliged to surrender at discretion. Among them were
+the Grand Sun and the women Suns, with many warriors, women, and
+children.</p>
+
+<p>The end of the story of the Natchez is the only instance on record of
+the deliberate annihilation of an Indian tribe. Some have perished
+through the event of war, no other through fixed intention. All the
+captives were carried to New Orleans, where they were used as slaves,
+not excepting the Strong Arm, who had made such efforts to save the
+French. These slaves were afterward sent to St. Domingo to prevent their
+escape, and in order that the Natchez nation might be utterly rooted
+out.</p>
+
+<p>Those of the warriors who had escaped from the fort, and others who were
+out hunting, were still at large, but there were few women among them,
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> the nation was lost past renewal. These fugitives made their way to
+the villages of the Chickasaws, and were finally absorbed in that
+nation, "and thus," says Du Pratz, the historian of this affair, "that
+nation, the most conspicuous in the colony, and most useful to the
+French, was destroyed."</p>
+
+<p>Du Pratz was a resident of New Orleans at the time, and got his
+information from the parties directly concerned. He tells us that among
+the women slaves "was the female Sun called the Strong Arm, who then
+told me all she had done in order to save the French." It appears that
+all she had done was not enough to save herself.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">On</span> a fine day in the pleasant month of August of the year 1714 a large
+party of horsemen rode along Duke of Gloucester Street, in the city of
+Williamsburg, Virginia, while the men, women, and children of the place
+flocked to the doors of the houses cheering and waving their
+handkerchiefs as the gallant cavaliers passed by. They were gayly
+dressed, in the showy costumes worn by the gentlemen of that time, and
+at their head was a handsome and vigorous man, with the erect bearing
+and manly attitude of one who had served in the wars. They were all
+mounted on spirited horses and carried their guns on their saddles,
+prepared to hunt or perhaps to defend themselves if attacked. Behind
+them followed a string of mules, carrying the packs of the horsemen and
+in charge of mounted servants.</p>
+
+<p>Thus equipped, the showy cavalcade passed through the main streets of
+the small town, which had succeeded Jamestown as the Virginian capital,
+and rode away over the westward-leading road. On they went, mile after
+mile, others joining them, as they passed onward, the party steadily
+increasing in numbers until it reached a place called Germanna,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> on the
+Rapid Ann&mdash;now the Rapidan&mdash;River, on the edge of the Spotsylvania
+Wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>No doubt you will wish to know who these men were and what was the
+object of their journey. It was a romantic one, as you will learn,&mdash;a
+journey of adventure into the unknown wilderness. At that time Virginia
+had been settled more than a hundred years, yet its people knew very
+little about it beyond the seaboard plain. West of this rose the Blue
+Ridge Mountains, behind which lay a great mysterious land, almost as
+unknown as the mountains of the moon. There were people as late as that
+who thought that the Mississippi River rose in these mountains.</p>
+
+<p>The Virginians had given this land of mystery a name. They called it
+Orange County. There were rumors that it was filled with great forests
+and lofty mountains, that it held fertile valleys watered by beautiful
+rivers, that it was a realm of strange and wonderful scenes. The
+Indians, who had been driven from the east, were still numerous there,
+and wild animals peopled the forests plentifully, but few of the whites
+had ventured within its confines. Now and then a daring hunter had
+crossed the Blue Ridge into this country and brought back surprising
+tales of what was to be seen there, but nothing that could be trusted
+was known about the land beyond the hills.</p>
+
+<p>All this was of great interest to Alexander Spotswood, who was then
+governor of Virginia. He was a man whose life had been one of adventure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span>
+and who had distinguished himself as a soldier at the famous battle of
+Blenheim, and he was still young and fond of adventure when the king
+chose him to be governor of the oldest American colony.</p>
+
+<p>We do not propose to tell the whole story of Governor Spotswood; but as
+he was a very active and enterprising man, some of the things he did may
+be of interest. He had an oddly shaped powder-magazine built at
+Williamsburg, which still stands in that old town, and he opened the
+college of William and Mary free to the sons of the few Indians who
+remained in the settled part of Virginia. Then he built iron-furnaces
+and began to smelt iron for the use of the people. Those were the first
+iron-furnaces in the colonies, and the people called him the "Tubal Cain
+of Virginia," after a famous worker in iron mentioned in the Bible. His
+furnaces were at the settlement of Germanna, where the expedition made
+its first stop. This name came from a colony of Germans whom he had
+brought there to work his iron-mines and forges.</p>
+
+<p>After what has been told it may not be difficult to guess the purpose of
+the expedition. Governor Spotswood was practical enough to wish to
+explore the mysterious land beyond the blue-peaked hills, and romantic
+enough to desire to do this himself, instead of sending out a party of
+pioneers. So he sent word to the planters that he proposed to make a
+holiday excursion over the mountains, and would gladly welcome any of
+them who wished to join.</p>
+
+<p>We may be sure that there were plenty, especially<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> among the younger
+men, who were glad to accept his invitation, and on the appointed day
+many of them came riding in, with their servants and pack-mules, well
+laden with provisions and stores, for they looked on the excursion as a
+picnic on a large scale.</p>
+
+<p>One thing they had forgotten&mdash;a very necessary one. At that time iron
+was scarce and costly in Virginia, and as the roads were soft and sandy,
+as they still are in the seaboard country, it was the custom to ride
+horses <i>barefooted</i>, there being no need for iron shoes. But now they
+were about to ride up rocky mountain-paths and over the stony summits,
+and it was suddenly discovered that their horses must be shod. So all
+the smiths available were put actively at work making horseshoes and
+nailing them on the horses' feet. It was this incident that gave rise to
+the name of the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," as will appear
+farther on.</p>
+
+<p>At Germanna Governor Spotswood had a summer residence, to which he
+retired when the weather grew sultry in the lower country. Colonel
+William Byrd, a planter on the James River, has told us all about this
+summer house of the governor. One of his stories is, that when he
+visited there a tame deer, frightened at seeing him, leaped against a
+large mirror in the drawing-room, thinking that it was a window, and
+smashed it into splinters. It is not likely the governor thanked his
+visitor for that.</p>
+
+<p>After leaving Germanna the explorers soon entered a region quite unknown
+to them. They were in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> high spirits, for everything about them was new
+and delightful. The woods were in their full August foliage, the streams
+gurgling, the birds warbling, beautiful views on every hand, and the
+charm of nature's domain on all sides. At mid-day they would stop in
+some green forest glade to rest and pasture their horses, and enjoy the
+contents of their packs with a keen appetite given by the fresh forest
+air.</p>
+
+<p>To these repasts the hunters of the party added their share,
+disappearing at intervals in the woods and returning with pheasant, wild
+turkey, or mayhap a fat deer, to add to the woodland feast. At night
+they would hobble their horses and leave them to graze, would eat
+heartily of their own food with the grass for table-cloth and a fresh
+appetite for sauce, then, wrapping their cloaks around them, would sleep
+as soundly as if in their own beds at home. The story of the ride has
+been written by one of the party, and it goes in much the way here
+described.</p>
+
+<p>The mountains were reached at length, and up their rugged sides the
+party rode, seeking the easiest paths they could find. No one knows just
+where this was, but it is thought that it was near Rockfish Gap, through
+which the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad now passes. There are some who
+say that they crossed the valley beyond the Blue Ridge and rode over the
+Alleghany Mountains also, but this is not at all likely.</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the summit of the range and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> looked out to the west,
+they saw before them a wild but lovely landscape, a broad valley through
+whose midst ran a beautiful river, the Shenandoah, an Indian name that
+means "daughter of the stars." To the right and left the mountain-range
+extended as far as the eye could reach, the hill summits and sides
+covered everywhere with verdant forest-trees. In front, far off across
+the valley, rose the long blue line of the Alleghanies, concealing new
+mysteries beyond.</p>
+
+<p>The party gazed around in delight, and carved their names on the rocks
+to mark the spot. A peak near at hand they named Mount George, in honor
+of George I., who had just been made king, and a second one Mount
+Alexander, in honor of the governor, and they drank the health of both.
+Then they rode down the western slope into the lovely valley they had
+gazed upon. Here they had no warlike or romantic adventures, fights with
+Indians or wild beasts, but they had a very enjoyable time. After a
+delightful ride through the valley they recrossed the mountains, and
+rode joyously homeward to tell the people of the plain the story of what
+they had seen.</p>
+
+<p>We have said nothing yet of the Golden Horseshoe. That was a fanciful
+idea of Governor Spotswood. He thought the excursion and the fine valley
+it had explored were worthy to be remembered by making them the basis of
+an order of knighthood. He was somewhat puzzled to think of a good name
+for it, but at length he remembered the shoeing of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> the horses at
+Williamsburg, so he decided to call it the Order of the Golden
+Horseshoe, and sent to England for a number of small golden horseshoes,
+one of which he gave to each of his late companions. There was a Latin
+inscription on them signifying, "Thus we swear to cross the mountains."
+When the king heard of the expedition, he made the governor a knight,
+under the title of Sir Alexander Spotswood, but we think a better title
+for him was that he won for himself,&mdash;Sir Knight of the Golden
+Horseshoe.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>HOW OGLETHORPE SAVED GEORGIA FROM SPAIN.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">On</span> the 5th day of July, in the year 1742, unwonted signs of activity
+might have been seen in the usually deserted St. Simon's harbor, on the
+coast of Georgia. Into that sequestered bay there sailed a powerful
+squadron of fifty-six well-armed war-vessels, one of them carrying
+twenty-four guns and two of them twenty guns each, while there was a
+large following of smaller vessels. A host of men in uniform crowded the
+decks of these vessels, and the gleam of arms gave lustre to the scene.
+It was a strong Spanish fleet, sent to wrest the province of Georgia
+from English hands, and mayhap to punish these intruders in the
+murderous way that the Spaniards had punished the French Huguenots two
+centuries before.</p>
+
+<p>In all the time that had elapsed since the discovery of America, Spain
+had made only one settlement on the Atlantic coast of the United States,
+that of St. Augustine in Florida. But slow as they were in taking
+possession, they were not slow in making claims, for they looked on
+Florida as extending to the Arctic zone. More than once had they tried
+to drive the English out of Charleston, and now they were about to make
+a similar effort in Georgia. That colony had been settled, only ten
+years before,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> on land which Spain claimed as her own, and the English
+were not there long before hostilities began. In 1739 General
+Oglethorpe, the proprietor of Georgia, invaded Florida and laid siege to
+St. Augustine. He failed in this undertaking, and in 1742 the Spaniards
+prepared to take revenge, sending the strong fleet mentioned against
+their foes. It looked as if Georgia would be lost to England, for on
+these vessels were five thousand men, a force greater than all Georgia
+could raise.</p>
+
+<p>Oglethorpe knew that the Spaniards were coming, and made hasty
+preparations to meet them. Troops of rangers were raised, the planters
+were armed, fortifications built, and a ship of twenty-two guns
+equipped. But with all his efforts his force was pitifully small as
+compared with the great Spanish equipment. Besides the ship named, there
+were some small armed vessels and a shore battery, with which the
+English for four hours kept up a weak contest with their foes. Then the
+fleet sailed past the defences and up the river before a strong breeze,
+and Oglethorpe was obliged to spike the guns and destroy the
+war-material at Fort St. Simon's and withdraw to the stronger post of
+Frederica, where he proposed to make his stand. Not long afterward the
+Spaniards landed their five thousand men four miles below Frederica.
+These marched down the island and occupied the deserted fort.</p>
+
+<p>There may not seem to our readers much of interest in all this, but when
+it is learned that against the fifty-six ships and more than five
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span>thousand men of the Spaniards the utmost force that General Oglethorpe
+could muster consisted of two ships and six hundred and fifty-two men,
+including militia and Indians, and that with this handful of men he
+completely baffled his assailants, the case grows more interesting. It
+was largely an example of tactics against numbers, as will be seen on
+reading the story of how the Spaniards were put to the right about and
+forced to flee in utter dismay.</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th of July some of the Georgia rangers discovered a small body
+of Spanish troops within a mile of Frederica. On learning of their
+approach, Oglethorpe did not wait for them to attack him in his not very
+powerful stronghold, but at once advanced with a party of Indians and
+rangers, and a company of Highlanders who were on parade. Ordering the
+regiment to follow, he hurried forward with this small detachment,
+proposing to attack the invaders while in the forest defiles and before
+they could deploy in the open plain near the fort.</p>
+
+<p>So furious was his charge and so utter the surprise of the Spaniards
+that nearly their entire party, consisting of one hundred and
+twenty-five of their best woodsmen and forty-five Indians, were either
+killed, wounded, or made prisoners. The few fugitives were pursued for
+several miles through the forest to an open meadow or savannah. Here the
+general posted three platoons of the regiment and a company of Highland
+foot under cover of the wood, so that any Spaniards advancing through
+the meadow would have to pass under their fire. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> he hastened back
+to Frederica and mustered the remainder of his force.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p98.jpg" width="600" height="324" alt="OLD SPANISH FORT, ST. AUGUSTINE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Old Spanish Fort, St. Augustine.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Just as they were ready to march, severe firing was heard in the
+direction of the ambushed troops. Oglethorpe made all haste towards them
+and met two of the platoons in full retreat. They had been driven from
+their post by Don Antonia Barba at the head of three hundred grenadiers
+and infantry, who had pushed through the meadow under a drifting rain
+and charged into the wood with wild huzzas and rolling drums.</p>
+
+<p>The affair looked very bad for the English. Forced back by a small
+advance-guard of the invaders, what would be their fate when the total
+Spanish army came upon them? Oglethorpe was told that the whole force
+had been routed, but on looking over the men before him he saw that one
+platoon and a company of rangers were missing. At the same time the
+sound of firing came from the woods at a distance, and he ordered the
+officers to rally their men and follow him.</p>
+
+<p>Let us trace the doings of the missing men. Instead of following their
+retreating comrades, they had, under their officers, Lieutenants
+Sutherland and MacKay, made a skilful d&eacute;tour in the woods to the rear of
+the enemy, reaching a point where the road passed from the forest to the
+open marsh across a small semicircular cove. Here they formed an
+ambuscade in a thick grove of palmettos which nearly surrounded the
+narrow pass.</p>
+
+<p>They had not been there long when the Spaniards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> returned in high glee
+from their pursuit. Reaching this open spot, well protected from assault
+as it appeared by the open morass on one side and the crescent-shaped
+hedge of palmettos and underwood on the other, they deemed themselves
+perfectly secure, stacking their arms and throwing themselves on the
+ground to rest after their late exertions.</p>
+
+<p>The ambushed force had keenly watched their movements from their
+hiding-place, preserving utter silence as the foe entered the trap. At
+length Sutherland and MacKay raised the signal of attack, a Highland cap
+upon a sword, and in an instant a deadly fire was poured upon the
+unsuspecting enemy. Volley after volley succeeded, strewing the ground
+with the dead and dying. The Spaniards sprang to their feet in confusion
+and panic. Some of their officers attempted to reform their broken
+ranks, but in vain; all discipline was gone, orders were unheard, safety
+alone was sought. In a minute more, with a Highland shout, the platoon
+burst upon them with levelled bayonet and gleaming claymore, and they
+fled like panic-stricken deer; some to the marsh, where they mired and
+were captured; some along the defile, where they were cut down; some to
+the thicket, where they became entangled and lost. Their defeat was
+complete, only a few of them escaping to their camp. Barba, their
+leader, was mortally wounded; other officers and one hundred and sixty
+privates were killed; the prisoners numbered twenty. The feat of arms
+was as brilliant as it was successful, and Oglethorpe, who did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> not
+reach the scene of action till the victory was gained, promoted the two
+young officers on the spot as a reward for their valor and military
+skill. The scene of the action has ever since been known as the "Bloody
+Marsh."</p>
+
+<p>The enterprise of the Spaniards had so far been attended by misfortune,
+a fact which caused dissention among their leaders. Learning of this,
+Oglethorpe resolved to surprise them by a night attack. On the 12th he
+marched with five hundred men until within a mile of the Spanish
+quarters, and after nightfall went forward with a small party to
+reconnoitre. His purpose was to attack them, if all appeared favorable,
+but he was foiled by the treachery of a Frenchman in his ranks, who
+fired his musket and deserted to the enemy under cover of the darkness.
+Disconcerted by this unlucky circumstance, the general withdrew his
+reconnoitering party; reaching his men, he distributed the drummers
+about the wood to represent a large force, and ordered them to beat the
+grenadier's march. This they did for half an hour; then, all being
+still, they retreated to Frederica.</p>
+
+<p>The defection of the Frenchman threw the general into a state of alarm.
+The fellow would undoubtedly tell the Spaniards how small a force
+opposed them, and advise them that, with their superior land and naval
+forces, they could easily surround and destroy the English. In this
+dilemma it occurred to him to try the effect of stratagem, and seek to
+discredit the traitor's story.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span></p><p>He wrote a letter in French, as if from a friend of the deserter,
+telling him that he had received the money, and advising him to make
+every effort to convince the Spanish commander that the English were
+very weak. He suggested to him to offer to pilot up their boats and
+galleys, and to bring them under the woods where he knew the hidden
+batteries were. If he succeeded in this, his pay would be doubled. If he
+could not do this, he was to use all his influence to keep them three
+days more at Fort St. Simon's. By that time the English would be
+reinforced by two thousand infantry and six men-of-war which had already
+sailed from Charleston. In a postscript he was cautioned on no account
+to mention that Admiral Vernon was about to make an attack on St.
+Augustine.</p>
+
+<p>This letter was given to a Spanish prisoner, who was paid a sum of money
+on his promise that he would carry the letter privately and deliver it
+to the French deserter. The prisoner was then secretly set free, and
+made his way back to the Spanish camp. After being detained and
+questioned at the outposts he was taken before the general, Don Manuel
+de Mantiano. So far all had gone as Oglethorpe hoped. The fugitive was
+asked how he escaped and if he had any letters. When he denied having
+any he was searched and the decoy letter found on his person. It was not
+addressed to any one, but on promise of pardon he confessed that he had
+received money to deliver it to the Frenchman.</p>
+
+<p>As it proved, the deserter had joined the English<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> as a spy for the
+Spaniards. He earnestly protested that he was not false to his
+agreement; that he knew nothing of any hidden battery or of the other
+contents of the letter, and that he had received no money or had any
+correspondence with Oglethorpe. Some of the general's council believed
+him, and looked on the letter as an English trick. But the most of them
+believed him to be a double spy, and advised an immediate retreat. While
+the council was warmly debating on this subject word was brought them
+that three vessels had been seen off the bar. This settled the question
+in their minds. The fleet from Charleston was at hand; if they stayed
+longer they might be hemmed in by sea and land; they resolved to fly
+while the path to safety was still open. Their resolution was hastened
+by an advance of Oglethorpe's small naval force down the stream, and a
+successful attack on their fleet. Setting fire to the fort, they
+embarked so hastily that a part of their military stores were abandoned,
+and fled as if from an overwhelming force, Oglethorpe hastening their
+flight by pursuit with his few vessels.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended this affair, one of the most remarkable in its outcome of any
+in the military history of the United States. For fifteen days General
+Oglethorpe, with little over six hundred men and two armed vessels, had
+baffled the Spanish general with fifty-six ships and five thousand men,
+defeating him in every encounter in the field, and at length, by an
+ingenious stratagem, compelling him to retreat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> with the loss of several
+ships and much of his provisions, munitions, and artillery. In all our
+colonial history there is nothing to match this repulse of such a
+formidable force by a mere handful of men. It had the effect of saving
+Georgia, and perhaps Carolina, from falling into the hands of the
+Spanish. From that time forward Spain made no effort to invade the
+English colonies. The sole hostile action of the Spaniards of Florida
+was to inspire the Indians of that peninsula to make raids in Georgia,
+and this annoyance led in the end to the loss of Florida by Spain.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>A BOY'S WORKING HOLIDAY IN THE WILDWOOD.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">We</span> wish to say something here about a curious old man who lived in
+Virginia when George Washington was a boy, and who was wise enough to
+see that young Washington was anything but a common boy. This man was an
+English nobleman named Lord Fairfax. As the nobles of England were not
+in the habit of coming to the colonies, except as governors, we must
+tell what brought this one across the sea.</p>
+
+<p>It happened in this way. His grandfather, Lord Culpeper, had at one time
+been governor of Virginia, and, like some other governors, had taken
+care to feather his nest. Seeing how rich the land was between the
+Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers, when he went home he asked the king to
+give him all this land, and the king, Charles II., in his good easy way
+of giving away what did not belong to him, readily consented, without
+troubling himself about the rights of the people who lived on the land.
+A great and valuable estate it was. Not many dwelt on it, and Lord
+Culpeper promised to have it settled and cultivated, but we cannot say
+that he troubled himself much about doing so.</p>
+
+<p>When old Culpeper died the Virginia land went to his daughter, and from
+her it descended to her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> son, Lord Fairfax, who sent out his cousin,
+William Fairfax, to look after his great estate, which covered a whole
+broad county in the wilderness, and counties in those days were often
+very large. Lord Fairfax was not much concerned about the American
+wildwood. He was one of the fashionable young men in London society, and
+something of an author, too, for he helped the famous Addison by writing
+some papers for the "Spectator."</p>
+
+<p>But noblemen, like common men, are liable to fall in love, and this Lord
+Fairfax did. He became engaged to be married to a handsome young lady;
+but she proved to be less faithful than pretty, and when a nobleman of
+higher rank asked her to marry him, she threw her first lover aside and
+gave herself to the richer one.</p>
+
+<p>This was a bitter blow to Lord Fairfax. He went to his country home and
+dwelt there in deep distress, vowing that all women were false-hearted
+and that he would never marry any of them. And he never did. Even his
+country home was not solitary enough for the broken-hearted lover, so he
+resolved to cross the ocean and seek a new home in his wilderness land
+in America. It was this that brought him to Virginia, where he went to
+live at his cousin's fine mansion called Belvoir, a place not far away
+from the Washington estate of Mount Vernon.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Fairfax was a middle-aged man at that time, a tall, gaunt,
+near-sighted personage, who spent much of his time in hunting, of which
+he was very fond. And his favorite companion in these hunting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span>
+excursions was young George Washington, then a fine, fresh, active boy
+of fourteen, who dearly loved outdoor life. There was a strong contrast
+between the old lord and the youthful Virginian, but they soon became
+close friends, riding out fox-hunting together and growing intimate in
+other ways.</p>
+
+<p>Laurence Washington, George's elder brother, who lived at Mount Vernon,
+had married a daughter of William Fairfax, and that brought the Mount
+Vernon and Belvoir families much together, so that when young George was
+visiting his brother he was often at Belvoir. Lord Fairfax grew to like
+him so much that he resolved to give him some important work to do. He
+saw that the boy was strong, manly, and quick-witted, and anxious to be
+doing something for himself, and as George had made some study of
+surveying, he decided to employ him at this.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Fairfax's Virginia estate, as we have said, was very large. The
+best-known part of it lay east, but it also crossed the Blue Ridge
+Mountains, and ran over into the beautiful valley beyond, which the
+Knights of the Golden Horseshoe had visited more than thirty years
+before. This splendid valley was still largely in a wild state, with few
+inhabitants besides the savage Indians and wild beasts. Before it could
+be fairly opened to settlers it must be measured by the surveyor's chain
+and mapped out so that it would be easy to tell where any tract was
+located. It was this that Lord Fairfax asked young Washington to do, and
+which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> active boy gladly consented to undertake, for he liked
+nothing better than wild life and adventure in the wilderness, and here
+was the chance to have a delightful time in a new and beautiful country,
+an opportunity that would warm the heart of any live and healthy boy.</p>
+
+<p>This is a long introduction to the story of Washington's wildwood
+outing, but no doubt you will like to know what brought it about. It was
+in the early spring of 1748 that the youthful surveyor set out on his
+ride, the blood bounding warmly in his veins as he thought of the new
+sensations and stirring adventures which lay before him. He was not
+alone. George William Fairfax, a son of the master of Belvoir, went with
+him, a young man of twenty-two. Washington was then just sixteen, young
+enough to be in high spirits at the prospect before him. He brought his
+surveyors' instruments, and they both bore guns as well, for they looked
+for some fine sport in the woods.</p>
+
+<p>The valley beyond the mountains was not the land of mystery which it had
+been thirty-four years before, when Governor Spotswood and his gay troop
+looked down on it from the green mountain summit. There were now some
+scattered settlers in it, and Lord Fairfax had built himself a lodge in
+the wilderness, which he named "Greenway Court," and where now and then
+he went for a hunting excursion.</p>
+
+<p>Crossing the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Gap and fording the bright
+Shenandoah, the young surveyors<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> made their way towards this wildwood
+lodge. It was a house with broad stone gables, its sloping roof coming
+down over a long porch in front. The locality was not altogether a safe
+one. There were still some Indians in that country, and something might
+stir them up against the whites. In two belfries on the roof hung
+alarm-bells, to be rung to collect the neighboring settlers if report of
+an Indian rising should be brought.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p108.jpg" width="600" height="323" alt="HOME OF MARY WASHINGTON, FREDERICKSBURG, VA." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Home of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Va.<br />
+
+<small>Purchased by George Washington for his mother.</small></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the forest road leading to Greenway Court a white post was planted,
+with an arm pointing towards the house, as a direction to visitors. As
+the post decayed or was thrown down by any cause another was erected,
+and on this spot to-day such a post stands, with the village of White
+Post built around it. But when young Washington and Fairfax passed the
+spot only forest trees stood round the post, and they rode on to the
+Court, where they rested awhile under the hospitable care of Lord
+Fairfax's manager.</p>
+
+<p>It was a charming region in which the young surveyors found themselves
+after their brief term of rest, a land of lofty forests and broad grassy
+openings, with the silvery river sparkling through their midst. The buds
+were just bursting on the trees, the earliest spring flowers were
+opening, and to right and left extended long blue mountain-ranges, the
+giant guardians of the charming valley of the Shenandoah. In those days
+there were none of the yellow grain-fields, the old mansions surrounded
+by groves, the bustling villages and towns which now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> mark the scene,
+but nature had done her best to make it picturesque and beautiful, and
+the youthful visitors enjoyed it as only those of young blood can.</p>
+
+<p>Up the banks of the Shenandoah went the surveyors, measuring and marking
+the land and mapping down its leading features. It was no easy work, but
+they enjoyed it to the full. At night they would stop at the rude house
+of some settler, if one was to be found; if not, they would build a fire
+in the woods, cook the game their guns had brought down, wrap their
+cloaks around them, and sleep heartily under the broad blanket of the
+open air.</p>
+
+<p>Thus they journeyed on up the Shenandoah until they reached the point
+where its waters flow into the Potomac. Then up this stream they made
+their way, crossing the mountains and finally reaching the place which
+is now called Berkeley Springs. It was then in the depth of the
+wilderness, but in time a town grew up around it, and many years
+afterward Washington and his family often went there in the summer to
+drink and bathe in its wholesome mineral waters.</p>
+
+<p>The surveyors had their adventures, and no doubt often made the woodland
+echoes ring with the report of their guns as they brought down partridge
+or pheasant, or tracked a deer through the brushwood. Nothing of special
+note happened to them, the thing which interested them most being the
+sight of a band of Indians, the first they had ever seen. The red men
+had long since disappeared from the part of Virginia in which they
+lived.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span></p><p>These tenants of the forest came along one day when the youths had
+stopped at the house of a settler. There were about thirty of them in
+their war-paint, and one of them had a fresh scalp hanging at his belt.
+This indicated that they had recently been at war with their enemies, of
+whom at least one had been killed. The Indians were given some liquor,
+in return for which they danced their war-dance before the boys. For
+music one of them drummed on a deer-skin which he stretched over an iron
+pot, and another rattled a gourd containing some shot and ornamented
+with a horse's tail. The others danced with wild whoops and yells around
+a large fire they had built. Altogether the spectacle was a singular and
+exciting one on which the boys looked with much interest.</p>
+
+<p>While they had no serious adventures, their life in the forest was not a
+very luxurious one. In many ways they had to rough it. At times they
+were drenched by downpours of rain. They slept anywhere, now and then in
+houses, but most often in the open air. On one occasion some straw on
+which they lay asleep caught fire and they woke just in time to escape
+being scorched by the flames.</p>
+
+<p>"I have not slept above three or four nights in a bed," wrote George to
+a friend, "but after walking a good deal all the day I have lain down
+before the fire on a little straw or fodder, or a bear-skin, whatever
+was to be had, with man, wife, and children, like dogs and cats; and
+happy is he who gets the berth nearest the fire."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span></p><p>Their cooking was often done by impaling the meat on sharp sticks and
+holding it over the fire, while chips cut with their hatchet took the
+place of dishes. But to them all this was enjoyment, their appetites
+were hearty, and anything having the spice of adventure was gladly
+welcomed. It was the event of their young lives.</p>
+
+<p>It was still April when they returned from their long river ride to
+Greenway Court, and here enjoyed for some time the comforts of
+civilization, so far as they had penetrated that frontier scene. Spring
+was still upon the land, though summer was near by, when George and his
+friend rode back across the Blue Ridge and returned to Belvoir with the
+report of what they had done. Lord Fairfax was highly pleased with the
+report, and liked George more than ever for the faithful and intelligent
+manner in which he had carried out his task. He paid the young surveyor
+at the rate of seven dollars a day for the time he was actually at work,
+and half this amount for the remaining time. This was worth a good deal
+more then than the same sum of money would be now, and was very good pay
+for a boy of sixteen. No doubt the lad felt rich with the first money he
+had ever earned in his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>As for Lord Fairfax, he was in high glee to learn what a valuable
+property he had across the hills, and especially how fine a country it
+was for hunting. He soon left Belvoir and made his home at Greenway
+Court, where he spent the remainder of his life. It was a very different
+life from that of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> his early days in the bustle of fashionable life in
+London, but it seemed to suit him as well or better.</p>
+
+<p>One thing more we have to say about him. He was still living at Greenway
+Court when the Revolutionary War came on. A loyalist in grain, he
+bitterly opposed the rebellion of the colonists. By the year 1781 he had
+grown very old and feeble. One day he was in Winchester, a town which
+had grown up not far from Greenway, when he heard loud shouts and cheers
+in the street.</p>
+
+<p>"What is all that noise about?" he asked his old servant.</p>
+
+<p>"Dey say dat Gin'ral Washington has took Lord Cornwallis an' all his
+army prisoners. Yorktown is surrendered, an' de wa' is ovah."</p>
+
+<p>"Take me to bed, Joe," groaned the old lord; "it is time for me to die."</p>
+
+<p>Five years after his surveying excursion George Washington had a far
+more famous adventure in the wilderness, when the governor of Virginia
+sent him through the great forest to visit the French forts near Lake
+Erie. The story of this journey is one of the most exciting and romantic
+events in American history, yet it is one with which most readers of
+history are familiar, so we have told the tale of his earlier adventures
+instead. His forest experience on the Shenandoah had much to do with
+making Governor Dinwiddie choose him as his envoy to the French forts,
+so that it was, in a way, the beginning of his wonderful career.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>PATRICK HENRY, THE HERALD OF THE REVOLUTION.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> was a day in the history of the Old Dominion when a great lawsuit
+was to be tried,&mdash;a great one, that is, to the people of Hanover County,
+where it was heard, and to the colony of Virginia, though not to the
+country at large. The Church of England was the legal church in
+Virginia, whose people were expected to support it. This the members of
+other churches did not like to do, and the people of Hanover County
+would not pay the clergymen for their preaching. This question of paying
+the preachers spread far and wide. It came to the House of Burgesses,
+which body decided that the people need not pay them. It crossed the
+ocean and reached the king of England, who decided that the people must
+pay them. As the king's voice was stronger than that of the burgesses,
+the clergy felt that they had an excellent case, and they brought a
+lawsuit to recover their claims. By the old law each clergyman was to be
+paid his salary in tobacco, one hundred and sixty thousand pounds weight
+a year.</p>
+
+<p>There seemed to be nothing to do but pay them, either in cash or
+tobacco. All the old lawyers who looked into the question gave it up at
+once, saying that the people had no standing against the king<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> and the
+clergy. But while men were saying that the case for the county would be
+passed without a trial and a verdict rendered for the clergy, an amusing
+rumor began to spread around. It was said that young Patrick Henry was
+going to conduct the case for the people.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p114.jpg" width="600" height="356" alt="HOME OF PATRICK HENRY." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><small>Copyright, 1906, by R. A. Lancaster, Jr.</small><br />
+
+Home of Patrick Henry During His Last Two Terms as Governor of Virginia.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>We call this amusing, and so it was to those who knew Patrick Henry. He
+was a lawyer, to be sure, but one who knew almost nothing about the law
+and had never made a public speech in his life. He was only twenty-seven
+years of age, and those years had gone over him mainly in idleness. In
+his boyhood days he had spent his time in fishing, hunting, dancing, and
+playing the fiddle, instead of working on his father's farm. As he grew
+older he liked sport too much and work too little to make a living. He
+tried store-keeping and failed through neglect of his business. He
+married a wife whose father gave him a farm, but he failed with this,
+too, fishing and fiddling when he should have been working, and in two
+years the farm was sold. Then he went back to store-keeping, and with
+the same result. The trouble was his love for the fiddle and the
+fishing-line, which stood very much in the way of business. He was too
+lazy and fond of good company and a good time to make a living for
+himself and his wife.</p>
+
+<p>The easy-going fellow was now in a critical situation. He had to do
+something if he did not want to starve, so he borrowed some old
+law-books and began to read law. Six weeks later he applied to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> an old
+judge for a license to practise in the courts. The judge questioned him
+and found that he knew nothing about the law; but young Henry pleaded
+with him so ardently, and promised so faithfully to keep on studying,
+that the judge gave him the license and he hung out his shingle as a
+lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever else Patrick Henry might be good for, people thought that to
+call himself a lawyer was a mere laughing matter. An awkward, stooping,
+ungainly fellow, dressed roughly in leather breeches and yarn stockings,
+and not knowing even how to pronounce the king's English correctly, how
+could he ever succeed in a learned profession? As a specimen of his
+manner of speech at that time we are told that once, when denying the
+advantages of education, he clinched the argument by exclaiming,
+"Nait'ral parts are better than all the larnin' on airth."</p>
+
+<p>As for the law, he did not know enough about it to draw up the simplest
+law-paper. As a result, he got no business, and was forced, as a last
+resort, to help keep a tavern which his father-in-law possessed at
+Hanover Court-House. And so he went on for two or three years, till
+1763, when the celebrated case came up. Those who knew him might well
+look on it as a joke when the word went round that Patrick Henry was
+going to "plead against the parsons." That so ignorant a lawyer should
+undertake to handle a case which all the old lawyers had refused might
+well be held as worthy only of ridicule. They did not know Patrick
+Henry.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> It is not quite sure that he knew himself. His father sat on the
+bench as judge, but what he thought of his son's audacity history does
+not say.</p>
+
+<p>When the day for the trial came there was a great crowd at Hanover
+Court-House, for the people were much interested in the case. On the
+opening of the court the young lawyer crossed the street from the tavern
+and took his seat behind the bar. What he saw was enough to dismay and
+confuse a much older man. The court-room was crowded, and every man in
+it seemed to have his eyes fixed on the daring young counsel, many of
+them with covert smiles on their faces. The twelve men of the jury were
+chosen. There were present a large number of the clergy waiting
+triumphantly for the verdict, which they were sure would be in their
+favor, and looking in disdain at the young lawyer. On the bench as judge
+sat John Henry, doubtless feeling that he had a double duty to perform,
+to judge at once the case and his son.</p>
+
+<p>The aspiring advocate, so little learned in the law and so poorly
+dressed and ungainly in appearance, looked as if he would have given
+much just then to be out of the court and clear of the case. But the die
+was cast; he was in for it now.</p>
+
+<p>The counsel for the clergymen opened the case. He dwelt much on the law
+of the matter, whose exact meaning he declared was beyond question. The
+courts had already decided on that subject, and so had his sacred
+majesty, the king of England. There was nothing for the jury to do, he
+asserted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> but to decide how much money his clients were entitled to
+under the law. The matter seemed so clear that he made but a brief
+address and sat down with a look of complete satisfaction. As he did so
+Patrick Henry rose.</p>
+
+<p>This, as may well be imagined, was a critical moment in the young
+lawyer's life. He rose very awkwardly and seemed thoroughly frightened.
+Every eye was fixed on him and not a sound was heard. Henry was in a
+state of painful embarrassment. When he began to speak, his voice was so
+low that he could hardly be heard, and he faltered so sadly that his
+friends felt that all was at an end.</p>
+
+<p>But, as he himself had once said, "Nait'ral parts are better than all
+the larnin' on airth;" and he had these "nait'ral parts," as he was
+about to prove. As he went on a change in his aspect took place. His
+form became erect, his head uplifted, his voice clearer and firmer. He
+soon began to make it appear that he had thought deeply on the people's
+cause and was prepared to handle it strongly. His eyes began to flash,
+his voice to grow resonant and fill the room; in the words of William
+Wirt, his biographer, "As his mind rolled along and began to glow from
+its own action, all the exuvi&aelig; of the clown seemed to shed themselves
+spontaneously."</p>
+
+<p>The audience listened in surprise, the clergy in consternation. Was this
+the Patrick Henry they had known? It was very evident that the young
+advocate knew just what he was talking about,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> and he went on with a
+forcible and burning eloquence that fairly carried away every listener.
+There was no thought now of his clothes and his uncouthness. The <i>man</i>
+stood revealed before them, a man with a gift of eloquence such as
+Virginia had never before known. He said very little on the law of the
+case, knowing that to be against him, but he addressed himself to the
+jury on the rights of the people and of the colony, and told them it was
+their duty to decide between the House of Burgesses and the king of
+England. The Burgesses, he said, were their own people, men of their own
+choice, who had decided in their favor; the king was a stranger to them,
+and had no right to order them what to do.</p>
+
+<p>Here he was interrupted by the old counsel for the clergy, who rose in
+great indignation and exclaimed, "The gentleman has spoken treason."</p>
+
+<p>We do not know just what words Henry used in reply. We have no record of
+that famous speech. But he was not the man to be frightened by the word
+"treason," and did not hesitate to repeat his words more vigorously than
+before. As for the parsons, he declared, their case was worthless. Men
+who led such lives as they were known to have done had no right to
+demand money from the people. So bitterly did he denounce them that all
+those in the room rose and left the court in a body.</p>
+
+<p>By the time the young advocate had reached the end of his speech the
+whole audience was in a state of intense excitement. They had been
+treated to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> the sensation of their lives, and looked with utter
+astonishment at the marvellous orator, who had risen from obscurity to
+fame in that brief hour. Breathless was the interest with which the
+jury's verdict was awaited. The judge charged that the law was in favor
+of the parsons and that the king's order must be obeyed, but they had
+the right to decide on the amount of damages. They were not long in
+deciding, and their verdict was the astounding one of <i>one penny
+damages</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The crowd was now beyond control. A shout of delight and approbation
+broke out. Uproar and confusion followed the late decorous quiet. The
+parsons' lawyer cried out that the verdict was illegal and asked the
+judge to send the jury back. But his voice was lost in the acclamations
+of the multitude. Gathering round Patrick Henry, they picked him up
+bodily, lifted him to their shoulders, and bore him out, carrying him in
+triumph through the town, which rang loudly with their cries and cheers.
+Thus it was that the young lawyer of Hanover rose to fame.</p>
+
+<p>Two years after that memorable day Patrick Henry found himself in a
+different situation. He was now a member of the dignified House of
+Burgesses, the oldest legislative body in America. An aristocratic body
+it was, made up mostly of wealthy landholders, dressed in courtly attire
+and sitting in proud array. There were few poor men among them, and
+perhaps no other plain countryman to compare with the new member from
+Hanover<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> County, who had changed but little in dress and appearance from
+his former aspect.</p>
+
+<p>A great question was before the House. The Stamp Act had been passed in
+England and the people of the colonies were in a high state of
+indignation. They rose in riotous mobs and vowed they would never pay a
+penny of the tax. As for the Burgesses, they proposed to act with more
+loyalty and moderation. They would petition the king to do them justice.
+It was as good as rebellion to refuse to obey him.</p>
+
+<p>The member from Hanover listened to their debate, and said to himself
+that it was weak and its purpose futile. He felt sure that the action
+they proposed would do no good, and when they had fairly exhausted
+themselves he rose to offer his views on the question at issue.</p>
+
+<p>Very likely some of the fine gentlemen there looked at him with surprise
+and indignation. Who was this presumptuous new member who proposed to
+tell the older members what to do? Some of them may have known him and
+been familiar with that scene in Hanover Court-House. Others perhaps
+mentally deplored the indignity of sending common fellows like this to
+sit in their midst.</p>
+
+<p>But Patrick Henry now knew his powers, and cared not a whit for their
+<i>respectable</i> sentiments. He had something to say and proposed to say
+it. Beginning in a quiet voice, he told them that the Stamp Act was
+illegal, as ignoring the right of the House to make the laws for the
+colony. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> not only illegal, but it was oppressive, and he moved
+that the House of Burgesses should pass a series of resolutions which he
+would read.</p>
+
+<p>These resolutions were respectful in tone, but very decided in meaning.
+The last of them declared that nobody but the Burgesses had the right to
+tax Virginians. This statement roused the house. It sounded like
+rebellion against the king. Several speakers rose together and all of
+them denounced the resolutions as injudicious and impertinent. The
+excitement of the loyalists grew as they proceeded, but they subsided
+into silence when the man who had offered the resolutions rose to defend
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Patrick Henry was aroused. As he spoke his figure grew straight and
+erect, his voice loud and resonant, his eye flashed, the very sweep of
+his hand was full of force and power. He for one was not prepared to
+become a slave to England and her king. He denounced the islanders who
+proposed to rob Americans of their vested rights. In what way was an
+Englishman better than a Virginian? he asked. Were they not of one blood
+and born with the same right to liberty and justice? What right had the
+Parliament to act the tyrant to the colonies? Then, referring to the
+king, he bade him in thundering tones to beware of the consequences of
+his acts.</p>
+
+<p>"C&aelig;sar had his Brutus," he exclaimed, in tones of thrilling force,
+"Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Treason! Treason!" came from a dozen excited voices, but Henry did not
+flinch.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span></p><p>"May profit by their example." Then, in a quieter tone, he added: "If
+this be treason, make the most of it!"</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p122.jpg" width="600" height="327" alt="ST. JOHN&#39;S CHURCH." title="" />
+<span class="caption">St. John&#39;s Church.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>He took his seat. He had said his words. These words still roll down the
+tide of American history as resonantly as when they were spoken. As for
+the House of Burgesses, it was carried away by the strength of this
+wonderful speech. When the resolutions came to a vote it was seen that
+Henry had won. They were carried, even the last and most daring of them,
+by one vote majority. As the Burgesses tumultuously adjourned, one
+member rushed out in great excitement, declaring that he would have
+given five hundred guineas for one vote to defeat the treasonable
+resolutions. But the people with delight heard of what had passed, and
+as Henry passed through the crowd a plain countryman clapped him on the
+shoulder, exclaiming,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Stick to us, old fellow, or we are gone."</p>
+
+<p>Ten years later, in the old church of St. John's, at Richmond, Virginia,
+standing not far from the spot where the old Indian emperor, Powhatan,
+once resided, a convention was assembled to decide on the state of the
+country. Rebellion was in the air. In a month more the first shots of
+the Revolution were to be fired at Lexington. Patrick Henry, still the
+same daring patriot as of old, rose and moved that Virginia "be
+immediately put in a state of defence."</p>
+
+<p>This raised almost as much opposition as his former resolutions in the
+House of Burgesses, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> his blood was boiling as he rose to speak. It
+was the first speech of his that has been preserved, and it was one that
+still remains unsurpassed in the annals of American eloquence. We give
+its concluding words. He exclaimed, in tones of thunder,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are
+forged, their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is
+inevitable; and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! It is in
+vain to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, 'Peace, peace,' but
+there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps
+from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our
+brethren are already in the field. What is it that gentlemen wish? What
+would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased
+at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not
+what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me
+death!"</p>
+
+<p>His motion was passed, and Virginia told the world that she was ready to
+fight. A month later there came from the north "the clash of resounding
+arms;" the American Revolution was launched.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not easy to say what we would have done without Patrick Henry,"
+says Thomas Jefferson. "His eloquence was peculiar; if, indeed, it
+should be called eloquence, for it was impressive and sublime beyond
+what can be imagined. After all, it must be allowed that he was our
+leader. He left us all far behind."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>GOVERNOR TRYON AND THE CAROLINA REGULATORS.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> first blood shed by "rebels" in America, in those critical years
+when the tide of events was setting strong towards war and revolution,
+was by the settlers on the upper waters of the Cape Fear River in North
+Carolina. A hardy people these were, of that Highland Scotch stock whose
+fathers had fought against oppression for many generations. Coming to
+America for peace and liberty, they found bitter oppression still, and
+fought against it as their ancestors had done at home. It is the story
+of these sturdy "Regulators" that we have here to tell.</p>
+
+<p>It was not the tyranny of king or parliament with which these
+liberty-lovers had to deal, but that of Governor Tryon, the king's
+representative in this colony, and one of the worst of all the royal
+governors. Bancroft has well described his character. "The Cherokee
+chiefs, who knew well the cruelty and craft of the most pernicious beast
+of prey in the mountains, ceremoniously distinguished the governor by
+the name of the Great Wolf." It was this Great Wolf who was placed in
+command over the settlers of North Carolina, and whose lawless acts
+drove them to rebellion.</p>
+
+<p>Under Governor Tryon the condition of the colony<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> of North Carolina was
+worse than that of a great city under the rule of a political "Boss."
+The people were frightfully overtaxed, illegal fees were charged for
+every service, juries were packed, and costs of suits at law made
+exorbitant. The officers of the law were insolent and arbitrary, and by
+trickery and extortion managed to rob many settlers of their property.
+And this was the more hateful to the people from the fact that much of
+the money raised was known to go into the pockets of officials and much
+of it was used by Governor Tryon in building himself a costly and showy
+"palace." Such was the state of affairs which led to the "rebellion" in
+North Carolina.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the people of the mountain districts organized under the name of
+"Regulators," binding themselves to fight against illegal taxes and
+fees, and not to pay them unless forced to do so. The first outbreak
+took place in 1768 when a Regulator rode into Hillsborough, and Colonel
+Fanning wantonly seized his horse for his tax. It was quickly rescued by
+a mob armed with clubs and muskets, some of which were fired at
+Fanning's house.</p>
+
+<p>This brought matters to a head. Supported by the governor, Fanning
+denounced the Regulators as rebels, threatened to call out the militia,
+and sent out a secret party who arrested two of the settlers. One of
+these, Herman Husbands, had never joined the Regulators or been
+concerned in any tumult, and was seized while quietly at home on his
+own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> land. But he was bound, insulted, hurried to prison, and threatened
+with the gallows. He escaped only by the payment of money and the threat
+of the Regulators to take him by force from the jail.</p>
+
+<p>The next step was taken after Governor Tryon had promised to hear the
+complaints of the people and punish the men guilty of extortion. Under
+this promise Husbands brought suit against Fanning for unjust
+imprisonment. At once the governor showed his real sentiment. He
+demanded the complete submission of the Regulators, called out fifteen
+hundred armed men, and was said to intend to rouse the Indians to cut
+off the men of Orange County as rebels.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of this threatening attitude of the governor, Husbands was
+acquitted on every charge, and Fanning was found guilty on six separate
+indictments. There was also a verdict given against three Regulators.
+This was the decision of the jury alone. That of the judges showed a
+different spirit. They punished Fanning by fining him one penny on each
+charge, while the Regulators were each sentenced to fifty pounds fine
+and six months' imprisonment. To support this one-sided justice Tryon
+threatened the Regulators with fire and sword, and they remained quietly
+at home, brooding moodily over their failure but hesitating to act.</p>
+
+<p>We must now go on to the year 1770. The old troubles had
+continued,&mdash;illegal fees and taxes, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span>peculation and robbery. The
+sheriffs and tax-collectors were known to have embezzled over fifty
+thousand pounds. The costs of suits at law had so increased that justice
+lay beyond the reach of the poor. And back of all this reigned Governor
+Tryon in his palace, supporting the spoilers of the people. So incensed
+did they become that at the September court, finding that their cases
+were to be ignored, they seized Fanning and another lawyer and beat them
+soundly with cowhide whips, ending by a destructive raid on Fanning's
+house.</p>
+
+<p>The Assembly met in December. It had been chosen under a state of
+general alarm. The Regulators elected many representatives, among them
+the persecuted Herman Husbands, who was chosen to represent Orange
+County. This defiant action of the people roused the "Great Wolf" again.
+Husbands had been acquitted of everything charged against him, yet Tryon
+had him voted a disturber of the peace and expelled from the House, and
+immediately afterward had him arrested and put in prison without bail,
+though there was not a grain of evidence against him.</p>
+
+<p>The governor followed this act of violence with a "Riot Act" of the most
+oppressive and illegal character. Under it if any ten men assembled and
+did not disperse when ordered to do so, they were to be held guilty of
+felony. For a riot committed either before or after this act was
+published any persons accused might be tried before the Superior Court,
+no matter how far it was from their homes, and if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> they did not appear
+within sixty days, with or without notice, they were to be proclaimed
+outlaws and to forfeit their lives and property. The governor also sent
+out a request for volunteers to march against the "rebels," but the
+Assembly refused to grant money for this warlike purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Governor Tryon had shown himself as unjust and tyrannous as Governor
+Berkeley of Virginia had done in his contest with Bacon. It did not take
+him long to foment the rebellion which he seemed determined to provoke.
+When the Regulators heard that their representative had been thrown into
+prison, and that they were threatened with exile or death as outlaws,
+they prepared to march on Newbern for the rescue of Husbands, filling
+the governor with such alarm for the safety of his fine new palace that
+he felt it wise to release his captive. He tried to indict the sturdy
+Highlander for a pretended libel, but the Grand Jury refused to support
+him in this, and Husbands was set free. The Regulators thereupon
+dispersed, after a party of them had visited the Superior Court at
+Salisbury and expressed their opinion very freely about the lawyers, the
+officials, and the Riot Act, which they declared had no warrant in the
+laws of England.</p>
+
+<p>As yet the Regulators had done little more than to protest against
+tyranny and oppression and to show an intention to defend their
+representative against unjust imprisonment, yet they had done enough to
+arouse their lordly governor to revenge. Rebels they were, for they had
+dared to question his acts,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> and rebels he would hold them. As the Grand
+Jury would not support him in his purpose, he took steps to obtain
+juries and witnesses on whom he could rely, and then brought charges
+against many of the leading Regulators of Orange County, several of whom
+had been quietly at home during the riots of which they were accused.</p>
+
+<p>The governor's next step was to call the Grand Jury to his palace and
+volunteer to them to lead troops into the western counties, the haunt of
+the Regulators. The jurymen, who were his own creatures, hastened to
+applaud his purpose, and the Council agreed. The Assembly refused to
+provide funds for such a purpose, but Tryon got over this difficulty by
+issuing a paper currency.</p>
+
+<p>A force of militia was now raised in the lower part of the colony and
+the country of the Regulators was invaded. Tryon marched at the head of
+a strong force into Orange County, and proceeded to deal with it as if
+it were a country conquered in war. As he advanced, the wheat-fields
+were destroyed and the orchards felled. Every house found empty was
+burned to the ground. Cattle, poultry, and all the produce of the
+plantations were seized. The terrified people ran together like sheep
+pursued by a wolf. The men who had been indicted for felony at Newbern,
+and who had failed to submit themselves to the mercy of his packed
+juries and false witnesses, were proclaimed outlaws, whose lives and
+property were forfeit. Never had the colonies been so spoiled on such
+slight pretence.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span></p><p>Thus marching onward like a conquering general of the Middle Ages,
+leaving havoc and ruin in his rear, on the evening of May 14, 1771,
+Tryon reached the great Alamance River, at the head of a force of a
+little over one thousand men. About five miles beyond this stream were
+gathered the Regulators who had fled before his threatening march. They
+were probably superior in numbers to Tryon's men, but many of them had
+no weapons, and they were principally concerned lest the governor "would
+not lend an ear to the just complaints of the people." These "rebels"
+were certainly not in the frame of mind to make rebellion successful.</p>
+
+<p>The Regulators were not without a leader. One of their number, James
+Hunter, they looked upon as their "general," a title of which his
+excellent capacity and high courage made him worthy. On the approach of
+Tryon at the head of his men James Hunter and Benjamin Merrill advanced
+to meet him. They received from him this ultimatum:</p>
+
+<p>"I require you to lay down your arms, surrender up the outlawed
+ringleaders, submit yourselves to the laws, and rest on the lenity of
+the government. By accepting these terms in one hour you will prevent an
+effusion of blood, as you are at this time in a state of war and
+rebellion."</p>
+
+<p>Hopeless as the Regulators felt their cause, they were not ready to
+submit to such a demand as this. There was not an outlaw among them, for
+not one of them had been legally indicted. As to the lenity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> of the
+government, they had an example before their eyes in the wanton ruin of
+their houses and crops. With such a demand, nothing was left them but to
+fight.</p>
+
+<p>Tryon began the action by firing a field-piece into the group of
+Regulators. At this the more timid of them&mdash;perhaps only the unarmed
+ones&mdash;withdrew, but the bold remainder returned the fire, and a hot
+conflict began, which was kept up steadily for two hours. The battle, at
+first in the open field, soon shifted to the woodland, where the
+opponents sheltered themselves behind trees and kept up the fight. Not
+until their ammunition was nearly gone, and further resistance was
+impossible, did Hunter and his men retreat, leaving Tryon master of the
+field. They had lost twenty of their number besides the wounded and some
+prisoners taken in the pursuit. Of Tryon's men nine were killed and
+sixty-one wounded. Thus ended the affray known as the battle of the
+Alamance, in which were fired the first shots for freedom from tyranny
+by the people of the American colonies.</p>
+
+<p>The victorious governor hastened to make revengeful use of his triumph.
+He began the next day by hanging James Few, one of the prisoners, as an
+outlaw, and confiscating his estate. A series of severe proclamations
+followed, and his troops lived at free quarters on the Regulators,
+forcing them to contribute provisions, and burning the houses and laying
+waste the plantations of all those who had been denounced as outlaws.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span></p><p>On his return to Hillsborough the governor issued a proclamation
+denouncing Herman Husbands, James Hunter, and some others, asking "every
+person" to shoot them at sight, and offering a large reward for their
+bodies alive or dead. Of the prisoners still in his hands, he had six of
+them hung in his own presence for the crime of treason. Then, some ten
+days later, having played the tyrant to the full in North Carolina, he
+left that colony forever, having been appointed governor of New York.
+The colony was saddled by him with an illegal debt of forty thousand
+pounds, which he left for its people to pay.</p>
+
+<p>As for the fugitive Regulators, there was no safety for them in North
+Carolina, and the governors of South Carolina and Virginia were
+requested not to give them refuge. But they knew of a harbor of refuge
+to which no royal governors had come, over which the flag of England had
+never waved, and where no lawyer or tax-collector had yet set foot, in
+that sylvan land west of the Alleghenies on which few besides Daniel
+Boone, the famous hunter, had yet set foot.</p>
+
+<p>Here was a realm for a nation, and one on which nature had lavished her
+richest treasures. Here in spring the wild crab-apple filled the air
+with the sweetest of perfumes, here the clear mountain-streams flowed
+abundantly, the fertile soil was full of promise of rich harvests, the
+climate was freshly invigorating, and the west winds ripe with the seeds
+of health. Here were broad groves of hickory and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> oak, of maple, elm,
+and ash, in which the elk and the red deer made their haunts, and the
+black bear, whose flesh the hunter held to be delicious beyond rivalry,
+fattened on the abundant crop of acorns and chestnuts. In the trees and
+on the grasses were quail, turkeys, and pigeons numberless, while the
+golden eagle built its nest on the mountain-peaks and swooped in circles
+over the forest land. Where the thickets of spruce and rhododendron
+threw their cooling shade upon the swift streams, the brook trout was
+abundant, plenty and promise were everywhere, and, aside from the peril
+of the prowling savage, the land was a paradise.</p>
+
+<p>It was not in Kentucky, where Boone then dwelt alone, but in Tennessee
+that the fugitive Regulators sought a realm of safety. James Robertson,
+one of their number, had already sought the land beyond the hills and
+was cultivating his fields of maize on the Watauga's fertile banks. He
+was to become one of the leading men in later Tennessee. Hither the
+Regulators, fleeing from their persecutors, followed him, and in 1772
+founded a republic in the wilderness by a written compact, Robertson
+being chosen one of their earliest magistrates. Thus, still defiant of
+persecution, they "set to the people of America the dangerous example of
+erecting themselves into a separate state, distinct from and independent
+of the authority of the British king."</p>
+
+<p>Thus we owe to the Regulators of North Carolina the first decided step
+in the great struggle for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> independence so soon to come. And to North
+Carolina we must give the credit of making the earliest declaration of
+independence. More than a year before Jefferson's famous Declaration the
+people of Mecklenburg County passed a series of resolutions in which
+they declared themselves free from allegiance to the British crown. This
+was in May, 1775. On April 12, 1776, North Carolina authorized her
+delegates in the Continental Congress to declare for independence. Thus
+again the Old North State was the first to set her seal for liberty. The
+old Regulators had not all left her soil, and we seem to hear in these
+resolutions an echo of the guns which were fired on the Alamance in the
+first stroke of the colonists of America for freedom from tyranny.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>LORD DUNMORE AND THE GUNPOWDER.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the city of Williamsburg, the old capital of Virginia, there still
+stands a curious old powder magazine, built nearly two centuries ago by
+Governor Spotswood, the hero of the "Golden Horseshoe" adventure. It is
+a strong stone building, with eight-sided walls and roof, which looks as
+if it might stand for centuries to come. On this old magazine hinges a
+Revolutionary tale, which seems to us well worth the telling. The story
+begins on April 19, 1775, the day that the shots at Lexington brought on
+the war for independence.</p>
+
+<p>The British government did not like the look of things in America. The
+clouds in the air, and the occasional lightning flash and thunder roar,
+were full of threat of a coming storm. To prevent this, orders were sent
+from England to the royal governors to seize all the powder and arms in
+the colonies on a fixed day, This is what Governor Gage, of
+Massachusetts, tried to do at Concord on April 19th. In the night of the
+same day, Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, attempted the same thing
+at Williamsburg.</p>
+
+<p>Had this been done openly in Virginia, as in Massachusetts, the story of
+Lexington would have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> been repeated there. Lord Dunmore took the
+patriots by surprise. A British ship-of-war, the "Magdalen," some time
+before, came sailing up York River, and dropped its anchor in the stream
+not far from Williamsburg. On the 19th of April Lord Dunmore sent word
+to Captain Collins, of the "Magdalen," that all was ready, and after
+dark on that day a party of soldiers, led by the captain, landed from
+the ship. About midnight they marched silently into the town. All was
+quiet, the people in their beds, sleeping the sleep of the just, and not
+dreaming that treachery was at their doors. The captain had the key to
+the magazine and opened its door, setting his soldiers to carry out as
+quietly as possible the half-barrels of gunpowder with which it was
+stored. They came like ghosts, and so departed. All was done so
+stealthily, that the morning of the 20th dawned before the citizens knew
+that anything had been going on in their streets under the midnight
+shadows.</p>
+
+<p>When the news spread abroad the town was in an uproar. What right had
+the governor to meddle with anything bought with the hard cash of
+Virginia and belonging to the colony? In their anger they resolved to
+seize the governor and make him answer to the people for his act. They
+did not like Lord Dunmore, whom they knew to be a false-hearted man, and
+would have liked to make him pay for some former deeds of treachery. But
+the cooler heads advised them not to act in haste, saying that it was
+wiser to take peaceful measures,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> and to send and tell Dunmore that
+their powder must be returned.</p>
+
+<p>This was done. The governor answered with a falsehood. He said that he
+had heard of some danger of an insurrection among the slaves in a
+neighboring county, and had taken the powder to use against them. If
+nothing happened, he would soon return it; they need not worry, all
+would be right.</p>
+
+<p>This false story quieted the people of Williamsburg for a time. But it
+did not satisfy the people of Virginia. As the news spread through the
+colony the excitement grew intense. What right had Lord Dunmore to carry
+off the people's powder, bought for their defence? Many of them seized
+their arms, and at Fredericksburg seven hundred men assembled and sent
+word that they were ready to march on Williamsburg. Among them were the
+"minute men" of Culpeper, a famous band of frontiersmen, wearing green
+hunting-shirts and carrying knives and tomahawks. "Liberty or Death,"
+Patrick Henry's stirring words, were on their breasts, and over their
+heads floated a significant banner. On it was a coiled rattlesnake, with
+the warning motto, "Don't tread on me!"</p>
+
+<p>Prompt as these men were, there was one man in Virginia still more
+prompt, a man not to be trifled with by any lordly governor. This was
+Patrick Henry, the patriotic orator. The instant he heard of the
+stealing of the powder he sent word to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> people in his vicinity to
+meet him at Newcastle, ready to fight for Virginia's rights. They came,
+one hundred and fifty of them, all well armed, and without hesitation he
+led them against the treacherous governor. It looked as if there was to
+be a battle in Virginia, as there had been in Massachusetts. Lord
+Dunmore was scared when he heard that the patriots were marching on him,
+as they had marched on Lord Berkeley a century before. He sent word
+hastily to Patrick Henry to stop his march and that he would pay for the
+powder.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p138.jpg" width="600" height="411" alt="OLD MAGAZINE AT WILLIAMSBURG." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Old Magazine at Williamsburg.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Very likely this disappointed the indignant orator. Just then he would
+rather have fought Dunmore than take his money. But he had no good
+excuse for refusing it, so the cash was paid over, three hundred and
+thirty pounds sterling,&mdash;equal to about sixteen hundred dollars,&mdash;and
+Henry and his men marched home.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Dunmore was in a towering rage at his defeat. He did what Berkeley
+had done against Bacon long before, issuing a proclamation in which he
+said that Patrick Henry and all those with him were traitors to the
+king. Then he sent to the "Magdalen" for soldiers, and had arms laid on
+the floors of his lordly mansion ready for use when the troops should
+come.</p>
+
+<p>All was ripe for an outbreak. The people of Virginia had not been used
+to see British troops on their soil. If Lord Dunmore wanted war they
+were quite ready to let him have it. Arms were lacking, and some young
+men broke open the door<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> of the magazine to see if any were there. As
+they did so there was a loud report and one of the party fell back
+bleeding. A spring-gun had been placed behind the door, doubtless by
+Lord Dunmore's orders.</p>
+
+<p>The startling sound brought out the people. When they learned what had
+been done, they ran angrily to the magazine and seized all the arms they
+could find there. In doing so they made a discovery that doubled their
+indignation. Beneath the floor several barrels of gunpowder were hidden,
+as if to blow up any one who entered. While they were saying that this
+was another treacherous trick of the governor's, word was brought them
+that the troops from the "Magdalen" were marching on the town. With
+shouts of fury they ran for their arms. If Lord Dunmore was so eager for
+a fight, they were quite ready to accommodate him and to stand up before
+his British soldiers and strike for American rights. A few words will
+end this part of our story. When the governor saw the spirit of the
+people he did as Berkeley before him had done, fled to his ships and
+relieved Williamsburg of his presence. The Virginians had got rid of
+their governor and his British troops without a fight.</p>
+
+<p>This ends the story of the gunpowder, but there were things that
+followed worth the telling. Virginia was not done with Lord Dunmore.
+Sailing in the "Magdalen" to Chesapeake Bay, he found there some other
+war-vessels, and proceeded with this squadron to Norfolk, of which he
+took possession.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> Most of the people of that town were true patriots,
+though by promises of plunder he induced some of the lower class of
+whites to join him, and also brought in many negro slaves from the
+country around. With this motley crew he committed many acts of
+violence, rousing all Virginia to resistance. A "Committee of Safety"
+was appointed and hundreds of men eagerly enlisted and were sent to
+invest Norfolk. But their enemy was not easy to find, as they kept out
+of reach most of the time on his ships.</p>
+
+<p>On December 9, 1775, the first battle of the Revolution in the South
+took place. The patriot forces at that time were at a place called Great
+Bridge, near the Dismal Swamp, and not far from Norfolk. Against them
+Dunmore sent a body of his troops. These reached Great Bridge to find it
+a small wooden bridge over a stream, and to see the Americans awaiting
+them behind a breastwork which they had thrown up across the road at the
+opposite end of the bridge. Among them were the Culpeper "minute men,"
+of whom we have spoken, with their rattlesnake standard, and one of the
+lieutenants in their company was a man who was to become famous in after
+years,&mdash;John Marshall, the celebrated Chief Justice of the United
+States.</p>
+
+<p>The British posted their cannon and opened fire on the Virginians; then,
+when they fancied they had taken the spirit out of the backwoods
+militia, a force of grenadiers charged across the bridge, led by Captain
+Fordyce. He proved himself a good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> soldier, but he found the colonials
+good soldiers too. They held back their fire till the grenadiers were
+across the bridge and less than fifty yards away. Then the crack of
+rifles was heard and a line of fire flashed out all along the low
+breastwork. And it came from huntsmen who knew how to bring down their
+game.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the grenadiers fell before this scorching fire. Their line was
+broken and thrown into confusion. Captain Fordyce at their head waved
+his hat, shouting, "The day is ours!" The words were barely spoken when
+he fell. In an instant he was on his feet again, brushing his knee as if
+he had only stumbled. Yet the brave fellow was mortally wounded, no less
+than fourteen bullets having passed through his body, and after a
+staggering step or two he fell dead.</p>
+
+<p>This took the courage out of the grenadiers. They fell back in disorder
+upon the bridge, hastened by the bullets of the patriots. At every step
+some of them fell. The Virginians, their standard-bearer at their head,
+leaped with cheers of triumph over the breastwork and pursued them,
+driving them back in panic flight, and keeping up the pursuit till the
+fugitives were safe in Norfolk. Thus ended in victory the first battle
+for American liberty on the soil of the South.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Dunmore had confidently expected his bold grenadiers to return with
+trophies of their victory over the untrained colonials. The news of
+their complete defeat filled him with fear and fury. At<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> first he
+refused to believe it, and threatened to hang the boy who brought him
+the news. But the sight of the blood-stained fugitives soon convinced
+him, and in a sudden panic he took refuge with all his forces in his
+ships. The triumphant Virginians at once took possession of the town.</p>
+
+<p>Dunmore lingered in the harbor with his fleet, and the victors opened
+fire with their cannon on the ships. "Stop your fire or I will burn your
+town with hot shot," he sent word. "Do your worst," retorted the bold
+Virginia commander, and bade his men to keep their cannons going. The
+ruthless governor kept his word, bombarding the town with red-hot shot,
+and soon it was in flames.</p>
+
+<p>The fire could not be extinguished. For three days it raged, spreading
+in all directions, till the whole town was a sheet of flames. Not until
+there was nothing left to burn did the flames subside. Norfolk was a
+complete ruin. Its six thousand inhabitants, men, women, and children,
+were forced to flee from their burning homes and seek what scant refuge
+they could find in that chill winter season. Dunmore even landed his
+troops to fire on the place. Then, having visited the peaceful
+inhabitants with the direst horrors of war, he sailed in triumph away,
+glorying in his revenge.</p>
+
+<p>The lordly governor now acted the pirate in earnest. He sailed up and
+down the shores of Chesapeake Bay, landing and plundering the
+plantations on every side. At a place called Gwyn's Island, on the
+western shore, he had a fort built,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> which he garrisoned mainly with the
+negroes and low whites he had brought from Norfolk. Just what was his
+purpose in this is not known, for the Virginians gave him no chance to
+carry it out. General Andrew Lewis, a famous Indian fighter, led a force
+of patriot volunteers against him, planting his cannon on the shore
+opposite the island, and opened a hot fire on the fort and the ships.</p>
+
+<p>The first ball fired struck the "Dunmore," the ship which held the
+governor. A second struck the same ship, and killed one of its crew. A
+third smashed the governor's crockery, and a splinter wounded him in the
+leg. This was more than the courage of a Dunmore could stand, and sail
+was set in all haste, the fleet scattering like a flock of frightened
+birds. The firing continued all day long. Night came, and no signs of
+surrender were seen, though the fire was not returned. At daylight the
+next morning two hundred men were sent in boats to reconnoitre and
+attack the fort. They quickly learned that there was nothing to attack.
+Lord Dunmore had been preparing all night for flight. The fort had been
+dismantled of everything of value, and as the assailants sprang from
+their boats on the island the ships sailed hurriedly away.</p>
+
+<p>The island itself was a sickening spectacle. The cannonade had made
+terrible havoc, and men lay dead or wounded all around, while many of
+the dead had been buried so hastily as to be barely covered. While they
+were looking at the frightful scene, a strong light appeared in the
+direction of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> the governor's flight. Its meaning was evident at a
+glance. Some of the vessels had grounded in the sands, and, as they
+could not be got off, he had set them afire to save them from the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>That was almost the last exploit of Lord Dunmore. He kept up his
+plundering raids a little longer, and once sailed up the Potomac to
+Mount Vernon, with the fancy that he might find and capture Washington.
+But soon after that he sailed away with his plunder and about one
+thousand slaves whom he had taken from the plantations, and Virginia was
+well rid of her last royal governor. A patriot governor soon followed,
+Patrick Henry being chosen, and occupying the very mansion at
+Williamsburg from which Dunmore had proclaimed him a traitor.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>THE FATAL EXPEDITION OF COLONEL ROGERS.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> of the great needs of the Americans in the war of the Revolution was
+ammunition. Gunpowder and cannon-balls were hard to get and easy to get
+rid of, being fired away with the utmost generosity whenever the armies
+came together, and sought for with the utmost solicitude when the armies
+were apart. The patriots made what they could and bought what they
+could, and on one occasion sent as far as New Orleans, on the lower
+Mississippi, to buy some ammunition which the Spaniards were willing to
+sell.</p>
+
+<p>But it was one thing to buy this much needed material and another thing
+to get it where it was needed. In those days it was a long journey to
+New Orleans and back. Yet the only way to obtain the ammunition was to
+send for it, and a valiant man, named Colonel David Rogers, a native of
+Virginia or Maryland, was chosen to go and bring it. His expedition was
+so full of adventure, and ended in such a tragic way, that it seems well
+worth telling about.</p>
+
+<p>It was from the Old Red Stone Fort on the Monongahela River, one of the
+two streams that make up the Ohio, that the expedition was to start, and
+here Colonel Rogers found the boats and men waiting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> for him at the end
+of his ride across the hill country. There were forty men in the party,
+and embarking with these, Rogers soon floated down past Fort Pitt and
+entered the Ohio, prepared for a journey of some thousands of miles in
+length.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the summer of the year 1778 that these bold men set out on a
+perilous journey from which few of them were to return. But what might
+come troubled them little. The weather was pleasant, the trees along the
+stream were charming in their summer foliage, and their hearts were full
+of hope and joy as they floated and rowed down the "Beautiful River," as
+it had been named by the Indians and the French.</p>
+
+<p>They needed, indeed, to be alert and watchful, for they knew well that
+hundreds of hostile savages dwelt in the forest depths on both sides of
+the stream, eager for blood and scalps. But the rough frontiersmen had
+little fear of the Indians, with the water beneath them and their good
+rifles beside them, and they sang their border songs and chatted in
+jovial tones as they went steadily onward, eating and sleeping in the
+boats, for it was nowhere safe to land. In this way they reached the
+mouth of the Ohio in safety and turned their prows into the broader
+current of the Mississippi.</p>
+
+<p>The first important stopping-point of the expedition was at the spot
+made historic by De Soto and Marquette, at the mouth of the Arkansas
+River, or the Ozark, as it was then called. Here stood a Spanish fort,
+near the locality where La Salle, a century<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> earlier, had spent a
+pleasant week with the friendly Arkansas Indians. Colonel Rogers had
+been told about this fort, and advised to stop there and confer with its
+commander. As he came near them, he notified the Spaniards of his
+approach by a salvo of rifle shots, firing thirteen guns in honor of the
+fighting colonies and as a salute to the lords of the stream. The
+Spanish officer in command replied with three cannon shots, the woods
+echoing back their report.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Rogers now landed and marched at the head of his men to the
+fort, over them floating the Stars and Stripes, a new-born standard yet
+to become glorious, and to wave in honor all along that stream on whose
+banks it was then for the first time displayed. As they came near the
+fort they were met by the Spanish commandant, Captain Devilie, with his
+troops drawn up behind him, and the flag of Spain waving as if in salute
+to the new banner of the United States. The Spaniard met Rogers with
+dignified courtesy, both of them making low bows and exchanging words of
+friendly greeting. Devilie invited his guest into the fort, and, by way
+of entertaining the Americans, put his men through a series of parade
+movements near the fort. The two officers looked on from the walls,
+Devilie in his showy Spanish uniform and Rogers gay with his gold-laced
+hat and silver-hilted sword.</p>
+
+<p>These performances at an end, Colonel Rogers told his host the purpose
+of his expedition, and was informed by him that the war-material which
+he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> was seeking was no longer at New Orleans, but had been removed to a
+fort farther up the river, near the locality where the city of St. Louis
+now stands. If the colonel had been advised of this sooner he might have
+saved himself a long journey. But there was the possibility that the
+officer at the St. Louis fort would refuse to surrender the ammunition
+without orders from his superiors. Besides this, he had been directed to
+go to New Orleans. So, on the whole, he thought it best to obey orders
+strictly, and to obtain from the Spanish governor an order to the
+commandant of the fort to deliver the goods. There was one difficulty in
+the way. The English had a hold on the river at a place called Natchez,
+where, as Captain Devilie told the colonel, they had built a fort. They
+might fire on him in passing and sink his boats, or force him to land
+and hold him prisoner. To escape this peril Colonel Rogers left the bulk
+of his men at the Spanish fort, taking only a single canoe and a
+half-dozen men with him. It was his purpose to try and slip past the
+Natchez fort in the night, and this was successfully done, the canoe
+gliding past unseen and conveying the small party safely to New Orleans.</p>
+
+<p>Our readers no doubt remember how, a century before this time, the
+Chevalier La Salle floated down the great river and claimed all the
+country surrounding it for the king of France. Later on French settlers
+came there, and in 1718 they laid out the town of New Orleans, which
+soon became the capital of the province. The settlements here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> did not
+grow very fast, and it does not seem that France valued them highly, for
+in 1763, after the British had taken Canada from the French, all the
+land west of the Mississippi River was given up by France to Spain. This
+was to pay that country for the loss of Florida, which was given over to
+England. That is how the Spaniards came to own New Orleans, and to have
+forts along the river where French forts had once been.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Rogers found the Spanish governor at New Orleans as obliging as
+Captain Devilie had been. He got an order for the ammunition without
+trouble, and had nothing before him but to go back up-stream again. But
+that was not so easy to do. The river ran so swiftly that he soon found
+it would be no light matter to row his canoe up against the strong
+current. There was also the English fort at Natchez to pass, which might
+be very dangerous when going slowly up-stream. So he concluded to let
+the boat go and travel by land through the forest. This also was a hard
+task in a land of dense cane-brakes and matted woodland, and the small
+party had a toilsome time of it in pushing through the woods. At length,
+however, the Spanish fort on the Ozark was reached, and the men of the
+expedition were reunited. Bidding farewell to Captain Devilie, they took
+to their boats again and rowed up-stream past the mouth of the Ohio
+until Fort St. Louis was reached. The colonel was received here with the
+same courtesy as below, and on presenting his order was given the
+ammunition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> without question. It was carefully stowed in the boats,
+good-by was said to the officer who had hospitably entertained them, the
+oars were brought into play again, and the expedition started homeward.</p>
+
+<p>So far all had gone well. The journey had been slow and weeks had
+lengthened into months, but no misadventure had happened, and their
+hearts were full of hope as the deeply laden craft were rowed into the
+Ohio and began the toilsome ascent of that stream. It was now the month
+of October. There was an autumn snap in the air, but this only fitted
+them the better for their work, and all around them was beautiful as
+they moved onward with song and jest, joyful in the hope of soon
+reaching their homes again. They did not know the fate that awaited them
+in those dark Ohio woodlands.</p>
+
+<p>The boats made their way upward to a point in the river near where the
+city of Cincinnati was to be founded a few years later. As they passed
+this locality they saw a small party of Indians in a canoe crossing the
+river not far ahead of them. These were the first of the Ohio Indians
+they had seen, and the sight of them roused the frontier blood of the
+hardy boatmen. Too many cabins on the border had been burned and their
+inmates mercilessly slain for a frontiersman to see an Indian without a
+burning inclination to kill him. The colonel was in the same spirit with
+his men, and the boats were at once turned towards shore in pursuit of
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> savages. At the point they had reached the Licking River empties
+into the Ohio. Rowing into its mouth the men landed and, led by the
+colonel, climbed up the bank to look for the foe.</p>
+
+<p>They found far more than they had counted on. The canoe-load of savages
+was but a decoy to lure them ashore, and as they ascended the river-bank
+a hot fire was opened on them by a large body of Indians hidden in the
+undergrowth. A trap had been laid for them and they had fallen into it.</p>
+
+<p>The sudden and deadly volley threw the party into confusion, though
+after a minute they returned the fire and rushed upon the ambushed foe,
+Colonel Rogers at their head. Following him with cheers and yells, the
+men were soon engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand conflict, the sound of
+blows, shots, and war-cries filling the air, as the whites and red men
+fought obstinately for victory. But the Indians far outnumbered their
+opponents, and when at length the brave Rogers was seen to stagger and
+fall all hope left his followers. It was impossible to regain the boats
+which they had imprudently left, and they broke and fled into the
+forest, pursued by their savage foes.</p>
+
+<p>Many days later the survivors of the bloody contest, thirteen in all,
+came straggling wearily into a white settlement on the Kanawha River in
+Virginia. Of the remainder of their party and their gallant leader
+nothing was ever heard again. One of the men reported that he had stayed
+with the wounded colonel during the night after the battle, where he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span>
+"remained in the woods, in extreme pain and utterly past recovery." In
+the morning he was obliged to leave him to save his own life, and that
+was the last known on earth of Colonel Rogers.</p>
+
+<p>As for the ammunition for which he had been sent, and which he had been
+decoyed by an Indian trick into abandoning, it fell into the hands of
+the savages, and was probably used in the later war in the service of
+those against whom it was intended to be employed. Such is the fortune
+of war.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>HOW COLONEL CLARK WON THE NORTHWEST.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">On</span> the evening of the 4th of July, 1778, a merry dance was taking place
+at the small settlement of Kaskaskia, in that far western region
+afterward known as Illinois. It must not be imagined that this was a
+celebration of the American Independence day, for the people of
+Kaskaskia knew little and cared less about American independence. It was
+only by chance that this day was chosen for the dance, but it had its
+significance for all that, for the first step was to be taken there that
+day in adding the great Northwest to the United States. The man by whom
+this was to be done was a brave Kentuckian named George Rogers Clark. He
+came of a daring family, for he was a brother of Captain William Clark,
+who, years afterward, was engaged with Captain Lewis in the famous Lewis
+and Clark expedition across the vast unknown wilderness between the
+Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean.</p>
+
+<p>Kaskaskia was one of the settlements made by the French between the
+Great Lakes and the Mississippi. After the loss of Canada this country
+passed to England, and there were English garrisons placed in some of
+the forts. But Kaskaskia was thought so far away and so safe that it was
+left in charge of a French officer and French<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> soldiers. A gay and
+light-hearted people they were, as the French are apt to be; and, as
+they found time hang heavy on their hands at that frontier stronghold,
+they had invited the people of the place, on the evening in question, to
+a ball at the fort.</p>
+
+<p>All this is by way of introduction; now let us see what took place at
+the fort on that pleasant summer night. All the girls of the village
+were there and many of the men, and most of the soldiers were on the
+floor as well. They were dancing away at a jovial rate to the lively
+music of a fiddle, played by a man who sat on a chair at the side. Near
+him on the floor lay an Indian, looking on with lazy eyes at the
+dancers. The room was lighted by torches thrust into the cracks of the
+wall, and the whole party were in the best of spirits.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian was not the only looker-on. In the midst of the fun a tall
+young man stepped into the room and stood leaning against the side of
+the door, with his eyes fixed on the dancers. He was dressed in the garb
+of the backwoods, but it was easy to be seen that he was not a
+Frenchman,&mdash;if any of the gay throng had taken the trouble to look at
+him.</p>
+
+<p>All at once there was a startling interruption. The Indian sprang to his
+feet and his shrill war-whoop rang loudly through the room. His keen
+eyes had rested on the stranger and seen at a glance that there was
+something wrong. The new-comer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> was evidently an American, and that
+meant something there.</p>
+
+<p>His yell of alarm broke up the dance in an instant. The women, who had
+just been laughing and talking, screamed with fright. All, men and women
+alike, huddled together in alarm. Some of the men ran for their guns,
+but the stranger did not move. From his place by the door he simply
+said, in a quiet way, "Don't be scared. Go on with your dance. But
+remember that you are dancing under Virginia and not under England."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 369px;">
+<img src="images/p155.jpg" width="369" height="600" alt="VIEW IN THE NORTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">View in the Northwestern Mountains.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>As he was speaking, a crowd of men dressed like himself slipped into the
+room. They were all armed, and in a minute they spread through the fort,
+laying hands on the guns of the soldiers. The fort had been taken
+without a blow or a shot.</p>
+
+<p>Rocheblave, the French commandant, was in bed while these events were
+taking place, not dreaming that an American was within five hundred
+miles. He learned better when the new-comers took him prisoner and began
+to search for his papers. The reason they did not find many of these was
+on account of their American respect for ladies. The papers were in
+Madame Rocheblave's room, which the Americans were too polite to enter,
+not knowing that she was shoving them as fast as she could into the
+fire, so that there was soon only a heap of ashes. A few were found
+outside, enough to show what the Americans wanted to make sure of,&mdash;that
+the English were doing their best to stir up the Indians against the
+settlers. To end this part of our story,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> we may say that the Americans
+got possession of Kaskaskia and its fort, and Rocheblave was sent off,
+with his papers, to Virginia. Probably his wide-awake wife went with
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Now let us go back a bit and see how all this came to pass. Colonel
+Clark was a native of Virginia, but he had gone to Kentucky in his early
+manhood, being very fond of life in the woods. Here he became a friend
+of Daniel Boone, and no doubt often joined him in hunting excursions;
+but his business was that of a surveyor, at which he found plenty to do
+in this new country.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the war for independence came on, and as it proceeded Clark
+saw plainly that the English at the forts in the West were stirring up
+the Indians to attack the American settlements and kill the settlers. It
+is believed that they paid them for this dreadful work and supplied them
+with arms and ammunition. All this Clark was sure of and he determined
+to try and stop it. So he made his way back to the East and had a talk
+with Patrick Henry, who was then governor of Virginia. He asked the
+governor to let him have a force to attack the English forts in the
+West. He thought he could capture them, and in this way put an end to
+the Indian raids.</p>
+
+<p>Patrick Henry was highly pleased with Clark's plan. He gave him orders
+to "proceed to the defence of Kentucky," which was done to keep his real
+purpose a secret. He was also supplied with a large sum of money and
+told to enlist four <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span>companies of men, of whom he was to be the colonel.
+These he recruited among the hunters and pioneers of the frontier, who
+were the kind of men he wanted, and in the spring of 1778 he set out on
+his daring expedition.</p>
+
+<p>With a force of about one hundred and fifty men Colonel Clark floated
+down the Ohio River in boats, landing at length about fifty miles above
+the river's mouth and setting off through the woods towards Kaskaskia.
+It was a difficult journey, and they had many hardships. Their food ran
+out on the way and they had to live on roots to keep from starvation.
+But at length one night they came near enough to hear the fiddle and the
+dancing. How they stopped the dance you have read.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ends the first part of our story. It was easy enough to end, as has
+been seen. But there was a second part which was not so easy. You must
+know that the British had other strongholds in that country. One of them
+was Detroit, on the Detroit River, near Lake Erie. This was their
+starting-point. Far to the south, on the Wabash River, in what is now
+the State of Indiana, was another fort called Vincennes, which lay about
+one hundred and fifty miles to the east of Fort Kaskaskia. This was an
+old French fort also, and it was held by the French for the British as
+Kaskaskia had been. Colonel Clark wanted this fort too, and got it
+without much trouble. He had not men enough to take it by force, so he
+sent a French priest there, who told the people that their best friends
+were the Americans,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> not the British. It was not hard to make them
+believe this, for the French people had never liked the British. So they
+hauled down the British ensign and hauled up the Stars and Stripes, and
+Vincennes became an American fort.</p>
+
+<p>After that Colonel Clark went back to Kentucky, proud to think that he
+had won the great Northwest Territory for the United States with so
+little trouble. But he might have known that the British would not let
+themselves be driven out of the country in this easy manner, and before
+the winter was over he heard news that was not much to his liking.
+Colonel Hamilton, the English commander at Detroit, had marched down to
+Vincennes and taken the fort back again. It was also said that he
+intended to capture Kaskaskia, and then march south and try and win
+Kentucky for the English. This Hamilton was the man who was said to have
+hired the Indians to murder the American settlers, and Clark was much
+disturbed by the news. He must be quick to act, or all that he had won
+would be lost.</p>
+
+<p>He had a terrible task before him. The winter was near its end and the
+Wabash had risen and overflowed its banks on all sides. For hundreds of
+square miles the country was under water, and Vincennes was in the
+centre of a great shallow lake. It was freezing water, too, for this was
+no longer the warm spring time, as it had been in the march to
+Kaskaskia, but dull and drear February. Yet the brave colonel knew that
+he must act quickly if he was to act at all. Hamilton had only eighty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span>
+men; he could raise twice that many. He had no money to pay them, but a
+merchant in St. Louis offered to lend him all he needed. There was the
+water to cross, but the hardy Kentucky hunters were used to wet and
+cold. So Colonel Clark hastily collected his men and set out for
+Vincennes.</p>
+
+<p>A sturdy set of men they were who followed him, dressed in
+hunting-shirts and carrying their long and tried rifles. On their heads
+were fur caps, ornamented with deer or raccoon tails. They believed in
+Colonel Clark, and that is a great deal in warlike affairs. As they
+trudged onward there came days of cold, hard rain, so that every night
+they had to build great fires to warm themselves and dry their clothes.
+Thus they went on, day after day, through the woods and prairies,
+carrying their packs of provisions and supplies on their backs, and
+shooting game to add to their food supply.</p>
+
+<p>This was holiday work to what lay before them. After a week of this kind
+of travel they came to a new kind. The "drowned lands" of the Wabash lay
+before them. Everywhere nothing but water was to be seen. The winter
+rains had so flooded the streams that a great part of the country was
+overflowed. And there was no way to reach the fort except by crossing
+those waters, for they spread round it on all sides. They must plunge in
+and wade through or give up and go back.</p>
+
+<p>We may be sure that there were faint hearts among them when they felt
+the cold water and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> knew that there were miles of it to cross, here
+ankle- or knee-deep, there waist-deep. But they had known this when they
+started, and they were not the men to turn back. At Colonel Clark's
+cheery word of command they plunged in and began their long and
+shivering journey.</p>
+
+<p>For nearly a week this terrible journey went on. It was a frightful
+experience. Now and then one of them would stumble and fall, and come up
+dripping. All day long they tramped dismally on through that endless
+waste of icy water. Here and there were islands of dry land over which
+they were glad enough to trudge, but at night they often had trouble to
+find a dry spot to build their fires and cook their food, and to sleep
+on beside the welcome blaze. It was hard enough to find game in that
+dreary waste, and their food ran out, so that for two whole days they
+had to go hungry. Thus they went on till they came to the point where
+White River runs into the Wabash.</p>
+
+<p>Here they found some friends who had come by a much easier way. On
+setting out Colonel Clark had sent Captain Rogers and forty men, with
+two small cannon, in a boat up Wabash River, telling them to stop at the
+White River fork, about fifteen or twenty miles below Vincennes. Here
+their trudging friends found them, and from this point they resumed
+their march in company. It was easy enough now to transport the cannon
+by dragging or rowing the boat through the deep water which they had to
+traverse.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span></p><p>The worst of their difficult journey lay before them, for surrounding
+the fort was a sheet of water four miles wide which was deeper than any
+they had yet gone through. They had waded to their knees, and at times
+to their waists, but now they might have to wade to their necks. Some of
+them thrust their hands into the water and shivered at the touch, saying
+that it was freezing cold. There were men among them who held back,
+exclaiming that it was folly to think of crossing that icy lake.</p>
+
+<p>"We have not come so far to turn back now," said Colonel Clark, sternly.
+"Yonder lies the fort, and a few hours will take us there. Follow me,"
+and he walked boldly into the flood. As he did so he told one of his
+officers to shoot the first man who refused to follow. That settled the
+matter; they all plunged in.</p>
+
+<p>It was the most frightful part of their journey. The water at places, as
+we have said, came at times almost to their necks. Much of it reached
+their waists. They struggled resolutely on, almost benumbed with the
+cold, now stumbling and catching themselves again, holding their guns
+and powder above their heads to keep them from becoming wet, and glad
+enough when they found the water growing shallower. At length dry land
+was reached once more, and none too soon, for some of the men were so
+faint and weak that they fell flat on the ground. Colonel Clark set two
+of his men to pick up these worn-out ones and run them up and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> down till
+they were warm again. In this way they were soon made all right.</p>
+
+<p>It was now the evening of the 18th of February, 1779. They were near
+enough to the fort to hear the boom of the evening gun. This satisfied
+the colonel that they were at the end of their journey, and he bade his
+men to lie down and sleep and get ready for the work before them. There
+was no more wading to do, but there was likely to be some fighting.</p>
+
+<p>Bright and early the next morning they were up and had got their arms
+and equipments in order. They were on the wrong side of the river, but a
+large boat was found, in which they crossed. Vincennes was now near at
+hand, and one of its people soon appeared, a Frenchman, who looked at
+them with as much astonishment as if they had dropped down from the sky.
+Colonel Clark questioned him about matters in the fort, and then gave
+him a letter to Colonel Hamilton, telling the colonel that they had come
+across the water to take back the fort, and that he had better surrender
+and save trouble.</p>
+
+<p>We may be sure that the English colonel was astounded on receiving such
+a letter at such a time. That any men on earth could have crossed those
+wintry waters he could hardly believe, and it seemed to him that they
+must have come on wings. But there they were, asking him to give up the
+fort, a thing he had no notion of doing without a fight. If Colonel
+Clark wanted the fort he must come and take it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span></p><p>Colonel Clark did want it. He wanted it badly. And it was not long
+before the two cannon which he had brought with him were loaded and
+pouring their shot into the fort, while the riflemen kept them company
+with their guns. Colonel Hamilton fired back with grape-shot and
+cannon-balls, and for hour after hour the siege went on, the roar of
+cannon echoing back from woodland and water. For fourteen hours the
+cannonade was kept up, all day long and far into the night, the red
+flashes from cannon and rifle lighting up all around. At length both
+sides were worn out, and they lay down to sleep, expecting to begin
+again with the morning light.</p>
+
+<p>But that day's work, and the sure shooting of the Kentucky riflemen, had
+made such havoc in the fort as to teach Colonel Hamilton that the bold
+Kentuckians were too much for him. So when, at day dawn, another
+messenger came with a summons to surrender, he accepted as gracefully as
+he could. He asked to be given the honors of war, and to be allowed to
+march back to Detroit, but Colonel Clark wrathfully answered, "To that I
+can by no means agree. I will not again leave it in your power to spirit
+up the Indian nations to scalp men, women, and children."</p>
+
+<p>Soon into the fort marched the victors, with shouts of triumph, their
+long rifles slanting over their shoulders. And soon the red cross flag
+of England came down and the star-spangled banner of America waved in
+its place. Hamilton and his men were prisoners in American hands.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span></p><p>There was proof enough that this English colonel had been busy in
+stirring the Indians up to their dreadful work. His papers showed that.
+And even while the fight was going on some of the red demons came up
+with the scalps of white men and women to receive their pay. The pay
+they got was in bullets when they fell into the hands of the incensed
+Kentuckians. Colonel Hamilton and his officers were sent as prisoners to
+Williamsburg, Virginia, and were there put in fetters for their
+murderous conduct. It would have served them right to hang them, but the
+laws of war forbade, and they were soon set free.</p>
+
+<p>We have told this story that you may see what brave men Virginia and
+Kentucky bred in the old times. In all American history there is no
+exploit to surpass that of Colonel Clark and his men. And it led to
+something of the greatest importance to the republic of the United
+States, as you shall hear.</p>
+
+<p>It was not long after that time that the war ended and the freedom of
+the colonies was gained. When the treaty of peace was made the question
+arose, "What territory should belong to the new republic and what should
+still be held by England?" It was finally decided that the land which
+each country held at the end of the war should be held still. In that
+way England held Canada. And it would have held the great country north
+of the Ohio, too, if it had not been for George Rogers Clark. His
+capture of Kaskaskia and his splendid two weeks' march through the
+"drowned lands"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> of the Wabash had won that country for the United
+States, and when the treaty was signed all this fine country became part
+of the territory of the United States. So it is to George Rogers Clark,
+the Virginian and Kentuckian, that this country owes the region which in
+time was divided up into the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
+and Michigan, and perhaps Kentucky also, since only for him the British
+might have taken the new-settled land of Daniel Boone.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>KING'S MOUNTAIN AND THE PATRIOTS OF TENNESSEE.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Never</span> was the South in so desperate a plight as in the autumn months of
+that year of peril, 1780. The British had made themselves masters of
+Georgia, and South Carolina and North Carolina were strongly threatened.
+The boastful Gates had been defeated at Camden so utterly that he ran
+away from his army faster than it did from the British, and in three
+days and a half afterward he rode alone into Hillsborough, North
+Carolina, two hundred miles away. Sumter was defeated as badly and rode
+as fast to Charlotte, without hat or saddle. Marion's small band was
+nearly the only American force left in South Carolina.</p>
+
+<p>Cornwallis, the British commander, was in an ecstasy of delight at his
+success. He felt sure that all the South was won. The harvest was ready
+and needed only to be reaped. He laid his plans to march north, winning
+victory after victory, till all America south of Delaware should be
+conquered for the British crown. Then, if the North became free, the
+South would still be under the rule of George the Third. There was only
+one serious mistake in his calculations: he did not build upon the
+spirit of the South.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span></p><p>Cornwallis began by trying to crush out that spirit, and soon brought
+about a reign of terror in South Carolina. He ordered that all who would
+not take up arms for the king should be seized and their property
+destroyed. Every man who had borne arms for the British and afterward
+joined the Americans was to be hanged as soon as taken. Houses were
+burned, estates ravaged, men put to death, women and children driven
+from their homes with no fit clothing, thousands confined in prisons and
+prison-ships in which malignant fevers raged, the whole State rent and
+torn by a most cruel and merciless persecution. Such was the Lord
+Cornwallis ideal of war.</p>
+
+<p>Near the middle of September Cornwallis began his march northward, which
+was not to end till the whole South lay prostrate under his hand. It was
+his aim to fill his ranks with the loyalists of North Carolina and sweep
+all before him. Major Patrick Ferguson, his ablest partisan leader, was
+sent with two hundred of the best British troops to the South Carolina
+uplands, and here he gathered in such Tories as he could find, and with
+them a horde of wretches who cared only for the side that gave them the
+best chance to plunder and ravage. The Cherokee Indians were also bribed
+to attack the American settlers west of the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>But while Cornwallis was thus making his march of triumph, the American
+patriots were not at rest. Marion was flying about, like a wasp with a
+very sharp sting. Sumter was back again, cutting off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> strays and
+foragers. Other parties of patriots were afoot and active. And in the
+new settlements west of the Alleghanies the hardy backwoodsmen, who had
+been far out of the reach of war and its terrors, were growing eager to
+strike a blow for the country which they loved.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the state of affairs in the middle South in the month of
+September, 1780. And it leads us to a tale of triumph in which the
+Western woodsmen struck their blow for freedom, teaching the
+over-confident Cornwallis a lesson he sadly needed. It is the tale of
+how Ferguson, the Tory leader, met his fate at the hands of the
+mountaineers and hunters of Tennessee and the neighboring regions.</p>
+
+<p>After leaving Cornwallis, Ferguson met with a small party of North
+Carolina militia under Colonel Macdowell, whom he defeated and pursued
+so sharply as to drive them into the mountain wilds. Here their only
+hope of safety lay in crossing the crags and ridges to the great forest
+land beyond. They found a refuge at last among the bold frontiersmen of
+the Watauga in Tennessee, many of whom were the Regulators of North
+Carolina, the refugees from Governor Tryon's tyranny.</p>
+
+<p>The arrival of these fugitives stirred up the woodsmen as they had never
+been stirred before. It brought the evils of the war for the first time
+to their doors. These poor fugitives had been driven from their homes
+and robbed of their all, as the Regulators had been in former years. Was
+it not the duty of the freemen of Tennessee to restore<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> them and strike
+one blow for the liberty of their native land?</p>
+
+<p>The bold Westerners thought so, and lost no time in putting their
+thoughts into effect. Men were quickly enlisted and regiments formed
+under Isaac Shelby and John Sevier, two of their leaders. An express was
+sent to William Campbell, who had under him four hundred of the
+backwoodsmen of Southwest Virginia, asking him to join their ranks. On
+the 25th of September these three regiments of riflemen, with Macdowell
+and his fugitives, met on the Watauga, each man on his own horse, armed
+with his own rifle, and carrying his own provisions, and each bent on
+dealing a telling blow for the relief of their brethren in the East.</p>
+
+<p>True patriots were they, risking their all for their duty to their
+native land. Their families were left in secluded valleys, often at long
+distances apart, exposed to danger alike from the Tories and the
+Indians. Before them lay the highest peaks of the Alleghanies, to be
+traversed only by way of lofty and difficult passes. No highway existed;
+there was not even a bridle-path through the dense forest; and for forty
+miles between the Watauga and the Catawba there was not a single house
+or a cultivated acre. On the evening of the 30th the Westerners were
+reinforced by Colonel Cleveland, with three hundred and fifty men from
+North Carolina who had been notified by them of their approach.</p>
+
+<p>Their foe was before them. After Ferguson had pursued Macdowell to the
+foot of the mountains he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> shaped his course for King's Mountain, a
+natural stronghold, where he established his camp in what seemed a
+secure position and sent to Cornwallis for a few hundred more men,
+saying that these "would finish the business. This is their last push in
+this quarter." Cornwallis at once despatched Tarleton with a
+considerable reinforcement. He was destined to be too late.</p>
+
+<p>Ferguson did not know all the peril that threatened him. On the east
+Colonel James Williams was pursuing him up the Catawba with over four
+hundred horsemen. A vigilant leader, he kept his scouts out on every
+side, and on October 2 one of these brought him the most welcome of
+news. The backwoodsmen were up, said the scout; half of the people
+beyond the mountains were under arms and on the march. A few days later
+they met him, thirteen hundred strong.</p>
+
+<p>Not a day, not an hour, was lost. Williams told them where their foes
+were encamped, and they resolved to march against them that very night
+and seek to take them by surprise. It was the evening of October 6 when
+the two forces joined. So prompt were they to act that at eight o' clock
+that same evening nine hundred of their best horsemen had been selected
+and were on the march. All night they rode, with the moon to light them
+on their way. The next day they rode still onward, and in the afternoon
+reached the foot of King's Mountain, on whose summit Ferguson lay
+encamped.</p>
+
+<p>This mountain lies just south of the North Carolina<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> border, at the end
+of a branching ridge from, the main line of the Alleghanies. The British
+were posted on its summit, over eleven hundred in number, a thousand of
+them being Tories, the others British regulars. They felt thoroughly
+secure in their elevated fortress, the approach up the mountain-side
+being almost a precipice, the slaty rock cropping out into natural
+breastworks along its sides and on its heights. And, so far as they
+knew, no foe was within many miles.</p>
+
+<p>The Americans dismounted; that craggy hill was impassable to horsemen.
+Though less in number than their foes, and with a steep mountain to
+climb, they did not hesitate. The gallant nine hundred were formed into
+four columns, Campbell's regiment on the right centre and Shelby's on
+the left, taking the post of greatest peril. Sevier, with a part of
+Cleveland's men, led the right wing, and Williams, with the remainder of
+Cleveland's men, the left, their orders being to pass the position of
+Ferguson to right and left and climb the ridge in his rear, while the
+centre columns attacked him in front.</p>
+
+<p>So well was the surprise managed that the Westerners were within a
+quarter of a mile of the enemy before they were discovered. Climbing
+steadily upon their front, the two centre columns quickly began the
+attack. Shelby, a hardy, resolute man, "stiff as iron," brave among the
+bravest, led the way straight onward and upward, with but one thought in
+his mind,&mdash;to do that for which he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> come. Facing Campbell were the
+British regulars, who sprang to their arms and charged his men with
+fixed bayonets, forcing the riflemen, who had no bayonets, to recoil.
+But they were soon rallied by their gallant leader, and returned eagerly
+to the attack.</p>
+
+<p>For ten or fifteen minutes a fierce and bloody battle was kept up at
+this point, the sharp-shooting woodsmen making havoc in the ranks of the
+foe. Then the right and left wings of the Americans closed in on the
+flank and rear of the British and encircled them with a hot fire. For
+nearly an hour the battle continued, with a heavy fire on both sides. At
+length the right wing gained the summit of the cliff and poured such a
+deadly fire on the foe from their point of vantage that it was
+impossible to bear it.</p>
+
+<p>Ferguson had been killed, and his men began to retreat along the top of
+the ridge, but here they found themselves in the face of the American
+left wing, and their leader, seeing that escape was impossible and
+resistance hopeless, displayed a white flag. At once the firing ceased,
+the enemy throwing down their arms and surrendering themselves prisoners
+of war. More than a third of the British force lay dead, or badly
+wounded; the remainder were prisoners; not more than twenty of the whole
+were missing. The total loss of the Americans was twenty-eight killed
+and sixty wounded, Colonel Williams, a man of great valor and
+discretion, being among the killed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span></p><p>The battle ended, a thirst for vengeance arose. Among the Tory
+prisoners were known house&mdash;burners and murderers. Among the victors
+were men who had seen their cruel work, had beheld women and children,
+homeless and hopeless, robbed and wronged, nestling about fires kindled
+in the ground, where they mourned their slain fathers and husbands.
+Under such circumstances it is not strange that they seized and hanged
+nine or ten of the captives, desisting only when Campbell gave orders
+that this work should cease, and threatened with severe punishment all
+who engaged in it.</p>
+
+<p>The victory of the men of the backwoods at King's Mountain was like the
+former one of Washington at Trenton. It inspired with hope the
+despairing people and changed the whole aspect of the war. It filled the
+Tories of North Carolina with such wholesome dread that they no longer
+dared to join the foe or molest their patriot neighbors. The patriots of
+both the Carolinas were stirred to new zeal. The broken and dispirited
+fragments of Gates's army took courage again and once more came together
+and organized, soon afterward coming under the skilled command of
+General Greene.</p>
+
+<p>Tarleton had reached the forks of the Catawba when news of Ferguson's
+signal defeat reached him and caused him to return in all haste to join
+Cornwallis. The latter, utterly surprised to find an enemy falling on
+his flank from the far wilderness beyond the mountains, whence he had
+not dreamed of a foe, halted in alarm. He dared not leave an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> enemy like
+this in his rear, and found himself obliged to retreat, giving up his
+grand plan of sweeping the two Carolinas and Virginia into his
+victorious net. Such was the work done by the valiant men of the
+Watauga. They saved the South from loss until Morgan and Greene could
+come to finish the work they had so well begun.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>GENERAL GREENE'S FAMOUS RETREAT.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> rain was pouring pitilessly from the skies. The wind blew chill from
+the north. The country was soaked with the falling flood, dark
+rain-clouds swept across the heavens, and a dreary mist shut out all the
+distant view. In the midst of this cheerless scene a solitary horseman
+stood on a lonely roadside, with his military cape drawn closely up, and
+his horse's head drooping as if the poor beast was utterly weary of the
+situation. In truth, they had kept watch and ward there for hours, and
+night was near at hand, the weary watcher still looking southward with
+an anxiety that seemed fast growing into hopeless despondency.</p>
+
+<p>At times, as he waited, a faint, far-off, booming sound was heard, which
+caused the lonely cavalier to lift his head and listen intently. It
+might have been the sound of cannon, it might have been distant thunder,
+but whatever it was, his anxiety seemed steadily to increase.</p>
+
+<p>The day darkened into night, and hour by hour night crept on until
+midnight came and passed, yet the lone watcher waited still, his horse
+beside him, the gloom around him, the rain still plashing on the sodden
+road. It was a wearing vigil, and only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> a critical need could have kept
+him there through those slow and dreary hours of gloom.</p>
+
+<p>At length he sharply lifted his head and listened more intently than
+before. It was not the dull and distant boom this time, but a nearer
+sound that grew momentarily more distinct, the thud, it seemed, of a
+horse's hoofs. In a few minutes more a horseman rode into the narrow
+circle of view.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that you, sergeant?" asked the watcher.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," answered the other, with an instinctive military salute.</p>
+
+<p>"What news? I have been waiting here for hours for the militia, and not
+a man has come. I trust there is nothing wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"Everything is wrong," answered the new-comer. "Davidson is dead and the
+militia are scattered to the winds. Cornwallis is over the Catawba and
+is in camp five miles this side of the river."</p>
+
+<p>"You bring bad news," said the listener, with a look of agitation.
+"Davidson dead and his men dispersed! That is bad enough. And Morgan?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know nothing about him."</p>
+
+<p>Sad of heart, the questioner mounted his impatient steed and rode
+disconsolately away along the muddy road. He was no less a person than
+General Greene, the newly-appointed commander of the American forces in
+the South, and the tidings he had just heard had disarranged all his
+plans. With the militia on whose aid he had depended scattered in
+flight, and no sign of others coming, his hope of facing Cornwallis in
+the field was gone, and he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> a heavy-hearted man when he rode at
+length into the North Carolina town of Salisbury and dismounted at the
+door of Steele's tavern, the house of entertainment in that place. As he
+entered the reception-room of the hotel, stiff and weary from his long
+vigil, he was met by Dr. Read, a friend.</p>
+
+<p>"What! alone, General?" exclaimed Read.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; tired, hungry, alone, and penniless."</p>
+
+<p>The fate of the patriot cause in the South seemed to lie in those
+hopeless words. Mrs. Steele, the landlady, heard them, and made all
+haste to prepare a bountiful supper for her late guest, who sat seeking
+to dry himself before the blazing fire. As quickly as possible a smoking
+hot supper was on the table before him, and as he sat enjoying it with a
+craving appetite, Mrs. Steele again entered the room.</p>
+
+<p>Closing the door carefully behind her, she advanced with a look of
+sympathy on her face, and drew her hands from under her apron, each of
+them holding a small bag of silver coin.</p>
+
+<p>"Take these, general," she said. "You need them, and I can do without
+them."</p>
+
+<p>A look of hope beamed on Greene's face as he heard these words. With a
+spirit like this in the women of the country, he felt that no man should
+despair. Rising with a sudden impulse, he walked to where a portrait of
+George III. hung over the fireplace, remaining from the old ante-war
+time. He turned the face of this to the wall and wrote these words on
+the back: "Hide thy face, George, and blush."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span></p><p>It is said that this portrait was still hanging in the same place not
+many years ago, with Greene's writing yet legible upon it, and possibly
+it may be there still. As for Mrs. Steele, she had proved herself a
+patriot woman, of the type of Mrs. Motte, who furnished Marion with
+arrows for the burning of her own house when it was occupied by a party
+of British soldiers whom he could not dislodge. And they two were far
+from alone in the list of patriot women in the South.</p>
+
+<p>The incident in General Greene's career above given has become famous.
+And connected with it is the skilful military movement by which he
+restored the American cause in the South, which had been nearly lost by
+the disastrous defeat of General Gates. This celebrated example of
+strategy has often been described, but is worth telling again.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Cornwallis, the most active of the British commanders in the war of
+American Independence, had brought South Carolina and Georgia under his
+control, and was marching north with the expectation of soon bringing
+North Carolina into subjection, and following up his success with the
+conquest of Virginia. This accomplished, he would have the whole South
+subdued. But in some respects he reckoned without his host. He had now
+such men as Greene and Morgan in his front, Marion and Sumter in his
+rear, and his task was not likely to prove an easy one.</p>
+
+<p>As for Morgan, he sent the rough-rider Tarleton to deal with him,
+fancying that the noted rifleman,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> who had won undying fame in the
+North, would now meet fate in the face, and perhaps be captured, with
+all his men. But Morgan had a word to say about that, as was proved on
+the 17th of January, 1781, when he met Tarleton at the Cowpens, a place
+about five miles south of the North Carolina line.</p>
+
+<p>Tarleton had the strongest and best appointed force, and Morgan, many of
+whose men were untried militia, seemed in imminent danger, especially
+when the men of the Maryland line began to retreat, and the British,
+thinking the day their own, pressed upon them with exultant shouts. But
+to their surprise the bold Marylanders suddenly halted, turned, and
+greeted their pursuers with a destructive volley. At the same time the
+Virginia riflemen, who had been posted on the wings, closed in on both
+flanks of the British and poured a shower of bullets into their ranks.
+The British were stunned by this abrupt change in the situation, and
+when the Maryland line charged upon them with levelled bayonets they
+broke and fled in dismay.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Washington commanded the small cavalry force, so far held in
+reserve and unseen. This compact body of troopers now charged on the
+British cavalry, more than three times their numbers, and quickly put
+them to flight. Tarleton himself made a narrow escape, for he received a
+wound from Washington's sword in the hot pursuit. So utter was the rout
+of the British that they were pursued for twenty miles, and lost more
+than three hundred of their number in killed and wounded and six<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span>
+hundred in prisoners, with many horses, wagons, muskets, and cannon.
+Tarleton's abundant baggage was burned by his own order to save it from
+capture. In this signal victory Morgan lost only ten men killed and
+sixty wounded.</p>
+
+<p>And now began that famous retreat, which was of more advantage to the
+Americans than a victory. Morgan, knowing well that Cornwallis would
+soon be after him to retrieve the disaster at the Cowpens, hastened with
+his prisoners and spoils across the Catawba. Cornwallis, furious at his
+defeat and eager to move rapidly in pursuit, set fire to all his baggage
+and wagons except those absolutely needed, thus turning his army into
+light troops at the expense of the greater part of its food-supply and
+munitions.</p>
+
+<p>But when he reached the Catawba, he found it so swollen with the rains
+that he was forced to halt on its banks while Morgan continued his
+march. Meanwhile, General Greene was making earnest efforts to collect a
+force of militia, directing all those who came in to meet at a certain
+point. Such was the situation on the 1st of February when Greene waited
+for weary hours at the place fixed upon for the militia to assemble,
+only to learn that Cornwallis had forced the passage of the river,
+dispersing the North Carolina militia left to guard the ford, and
+killing General Davidson, their commander. He had certainly abundant
+reason for depression on that wet and dreary night when he rode alone
+into Salisbury.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span></p><p>The Catawba crossed, the next stream of importance was the Yadkin.
+Hither Morgan marched in all haste, crossing the stream on the 2d and 3d
+of February, and at once securing all boats. The rains began to fall
+again before his men were fairly over, and soon the stream was swelling
+with the mountain floods. When Cornwallis reached its banks it was
+swollen high and running madly, and it was the 7th of February before he
+was able to cross. It seemed, indeed, as if Providence had come to the
+aid of the Americans, lowering the rains for them and raising them for
+their foes.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the two divisions of the American army were marching on
+converging lines, and on the 9th the forces under Greene and Morgan made
+a junction at Guilford Court-House, Cornwallis being then at Salem,
+twenty-five miles distant. A battle was fought at this place a month
+later, but just then the force under Greene's command was too small to
+risk a fight. A defeat at that time might have proved fatal to the cause
+of the South. Nothing remained but to continue the retreat across the
+State to the border of Virginia, and there put the Dan River between him
+and his foe.</p>
+
+<p>To cover the route of his retreat from the enemy, Greene detached
+General Williams with the flower of his troops to act as a light corps,
+watch and impede Cornwallis and strive to lead him towards Dix's ferry
+on the Dan, while the crossing would be made twenty miles lower down.</p>
+
+<p>It was a terrible march which the poor patriots<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> made during the next
+four days. Without tents, with thin and ragged clothes, most of them
+without shoes, "many hundreds of the soldiers tracking the ground with
+their bloody feet," they retreated at the rate of seventeen miles a day
+along barely passable roads, the wagon-wheels sinking deep in the mud,
+and every creek swollen with the rains. In these four days of anxiety
+Greene slept barely four hours, watching every detail with a vigilant
+eye, which nothing escaped. On the 14th they reached the ford, hurrying
+the wagons across and then the troops, and before nightfall Greene was
+able to write that "all his troops were over and the stage was clear."</p>
+
+<p>General Williams had aided him ably in this critical march, keeping just
+beyond reach of Cornwallis, and deceiving him for a day or two as to the
+intention of the Americans. When the British general discovered how he
+had been deceived, he got rid of more of his baggage by the easy method
+of fire, and chased Williams across the State at the speed of thirty
+miles a day. But the alert Americans marched forty miles a day and
+reached the fords of the Dan just as the last of Greene's men had
+crossed. That night the rear guard crossed the stream, and when
+Cornwallis reached its banks, on the morning of the 15th, to his deep
+chagrin he found all the Americans safe on the Virginia side and ready
+to contest the crossing if he should seek to continue the pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>That famous march of two hundred miles, from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> the south side of the
+Catawba to the north side of the Dan, in which the whole State of North
+Carolina was crossed by the ragged and largely shoeless army, was the
+salvation of the Southern States. In Greene's camp there was only joy
+and congratulation. Little did the soldiers heed their tattered
+garments, their shoeless feet, their lack of blankets and of regular
+food, in their pride at having outwitted the British army and fulfilled
+their duty to their country. With renewed courage they were ready to
+cross the Dan again and attack Cornwallis and his men. Washington wrote
+to General Greene, applauding him highly for his skilful feat, and even
+a British historian gave him great praise and credit for his skill in
+strategy.</p>
+
+<p>Shall we tell in a few words the outcome of this fine feat? Cornwallis
+had been drawn so far from his base of supplies, and had burned so much
+of his war-material, that he found himself in an ugly quandary. On his
+return march Greene became the pursuer, harassing him at every step.
+When Guilford Court-House was reached again Greene felt strong enough to
+fight, and though Cornwallis held the field at the end of the battle he
+was left in such a sorry plight that he was forced to retreat to
+Wilmington and leave South Carolina uncovered. Here it did not take
+Greene long, with the aid of such valiant partisans as Marion, Sumter,
+and Lee, to shut the British up in Charleston and win back the State.</p>
+
+<p>Cornwallis, on the other hand, concluded to try<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> his fortune in
+Virginia, where there seemed to be a fine chance for fighting and
+conquest. But he was not long there before he found himself shut up in
+Yorktown like a rat in a trap, with Washington and his forces in front
+and the French fleet in the rear. His surrender, soon after, not only
+freed the South from its foes, but cured George III. of any further
+desire to put down the rebels in America.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>ELI WHITNEY, THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON-GIN.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the harvest season of the cotton States of the South a vast, fleecy
+snow-fall seems to have come down in the silence of the night and
+covered acres innumerable with its virgin emblem of plenty and
+prosperity. It is the regal fibre which is to set millions of looms in
+busy whirl and to clothe, when duly spun and woven, half the population
+of the earth. That "cotton is king" has long been held as a potent
+political axiom in the United States, yet there was a time when cotton
+was not king, but was an insignificant member of the agricultural
+community. How cotton came to the throne is the subject of our present
+sketch.</p>
+
+<p>In those far-off days when King George of England was trying to force
+the rebellious Americans to buy and drink his tea and pay for his
+stamps, the people of Georgia and South Carolina were first beginning to
+try if they could do something in the way of raising cotton. After the
+war of independence was over, an American merchant in Liverpool received
+from the South a small consignment of eight bags of cotton, holding
+about twelve hundred pounds, the feeble pioneer of the great cotton
+commerce. When it was landed on the wharves in Liverpool, in 1784, the
+custom-house officials of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> that place looked at it with alarm and
+suspicion. What was this white-faced stranger doing here, claiming to
+come from a land that had never seen a cotton-plant? It must have come
+from somewhere else, and this was only a deep-laid plot to get itself
+landed on English soil without paying an entrance fee.</p>
+
+<p>So the stranger was seized and locked up, and Mr. Rathbone, the
+merchant, had no easy time in proving to the officials that it was
+really a scion of the American soil, and that the ships that brought it
+had the right to do so. But after it was released from confinement there
+was still a difficulty. Nobody would buy it. The manufacturers were
+afraid to handle this new and unknown kind of cotton for fear it would
+not pay to work it up, and at last it had to be sold for a song to get a
+trial. Such was the state of the American industry at the period when
+the great republic was just born. It may be said that the nation and its
+greatest product were born together, like twin children.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p186.jpg" width="600" height="333" alt="COTTON-GIN." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Cotton-Gin.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The new industry grew very slowly, and the planters who were trying to
+raise cotton in their fields felt much like giving it up as something
+that would never pay. In fact, there was a great difficulty in the way
+that gave them no end of trouble, and made the cost of cotton so great
+that there was very little room for profit. For a time it looked as if
+they would have to go back to corn and rice and let cotton go by the
+board.</p>
+
+<p>The trouble lay in the fact that in the midst of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> each little head of
+cotton fibres, like a young bird in its nest, lay a number of seeds, to
+which the fibres were closely attached. These seeds had to be got out,
+and this was very slow work. It had to be done by hand, and in each
+plantation store-house a group of old negroes might be seen, diligently
+at work in pulling the seeds out from the fibres. Work as hard as they
+could it was not easy to clean more than a pound a day, so that by the
+time the crop was ready for market it had cost so much that the planter
+had to be content with a very small rate of profit. Such was the state
+of the cotton industry as late as 1792, when the total product was one
+hundred and thirty-eight thousand pounds. In 1795 it had jumped to six
+million pounds, and in 1801 to twenty million pounds. This was a
+wonderful change, and it may well be asked how it was brought about.
+This question brings us to our story, which we have next to tell.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1792 a bright young Yankee came down to Georgia to begin his
+career by teaching in a private family. He was one of the kind who are
+born with a great turn for tinkering. When he was a boy he mended the
+fiddles of all the people round about, and after that took to making
+nails, canes, and hat-pins. He was so handy that the people said there
+was nothing Eli Whitney could not do.</p>
+
+<p>But he seems to have become tired of tinkering, for he went to college
+after he had grown to manhood, and from college he went to Georgia to
+teach. But there he found himself too late, for another teacher<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> had the
+place which he expected to get, so there he was, stranded far from home,
+with nothing to do and with little money in his purse. By good fortune
+he found an excellent friend. Mrs. Greene, the widow of the famous
+General Greene of the Revolution, lived near Savannah, and took quite a
+fancy to the poor young man. She urged him to stay in Georgia and to
+keep up his studies, saying that he could have a home in her house as
+long as he pleased.</p>
+
+<p>This example of Southern hospitality was very grateful to the friendless
+young man, and he accepted the kindly invitation, trying to pay his way
+by teaching Mrs. Greene's children, and at the same time studying law.
+But he was born for an inventor, not a lawyer, and could not keep his
+fingers off of things. Nothing broke down about Mrs. Greene's house that
+he did not soon set working all right again. He fitted up embroidery
+frames for her, and made other things, showing himself so very handy
+that she fancied he could do anything.</p>
+
+<p>One day Mrs. Greene heard some of the neighboring planters complaining
+of the trouble they had in clearing the cotton of its seeds. They could
+manage what was called the long-staple cotton by the use of a rough
+roller machine brought from England, which crushed the seeds, and then
+"bowed" or whipped the dirt out of the lint. But this would not work
+with short-staple cotton, the kind usually grown, and there was nothing
+to do but to pick the hard seeds out by hand, at the rate of a pound a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span>
+day by the fastest workers. The planters said it would be a splendid
+thing if they only had a machine that would do this work. Mrs. Greene
+told them that this might not be so hard to do. "There is a young man at
+my house," she said, "who can make anything;" and to prove it, she
+showed them some of the things he had made. Then she introduced them to
+Eli Whitney, and they asked him if he thought he could make a machine to
+do the work they so badly wanted.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about that," he replied. "I know no more about cotton than
+a child knows about the moon."</p>
+
+<p>"You can easily learn all there is to know about it," they urged. "We
+would be glad to show you our fields and our picker-houses and give you
+all the chance you need to study the subject."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Whitney made other objections. He was interested in his law studies,
+and did not wish to break them off. But a chance to work at machinery
+was too great an attraction for him to withstand, and at length he
+consented to look over the matter and see if he could do anything with
+it.</p>
+
+<p>The young inventor lost no time. This was something much more to his
+liking than poring over the dry books of the law, and he went to work
+with enthusiasm. He went into the fields and studied the growing cotton.
+Then he watched the seed-pickers at their work. Taking specimens of the
+ripe cotton-boll to his room, he studied the seeds as they lay cradled
+in the fibre, and saw how they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> were fastened to it. To get them out
+there must be some way of dragging them apart, pulling the fibres from
+the seed and keeping them separate.</p>
+
+<p>The inventor studied and thought and dreamed, and in a very short time
+his quick genius saw how the work could be done. And he no sooner saw it
+than he set to work to do it. The idea of the cotton-gin was fully
+formed in his mind before he had lifted his hand towards making one.</p>
+
+<p>It was not easy, in fact. It is often a long road between an inventor's
+first idea and a machine that will do all he wants it to. And he had
+nothing to work with, but had to make his own tools and manufacture his
+own wire, and work upward from the very bottom of things.</p>
+
+<p>In a few months, however, he had a model ready. Mrs. Greene was so
+interested in his work and so proud of his success that she induced him
+to show the model and explain its working to some of her planter
+friends, especially those who had induced him to engage in the work.
+When they saw what he had done, and were convinced of the truth of what
+he told them,&mdash;that they could clean more cotton in a day by his machine
+than in many months by the old hand-picking way,&mdash;their excitement was
+great, and the report of the wonderful invention spread far and wide.</p>
+
+<p>Shall we say here what this machine was like? The principle was simple
+enough, and from that day to this, though the machine has been greatly
+improved, Whitney's first idea still holds good. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> was a saw-gin then,
+and it is a saw-gin still. "Gin," we may say here, is short for
+"engine."</p>
+
+<p>This is the plan. There is a grid, or row of wires, set upright and so
+close together that the seeds will not go through the openings. Behind
+these is a set of circular saws, so placed that their teeth pass through
+the openings between the wires. When the machine is set in motion the
+cotton is put into a hopper, which feeds it to the grid, and the
+revolving saws catch the fibre or lint with their teeth and drag it
+through the wires. The seeds are too large to follow, so the cotton is
+torn loose from them and they slide down and out of the way. As the
+wheel turns round with its teeth full of cotton lint, a revolving brush
+sweeps it away so that the teeth are cleaned and ready to take up more
+lint. A simple principle, you may say, but it took a good head to think
+it out, and to it we owe the famous cotton industry of the South.</p>
+
+<p>But poor Whitney did not get the good from his invention that he
+deserved, for a terrible misfortune happened to him. Many people came to
+see the invention, but he kept the workshop locked, for he did not want
+strangers to see it till he had it finished and his patent granted. The
+end was, that one night some thieves broke into the shop and stole the
+model, and there were some machines made and in operation before the
+poor inventor could make another model and secure his patent.</p>
+
+<p>This is only one of the instances in which an inventor has been robbed
+of the work of his brain,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> and others have grown rich by it, while he
+has had trouble to make a living. A Mr. Miller, who afterward married
+Mrs. Greene, went into partnership with Whitney, and supplied him with
+funds, and he got out a patent in 1794. But the demand for the machines
+was so great that he could not begin to supply them, and the pirated
+machines, though they were much inferior to his perfected ones, were
+eagerly bought. Then his shop burned with all its contents, and that
+made him a bankrupt.</p>
+
+<p>For years after that Whitney sought to obtain justice. In some of the
+States he was fairly treated and in others he was not, and in 1812
+Congress refused to renew the patent, and the field was thrown open for
+everybody to make the machines. Nearly all he ever got for his invention
+was fifty thousand dollars paid him by the Legislature of South
+Carolina.</p>
+
+<p>In later years Whitney began to make fire-arms for the government, and
+he was so successful in this that he grew rich, while he greatly
+improved the machinery and methods. It was he who first began to make
+each part separately, so it would fit in any gun, a system now used in
+all branches of manufacture. As for the cotton industry, to which Eli
+Whitney gave the first great start, it will suffice to say that its
+product has grown from less than one thousand bales, when he began his
+work, to over ten million bales a year.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>HOW OLD HICKORY FOUGHT THE CREEKS.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Shall</span> we seek to picture to our readers a scene in the streets of
+Nashville, Tennessee, less than a century ago, though it seems to belong
+to the days of barbarism? Two groups of men, made up of the most
+respectable citizens of the place, stood furiously shooting at each
+other with pistols and guns, as if this was their idea of after-dinner
+recreation. Their leaders were Colonel Thomas H. Benton, afterward
+famous in the United States Senate, and General Andrew Jackson, famous
+in a dozen ways. The men of the frontier in those days were hot in
+temper and quick in action, and family feuds led quickly to wounds and
+death, as they still do in the mountains of East Tennessee.</p>
+
+<p>Some trifling quarrel, that might perhaps have been settled by five
+minutes of common-sense arbitration, led to this fierce fray, in the
+midst of which Jesse Benton, brother of the colonel, fired at Jackson
+with a huge pistol, loaded to the muzzle with bullets and slugs. It was
+like a charge of grape-shot. A slug from it shattered Jackson's left
+shoulder, a ball sank to the bone in his left arm, and another ball
+splintered a board by his side.</p>
+
+<p>When the fight ended Jackson was found insensible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> in the entry of a
+tavern, with the blood pouring profusely from his wounds. He was carried
+in and all the doctors of the town were summoned, but before the
+bleeding could be stopped two mattresses were soaked through with blood.
+The doctors said the arm was so badly injured that it must be taken off
+at once. But when Old Hickory set his lips in his grim way, and said,
+"I'll keep my arm," the question was settled; no one dare touch that
+arm.</p>
+
+<p>For weeks afterward Jackson lay, a helpless invalid, while his terrible
+wounds slowly healed. And while he lay there a dreadful event took place
+in the territory to the south, which called for the presence of men like
+Old Hickory, sound of limb and in full strength. This was the frightful
+Indian massacre at Fort Mimms, one of the worst in all our history.</p>
+
+<p>It was now the autumn of the year 1813, the second year of the war with
+England. Tecumseh, the famous Indian warrior and orator, had stirred up
+the savages of the South to take the British side in the war, and for
+fear of an Indian rising the settlers around Fort Mimms, in southern
+Alabama, had crowded into the fort, which was only a rude log stockade.
+On the morning of August 30 more than five hundred and fifty souls, one
+hundred of them being women and children, were crowded within that
+contracted space. On the evening of that day four hundred of them,
+including all the women and children, lay bleeding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> on the ground,
+scalped and shockingly mangled. A thousand Creek Indians had broken into
+the carelessly guarded fort, and perpetrated one of the most horrid
+massacres in the history of Indian wars. Weathersford, the leader of the
+Indians, tried to stop the ferocious warriors in their dreadful work,
+but they surrounded him and threatened him with their tomahawks while
+they glutted to the full their thirst for blood.</p>
+
+<p>Many days passed before the news of this frightful affair in the
+southern wilderness reached Nashville. The excitement it created was
+intense. The savages were in arms and had tasted blood. The settlements
+everywhere were in peril. The country might be ravaged from the Ohio to
+the Gulf. It was agreed by all that there was only one thing to do, the
+Indians must be put down. But the man best fitted to do it, the man who
+was depended upon in every emergency, lay half dead in his room, slowly
+recovering from his dreadful wound.</p>
+
+<p>A year before Jackson had led two thousand men to Natchez to defend New
+Orleans in case the British should come, and had been made by the
+government a major-general of volunteers. He was the man every one
+wanted now, but to get him seemed impossible, and the best that could be
+done was to get his advice. So a committee was appointed to visit and
+confer with the wounded hero.</p>
+
+<p>When the members of the committee called on the war-horse of the West
+they found him still within the shadow of death, his wounds sore and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span>
+festering, his frame so weak that he could barely raise his head from
+the pillow. But when they told him of the massacre and the revengeful
+feeling of the people, the news almost lifted him from his bed. It
+seemed to send new life coursing through his veins. His voice, weakened
+by illness, yet with its old ring of decision, was raised for quick and
+stern action against the savage foes who had so long menaced Tennessee.
+And if they wanted a leader he was the man.</p>
+
+<p>When the committee reported the next day, they said there was no doubt
+that "our brave and patriotic General Jackson" would be ready to lead
+the men of war by the time they were ready to march. Where Jackson led
+there would be plenty to follow. Four thousand men were called out with
+orders to assemble at Fayetteville, eighty miles south of Nashville, on
+October 4, just one month from the day when Jackson had received his
+wounds. From his bed he took command. By his orders Colonel Coffee rode
+to Huntsville, Alabama, with five hundred men. As he advanced volunteers
+came riding in armed and equipped, till he was at the head of thirteen
+hundred men.</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th of October Jackson himself reached the rendezvous. He was
+still a mere wreck, thin as a shadow, tottering with weakness, and
+needing to be lifted bodily to his horse. His arm was closely bound and
+in a sling. His wounds were so sensitive that the least jar or wrench
+gave him agony. His stomach was in such a state that he was in danger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span>
+of dying from starvation. Several times during his first two days' ride
+he had to be sponged from head to foot with whiskey. Yet his dauntless
+spirit kept him up, and he bore the dreadful ride of eighty miles with a
+fortitude rarely equalled. So resolute was he that he reached
+Fayetteville before half the men had gathered. He was glad there to
+receive news that the Creeks were advancing northward towards Tennessee.</p>
+
+<p>"Give them my thanks for saving me the pain of travelling," he said. "I
+must not be outdone in politeness, and will try to meet them half-way."</p>
+
+<p>On the 11th a new advance was made to Huntsville, the troops riding six
+miles an hour for five hours, a remarkable feat for a man in Jackson's
+condition. Many a twinge of bitter pain he had on that march, but his
+spirit was past yielding. At this point Colonel Coffee was joined, and
+the troops encamped on a bend of the Tennessee River. A false alarm of
+the advance of the Indians had caused this hasty march.</p>
+
+<p>Jackson and his men&mdash;twenty-five hundred in number with thirteen hundred
+horses&mdash;now found themselves threatened by a foe more terrible than the
+Indians they had come to meet. They were in the heart of the wilderness
+of Alabama, far away from any full supply of food. Jackson thus
+describes this foe, in a letter written by his secretary:</p>
+
+<p>"There is an enemy whom I dread much more than I do the hostile
+Creeks&mdash;I mean the meagre monster <i>Famine</i>. I shall leave this
+encampment in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> the morning direct for the Ten Islands, and yet I have
+not on hand two days' supply of bread-stuffs."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p198.jpg" width="600" height="340" alt="JACKSON&#39;S BIRTHPLACE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Jackson&#39;s Birthplace.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>A thousand barrels of flour and a proportionate supply of meat had been
+purchased for him a week before. But the Tennessee River was low, the
+flatboats would not float, and the much-needed food lay in the shallows
+three hundred miles up-stream. There was nothing to do but to live on
+the country, and this Colonel Coffee had swept almost clear of
+provisions on his advance movement.</p>
+
+<p>Under such circumstances Jackson ran a great risk in marching farther
+into the Indian country. Yet the exigency was one in which boldness
+seemed necessary. A reverse movement might have brought the Indians in
+force on the settlers of Tennessee, with sanguinary results. Keeping his
+foragers busy in search of food, he moved steadily southward till the
+Coosa River was reached. Here came the first encounter with the savages.
+There was a large body of them at Tallushatches, thirteen miles away. At
+daybreak on the morning after the Coosa was reached the Indian camp was
+encircled by Colonel Coffee with a thousand men. The savages, taken by
+surprise, fought fiercely and desperately, and fell where they stood,
+fighting while a warrior remained alive. All the prisoners were women
+and children, who were taken to the settlements and kindly treated.
+Jackson himself brought up one of the boys in his own family.</p>
+
+<p>Four days afterward news came that a body of friendly Creeks, one
+hundred and fifty in number,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> were at Talladega, thirty miles away,
+surrounded by a thousand hostile Indians, cut off from their
+water-supply and in imminent danger of annihilation. A wily chief had
+dressed himself in the skin of a large hog, and in this disguise passed
+unsuspected through the hostile lines, bringing his story to Jackson
+twenty-four hours later.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the little army had only one day's supply of food, but
+its general did not hesitate. Advancing with all the men fit to move,
+they came within hearing of the yelling enemy, and quickly closed in
+upon them. When that brief battle ended two hundred of the Indian braves
+lay dead on the field and Colonel Coffee with his horsemen was in hot
+pursuit of the remainder. As for the rescued Indians, their joy was
+beyond measure, for they had looked only for death. They gathered around
+their preserver, expressing their gratitude by joyful cries and
+gestures, and gladly gave what little corn they had left to feed the
+hungry soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>The loss of the whites in this raid was fifteen men killed and
+eighty-six wounded. The badly wounded were carried in litters back to
+Fort Strother, where the sick had been left, and where Jackson now fully
+expected to find a full supply of food. To his acute disappointment not
+an ounce had arrived, little in the shape of food being left but a few
+half-starved cattle. For several days Jackson and his staff ate nothing
+but tripe without seasoning.</p>
+
+<p>And now, for ten long weeks, came that dread contest he had feared,&mdash;the
+battle with famine.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> With a good supply of provisions he could have
+ended the war in a fortnight. As it was, the men had simply to wait and
+forage, being at times almost in a starving state. The brave borderers
+found it far harder to sit and starve than it would have been to fight,
+and discontent in the camp rose to the height of mutiny, which it took
+all the general's tact and firmness to overcome.</p>
+
+<p>Part of his men were militia, part of them volunteers, and between these
+there was a degree of jealousy. On one occasion the militia resolved to
+start for home, but when they set out in the early morning they found
+the volunteers drawn up across the road, with their grim general at
+their head. When they saw Jackson they turned and marched back to their
+quarters again. Soon afterward the volunteers were infected with the
+same fancy. But again Jackson was aware of their purpose, and when they
+marched from their quarters they found their way blocked by the militia,
+with Jackson at their head. The tables had been turned on them.</p>
+
+<p>As time went on and hunger grew more relentless, the spirit of
+discontent infected the entire force, and it took all the general's
+power to keep them in camp. On one occasion, a large body of the men
+seized their arms, and, swearing that they would not stay there to be
+starved, got ready to march home. General Jackson, hot with wrath,
+seized a musket, and planting himself before them, swore "by the
+Eternal" that he would shoot the first man that set a foot forward. His
+countenance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> was appalling in its concentrated rage, his eyes blazed
+with a terrible fire, and the mutineers, confronted by this apparition
+of fury, hesitated, drew back, and retired to their tents.</p>
+
+<p>But the time came at length in which nothing would hold them back.
+Persuasion and threats were alike useless. The general used entreaties
+and promises, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have advices that supply-wagons are on the way, and that there is a
+large drove of cattle near at hand. Wait two days more, and if then they
+do not come, we will all march home together."</p>
+
+<p>The two days passed and the food did not arrive. Much against his will,
+he was obliged to keep his word. "If only two men will stay with me," he
+cried, "I will never give up the post."</p>
+
+<p>One hundred and nine men agreed to remain, and, leaving these in charge
+of the fort, Jackson set out at the head of the others, with their
+promise that, when they procured supplies and satisfied their hunger,
+they would return to the fort and march upon the foe. The next day the
+expected provision-train was met, and the hungry men were well fed. But
+home was in their minds, and it took all the general's indomitable will
+and fierce energy to induce them to turn back, and they did so then in
+sullen discontent. In the end it was necessary to exchange these men for
+fresh volunteers.</p>
+
+<p>When the dissatisfied men got home they told such doleful tales of their
+hardships and sufferings that the people were filled with dismay,
+volunteering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> came to an end, and even the governor wrote to Jackson,
+advising him to give up the expedition as hopeless and return home.</p>
+
+<p>Had not Andrew Jackson been one man in a million he would not have
+hesitated to obey. A well man might justly have despaired. But to a
+physical wreck, his shoulder still painful, his left arm useless,
+suffering from insufficient food, from acute dyspepsia, from chronic
+diarrh&#339;a, from cramps of terrible severity&mdash;to a man in this
+condition, who should have been in bed under a physician's care, to
+remain seemed utter madness, and yet he remained. His indomitable spirit
+triumphed over his enfeebled body. He had set out to subdue the hostile
+Indians and save the settlements from their murderous raids, and, "by
+the Eternal," he would.</p>
+
+<p>He wrote a letter to Governor Blount, eloquent, logical, appealing,
+resolute, and so convincing in its arguments that the governor changed
+his sentiment, the people became enthusiastic, volunteers came forward
+freely, and the most earnest exertions were made to collect and forward
+supplies. But this was not till the spring of 1814, and the lack of
+supplies continued the winter through. Only nine hundred discontented
+troops remained, but with these he won two victories over the Indians,
+in one of which an utter panic was averted only by his courage and
+decision in the hour of peril.</p>
+
+<p>At length fresh troops began to arrive. A regiment of United States
+soldiers, six hundred strong, reached him on February 6. By the 1st of
+March<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> there were six thousand troops near Fort Strother, and only the
+arrival of a good food supply was awaited to make a finishing move. Food
+came slowly, despite all exertions. Over the miry roads the wagon-teams
+could hardly be moved with light loads. Only absolutely necessary food
+was brought,&mdash;even whiskey, considered indispensable in those days,
+being barred out. All sick and disabled men were sent home, and the
+non-combatants weeded out so thoroughly that only one man was left in
+camp who could beat the ordinary calls on the drum. At length, about the
+middle of March, a sufficient supply of food was at hand and the final
+advance began.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the hostile Creeks had made themselves a stronghold at a
+place fifty-five miles to the south. Here was a bend of Tallapoosa
+River, called, from its shape, Tohopeka, or the "Horseshoe." It was a
+well-wooded area, about one hundred acres in extent, across whose neck
+the Indians had built a strong breastwork of logs, with two rows of
+port-holes, the whole so well constructed that it was evident they had
+been aided by British soldiers in its erection. At the bottom of the
+bend was a village of wigwams, and there were many canoes in the stream.</p>
+
+<p>Within this stronghold was gathered the fighting force of the tribe,
+nearly a thousand warriors, and in the wigwams were about three hundred
+women and children. It was evident that they intended to make here their
+final, desperate stand.</p>
+
+<p>The force led against them was two thousand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> strong. Their route of
+travel lay through the unbroken forest wilds, and it took eleven days to
+reach the Indian fort. A glance at it showed Jackson the weakness of the
+savage engineering. As he said, they had "penned themselves in for
+destruction."</p>
+
+<p>The work began by sending Colonel Coffee across the river, with orders
+to post his men opposite the line of canoes and prevent the Indians from
+escaping. Coffee did more than this; he sent swimmers over who cut loose
+the canoes and brought them across the stream. With their aid he sent
+troops over the bend to attack the savages in the rear while Jackson
+assailed them in front.</p>
+
+<p>The battle began with a fierce assault, but soon settled down to a slow
+slaughter, which lasted for five or six hours,&mdash;the fierce warriors, as
+in the former battles, refusing to ask for quarter or to accept their
+lives. Their prophets had told them that if they did they would be put
+to death by torture. When the battle ended few of them were left alive.
+On the side of the whites only fifty-five were killed and about three
+times as many wounded.</p>
+
+<p>This signal defeat ended forever the power of the Cree nation, once the
+leading Indian power of the Gulf region. Such of the chiefs as survived
+surrendered. Among them was Weathersford, their valiant half-breed
+leader. Mounted on his well-known gray horse, famed for its speed and
+endurance, he rode to the door of Jackson's tent. The old soldier looked
+up to see before him this famous warrior, tall, erect, majestic, and
+dignified.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span></p><p>"I am Weathersford," he said; "late your enemy, now your captive."</p>
+
+<p>From without the tent came fierce cries of "Kill him! kill him!"</p>
+
+<p>"You may kill me if you wish," said the proud chief; "but I came to tell
+you that our women and children are starving in the woods. They never
+did you any harm and I came to beg you to send them food."</p>
+
+<p>Jackson looked sternly at the angry throng outside, and said, in his
+vigorous way, "Any man who would kill as brave a man as this would rob
+the dead."</p>
+
+<p>He then invited the chief into his tent, where he promised him the aid
+he asked for and freedom for himself. "I do not war with women and
+children," he said.</p>
+
+<p>So corn was sent to the suffering women, and Weathersford was allowed to
+mount his good gray steed and ride away as he had come. He induced the
+remaining Creeks to accept the terms offered by the victorious general,
+these being peace and protection, with the provision that half their
+lands should be ceded to the United States.</p>
+
+<p>As may well be imagined, a triumphant reception was given Jackson and
+his men on their return to Nashville. Shortly afterward came the news
+that he had been appointed Major-General in the army of the United
+States, to succeed William Henry Harrison, resigned. He had made his
+mark well against the Indians; he was soon to make it as well against
+the British at New Orleans.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>THE PIRATES OF BARATARIA BAY.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">On</span> the coast of Louisiana, westward from the delta of the Mississippi,
+there lies a strange country, in which sea and land seem struggling for
+dominion, neither being victor in the endless contest. It is a low,
+flat, moist land, where countless water-courses intertwine into a
+complex net-work; while nearer the sea are a multitude of bays,
+stretching far inland, and largely shut off from the salt sea waves by
+barriers of long, narrow islands. Some of these islands are low
+stretches of white sand, flung up by the restless waters which ever wash
+to and fro. Others are of rich earth, brought down by lazy water-ways
+from the fertile north and deposited at the river outlets. Tall marsh
+grasses grow profusely here, and hide alike water and land. Everywhere
+are slow-moving, half-sleeping bayous, winding and twisting
+interminably, and encircling multitudes of islands, which lie hidden
+behind a dense growth of rushes and reeds, twelve feet high.</p>
+
+<p>It was through this region, neither water nor land, that the hapless
+Evangeline, the heroine of Longfellow's famous poem, was rowed, seeking
+her lover in these flooded wilds, and not dreaming that he lay behind
+one of those reedy barrens, almost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> within touch, yet as unseen as if
+leagues of land separated them.</p>
+
+<p>One of the bays of this liquid coast, some sixty miles south of New
+Orleans, is a large sheet of water, with a narrow island partly shutting
+it off from the Gulf. This is known as Grande Terre, and west of it is
+another island known as Grande Isle. Between these two long land gates
+is a broad, deep channel which serves as entrance to the bay. On the
+western side lies a host of smaller islands, the passes between them
+made by the bayous which straggle down through the land. Northward the
+bay stretches sixteen miles inland, and then breaks up into a medley of
+bayous and small lakes, cutting far into the land, and yielding an easy
+passage to the level of the Mississippi, opposite New Orleans.</p>
+
+<p>Such is Barataria Bay, once the famous haunt of the buccaneers. It seems
+made by nature as a lurking-place for smugglers and pirates, and that is
+the purpose to which it was long devoted. The passages inland served
+admirably for the disposal of ill-gotten goods. For years the pirates of
+Barataria Bay defied the authorities, making the Gulf the scene of their
+exploits and finding a secret and ready market for their wares in New
+Orleans.</p>
+
+<p>The pirate leaders were two daring Frenchmen, Pierre and Jean Lafitte,
+who came from Bordeaux some time after 1800 and settled in New Orleans.
+They were educated men, who had seen much of the world and spoke several
+languages fluently.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> Pierre, having served in the French army, became a
+skilled fencing-master. Jean set up a blacksmith shop, his slaves doing
+the work. Such was the creditable way in which these worthies began
+their new-world career.</p>
+
+<p>Their occupation changed in 1808, in which year the slave-trade was
+brought to an end by act of Congress. There was also passed an Embargo
+Act, which forbade trade with foreign countries. Here was a double
+opportunity for men who placed gain above law. The Lafittes at once took
+advantage of it, smuggling negroes and British goods, bringing their
+illicit wares inland by way of the bayous of the coastal plain and
+readily disposing of them as honest goods.</p>
+
+<p>Not long after this time the British cruisers broke up the pirate hordes
+which had long infested the West Indies. Their haunts were taken and
+they had to flee. Some of them became smugglers, landing their goods on
+Amelia Island, on the coast of Florida. Others sought the bays of
+Louisiana, where they kept up their old trade.</p>
+
+<p>The Lafittes now found it to their advantage to handle the goods of
+these buccaneers, in which they posed as honest merchants. Later on they
+made piracy their trade, the whole fleet of the rovers coming under
+their control. Throwing off the cloak of honesty, they openly defied the
+laws. Prize goods and negroes were introduced into New Orleans with
+little effort at secrecy, and were sold in disregard of the law and the
+customs. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> well known that the Baratarian rovers were pirates, but
+the weak efforts to dislodge them failed and the government was openly
+despised.</p>
+
+<p>Making Barataria Bay their head-quarters and harbor of refuge, the
+pirates fortified Grande Terre, and built on it their dwellings and
+store-houses. On Grande Isle farms were cultivated and orange-groves
+planted. On another island, named the Temple, they held auctions for the
+sale of their plunder, the purchasers smuggling it up the bayous and
+introducing it under cover of night into New Orleans, where there was
+nothing to show its source, though suspicion was rife. Such was
+Barataria until the war with England began, and such it continued
+through this war till 1814, the Lafittes and their pirate followers
+flourishing in their desperate trade.</p>
+
+<p>We might go on to tell a gruesome story of fearful deeds by these
+bandits of the sea; of vessels plundered and scuttled, and sailors made
+to walk the plank of death; of rich spoil won by ruthless murder, and
+wild orgies on the shores of Grande Terre. But of all this there is
+little record, and the lives of these pirates yield us none of the
+scenes of picturesque wickedness and wholesale murder which embellish
+the stories of Blackbeard, Morgan, and other sea-rovers of old. Yet the
+career of the Lafittes has an historical interest which makes it worth
+the telling.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until 1814, during the height of the war with England, that
+the easy-going Creoles of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> New Orleans grew indignant enough at the bold
+defiance of law by the Lafittes to make a vigorous effort to stop it. It
+was high time, for the buccaneers had grown so bold as to fire on the
+revenue officers of the government. Determined to bear this disgrace no
+longer, Pierre Lafitte was seized in the streets of New Orleans, and
+with one of his captains, named Dominique Yon, was locked up in the
+calaboosa.</p>
+
+<p>This step was followed by a proclamation from Governor Claiborne,
+offering five hundred dollars for the arrest of Jean Lafitte, the acting
+pirate chief. Lafitte insolently retorted by offering five thousand
+dollars for the head of the governor. This impudent defiance aroused
+Claiborne to more decisive action. A force of militia was called out and
+sent overland to Barataria, with orders to capture and destroy the
+settlement of the buccaneers and seize all the pirates they could lay
+hands on.</p>
+
+<p>The governor did not know the men with whom he had to deal. Their spies
+kept them fully informed of all his movements. Southward trudged the
+citizen soldiers, tracking their oozy way through the water-soaked land.
+All was silent and seemingly deserted. They were near their goal, and
+not a man had been seen. But suddenly a boatswain's whistle sounded, and
+from a dozen secret passages armed men swarmed out upon them, and in a
+few minutes had them surrounded and under their guns. Resistance was
+hopeless, and they were obliged to surrender at discretion. The grim
+pirates stood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> ready to slaughter them all if a hand were raised in
+self-defence, and Lafitte, stepping forward, invited them to join his
+men, promising them an easy life and excellent pay. Their captain
+sturdily refused.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," said Lafitte, with disdainful generosity. "You can go or
+stay as you please. Yonder is the road you came by. You are free to
+follow it back. But if you are wise you will in future keep out of reach
+of the Jolly Rovers of the Gulf."</p>
+
+<p>We are not sure if these were Lafitte's exact words, but at any rate the
+captain and his men were set free and trudged back again, glad enough to
+get off with whole skins. Soon after that the war, which had lingered so
+long in the North, showed signs of making its way to the South. A
+British fleet appeared in the Gulf in the early autumn of 1814, and made
+an attack on Mobile. In September a war-vessel from this fleet appeared
+off Barataria Bay, fired on one of the pirate craft, and dropped anchor
+some six miles out. Soon a pinnace, bearing a white flag, put off from
+its side and was rowed shoreward. It was met by a vessel which had put
+off from Grande Terre.</p>
+
+<p>"I am Captain Lockyer, of the 'Sophia,'" said the British officer. "I
+wish to see Captain Lafitte."</p>
+
+<p>"I am he," came a voice from the pirate bark.</p>
+
+<p>"Then this is for you," and Captain Lockyer handed Lafitte a bulky
+package.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you come ashore while I examine this?" asked Lafitte, courteously.
+"I offer you such humble entertainment as we poor mariners can afford."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span></p><p>"I shall be glad to be your guest," answered the officer.</p>
+
+<p>Lafitte now led the way ashore, welcomed the visitors to his island
+domain, and proceeded to open and examine the package brought him. It
+contained four documents, their general purport being to threaten the
+pirates with utter destruction if they continued to prey on the commerce
+of England and Spain, and to offer Lafitte, if he would aid the British
+cause, the rank of captain in the service of Great Britain, with a large
+sum of money and full protection for person and property.</p>
+
+<p>The letters read, Lafitte left the room, saying that he wished time to
+consider before he could answer. But hardly had he gone when some of his
+men rushed in, seized Captain Lockyer and his men, and locked them up as
+prisoners. They were held captive all night, doubtless in deep anxiety,
+for pirates are scarcely safe hosts, but in the morning Lafitte appeared
+with profuse apologies, declaring loudly that his men had acted without
+his knowledge or consent, and leading the way to their boat. Lockyer was
+likely glad enough to find himself on the Gulf waters again, despite the
+pirate's excuses. Two hours later Lafitte sent him word that he would
+accept his offer, but that he must have two weeks to get his affairs in
+order. With this answer, the "Sophia" lifted anchor, spread sails, and
+glided away.</p>
+
+<p>All this was a bit of diplomatic by-play on the part of Jean Lafitte. He
+had no notion of joining<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> the British cause. The "Sophia" had not long
+disappeared when he sent the papers to New Orleans, asking only one
+favor in return, the release of his brother Pierre. This the authorities
+seem to have granted in their own way, for in the next morning's papers
+was an offer of one thousand dollars reward for the capture of Pierre
+Lafitte, who had, probably with their connivance, broken jail during the
+night.</p>
+
+<p>Jean Lafitte now offered Governor Claiborne his services in the war with
+the British. He was no pirate, he said. That was a base libel. His ships
+were legitimate privateers, bearing letters of marque from Venezuela in
+the war of that country with Spain. He was ready and anxious to transfer
+his allegiance to the United States.</p>
+
+<p>His sudden change of tone had its sufficient reason. It is probable that
+Lafitte was well aware of a serious danger just then impending, far more
+threatening than the militia raid which had been so easily defeated. A
+naval expedition was ready to set out against him. It consisted of three
+barges of troops under Commander Patterson of the American navy. These
+were joined at the Balize by six gunboats and a schooner, and proceeded
+against the piratical stronghold.</p>
+
+<p>On the 16th of September the small fleet came within sight of Grande
+Terre, drew up in line of battle, and started for the entrance to
+Barataria Bay. Within this the pirate fleet, ten vessels in all, was in
+line to receive them. Soon there was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> trouble for the assailants. Shoal
+water stopped the schooner, and the two larger gunboats ran aground. But
+their men swarmed into boats and rowed on in the wake of the other
+vessels, which quickly made their way through the pass and began a
+vigorous attack on its defenders.</p>
+
+<p>Now the war was all afoot, and we should be glad to tell of a gallant
+and nobly contested battle, in which the sea-rovers showed desperate
+courage and reddened the sea with their blood. There might be inserted
+here a battle-piece worthy of the Drakes and Morgans of old, if the
+facts only bore us out. Instead of that, however, we are forced to say
+that the pirates proved sheer caitiffs when matched against honest men,
+and the battle was a barren farce.</p>
+
+<p>Commander Patterson and his men dashed bravely on, and in a very short
+time two of the pirate vessels were briskly burning, a third had run
+aground, and the others were captured. Many of the pirates had fled; the
+others were taken. The battle over, the buildings on Grande Terre and
+Grande Isle were destroyed and the piratical lurking-place utterly
+broken up. This done, the fleet sailed in triumph for New Orleans,
+bringing with them the captured craft and the prisoners who had been
+taken. But among the captives was neither of the Lafittes. They had not
+stood to their guns, but had escaped with the other fugitives into the
+secret places of the bay.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ends the history of Barataria Bay as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> haunt of pirates. Since
+that day only honest craft have entered its sheltered waters. But the
+Lafittes were not yet at the end of their career, or at least one of
+them, for of Pierre Lafitte we hear very little after this time. Two
+months after their flight the famous British assault was made on New
+Orleans. General Jackson hurried to its defence and called armed men to
+his aid from all quarters, caring little who they were so they were
+ready to fight.</p>
+
+<p>Among those who answered the summons was Jean Lafitte. He called on Old
+Hickory and told him that he had a body of trained artillerymen under
+his command, tried and capable men, and would like to take a hand in
+defence of the city. Jackson, who had not long before spoken of the
+Lafittes as "hellish banditti," was very glad now to accept their aid.
+We read of his politely alluding to them as "these gentlemen," and he
+gave into their charge the siege-guns in several of the forts.</p>
+
+<p>These guns were skilfully handled and vigorously served, the Baratarians
+fighting far more bravely in defence of the city than they had done in
+defence of their ships. They lent important aid in the defeat of
+Packenham and his army, and after the battle Jackson commended them
+warmly for their gallant conduct, praising the Lafittes also for "the
+same courage and fidelity."</p>
+
+<p>A few words more and we have done. Of the pirates, two only made any
+future mark. Dominique Yon, the captain who had shared imprisonment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span>
+with Pierre Lafitte, now settled down to quiet city life, became a
+leader in ward politics, and grew into something of a local hero,
+fighting in the precincts instead of on the deck.</p>
+
+<p>Jean Lafitte, however, went back to his old trade. From New Orleans he
+made his way to Texas, then a province of Mexico, and soon we hear of
+him at his buccaneering work. For a time he figured as governor of
+Galveston. Then, for some years, he commanded a fleet that wore the thin
+guise of Columbian privateers. After that he threw off all disguise and
+became an open pirate, and as late as 1822 his name was the terror of
+the Gulf. Soon afterward a fleet of the United States swept those waters
+and cleared it of all piratical craft. Jean Lafitte then vanished from
+view, and no one knows whether he died fighting for the black flag or
+ended his life quietly on land.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>THE HEROES OF THE ALAMO.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">On</span> a day in the year 1835 the people of Nacogdoches, Texas, were engaged
+in the pleasant function of giving a public dinner to one of their
+leading citizens. In the midst of the festivities a person entered the
+room whose appearance was greeted with a salvo of hearty cheers. There
+seemed nothing in this person's appearance to call forth such a welcome.
+He was dressed in a half-Indian, half-hunter's garb, a long-barrelled
+rifle was slanted over his shoulder, and he seemed a favorable specimen
+of the "half-horse, half-alligator" type of the early West. But there
+was a shrewd look on his weather-beaten face and a humorous twinkle in
+his eyes that betokened a man above the ordinary frontier level, while
+it was very evident that the guests present looked upon him as no
+every-day individual.</p>
+
+<p>The visitor was, indeed, a man of fame, for he was no less a personage
+than the celebrated Davy Crockett, the hunter hero of West Tennessee.
+His fame was due less to his wonderful skill with the rifle than to his
+genial humor, his endless stories of adventure, his marvellous power of
+"drawing the long bow." Davy had once been sent to Congress, but there
+he found himself in waters too deep for his footing. The frontier was
+the place made for him, and when he heard that Texas was in revolt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span>
+against Mexican rule, he shouldered his famous rifle and set out to take
+a hand in the game of revolution. It was a question in those days with
+the reckless borderers whether shooting a Mexican or a coon was the
+better sport.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p218.jpg" width="600" height="376" alt="THE ALAMO." title="" />
+<span class="caption">The Alamo.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The festive citizens of Nacogdoches heard that Davy Crockett had arrived
+in their town on his way to join the Texan army, and at once sent a
+committee to invite him to join in their feast. Hearty cheers, as we
+have said, hailed his entrance, and it was not long before he had his
+worthy hosts in roars of laughter with his quaint frontier stories. He
+had come to stay with them as a citizen of Texas, he said, and to help
+them drive out the yellow-legged greasers, and he wanted, then and
+there, to take the oath of allegiance to their new republic. If they
+wanted to know what claim he had to the honor, he would let Old
+Betsy&mdash;his rifle&mdash;speak for him. Like George Washington, Betsy never
+told a lie. The Nacogdochians were not long in making him a citizen, and
+he soon after set out for the Alamo, the scene of his final exploit and
+his heroic death.</p>
+
+<p>The Alamo was a stronghold in the town of San Antonio de Bexar, in
+Western Texas. It had been built for a mission house of the early
+Spaniards, and though its walls were thick and strong, they were only
+eight feet high and were destitute of bastion or redoubt. The place had
+nothing to make it suitable for warlike use, yet it was to win a great
+name in the history of Texan independence, a name<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> that spread far
+beyond the borders of the "Lone Star State" and made its story a
+tradition of American heroism.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after the insurrection began a force of Texans had taken San
+Antonio, driving out its Mexican garrison. Santa Anna, the president of
+Mexico, quickly marched north with an army, breathing vengeance against
+the rebels. This town, which lay well towards the western border, was
+the first he proposed to take. Under the circumstances the Texans would
+have been wise to retreat, for they were few in number, they had little
+ammunition and provisions, and the town was in no condition for defence.
+But retreat was far from their thoughts, and when, on an afternoon in
+February, 1836, Santa Anna and his army appeared in the vicinity of San
+Antonio, the Texans withdrew to the Alamo, the strongest building near
+the town, prepared to fight to the death.</p>
+
+<p>There were less than two hundred of them in all, against the thousands
+of the enemy, but they were men of heroic mould. Colonel Travis, the
+commander, mounted the walls with eight pieces of artillery, and did all
+he could besides to put the place in a state of defence. To show the
+kind of man Travis was, we cannot do better than to quote his letter
+asking for aid.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Fellow-Citizens and Compatriots</span>,&mdash;I am besieged by a thousand or
+more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. The enemy have commanded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> a
+surrender at discretion; otherwise the garrison is to be put to the
+sword if the place is taken. I have answered the summons with a
+cannon-shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I
+shall never surrender or retreat. Then I call on you in the name of
+liberty, of patriotism, and of everything dear to the American
+character, to come to our aid with all despatch. The enemy are
+receiving reinforcements daily, and will no doubt increase to three
+or four thousand in four or five days. Though this call may be
+neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible,
+and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own
+honor or that of his country. Victory or death!"</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">W. Barrett Travis</span>,<br />
+Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"P.S.&mdash;The Lord is on our side. When the enemy appeared in sight we
+had not three bushels of corn. We have since found, in deserted
+houses, eighty or ninety bushels, and got into the walls twenty or
+thirty head of beeves."</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+"T."<br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>The only reinforcements received in response to this appeal were
+thirty-two gallant men from Gonzales, who made the whole number one
+hundred and eighty-eight. Colonel Fannin, at Goliad, set out with three
+hundred men, but the breaking down of one of his wagons and a scarcity
+of supplies obliged him to return. Among the patriot garrison were Davy
+Crockett and Colonel James<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> Bowie, the latter as famous a man in his way
+as the great hunter. He was a duelist of national fame, in those days
+when the border duels were fought with knife instead of pistol. He
+invented the Bowie knife, a terrible weapon in the hands of a resolute
+man. To be famed as a duelist is no worthy claim to admiration, but to
+fight hand to hand with knife for weapon is significant of high courage.</p>
+
+<p>Small as were their numbers, and slight as were their means of defence,
+the heroes of the Alamo fought on without flinching. Santa Anna planted
+his batteries around the stronghold and kept up a steady bombardment.
+The Texans made little reply; their store of ammunition was so small
+that it had to be kept for more critical work. In the town a blood-red
+banner was displayed in lurid token of the sanguinary purpose of the
+Mexican leader, but the garrison showed no signs of dismay. They were
+the descendants of men who had fought against the Indians of the South
+under like conditions, and they were not likely to forget the traditions
+of their race.</p>
+
+<p>On the 3d of March a battery was erected within musket-shot of the north
+wall of the fort, on which it poured a destructive fire. Travis now sent
+out a final appeal for aid, and with it an affecting note to a friend,
+in which he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Take care of my boy. If the country should be saved I may make him a
+splendid fortune; but if the country should be lost and I should
+perish,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> he will have nothing but the proud recollection that he is the
+son of a man who died for his country."</p>
+
+<p>The invading force increased in numbers until, by the 5th of March,
+there were more than four thousand of them around the fort, most of them
+fresh, while the garrison was worn out with incessant toil and watching.
+The end was near at hand. Soon after midnight on the 6th the Mexican
+army gathered close around the fort, prepared for an assault. The
+infantry carried scaling-ladders. Behind them were drawn up the cavalry
+with orders to kill any man who might fly from the ranks. This indicated
+Santa Anna's character and his opinion of his men.</p>
+
+<p>The men within the walls had no need to be driven to their work. Every
+one was alert and at his post, and they met with a hot fire from cannon
+and rifles the Mexican advance. Just as the new day dawned, the ladders
+were placed against the walls and the Mexicans scrambled up their
+rounds. They were driven back with heavy loss. Again the charge for
+assault was sounded and a second rush was made for the walls, and once
+more the bullets of the defenders swept the field and the assailants
+fell back in dismay.</p>
+
+<p>Santa Anna now went through the beaten ranks with threats and promises,
+seeking to inspire his men with new courage, and again they rushed
+forward on all sides of the fort. Many of the Texans had fallen and all
+of them were exhausted. It was impossible to defend the whole circle of
+the walls.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> The assailants who first reached the tops of the ladders
+were hurled to the ground, but hundreds rushed in to take their places,
+and at a dozen points they clambered over the walls. It was no longer
+possible for the handful of survivors to keep them back.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes the fort seemed full of assailants. The Texans
+continued to fight with unflinching courage. When their rifles were
+emptied they used them as clubs and struggled on till overwhelmed by
+numbers. Near the western wall of the fort stood Travis, in the corner
+near the church stood Crockett, both fighting like Homeric heroes. Old
+Betsy had done an ample share of work that fatal night. Now, used as a
+club, it added nobly to its record. The two heroes at length fell, but
+around each was a heap of slain.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Bowie had taken no part in the fight, having been for some days
+sick in bed. He was there butchered and mutilated. All others who were
+unable to fight met the same fate. It had been proposed to blow up the
+magazine, but Major Evans, the man selected for this duty, was shot as
+he attempted to perform it. The struggle did not end while a man of the
+garrison was alive, the only survivors being two Mexican women, Mrs.
+Dickenson (wife of one of the defenders) and her child, and the negro
+servant of Colonel Travis. As for the dead Texans, their bodies were
+brutally mutilated and then thrown into heaps and burned.</p>
+
+<p>Thus fell the Alamo. Thus did the gallant Travis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> and his men keep their
+pledge of "victory or death." Like the Spartans at Thermopyl&aelig;, the
+heroes of the Alamo did not retreat or ask for quarter, but lay where
+they had stood in obedience to their country's commands. And before and
+around them lay the bodies of more than five hundred of their enemies,
+with as many wounded. The Texans had not perished unavenged. The sun
+rose in the skies until it was an hour high. In the fort all was still;
+but the waters of the aqueduct surrounding resembled in their crimson
+hue the red flag of death flying in the town. The Alamo was the American
+Thermopyl&aelig;.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>HOW HOUSTON WON FREEDOM FOR TEXAS.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have told the story of the Alamo. It needs to complete it the story
+of how Travis and his band of heroes were avenged. And this is also the
+story of how Texas won its independence, and took its place in the
+colony of nations as the "Lone Star Republic."</p>
+
+<p>The patriots of Texas had more to avenge than the slaughter at the
+Alamo. The defenders of Goliad, over four hundred in number, under
+Colonel Fannin, surrendered, with a solemn promise of protection from
+Santa Anna. After the surrender they were divided into several
+companies, marched in different directions out of the town, and there
+shot down in cold blood by the Mexican soldiers, not a man of them being
+left alive.</p>
+
+<p>Santa Anna now fancied himself the victor. He had killed two hundred men
+with arms in their hands, and made himself infamous by the massacre of
+four hundred more, and he sent despatches to Mexico to the effect that
+he had put down the rebellion and conquered a peace. What he had really
+done was to fill the Texans with thirst for revenge as well as love of
+independence. He had dealt with Travis and Fannin; he had Sam Houston
+still to deal with.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span></p><p>General Houston was the leader of the Texan revolt. While these
+murderous events were taking place he had only four hundred men under
+his command, and was quite unable to prevent them. Defence now seemed
+hopeless; the country was in a state of panic; the settlers were
+abandoning their homes and fleeing as the Mexicans advanced; but Sam
+Houston kept the field with a spirit like that which had animated the
+gallant Travis.</p>
+
+<p>As the Mexicans advanced Houston slowly retreated. He was man&#339;uvring
+for time and place, and seeking to increase his force. Finally, after
+having brought up his small army to something over seven hundred men, he
+took a stand on Buffalo Bayou, a deep, narrow stream flowing into the
+San Jacinto River, resolved there to strike a blow for Texan
+independence. It was a forlorn hope, for against him was marshalled the
+far greater force of the Mexican army. But Houston gave his men a
+watchword that added to their courage the hot fire of revenge. After
+making them an eloquent and impassioned address, he fired their souls
+with the war-cry of "Remember the Alamo!"</p>
+
+<p>Soon afterward the Mexican bugles rang out over the prairie, announcing
+the approach of the vanguard of their army, eighteen hundred strong.
+They were well appointed, and made a showy display as they marched
+across the plain. Houston grimly watched their approach. Turning to his
+own sparse ranks, he said, "Men, there is the enemy; do you wish to
+fight?" "We do," came in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> a fierce shout. "Well, then, remember it is
+for liberty or death! <i>Remember the Alamo!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>As they stood behind their light breastworks, ready for an attack, if it
+should be made, a lieutenant came galloping up, his horse covered with
+foam. As he drew near he shouted along the lines, "I've cut down Vince's
+bridge." This was a bridge which both armies had used in coming to the
+battle-field. General Houston had ordered its destruction. Its fall left
+the vanquished in that day's fight without hope of escape.</p>
+
+<p>Santa Anna evidently was not ready for an immediate assault. His men
+halted and intrenched themselves. But Houston did not propose to delay.
+At three in the afternoon, while many of the Mexican officers were
+enjoying their siesta in perfect confidence, Santa Anna himself being
+asleep, the word to charge passed from rank to rank along the Texan
+front, and in a moment the whole line advanced at double-quick time,
+filling the air with vengeful cries of "Remember the Alamo! Remember
+Goliad!"</p>
+
+<p>The Mexican troops sprang to their arms and awaited the attack,
+reserving their fire until the patriots were within sixty paces. Then
+they poured forth a volley which, fortunately for the Texans, went over
+their heads, though a ball struck General Houston's ankle, inflicting a
+very painful wound. Yet, though bleeding and suffering, the old hero
+kept to his saddle till the action was at an end.</p>
+
+<p>The Texans made no reply to the fire of the foe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> until within
+pistol-shot, and then poured their leaden hail into the very bosoms of
+the Mexicans. Hundreds of them fell. There was no time to reload. Having
+no bayonets, the Texans clubbed their rifles and rushed in fury upon the
+foe, still rending the air with their wild war-cry of "Remember the
+Alamo!" The Mexicans were utterly unprepared for this furious
+hand-to-hand assault, and quickly broke before the violent onset.</p>
+
+<p>On all sides they gave way. On the left the Texans penetrated the
+woodland; the Mexicans fled. On the right their cavalry charged that of
+Santa Anna, which quickly broke and sought safety in flight. In the
+centre they stormed the breastworks, took the enemy's artillery and
+drove them back in dismay. In fifteen minutes after the charge the
+Mexicans were in panic flight, the Texans in mad pursuit. Scarce an hour
+had passed since the patriots left their works, and the battle was won.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the consternation of the Mexicans, so sudden and utter their
+rout, that their cannon were left loaded and their movables untouched.
+Those who were asleep awoke only in time to flee; those who were cooking
+their dinner left it uneaten; those who were playing their favorite game
+of monte left it unfinished. The pursuit was kept up till nightfall, by
+which time the bulk of the Mexican army were prisoners of war. The
+victory had been won almost without loss. Only seven of the Texans were
+killed and twenty-three wounded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> The Mexican loss was six hundred and
+thirty, while seven hundred and thirty were made prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>But the man they most wanted was still at large. Santa Anna was not
+among the captives. On the morning of the following day, April 22, the
+Texan cavalry, scouring the country for prisoners, with a sharp eye open
+for the hated leader of the foe, saw a Mexican whom they loudly bade to
+surrender. At their demand he fell on the grass and threw a blanket over
+his head. They had to call on him several times to rise before he slowly
+dragged himself to his feet. Then he went up to Sylvester, the leader of
+the party, and kissed his hand, asking if he was General Houston.</p>
+
+<p>The man was evidently half beside himself with fright. He was only a
+private soldier, he declared; but when his captors pointed to the fine
+studs in the bosom of his shirt he burst into tears and declared that he
+was an aide to Santa Anna. The truth came out as the captors brought him
+back to camp, passing the prisoners, many of whom cried out, "El
+Presidente." It was evidently Santa Anna himself. The President of
+Mexico was a prisoner and Texas was free! When the trembling captive was
+brought before Houston, he said, "General, you can afford to be
+generous,&mdash;you have conquered the Napoleon of the West." Had Houston
+done full justice to this Napoleon of the West he would have hung him on
+the spot. As it was, his captors proved generous and his life was
+spared.</p>
+
+<p>The victory of San Jacinto struck the fetters<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> from the hands of Texas.
+No further attempt was made to conquer it, and General Houston became
+the hero and the first president of the new republic. When Texas was
+made a part of the United States, Houston was one of its first senators,
+and in later years he served as governor of the State. His splendid
+victory had made him its favorite son.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>CAPTAIN ROBERT E. LEE AND THE LAVA-BEDS.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Mexican War, brief as was its period of operations in the field, was
+marked by many deeds of daring, and also was the scene of the first
+service in the field of various officers who afterward became prominent
+in the Civil War. Chief among these were the two great leaders on the
+opposite sides, General Lee and General Grant. Lee's services in the
+campaign which Scott conducted against the city of Mexico were
+especially brilliant, and are likely to be less familiar to the reader
+than any incident drawn from his well-known record in the Civil War. The
+most striking among them was his midnight crossing of the lava-fields
+before Contreras.</p>
+
+<p>On the 19th of August, 1847, Scott's army lay in and around San
+Augustin, a place situated on a branch of the main road running south
+from the city of Mexico. This road divided into two at Churubusco, the
+other branch running near Contreras. Between these two roads and a ridge
+of hills south of San Augustin extended a triangular region known as the
+Pedregal, and about as ugly a place to cross as any ground could well
+be.</p>
+
+<p>It was made up of a vast spread of volcanic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> rock and scori&aelig;, rent and
+broken into a thousand forms, and with sharp ridges and deep fissures,
+making it very difficult for foot-soldiers to get over, and quite
+impassable for cavalry or artillery. It was like a sea of hardened lava,
+with no signs of vegetation except a few clumps of bushes and dwarf
+trees that found footing in the rocks. The only road across it was a
+difficult, crooked, and barely passable pathway, little better than a
+mule track, leading from San Augustin to the main road from the city of
+Mexico.</p>
+
+<p>On the plateau beyond this sterile region the Mexicans had gathered in
+force. Just beyond it General Valencia lay intrenched, with his fine
+division of about six thousand men and twenty-four guns, commanding the
+approach from San Augustin. A mile or more north of Contreras lay
+General Santa Anna, his force holding the main city road.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the situation of the respective armies at the date given, with
+the Pedregal separating them. Captain Lee, who had already done
+excellent engineering service at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo, assisted by
+Lieutenants Beauregard and Tower of the engineers, had carefully
+reconnoitred the position of the enemy, and on the morning of the 19th
+the advance from San Augustin began, Captain Lee accompanying the troops
+in their arduous passage across the Pedregal. One of those present thus
+describes the exploit:</p>
+
+<p>"Late in the morning of the 19th the brigade of which my regiment was a
+part (Riley's) was sent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> out from San Augustin in the direction of
+Contreras. We soon struck a region over which it was said no horses
+could go, and men only with difficulty. No road was available; my
+regiment was in advance, my company leading, and its point of direction
+was a church-spire at or near Contreras. Taking the lead, we soon struck
+the Pedregal, a field of volcanic rock like boiling scoria suddenly
+solidified, pathless, precipitous, and generally compelling rapid gait
+in order to spring from point to point of rock, on which two feet could
+not rest and which cut through our shoes. A fall on this sharp material
+would have seriously cut and injured one, whilst the effort to climb
+some of it cut the hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Just before reaching the main road from Contreras to the city of Mexico
+we reached a watery ravine, the sides of which were nearly
+perpendicular, up which I had to be pushed and then to pull others. On
+looking back over this bed of lava or scoria, I saw the troops, much
+scattered, picking their way very slowly; while of my own company, some
+eighty or ninety strong, only five men crossed with me or during some
+twenty minutes after.</p>
+
+<p>"With these five I examined the country beyond, and struck upon the
+small guard of a paymaster's park, which, from the character of the
+country over which we had passed, was deemed perfectly safe from
+capture. My men gained a paymaster's chest well filled with bags of
+silver dollars, and the firing and fuss we made both frightened the
+guard with the belief that the infernals<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> were upon them and made our
+men hasten to our support.</p>
+
+<p>"Before sundown all of Riley's, and I believe of Cadwallader's, Smith's,
+and Pierce's brigades, were over, and by nine o' clock a council of war,
+presided over by Persifer Smith and counselled by Captain R. E. Lee, was
+held at the church. I have always understood that what was devised and
+finally determined upon was suggested by Captain Lee; at all events, the
+council was closed by his saying that he desired to return to General
+Scott with the decision of General Smith, and that, as it was late, the
+decision must be given as soon as possible, since General Scott wished
+him to return in time to give directions for co-operation.</p>
+
+<p>"During the council, and for hours after, the rain fell in torrents,
+whilst the darkness was so intense that one could move only by groping.
+To illustrate: my company again led the way to gain the Mexican rear,
+and when, after two hours of motion, light broke sufficiently to enable
+us to see a companion a few feet off, we had not moved four hundred
+yards, and the only persons present were half a dozen officers and one
+guide."</p>
+
+<p>Much is said of the perils of war and of the courage necessary to face
+them. But who would not rather face a firing-line of infantry in full
+daylight than to venture alone in such a dark and stormy night as was
+this upon such a perilous and threatening region as the Pedregal, in
+which a misstep in the darkness would surely lead to wounds and perhaps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span>
+to death. Its crossing, under such conditions, might well be deemed
+impossible, had not Captain Lee succeeded, borne up by his strong sense
+of duty, in this daring enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>General Scott, who was very anxious to know the position of the advance
+forces, had sent out seven officers about sundown with instructions to
+the troops at Contreras, but they had all returned, completely baffled
+by the insuperable difficulties of the way. Not a man except Robert E.
+Lee had the daring, skill, and persistence to cross this region of
+volcanic knife-blades on that night of rain and gloom.</p>
+
+<p>The writer above quoted from says, "History gives him the credit of
+having succeeded, but it has always seemed incredible to me when I
+recollect the distance amid darkness and storm, and the dangers of the
+Pedregal which he must have traversed. Scarcely a step could be taken
+without danger of death; but that to him, a true soldier, was the
+willing risk of duty in a good cause."</p>
+
+<p>General Scott adds his testimony to this by saying, after mentioning the
+failure of the officers sent out by him, "But the gallant and
+indefatigable Captain Lee, of the engineers, who has been constantly
+with the operating forces, is just in from Shields, Smith, Cadwallader,
+etc., to report, and to request that a powerful diversion be made
+against the centre of the intrenched camp to-morrow morning."</p>
+
+<p>Scott subsequently gave the following testimony<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> to the same effect:
+"Captain Lee, engineers, came to me from the hamlet (Contreras) with a
+message from Brigadier-General Smith, about midnight. He, having passed
+over the difficult ground by daylight, found it just possible to return
+to San Augustin in the dark,&mdash;<i>the greatest feat of physical and moral
+courage performed by any individual, in my knowledge, pending the
+campaign</i>."</p>
+
+<p>This praise is certainly not misapplied, when we remember that Lee
+passed over miles of the kind of ground above described in a pitch-dark
+night, without light or companion, with no guide but the wind as it
+drove the pelting rain against his face, or an occasional flash of
+lightning, and with the danger of falling into the hands of Valencia or
+Santa Anna if he should happen to stray to the right or the left. It is
+doubtful if another man in the army would have succeeded in such an
+enterprise, if any one had had the courage to attempt it. It took a man
+of the caliber which Robert E. Lee afterward proved himself to possess
+to perform such a deed of daring.</p>
+
+<p>We may briefly describe Lee's connection with the subsequent events. He
+bore an important part in the operations against the Mexicans, guiding
+the troops when they set out about three o'clock in the morning on a
+tedious march through darkness, rain, and mud; an elevation in the rear
+of the enemy's forces being gained about sunrise. An assault was at once
+made on the surprised Mexicans, their intrenchments were stormed, and in
+seventeen minutes after the charge began they were in full flight and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span>
+the American flag was floating proudly above their works.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended the battle of Contreras. Captain Lee was next sent to
+reconnoitre the well fortified stronghold of Coyacan, while another
+reconnaissance was made towards Churubusco, one mile distant. After Lee
+had completed his task, he was ordered to conduct Pierce's brigade by a
+third road, to a point from which an attack could be made on the enemy's
+right and rear. Shields was ordered to follow Pierce closely and take
+command of the left wing.</p>
+
+<p>The battle soon raged violently along the whole line. Shields, in his
+exposed position, was hard pressed and in danger of being crushed by
+overwhelming forces. In this alarming situation Captain Lee made his way
+to General Scott to report the impending disaster, and led back two
+troops of the Second Dragoons and the Rifles to the support of the left
+wing. The affair ended in the repulse of the enemy and victory for the
+Americans. Soon after a third victory was won at the Molino del Rey.</p>
+
+<p>Scott's army was now rapidly approaching the city of Mexico, the central
+point of all these operations, and the engineer officers, Captain Lee,
+Lieutenant Beauregard, and others, were kept busy in reconnaissances,
+which they performed with daring and success. Then quickly followed the
+boldest and most spectacular exploit of the war, the brilliant charge up
+the steep heights of Chapultepec, a hill that bristled with walls,
+mines, and batteries, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> whose summit was crowned with a powerful
+fortress, swarming with confident defenders.</p>
+
+<p>Up this hill went the American infantry like so many panthers, bounding
+impetuously onward in face of the hot fire from the Mexican works,
+scaling crags, clambering up declivities, all with a fiery valor and
+intrepidity which nothing could check, until the heights were carried,
+the works scaled, and the enemy put to flight. In this charge, one of
+the most brilliant in American history, Captain Lee took an active part,
+till he was disabled by a severe wound and loss of blood. General Scott
+again speaks of his service here in complimentary words, saying that he
+was "as distinguished for felicitous execution as for science and
+daring," and also stating that "Captain Lee, so constantly
+distinguished, also bore important orders from me, until he fainted from
+a wound and the loss of two nights' sleep at the batteries."</p>
+
+<p>Scott, indeed, had an exalted opinion of Lee's remarkable military
+abilities, and Hon. Reverdy Johnson has stated that he "had heard
+General Scott more than once say that his success in Mexico was largely
+due to the skill, valor, and undaunted energy of Robert E. Lee." In
+later years Scott said, "Lee is the greatest military genius in
+America."</p>
+
+<p>Lee's services were not left without reward. He received successively
+the brevet rank of major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, the latter
+for his service at Chapultepec. The victory at this point was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> the
+culminating event of the war. Shortly afterward the Mexican capital was
+occupied, and the Mexicans soon gave up the contest as hopeless. A new
+Cortez was in their streets, who was not to be got rid of except at a
+heavy sacrifice.</p>
+
+<p>As to how Lee occupied himself during this period, we may quote an
+anecdote coming from General Magruder.</p>
+
+<p>"After the fall of Mexico, when the American army was enjoying the ease
+and relaxation which it had bought by toil and blood, a brilliant
+assembly of officers sat over their wine discussing the operations of
+the capture and indulging hopes of a speedy return to the United States.</p>
+
+<p>"One among them rose to propose the health of the Captain of Engineers
+who had found a way for the army into the city, and then it was remarked
+that Captain Lee was absent. Magruder was despatched to bring him to the
+hall, and, departing on his mission, at last found the object of his
+search in a remote room of the palace, busy on a map. Magruder accosted
+him and reproached him for his absence. The earnest worker looked up
+from his labors with the calm, mild gaze which was so characteristic of
+the man, and, pointing to his instruments, shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"'But,' said Magruder, in his impetuous way, 'this is mere drudgery.
+Make somebody else do it, and come with me.'</p>
+
+<p>"'No,' was the reply; 'no, I am but doing my duty.'"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span></p><p>This is very significant of Lee's subsequent character, in which the
+demands of duty always outweighed any thought of pleasure or relaxation,
+and in which his remarkable ability as an engineer was of inestimable
+advantage to the cause he served.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>A CHRISTMAS DAY ON THE PLANTATION.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Shall</span> we not break for a time from our record of special tales and let
+fall on our pages a bit of winter sunshine from the South, the story of
+a Christmas festival in the land of the rose and magnolia? It is a story
+which has been repeated so many successive seasons in the life of the
+South that it has grown to be a part of its being, the joyous festal
+period in the workday world of the year. The writer once spent Christmas
+as a guest in the manor house of old Major Delmar, "away down South,"
+and feels like halting to tell the tale of genial merrymaking and
+free-hearted enjoyment on that gladsome occasion.</p>
+
+<p>On the plantation, Christmas is the beginning and end of the calendar.
+Time is measured by the days "before Christmas" or the days "since
+Christmas." There are other seasons of holiday and enjoyment, alike for
+black and white, but "The Holidays" has one meaning only: it is the
+merry Christmas time, when the work of the year past is ended and that
+of the year to come not begun, and when pleasure and jollity rule
+supreme.</p>
+
+<p>A hearty, whole-souled, genial host and kindly, considerate master was
+the old major, in the days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> of his reign, "before the war," and
+fortunate was he who received an invitation to spend the midwinter
+festival season under his hospitable roof. It was always crowded with
+well-chosen guests. The members of the family came in from near and far;
+friends were invited in wholesome numbers; an atmosphere of good-will
+spread all around, from master and mistress downward through the young
+fry and to the dusky-faced house-servants and plantation hands;
+everybody, great and small, old and young, black and white, was glad at
+heart when the merry Christmas time came round.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p242.jpg" width="600" height="360" alt="COTTON FIELD ON SOUTHERN PLANTATION." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Cotton Field on Southern Plantation.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>As the Yule-tide season approached the work of the plantation was
+rounded up and everything got ready for the festival. The corn was all
+in the cribs; the hog-killing was at an end, the meat salted or cured,
+the lard tried out, the sausage-meat made. The mince-meat was ready for
+the Christmas pies, the turkeys were fattened, especially the majestic
+"old gobbler," whose generous weight was to grace the great dish on the
+manor-house table. The presents were all ready,&mdash;new shoes, winter
+clothes, and other useful gifts for the slaves; less useful but more
+artistic and ornamental remembrances for the household and guests. All
+this took no small thought and labor, but it was a labor of love, for
+was it not all meant to make the coming holiday a merry, happy time?</p>
+
+<p>I well remember the jolly stir of it all, for my visit spread over the
+days of busy preparation. In the woods the axe was busy at work,
+cutting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> through the tough hickory trunks. Other wood might serve for
+other seasons, but nothing but good old hickory would do to kindle the
+Christmas fires. All day long the laden wagons creaked and rumbled along
+the roads, bringing in the solid logs, and in the wood-yards the shining
+axes rang, making the white chips fly, as the great logs were chopped
+down to the requisite length.</p>
+
+<p>From the distant station came the groaning ox-cart, laden with boxes
+from the far-off city, boxes full of mysterious wares, the black driver
+seeking to look as if curiosity did not rend his soul while he stolidly
+drove with his precious goods to the store-room. Here they were unloaded
+with mirthful haste, jokes passing among the laughing workers as to what
+"massa" or "mistis" was going to give them out of those heavy crates.
+The opening of these boxes added fuel to the growing excitement, as the
+well-wrapped-up parcels were taken out, in some cases openly, in others
+with a mysterious secrecy that doubled the curiosity and added to the
+season's charm.</p>
+
+<p>There was another feature of the work of preparation in which all were
+glad to take part, the gathering of the evergreens&mdash;red-berried holly,
+mistletoe with its glistening pearls, ground-pine, moss, and other wood
+treasures&mdash;for the decoration of parlor, hall, and dining-room, and,
+above all, of the old village church, a gleeful labor in which the whole
+neighborhood took part, and helpers came from miles away. Young men and
+blooming maidens<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> alike joined in, some as artists in decoration, others
+as busy workers, and all as merry aids.</p>
+
+<p>Days rolled on while all this was being done,&mdash;the wood chopped and
+heaped away in the wood-sheds and under the back portico; the church and
+house made as green as spring-tide with their abundant decorations,
+tastefully arranged in wreaths and folds and circles, with the great
+green "Merrie Christmas" welcoming all comers from over the high parlor
+mantel. All was finished in ample time before the day of Christmas Eve
+arrived, though there were dozens of final touches still to be made,
+last happy thoughts that had to be worked out in green, red, or white.</p>
+
+<p>On that same day came the finish which all had wished but scarcely dared
+hoped for, a fleecy fall of snow that drifted in feathery particles down
+through the still atmosphere, and covered the ground with an inch-deep
+carpet of white. I well remember old Delmar, with his wrinkled, kindly
+face and abundant white hair, and his "By Jove, isn't that just the
+thing!" as he stood on the porch and looked with boyish glee at the
+fast-falling flakes. And I remember as well his sweet-faced wife, small,
+delicate, yet still pretty in her old age, and placidly sharing his
+enjoyment of the spectacle, rare enough in that climate, in spite of the
+tradition that a freeze and a snow-fall always came with the Christmas
+season.</p>
+
+<p>Christmas Eve! That was a time indeed! Parlor and hall, porch and
+wood-shed, all were well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> enough in their way, but out in the kitchen
+busy things were going on without which the whole festival would have
+been sadly incomplete. The stoves were heaped with hickory and glowing
+with ardent heat, their ovens crammed full of toothsome preparations,
+while about the tables and shelves clustered the mistress of the place
+and her regiment of special assistants, many of them famous for their
+skill in some branch of culinary art, their glistening faces and shining
+teeth testifying to their pride in their one special talent.</p>
+
+<p>Pies and puddings, cakes and tarts, everything that could be got ready
+in advance, were being drawn from the ovens and heaped on awaiting
+shelves, while a dozen hands busied themselves in getting ready the
+turkey and game and the other essentials of the coming feast that had to
+wait till the next day for their turn at the heated ovens.</p>
+
+<p>As the day moved on the excitement grew. Visitors were expected: the
+boys from college with their invited chums; sons and grandsons, aunts
+and cousins, and invited guests, from near and far. And not only these,
+but "hired out" servants from neighboring towns, whose terms were fixed
+from New Year to Christmas, so that they could spend the holiday week at
+home, made their appearance and were greeted with as much hilarious
+welcome in the cabins as were the white guests in the mansion. In the
+manor house itself they were welcomed like home-coming members of the
+family, as, already wearing their presents of new winter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> clothes, they
+came to pay their "respecs to massa and mistis."</p>
+
+<p>As the day went on the carriages were sent to the railroad station for
+the expected visitors, old and young, and a growing impatience testified
+to the warmth of welcome with which their arrival would be greeted. They
+are late&mdash;to be late seems a fixed feature of the situation, especially
+when the roads are heavy with unwonted snow. Night has fallen, the stars
+are out in the skies, before the listening ears on the porch first catch
+the distant creak of wheels and axles. The glow of the wood-fires on the
+hearths and of candles on table and mantel is shining out far over the
+snow when at length the carriages come in sight, laden outside and in
+with trunks and passengers, whose cheery voices and gay calls have
+already heralded their approach.</p>
+
+<p>What a time there is when they arrive, the boys and girls tumbling and
+leaping out and flying up the steps, to be met with warm embraces or
+genial welcomes; the elders coming more sedately, to be received with
+earnest handclasps and cordial greetings, Never was there a happier man
+than the old major when he saw his house filled with guests, and bade
+the strangers welcome with a dignified, but earnest, courtesy. But when
+the younger comers stormed him, with their glad shouts of "uncle" or
+"grandpa" or other titles of relationship, and their jovial echo of
+"Merry Christmas," the warm-hearted old fellow seemed fairly transformed
+into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> a boy again. Guest as I was, I felt quite taken off my feet by the
+flood of greetings, and was swept into the general overflow of high
+spirits and joyful welcomes.</p>
+
+<p>The frosty poll of the major and the silvery hair of his good wife were
+significant of venerable age, but there were younger people in the
+family, and with them a fair sprinkling of children. Of these the
+diminutive stockings were duly hung in a row over the big fireplace,
+waiting for the expected coming of Santa Claus, while their late wearers
+were soon huddled in bed, though with little hope of sleep in the
+excitement and sense of enchantment that surrounded them. Their
+disappearance made little void in the crowd that filled the parlor, a
+gay and merry throng, full of the spirit of fun and hearty enjoyment,
+and thoroughly genuine in their mirth, not a grain of airiness or
+ostentation marring their pleasure, though in its way it was as refined
+as in more showy circles.</p>
+
+<p>Morning dawned,&mdash;Christmas morning. Little chance was there for
+sleepy-heads to indulge themselves that sunny Yule-tide morn. The stir
+began long before the late sun had risen, that of the children first of
+all; stealing about like tiny, white-clad spectres, with bulging
+stockings clasped tightly in their arms; craftily opening bedroom doors
+and shouting "Christmas gift!" at drowsy slumberers, then scurrying away
+and seeking the hearth-side, whose embers yielded light enough for a
+first glance at their treasures.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span></p><p>Soon the opening and closing of doors was heard, and one by one the
+older inmates of the mansion appeared, with warm "Merry Christmas"
+greetings, and all so merry-hearted that the breakfast-table was a
+constant round of quips and jokes, and of stories of pranks played in
+the night by representatives of Santa Claus. Where all are bent on
+having a good time, it is wonderful how little will serve to kindle
+laughter and set joy afloat.</p>
+
+<p>Aside from the church-going,&mdash;with the hymns and anthems sung in concert
+and the reading of the service,&mdash;the special event of the day was the
+distribution of the mysterious contents of the great boxes which had
+come days before. There were presents for every one; nobody, guest or
+member of the family, was forgotten, and whether costly, or homely but
+useful, the gifts seemed to give equal joy. It was the season of
+good-will, in which the kindly thought, not the costliness of the gift,
+was alone considered, and when all tokens of kindliness were accepted in
+the same spirit of gratefulness and enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>A special feature of a Christmas on the plantation, especially "before
+the war," was the row of shining, happy black faces that swarmed up to
+the great house in the morning light, with their mellow outcry of "Merry
+Christmas, massa!" "Merry Christmas, missis!" and their hopeful looks
+and eyes bulging with expectation. Joyful was the time when their gifts
+were handed out,&mdash;useful articles of clothing, household goods, and the
+like,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> all gladly and hilariously received, with a joy as childlike as
+that of the little ones with their stockings. Off they tripped merrily
+through the snow with their burdens, laughing and joking, to their
+cabins, where dinners awaited them which were humble copies of that
+preparing for the guests at the master's table. Turkey was not wanting,
+varied here and there by that rare dish of raccoon or "'possum" which
+the Southern darky so highly enjoys.</p>
+
+<p>The great event of the mansion house was the dinner. All day till the
+dinner-hour the kitchen was full of busy preparation for this crowning
+culmination of the festival. Cooks there were in plenty, and the din of
+their busy labor and the perfume of their culinary triumphs seemed to
+pervade the whole house.</p>
+
+<p>When the dinner was served, it was a sight to behold. The solid old
+mahogany table groaned with the weight laid upon it. In the place of
+honor was the big gobbler, brown as a berry and done to a turn. For
+those who preferred other meat there was a huge round of venison and an
+artistically ornamented ham. These formed the backbone of the feast, but
+with and around them were every vegetable and delicacy that a Southern
+garden could provide, and tasteful dishes which it took all the
+ingenuity of a trained mistress of the kitchen to prepare. This was the
+season to test the genius of the dusky Southern cooks, and they had
+exhausted their art and skill for that day's feast.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> On the ample
+sideboard, shining with glass, was the abundant dessert, the cakes,
+pies, puddings, and other aids to a failing appetite that had been
+devised the day before.</p>
+
+<p>That this dinner was done honor to need scarcely be said. The journey
+the day before and the outdoor exercise in that day's frosty air had
+given every one an excellent appetite, and the appearance of the table
+at the end of the feast showed that the skill of Aunt Dinah and her
+assistants had been amply appreciated. After dinner came apple-toddy and
+eggnog, and the great ovation to the Christmas good cheer was at an end.</p>
+
+<p>But the festival was not over. Games and dances followed the feast. The
+piano-top was lifted, and light fingers rattled out lively music to
+which a hundred flying feet quickly responded. Country-dances they were,
+the lancers and quadrilles. Round dances were still looked upon in that
+rural locality as an improper innovation. The good old major, in his
+frock coat and high collar, started the ball, seizing the prettiest girl
+by the hand and leading her to the head of the room, while the others
+quickly followed in pairs. Thus, with the touch of nimble fingers on the
+ivory keys and the tap of feet and the whirl of skirts over the unwaxed
+floor, mingled with jest and mirth, the evening passed gayly on, the
+old-fashioned Virginia reel closing the ball and bringing the day's busy
+reign of festivity to an end.</p>
+
+<p>But the whites did not have all the fun to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span>themselves. The colored
+folks had their parties and festivities as well, their mistresses
+superintending the suppers and decorating the tables with their own
+hands, while ladies and gentlemen from the mansion came to look on, an
+attention which was considered a compliment by the ebon guests. And the
+Christmas season rarely passed without a colored wedding, the holidays
+being specially chosen for this interesting ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>The dining-room or the hall of the mansion often served for this
+occasion, the master joining in matrimony the happy couple; or a colored
+preacher might perform the ceremony in the quarters. But in either case
+the event went gayly off, the family attending to get what amusement
+they could out of the occasion, while the mistress arranged the
+trousseau for the dusky bride.</p>
+
+<p>But it is with the one Christmas only that we are here concerned, and
+that ended as happily and merrily as it had begun, midnight passing
+before the festivities came to an end. How many happy dreams followed
+the day of joy and how many nightmares the heavy feast is more than we
+are prepared to put on record.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>CAPTAIN GORDON AND THE RACCOON ROUGHS.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> outbreak of the Civil War, the most momentous conflict of recent
+times, was marked by a wave of fervent enthusiasm in the States of the
+South which swept with the swiftness of a prairie fire over the land.
+Pouring in multitudes into the centres of enlistment, thousands and tens
+of thousands of stalwart men offered their services in defence of their
+cause, gathering into companies and regiments far more rapidly than they
+could be absorbed. This state of affairs, indeed, existed in the North
+as well as in the South, but it is with the extraordinary fervor of
+patriotism in the latter that we are here concerned, and especially with
+the very interesting experience of General John B. Gordon, as related by
+him in his "Reminiscences of the Civil War."</p>
+
+<p>When the war began Gordon, as he tells us, was practically living in
+three States. His house was in Alabama, his post-office in Tennessee,
+and he was engaged in coal-mining enterprises in the mountains of
+Georgia, the locality being where these three States meet in a point. No
+sooner was the coming conflict in the air than the stalwart mountaineers
+of the mining district became wild with eagerness to fight for the
+Confederacy, and Gordon, in whom the war spirit burned as hotly as in
+any of them,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> needed but a word to gather about him a company of
+volunteers. They unanimously elected him their captain, and organized
+themselves at once into a cavalry company, most of them, like so many of
+the sons of the South, much preferring to travel on horseback than on
+foot.</p>
+
+<p>As yet the war was only a probability, and no volunteers had been called
+for. But with the ardor that had brought them together, Gordon's company
+hastened to offer their services, only to be met with the laconic and
+disappointing reply, "No cavalry now needed."</p>
+
+<p>What was to be done? They did not relish the idea of giving up their
+horses, yet they wanted to fight still more than to ride, and the fear
+came upon them that if they waited till cavalry was needed they might be
+quite lost sight of in that mountain corner and the war end before they
+could take a hand in it. This notion of a quick end to the war was
+common enough at that early day, very few foreseeing the vastness of the
+coming conflict; and, dreading that they might be left out in the cold,
+the ardent mountaineers took a vote on the question, "Shall we dismount
+and go as infantry?" This motion was carried with a shout of approval,
+and away went the stalwart recruits without arms, without uniform,
+without military training, with little beyond the thirst to fight, the
+captain knowing hardly more of military tactics than his men. They had
+courage and enthusiasm, and felt that all things besides would come to
+them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span></p><p>As for arms suitable for modern warfare, the South at that time was
+sadly lacking in them. Men looked up their old double-barrelled
+shot-guns and squirrel rifles, and Governor Brown, of Georgia, set men
+at work making what were called "Joe Brown's pikes," being a sort of
+steel-pointed lances or bayonets on poles, like those used by pikemen in
+medi&aelig;val warfare. In modern war they were about as useful as
+knitting-needles would have been. Governor Brown knew this well enough,
+but the volunteers were coming in such numbers and were so eager to
+fight that the pikes were made more to satisfy them than with hope of
+their being of any service in actual war.</p>
+
+<p>Gordon's company was among the earliest of these volunteers. Reluctantly
+leaving their horses, and not waiting for orders, they bade a quick
+adieu to all they had held dear and set off cheerily for Milledgeville,
+then the capital of Georgia. They were destined to a sad disappointment.
+On reaching Atlanta they were met by a telegram from the governor, who
+had been advised of their coming, telling them to go back home and wait
+until advised that they were wanted.</p>
+
+<p>This was like a shower of cold water poured on the ardor of the
+volunteers. Go home? After they had cut loose from their homes and
+started for the war? They would do nothing of the kind; they were on
+foot to fight and would not consent to be turned back by Governor Brown
+or any one else. The captain felt very much like his men. He too<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> was an
+eager Confederate patriot, but his position was one demanding obedience
+to the constituted authorities, and by dint of much persuasion and a
+cautious exercise of his new authority he induced his men to board the
+train heading back for their homes.</p>
+
+<p>But the repressed anger of the rebellious mountaineers broke forth again
+when the engine-bell rang and the whistle gave its shrill starting
+signal. Some of the men rushed forward and tore out the coupling of the
+foremost car, and the engine was left in condition to make its journey
+alone. While the trainmen looked on in astonishment the mountaineers
+sprang from the train, gathered round their captain, and told him that
+they had made up their minds on the matter and were not going back. They
+had enlisted for the war and intended to go to it; if Governor Brown
+would not take them, some other governor would.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing left for the young captain but to lead his
+undisciplined and rebellious company through Atlanta in search of a
+suitable camping-place. Their disregard of discipline did not trouble
+him greatly, for in his heart he sympathized with them, and he knew well
+that in their rude earnestness was the stuff of which good soldiers are
+made.</p>
+
+<p>Gordon gives an interesting and amusing description of the appearance
+his men made and the interest they excited in Atlanta's streets. These
+were filled with citizens, who looked upon the motley crew with a
+feeling in which approval was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> tempered by mirth. The spectacle of the
+march&mdash;or rather the straggle&mdash;of the mountaineers was one not soon to
+be forgotten. Utterly untrained in marching, they walked at will, no two
+keeping step, while no two were dressed alike. There were almost as many
+different hues and cuts in their raiment as there were men in their
+ranks. The nearest approach to a uniform was in their rough fur caps
+made of raccoon skins, and with the streaked and bushy tail of the
+raccoon hanging down behind.</p>
+
+<p>The amusement of the people was mingled with curiosity. "Are you the
+captain of this company?" some of them asked Gordon, who was rather
+proud of his men and saw nothing of the grotesque in their appearance.</p>
+
+<p>"I am, sir," he replied, in a satisfied tone.</p>
+
+<p>"What company is it, captain?"</p>
+
+<p>As yet the company had no name other than one which he had chosen as
+fine sounding and suitable, but had not yet mentioned to the men.</p>
+
+<p>"This company is the Mountain Rifles," said the captain, proudly.</p>
+
+<p>His pride was destined to a fall. From a tall mountaineer in the ranks
+came, in words not intended for his ears, but plainly audible, the
+disconcerting words,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Mountain hell! We are no Mountain Rifles. We are the Raccoon Roughs."</p>
+
+<p>And Raccoon Roughs they continued through all the war, Gordon's
+fine-spun name being never heard of again. The feeble remnant of the
+war-scarred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> company which was mustered out at Appomattox was still
+known as Raccoon Roughs.</p>
+
+<p>Who would have them, since Governor Brown would not, was now the
+question. Telegrams sped out right and left to governors of other
+States, begging a chance for the upland patriots. An answer came at
+length from Governor Moore, of Alabama, who consented to incorporate the
+Raccoon Roughs and their captain in one of the new regiments he was
+organizing. Gordon gladly read the telegram to his eager company, and
+from their hundred throats came the first example of the "rebel yell" he
+had ever heard,&mdash;a wild and thrilling roar that was to form the
+inspiration to many a mad charge in later years.</p>
+
+<p>No time was lost by the gallant fellows in setting out on their journey
+to Montgomery. As they went on they found the whole country in a blaze
+of enthusiasm. No one who saw the scene would have doubted for a moment
+that the South was an ardent unit in support of its cause. By day the
+troop trains were wildly cheered as they passed; at night bonfires
+blazed on the hills and torchlight processions paraded the streets of
+the towns. As no cannon were at hand to salute the incoming volunteers,
+blacksmith anvils took their place, ringing with the blows of hammers
+swung by muscular arms. Every station was a throng of welcoming people,
+filling the air with shouts and the lively sound of fife and drum, and
+bearing banners of all sizes and shapes, on which Southern independence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span>
+was proclaimed and the last dollar and man pledged to the cause. The
+women were out as enthusiastically as the men; staid matrons and ardent
+maids springing upon the cars, pinning blue cockades on the lapels of
+the new soldiers' coats, and singing the war-songs already in vogue, the
+favorite "Dixie" and the "Bonnie Blue Flag," in whose chorus the harsh
+voices of the Raccoon Boughs mingled with the musical tones of their
+fair admirers.</p>
+
+<p>Montgomery was at length reached to find it thronged with shouting
+volunteers, every man of them burning with enthusiasm. Mingled with them
+were visiting statesmen and patriotic citizens, for that city was the
+cradle of the new-born Confederacy and the centre of Southern
+enthusiasm. Every heart was full of hope, every face marked with energy,
+a prayer for the success of the cause on every lip. Never had more
+fervent and universal enthusiasm been seen. On the hills and around the
+capital cannon boomed welcome to the inflowing volunteers, wagons
+rumbled by carrying arms and ammunition to the camps, on every street
+marched untrained but courageous recruits. As for the Raccoon Roughs,
+Governor Moore kept his word, assigning them to a place in the Sixth
+Alabama Regiment, of which Captain Gordon, unexpectedly and against his
+wishes, was unanimously elected major.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the scenes which the coming war excited in the far South, such
+the fervid enthusiasm with which the coming conflict for Southern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span>
+independence was hailed. So vast was the number of volunteers, in
+companies and in regiments, each eager to be accepted, that the Hon.
+Leroy P. Walker, the first Secretary of War of the Confederacy, was
+fairly overwhelmed by the flood of applicants that poured in on him day
+and night. Their captains and colonels waylaid him on the streets to
+urge the immediate acceptance of their services, and he was obliged to
+seek his office by roundabout ways to avoid the flood of importunities.
+It is said that before the Confederate government left Montgomery for
+Richmond, about three hundred and sixty thousand volunteers, very many
+of them from the best element of the Southern population, had offered to
+devote their lives and fortunes to their country's cause.</p>
+
+<p>Many striking examples of this outburst of enthusiasm and patriotic
+devotion might be adduced, but we must content ourselves with one, cited
+as an instance in point by General Gordon. This was the case of Mr. W.
+C. Heyward, of South Carolina, a West Point graduate and a man of
+fortune and position. The Confederate government was no sooner organized
+than Mr. Heyward sought Montgomery, tendering his services and those of
+a full regiment enlisted by him for the war. Such was the pressure upon
+the authorities, and so far beyond the power of absorption at that time
+the offers of volunteers, that Mr. Heyward sought long in vain for an
+interview with the Secretary of War. When this was at last obtained he
+found the ranks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> so filled that it was impossible to accept his
+regiment. Returning home in deep disappointment, but with his patriotism
+unquenched, this wealthy and trained soldier joined the Home Guards and
+died in the war as a private in the ranks.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the unanimity with which the sons of the South, hosts of them
+armed with no better weapons than old-fashioned flint and steel muskets,
+double-barrelled shot-guns, and long-barrelled squirrel rifles, rushed
+to the defence of their States, with a spontaneous and burning
+enthusiasm that has never been surpassed. The impulse of self-defence
+was uppermost in their hearts. It was not the question of the
+preservation of slavery that sustained them in the terrible conflict for
+four years of desolating war. It was far more that of the sovereignty of
+the States. The South maintained that the Union formed under the
+Constitution was one of consent and not of force; that each State
+retained the right to resume its independence on sufficient cause, and
+that the Constitution gave no warrant for the attempt to invade and
+coerce a sovereign State. It was for this, not to preserve slavery, that
+the people sprang as one man to arms and fought as men had rarely fought
+before.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>STUART'S FAMOUS CHAMBERSBURG RAID.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Of</span> all the minor operations of the Civil War, the one most marked at
+once by daring and success was the pioneer invasion of the Northern
+States, the notable Chambersburg raid of the most famous cavalry leader
+of the Confederacy, General J. E. B. Stuart. This story of bold venture
+and phenomenal good fortune, though often told, is worth giving again in
+its interesting details.</p>
+
+<p>The interim after the battle of Sharpsburg or Antietam was one of rest
+and recuperation in both the armies engaged. During this period the
+cavalry of Lee's army was encamped in the vicinity of Charlestown, some
+ten miles to the southward of Harper's Ferry. Stuart's head-quarters
+were located under the splendid oaks which graced the lawn of "The
+Bower," whose proprietor, Mr. A. S. Dandridge, entertained the officers
+with an open-hearted and genial hospitality which made their stay one of
+great pleasure and enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>There were warriors in plenty who would not have been hasty to break up
+that agreeable period of rest and social intercourse, but Stuart was not
+of that class. He felt that he must be up and doing, demonstrating that
+the Army of Northern Virginia had not gone to sleep; and the early days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span>
+of October, 1862, saw a stir about head-quarters which indicated that
+something out of the ordinary was afoot. During the evening of the 8th
+the officers were engaged in a lively social intercourse with the ladies
+of "The Bower," the entertainment ending in a serenade in which the
+banjo and fiddle took chief part. Warlike affairs seemed absent from the
+thoughts of all, with the exception that the general devoted more time
+than usual to his papers.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p262.jpg" width="600" height="327" alt="COLONIAL MANSION." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Colonial Mansion.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>With the morning of the 9th a new state of affairs came on. The roads
+suddenly appeared full of well-mounted and well-appointed troopers,
+riding northward with jingling reins and genial calls, while the cheery
+sound of the bugle rang through the fresh morning air. There were
+eighteen hundred of these horsemen, selected from the best mounted and
+most trustworthy men in the corps, for they were chosen for an
+expedition that would need all their resources of alertness, activity,
+and self-control, no less a one than an invasion of Pennsylvania, a
+perilous enterprise in which the least error might expose them all to
+capture or death.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching the appointed place of rendezvous, at Darksville, Stuart
+issued an address in which he advised his followers that the enterprise
+in which they were to engage demanded the greatest coolness, decision,
+and courage, implicit obedience to orders, and the strictest order and
+sobriety. While the full purpose of the expedition must still be kept
+secret, he said, it was one in which success would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> reflect the highest
+credit on their arms. The seizure of private property in the State of
+Maryland was strictly prohibited, and it was to be done in Pennsylvania
+only under orders from the brigade commanders, individual plundering
+being strongly forbidden.</p>
+
+<p>These preliminaries adjusted, the march northward began, the command
+being divided into three detachments of six hundred men each, under the
+direction of General Wade Hampton, Colonel W. H. F. Lee, and Colonel W.
+E. Jones. A battery of four guns accompanied the expedition. It was with
+high expectations that the men rode forward, the secrecy of the
+enterprise giving it an added zest. Most of them had followed Stuart in
+daring rides in the earlier months of that year, and all were ready to
+follow wherever he chose to lead.</p>
+
+<p>Darkness had fallen when they reached Hedgesville, the point on the
+Potomac where it was designed to cross. Here they bivouacked for the
+night, a select party of some thirty men being sent across the river,
+their purpose being to capture the Federal picket on the Maryland side.
+In this they failed, but the picket was cut off from its reserve, so
+that the fugitives were not able to report the attack. Day had not
+dawned when all the men were in their saddles, and as soon as word of
+the result of the night's enterprise was received, the foremost troops
+plunged into the river and the crossing began. It was completed without
+difficulty, and Colonel Butler, leading the advance, rode<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span> briskly
+forward to the National turnpike which joins Hancock and Hagerstown.</p>
+
+<p>Along this road, a few hours before, General Cox's division of Federal
+infantry had passed, Butler coming so close to his rear that the
+stragglers were captured. But a heavy fog covered the valley and hid all
+things from sight, so that Cox continued his march in ignorance that a
+strong body of Confederate cavalry was so close upon his track. On
+Fairview Heights, near the road, was a Federal signal-station, which a
+squad was sent to capture. The two officers in charge of it escaped, but
+two privates and all its equipments were taken.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, despite all efforts at secrecy, the march had not gone on unseen. A
+citizen had observed the crossing and reported it to Captain Logan of
+the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, and the news spread with much rapidity.
+But there was no strong force of cavalry available to check the
+movement, and Stuart's braves passed steadily forward unopposed. Their
+line of march was remote from telegraph or railroad, and the
+Pennsylvania farmers, who did not dream of the war invading their
+fields, were stricken with consternation when Stuart's bold riders
+crossed Mason and Dixon's line and appeared on their soil.</p>
+
+<p>It was hard for them to believe it. One old gentleman, whose sorrel mare
+was taken from his cart, protested bitterly, saying that orders from
+Washington had forbidden the impressment of horses, and threatening the
+vengeance of the government<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> on the supposed Federal raiders. A shoe
+merchant at Mercersburg completely equipped Butler's advance guard with
+foot-wear, and was sadly surprised when paid with a receipt calling on
+the Federal government to pay for damages. While nothing was disturbed
+in Maryland, horses were diligently seized in Pennsylvania, the country
+on both sides of the line of march being swept clean of its farm
+animals. Ladies on the road, however, were not molested, and the men
+were strictly prohibited from seizing private property&mdash;even from taking
+provisions for themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Chambersburg, the goal of the expedition, was reached on the evening of
+the 10th, after a day's hard ride. So rapid and well conducted had been
+the journey that as yet scarce one enemy had been seen; and when the
+town was called on to surrender within thirty minutes, under penalty of
+a bombardment, resistance was out of the question; there was no one
+capable of resisting, and the troops were immediately marched into the
+town, where they were drawn up in the public square.</p>
+
+<p>The bank was the first place visited. Colonel Butler, under orders from
+his chief, entered the building and demanded its funds. But the cashier
+assured him that it was empty of money, all its cash having been sent
+away that morning, and convinced him of this by opening the safe and
+drawers for his inspection. Telegraphic warning had evidently reached
+the town. Butler had acted with such courtesy that the cashier now
+called the ladies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> of his family, and bade them to prepare food for the
+men who had made the search. That the captors of the town behaved with
+like courtesy throughout we have the evidence of Colonel A. K. McClure,
+subsequently editor of the Philadelphia <i>Times</i>, who then dwelt in the
+near vicinity of Chambersburg. Though a United States officer and
+subject to arrest or parole, and though he had good opportunity to
+escape, he resolved to stay and share the fate of his fellow-townsmen.
+We quote from his description of the incidents of that night. After
+speaking of an interview he had&mdash;as one of the committee of three
+citizens to surrender the town&mdash;with General Hampton, and the courteous
+manner of the latter, he proceeds:</p>
+
+<p>"With sixty acres of corn in shock, and three barns full of grain,
+excellent farm and saddle horses, and a number of best blooded cattle,
+the question of property was worthy of a thought. I resolved to stay, as
+I felt so bound by the terms of surrender, and take my chances of
+discovery and parole....</p>
+
+<p>"I started in advance of them for my house, but not in time to save the
+horses. I confidently expected to be overrun by them, and to find the
+place one scene of desolation in the morning. I resolved, however, that
+things should be done soberly, if possible, and I had just time to
+destroy all the liquors about the house. As their pickets were all
+around me I could not get it off. I finished just in time, for they were
+soon upon me in force, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> every horse in the barn, ten in all, was
+promptly equipped and mounted by a rebel cavalryman. They passed on
+towards Shippensburg, leaving a picket force on the road.</p>
+
+<p>"In an hour they returned with all the horses they could find, and
+dismounted to spend the night on the turnpike in front of my door. It
+was now midnight, and I sat on the porch observing their movements. They
+had my best corn-field beside them and their horses fared well. In a
+little while one entered the yard, came up to me, and after a profound
+bow, politely asked for a few coals to start a fire. I supplied him, and
+informed him as blandly as possible where he would find wood
+conveniently, as I had dim visions of camp-fires made of my palings. I
+was thanked in return, and the mild-mannered villain proceeded at once
+to strip the fence and kindle fires. Soon after a squad came and asked
+permission to get some water. I piloted them to the pump, and again
+received a profusion of thanks....</p>
+
+<p>"About one o'clock, half a dozen officers came to the door and asked to
+have some coffee made for them, offering to pay liberally for it in
+Confederate scrip. After concluding a treaty with them on behalf of the
+colored servants, coffee was promised them, and they then asked for a
+little bread with it. They were wet and shivering, and, seeing a bright,
+open wood-fire in the library, they asked permission to enter and warm
+themselves until their coffee should be ready, assuring me that under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span>
+no circumstances should anything in the house be disturbed by their men.
+I had no alternative but to accept them as my guests until it might
+please them to depart, and I did so with as good grace as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Once seated round the fire all reserve seemed to be forgotten on their
+part, and they opened a general conversation on politics, the war, the
+different battles, the merits of generals of both armies. They spoke
+with entire freedom upon every subject but their movement into
+Chambersburg. Most of them were men of more than ordinary intelligence
+and culture, and their demeanor was in all respects eminently courteous.
+I took a cup of coffee with them, and have never seen anything more
+keenly relished. They said that they had not tasted coffee for weeks
+before, and that then they had paid from six to ten dollars per pound
+for it. When they were through they asked whether there was any coffee
+left, and finding that there was some, they proposed to bring some more
+officers and a few privates, who were prostrated by exposure, to get
+what was left. They were, of course, as welcome as those present, and on
+they came in squads of five or more until every grain of brown coffee
+was exhausted. Then they asked for tea, and that was served to some
+twenty more.</p>
+
+<p>"In the mean time a subordinate officer had begged of me a little bread
+for himself and a few men, and he was supplied in the kitchen. He was
+followed by others in turn, until nearly a hundred had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> supplied
+with something to eat or drink. All, however, politely asked permission
+to enter the house, and behaved with entire propriety. They did not make
+a single rude or profane remark, even to the servants. In the mean time
+the officers who had first entered the house had filled their pipes from
+the box of Killikinick on the mantel&mdash;after being assured that smoking
+was not offensive&mdash;and we had another hour of free talk on matters
+generally....</p>
+
+<p>"At four o'clock in the morning the welcome blast of the bugle was
+heard, and they rose hurriedly to depart. Thanking me for the
+hospitality they had received, we parted, mutually expressing the hope
+that should we ever meet again, it would be under more pleasant
+circumstances. In a few minutes they were mounted and moved into
+Chambersburg. About seven o'clock I went into town....</p>
+
+<p>"General Stuart sat on his horse in the centre of the town, surrounded
+by his staff, and his command was coming in from the country in large
+squads, leading their old horses and riding the new ones they had found
+in the stables hereabouts. General Stuart is of medium size, has a keen
+eye, and wears immense sandy whiskers and moustache. His demeanor to our
+people was that of a humane soldier. In several instances his men
+commenced to take private property from stores, but they were arrested
+by General Stuart's provost-guard. In a single instance only, that I
+heard of, did they enter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> a store by intimidating the proprietor. All of
+our stores and shops were closed, and with a very few exceptions were
+not disturbed."</p>
+
+<p>This was certainly not like the usual behavior of soldiers on foreign
+soil, and the incident at once illustrates the strict control which
+General Stuart held over his men and the character of the men
+themselves, largely recruited, as they were, from the higher class of
+Southern society. Though Colonel McClure evidently felt that the lion's
+claws lay concealed under the silken glove, he certainly saw no evidence
+of it in the manners of his unbidden guests.</p>
+
+<p>Return was now the vital question before General Stuart and his band.
+Every hour of delay added to the dangers surrounding them. Troops were
+hastily marching to cut off their retreat; cavalry was gathering to
+intercept them; scouts were watching every road and every movement.
+Worst of all was the rain, which had grown heavy in the night and was
+now falling steadily, with a threat of swelling the Potomac and making
+its fords impassable. The ride northward had been like a holiday
+excursion; what would the ride southward prove?</p>
+
+<p>With the dawn of day the head of the column set out on the road towards
+Gettysburg, no damage being done in the town except to railroad property
+and the ordnance store-house, which contained a large quantity of
+ammunition and other army supplies. This was set on fire, and the sound
+of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span>explosion, after the flames reached the powder, came to the ears
+of the vanguard when already at a considerable distance on the return
+route.</p>
+
+<p>At Cashtown the line turned from the road to Gettysburg and moved
+southward, horses being still diligently collected till the Maryland
+line was crossed, when all gathering of spoil ceased. Emmittsburg was
+reached about sunset, the hungry cavaliers there receiving a warm
+welcome and being supplied with food as bountifully as the means of the
+inhabitants permitted.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the Federal military authorities were busy with efforts to
+cut off the ventursome band. The difficulty was to know at what point on
+the Potomac a crossing would be sought, and the troops were held in
+suspense until Stuart's movements should unmask his purpose. General
+Pleasanton and his cavalry force were kept in uncertain movement, now
+riding to Hagerstown, then, on false information, going four miles
+westward, then, halted by fresh orders, turning east and riding to
+Mechanicstown, twenty miles from Hagerstown. They had marched fifty
+miles that day, eight of which were wasted, and when they halted, Stuart
+was passing within four miles of them without their knowledge. Midnight
+brought Pleasanton word of Stuart's movements, and the weary men and
+horses were put on the road again, reaching the mouth of the Monocacy
+about eight o'clock the next morning. But most of his command had
+dropped behind in that exhausting ride of seventy-eight miles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> within
+twenty-eight hours, only some four hundred of them being still with him.</p>
+
+<p>While the Federals were thus making every effort to cut off the bold
+raiders and to garrison the fords through a long stretch of the Potomac,
+Stuart was riding south from Emmittsburg, after a brief stop at that
+place, seeking to convey the impression by his movements that he
+proposed to try some of the upper and nearer fords. His real purpose was
+to seek a crossing lower down, so near to the main body of the Federals
+that they would not look for him there. Yet the dangers were growing
+with every moment, three brigades of infantry guarded the lower fords,
+Pleasanton was approaching the Monocacy, and it looked as if the bold
+raider was in a net from which there could be no escape.</p>
+
+<p>Stuart reached Hyattstown at daylight on the 12th, having marched
+sixty-five miles in twenty hours. The abundance of captured horses
+enabled him to make rapid changes for the guns and caissons and to
+continue the march without delay. Two miles from Hyattstown the road
+entered a large piece of woodland, which served to conceal his movements
+from observation from any signal-tower. Here a disused road was found,
+and, turning abruptly to the west, a rapid ride was made under cover.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after the open country was reached again a Federal squadron was
+encountered; but it was dispersed by a charge, and from this point a
+rapid ride was made for White's Ford, the nearest available crossing.
+All now seemed to depend upon whether<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> this ford was occupied in force
+by the enemy. As Colonel Lee approached it this question was settled;
+what appeared a large body of Federal infantry was in possession, posted
+on a steep bluff quite close to the ford. It seemed impossible to
+dislodge it, but foes were closing up rapidly from behind, and if all
+was not to be lost something must be done, and done at once.</p>
+
+<p>To attack the men on the bluff seemed hopeless, and before doing so Lee
+tried the effect of putting a bold face on the matter. He sent a
+messenger under a flag of truce, telling the Federal commander that
+Stuart's whole force was before him, that resistance was useless, and
+calling on him to surrender. If this was not done in fifteen minutes a
+charge in force would be made. The fifteen minutes passed. No sign of
+yielding appeared. Lee, with less than a forlorn hope of success, opened
+fire with his guns and ordered his men to advance. He listened for the
+roar of the Federal guns in reply, when a wild shout rang along the
+line.</p>
+
+<p>"They are retreating! Hurrah! they are retreating!"</p>
+
+<p>Such was indeed the case. The infantry on the bluff were marching away
+with flying flags and beating drums, abandoning their strong position
+without a shot. A loud Confederate cheer followed them as they marched.
+No shot was fired to hinder them. Their movement was the salvation of
+Stuart's corps, for it left an open passage to the ford, and safety was
+now assured.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span></p><p>But there was no time to lose. Pleasanton and his men might be on them
+at any minute. Other forces of the enemy were rapidly closing in. Haste
+was the key to success. One piece of artillery was hurried over the dry
+bed of the canal, across the river ford, and up the Virginia bluff,
+where it was posted to command the passage. Another gun was placed so as
+to sweep the approaches on the Maryland side, and soon a stream of
+horsemen were rapidly riding through the shallow water to Virginia and
+safety. With them went a long train of horses captured from Pennsylvania
+farms.</p>
+
+<p>Up came the others and took rapidly to the water, Pelham meanwhile
+facing Pleasanton with a single gun, which was served with all possible
+rapidity. But there was one serious complication. Butler with the
+rear-guard had not yet arrived, and no one knew just where he was.
+Stuart, in deep concern for his safety, sent courier after courier to
+hasten his steps, but no tidings came back.</p>
+
+<p>"I fear it is all up with Butler," he said, despondently. "I cannot get
+word of him, and the enemy is fast closing in on his path."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me try to reach him," said Captain Blackford, to whom the general
+had spoken.</p>
+
+<p>After a moment's hesitation Stuart replied,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"All right! If we don't meet again, good-by, old fellow! You run a
+desperate chance of being raked in."</p>
+
+<p>Away went Blackford at full speed, passing the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> lagging couriers one by
+one, and at length reaching Butler, whom he found halted and facing the
+enemy, in complete ignorance of what was going on at the front. He had
+his own and a North Carolina regiment and one gun.</p>
+
+<p>"We are crossing the ford, and Stuart orders you up at once," shouted
+Blackford. "Withdraw at a gallop or you will be cut off."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good," said Butler, coolly. "But how about that gun? I fear the
+horses can't get it off in time."</p>
+
+<p>"Let the gun go. Save yourself and your men."</p>
+
+<p>Butler did not see it in that light. Whip and spur were applied to the
+weary artillery horses, and away they went down the road, whirling the
+gun behind them, and followed at a gallop by Butler and his men. As they
+turned towards the ford they were saluted by the fire of a Federal
+battery. Further on the distant fire of infantry from down the river
+reached them with spent balls. Ten minutes later and the rear-guard
+would have been lost. As it was, a wild dash was made across the stream
+and soon the last man stood on Virginia soil. The expedition was at an
+end, and the gallant band was on its native heath once more.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended Stuart's famous two days' ride. The first crossing of the
+Potomac had been on the morning of the 10th. The final crossing was on
+the morning of the 12th. Within twenty-seven hours he had ridden eighty
+miles, from Chambersburg to White's Ford, with his artillery and
+captured horses,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> and had crossed the Potomac under the eyes of much
+superior numbers, his only losses being the wounding of one man and the
+capture of two who had dropped out of the line of march&mdash;a remarkable
+record of success, considering the great peril of the expedition.</p>
+
+<p>The gains of the enterprise were about twelve hundred horses, but the
+great strain of the ride forced the men to abandon many of their own.
+Stuart lost two of his most valued animals&mdash;Suffolk and Lady
+Margrave&mdash;through the carelessness of his servant Bob, who, overcome by
+too free indulgence in ardent spirits, fell out of the line to take a
+nap, and ended by finding himself and his horses in hostile hands.</p>
+
+<p>The value of the property destroyed at Chambersburg, public and
+railroad, was estimated at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; a few
+hundred sick and wounded soldiers were paroled, and about thirty
+officials and prominent citizens were brought off as prisoners, to be
+held as hostages for imprisoned citizens of the Confederacy.</p>
+
+<p>On the whole, it was eminently a dare-devil enterprise of the type of
+the knightly forays of old, its results far less in importance than the
+risk of loss to the Confederacy had that fine body of cavalry been
+captured. Yet it was of the kind of ventures calculated to improve the
+morale of an army, and inspire its men to similar deeds of daring and
+success. Doubtless it gave the cue to Morgan's later and much less
+fortunate invasion of the North.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>FORREST'S CHASE OF THE RAIDERS.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Foremost</span> in dash and daring among the cavalry leaders of the Confederacy
+was Lieutenant-General Nathan B. Forrest, a hero in the saddle, some of
+whose exploits were like the marvels of romance. There is one of his
+doings in particular which General Lord Wolseley says "reads like a
+romance." This was his relentless pursuit and final capture of the
+expedition under Colonel Abel D. Streight, one of the most brilliant
+deeds in the cavalry history of the war. Accepting Wolseley's opinion,
+we give the story of this exploit.</p>
+
+<p>In General Rosecrans's campaign against General Bragg, it was a matter
+of importance to him to cut the railroad lines and destroy bridges,
+arsenals, etc., in Bragg's rear. He wished particularly to cut the
+railroads leading from Chattanooga to Atlanta and Nashville, and thus
+prevent the free movement of troops. The celebrated Andrews expedition
+of scouts, described in a previous volume of this series, failed in an
+effort to do this work. Colonel Streight, a stalwart, daring cavalry
+leader, made a second effort to accomplish it, and would doubtless have
+succeeded but for the bulldog-like persistence with which "that devil,
+Forrest" clung to his heels.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Streight's expedition was made up of four<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> regiments of mounted
+infantry and two companies of cavalry, about two thousand men in all.
+Rome, Georgia, an important point on the railroad from Chattanooga to
+Atlanta, was its objective point. The route to be traversed included a
+barren, mountainous track of country, chosen from the fact that its
+sparse population was largely composed of Union sympathizers. But the
+road was likely to be so steep and rocky, and forage so scarce, that
+mules were chosen instead of horses for the mounts, on account of their
+being more surefooted and needing less food.</p>
+
+<p>The expedition was sent by steamboat from Nashville, Tennessee, to
+Eastport, Alabama, which place was reached on the 19th of April, 1863.
+This movement was conducted with all possible secrecy, and was masked by
+an expedition under General Dodge, at the head of a force of some ten
+thousand men. The unfortunate feature about the affair was the mules. On
+their arrival at Eastport these animals, glad to get on solid land
+again, set up a bray that trumpeted the story of their arrival for miles
+around, and warned the cavalry of General Rodney, who had been
+skirmishing with General Dodge, that new foes were in the field.</p>
+
+<p>When night fell some of Rodney's cavalry lads crept into the corral, and
+there, with yells and hoots and firing of guns and pistols, they
+stampeded nearly four hundred of the mules. This caused a serious delay,
+only two hundred of the mules being found after two day's search, while
+more time was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> lost in getting others. From Eastport the expedition
+proceeded to Tuscumbia, General Rodney stubbornly resisting the advance.
+Here a careful inspection was made, and all unfit men left out, so that
+about fifteen hundred picked men, splendidly armed and equipped,
+constituted the final raiding force.</p>
+
+<p>But the delay gave time for the news that some mysterious movement was
+afoot to spread far and wide, and Forrest led his corps of hard riders
+at top-speed from Tennessee to the aid of Rodney in checking it. On the
+27th he was in Dodge's front, helping Rodney to give him what trouble he
+could, though obliged to fall back before his much greater force.</p>
+
+<p>Streight was already on his way. He had set out at midnight of the 26th,
+in pouring rain and over muddy roads. At sunset of the next day he was
+thirty-eight miles from the starting-point. On the afternoon of the 28th
+the village of Moulton was reached without trace of an enemy in front or
+rear. The affair began to look promising. Next morning the mule brigade
+resumed its march, heading east towards Blountsville.</p>
+
+<p>Not until the evening of the 28th did Forrest hear of this movement.
+Then word was brought him that a large body of Union troops had passed
+Mount Hope, riding eastward towards Moulton. The quick-witted leader
+guessed in a moment what all this meant, and with his native energy
+prepared for a sharp pursuit. In all haste he picked out a suitable
+force, had several days' rations cooked for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span> the men and corn gathered
+for the horses, and shortly after midnight was on the road, leaving what
+men he could spare to keep Dodge busy and prevent pursuit. His command
+was twelve hundred strong, the most of them veterans whose metal had
+been tried on many a hard-fought field, and who were ready to follow
+their daring leader to the death, reckless and hardy "irregulars,"
+brought up from childhood to the use of horses and arms, the sturdy sons
+of the back country.</p>
+
+<p>Streight was now in the ugly mountain country through which his route
+lay, and was advancing up Sand Mountain by a narrow, stony, winding
+road. He had two days the start of his pursuer, but with such headlong
+speed did Forrest ride, that at dawn on the 30th, when the Federals were
+well up the mountain, the boom of a cannon gave them the startling
+notice that an enemy was in pursuit. Forrest had pushed onward at his
+usual killing pace, barely drawing rein until Streight's camp-fires came
+in sight, when his men lay down by their horses for a night's rest.</p>
+
+<p>Captain William Forrest, a brother of the general, had been sent ahead
+to reconnoitre, and in the early morning was advised of the near
+presence of the enemy by as awful a noise as human ears could well bear,
+the concentrated breakfast bray of fifteen hundred hungry mules.</p>
+
+<p>The cannon-shot which had warned Colonel Streight that an enemy was
+near, was followed by the yell of Captain Forrest's wild troopers, as
+they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> charged hotly up the road. Their recklessness was to be severely
+punished, for as they came headlong onward a volley was poured into them
+from a ridge beside the road. Their shrewd opponent had formed an
+ambuscade, into which they blindly rode, with the result that Captain
+Forrest fell from his horse with a crushed thigh-bone, and many of his
+men and horses were killed and wounded before they could get out of the
+trap into which they had ridden.</p>
+
+<p>The attack was followed up by Forrest's whole force. Edmonson's men,
+dismounted, advanced within a hundred yards of the Federal line, Roddy
+and Julian rode recklessly forward in advance, and Forrest's escort and
+scouts occupied the left. It was a precipitous movement, which
+encountered a sudden and sharp reverse, nearly the whole line being met
+with a murderous fire and driven back. Then the Federals sprang forward
+in a fierce charge, driving the Confederates back in confusion over
+their own guns, two of which were captured with their caissons and
+ammunition.</p>
+
+<p>The loss of his guns threw Forrest into a violent rage, in which he made
+the air blue with his forcible opinions. Those guns must be taken back,
+he swore, at the risk of all their lives. He bade every man to dismount
+and tie their horses to saplings&mdash;there were to be no horse-holders in
+this emergency. Onward swept the avengers, but to their surprise and
+chagrin only a small rear-guard was found, who fled on their mules after
+a few shots. Streight,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> with the captured guns, was well on the road
+again, and Forrest's men were obliged to go back, untie their horses,
+and get in marching order, losing nearly an hour of precious time.</p>
+
+<p>From this period onward the chase was largely a running fight. Forrest's
+orders to his men were to "shoot at everything blue and keep up the
+scare." Streight's purpose was to make all haste forward to Rome,
+outriding his pursuers, and do what damage he could. But he had to deal
+with the "Rough Riders" of the Confederate army, men sure to keep on his
+track day and night, and give him no rest while a man on mule-back
+remained.</p>
+
+<p>Forrest's persistence was soon shown. His advance troopers came up with
+the enemy again at Hog's-back ridge an hour before dark and at once
+charged right and left. They had their own guns to face, Streight
+keeping up a hot fire with the captured pieces till the ammunition was
+exhausted, when, being short of horses, he spiked and abandoned the
+guns.</p>
+
+<p>The fight thus begun was kept up vigorously till ten o'clock at night,
+and was as gallant and stubbornly contested as any of the minor
+engagements of the war, the echoes of that mountain desert repeating
+most unwonted sounds. General Forrest seemed everywhere, and so
+fearlessly exposed himself that one horse was killed and two were
+wounded under him, though he escaped unhurt. In the end Colonel Streight
+was taught that he could not drive off his persistent foe, and took to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span>
+the road again, but twice more during the night he was attacked, each
+time repelling his foes by an ambuscade.</p>
+
+<p>About ten o'clock the next morning Blountsville was reached. The
+Federals were now clear of the mountains and in an open and fertile
+country where food and horses were to be had. Both were needed; many of
+the mules had given out, leaving their riders on foot, while mules and
+men alike were short of food. It was the first of May, and the village
+was well filled with country people, who saw with dismay the Yankee
+troopers riding in and confiscating all the horses on which they could
+lay hands.</p>
+
+<p>Streight now decided to get on with pack-mules, and the wagons were
+bunched and set on fire, the command leaving them burning as it moved
+on. They did not burn long. Forrest's advance came on with a yell, swept
+the Federal rear-guard from the village, and made all haste to
+extinguish the flames, the wagons furnishing them a rich and much-needed
+supply. Few horses or mules, however, were to be had, as Streight's men
+had swept the country as far as they could reach on both sides of the
+road.</p>
+
+<p>On went the raiders and on came their pursuers, heading east, keeping in
+close touch, and skirmishing briskly as they went, for ten miles more.
+This brought them to a branch of the Black Warrior River. The ford
+reached by the Federals was rocky, and they had their foe close in the
+rear, but by an active use of skirmishers and of his two howitzers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span>
+Straight managed to get his command across and to hold the ford until a
+brief rest was taken.</p>
+
+<p>The Yankee troopers were not long on the road again before Forrest was
+over the stream, and the hot chase was on once more. The night that
+followed was the fourth night of the chase, which had been kept up with
+only brief snatches of rest and with an almost incessant contest. On the
+morning of the 2d the skirmishing briskly began again, Forrest with an
+advance troop attacking the Federal rear-guard, and fighting almost
+without intermission during the fifteen miles ride to Black Creek.</p>
+
+<p>Here was a deep and sluggish stream walled in with very high banks. It
+was spanned at the road by a wooden bridge, over which Colonel Streight
+rushed his force at top speed, and at once set the bridge on fire,
+facing about with his howitzers to check pursuit. One man was left on
+the wrong side of the stream, and was captured by Forrest himself as he
+dashed up to the blazing bridge at the head of his men.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Streight might now reasonably believe that he had baffled his
+foe for a time, and might safely take the repose so greatly needed. The
+stream was said to be too deep to ford, and the nearest bridge, two
+miles away, was a mere wreck, impassable for horses. Forrest was in a
+quandary as to how he should get over that sluggish but deep ditch, and
+stood looking at it in dismay. He was obliged to wait in any event, for
+his artillery and the bulk of his command had been far outridden.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span> In
+this dilemma the problem was solved for him by a country girl who lived
+near by, Emma Sanson by name. Near the burning bridge was a little
+one-storied, four-roomed house, in which dwelt the widow Sanson and her
+two daughters. She had two sons in the service, and the three women,
+like many in similar circumstances in the Confederacy, were living as
+best they could.</p>
+
+<p>The girl Emma watched with deep interest the rapid flight, the burning
+of the bridge, and the headlong pursuit of the Confederate troop. Seeing
+Forrest looking with a dubious countenance at the dark stream, she came
+up and accosted him.</p>
+
+<p>"You are after those Yankees?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I should think so," said Forrest, "and would give my best hat to get
+across this ugly ditch."</p>
+
+<p>"I think you can do it," she replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Aha! my good girl. That is news worth more than my old hat. How is it
+to be done? Let me know at once."</p>
+
+<p>"I know a place near our farm where I have often seen cows wade across
+when the water was low. If you will lend me a horse to put my saddle on,
+I will show you the place."</p>
+
+<p>"There's no time for that; get up behind me," cried Forrest.</p>
+
+<p>In a second's time the alert girl was on the horse behind him. As they
+were about to ride off her mother came out and asked, in a frightened
+tone, where she was going. Forrest explained and promised to bring her
+back safe, and in a moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span> more was off. The ride was not a long one,
+the place sought being soon reached. Here the general and his guide
+quickly dismounted, the girl leading down a ravine to the water's edge,
+where Forrest examined the depth and satisfied himself that the place
+might prove fordable.</p>
+
+<p>Mounting again, they rode back, now under fire, for a sharp engagement
+was going on across the creek between the Confederates and the Federal
+rear-guard. Forrest was profuse in his thanks as he left the
+quick-witted girl at her home. He gave her as reward a horse and also
+wrote her a note of thanks, and asked her to send him a lock of her
+hair, which he would be glad to have and cherish in memory of her
+service to the cause.</p>
+
+<p>The Lost Ford, as the place has since been called, proved available, the
+horses finding foothold, while the ammunition was taken from the
+caissons and carried across by the horsemen. This done, the guns and
+empty caissons were pulled across by ropes, and soon all was in
+readiness to take up the chase again.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Streight had reached Gadsden, four miles away, when to his
+surprise and dismay he heard once more the shouts of his indefatigable
+foemen as they rode up at full speed. It seemed as if nothing could stop
+the sleuth-hounds on his track. For the succeeding fifteen miles there
+was a continual skirmish, and, when Streight halted to rest, the fight
+became so sharp that his weary men were forced to take to the road
+again. Rest was not for them,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> with Forrest in their rear. Streight here
+tried for the last time his plan of ambuscading his enemy, but the
+wide-awake Forrest was not to be taken in as before, and by a flank
+movement compelled the weary Federals to resume their march.</p>
+
+<p>All that night they rode despondently on, crossing the Chattanooga River
+on a bridge which they burned behind them, and by sunrise reaching Cedar
+Bluff, twenty-eight miles from Gadsden. At nine o'clock they stopped to
+feed, and the worn-out men had no sooner touched the ground than they
+were dead asleep. Forrest had taken the opportunity to give his men a
+night's rest, detaching two hundred of them to follow the Federals and
+"devil them all night." Streight had also detached two hundred of his
+best-mounted men, bidding them to march to Rome and hold the bridge at
+that place. But Forrest had shrewdly sent a fast rider to the same
+place, and when Russell got up he found the bridge strongly held and his
+enterprise hopeless.</p>
+
+<p>When May 3 dawned the hot chase was near its end. Forrest had given his
+men ten hours' sleep while Streight's worn-out men were plodding
+desperately on. This all-night's ride was a fatal error for the
+Federals, and was a main cause of their final defeat. The short distance
+they had made was covered by Forrest's men, fresh from their night's
+sleep, in a few hours, and at half-past nine, while the Federals were at
+breakfast, the old teasing rattle of small-arms called them into line
+again. About the same time word came from Russell that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> he could not
+take the bridge at Rome, and news was received that a flanking movement
+of Confederates had cut in between Rome and the Yankee troopers.</p>
+
+<p>The affair now looked utterly desperate, but the brave Streight rallied
+his men on a ridge in a field and skirmishing began. So utterly
+exhausted, however, were the Federals that many of them went to sleep as
+they lay in line of battle behind the ridge while looking along their
+gun barrels with finger on trigger.</p>
+
+<p>The game was fairly up. Forrest sent in a flag of truce, with a demand
+for surrender. Streight asked for an interview, which was readily
+granted.</p>
+
+<p>"What terms do you offer?" asked Streight.</p>
+
+<p>"Immediate surrender. Your men to be treated as prisoners of war,
+officers to retain their side-arms and personal property."</p>
+
+<p>During the conversation Streight asked, "How many men have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Enough here to run over you, and a column of fresh troops between you
+and Rome."</p>
+
+<p>In reality Forrest had only five hundred men left him, the remainder
+having been dropped from point to point as their horses gave out and no
+new mounts were to be had. But the five hundred made noise enough for a
+brigade, it being Forrest's purpose to conceal the weakness of his
+force.</p>
+
+<p>As they talked a section of the artillery of the pursuers came in sight
+within a short range. Colonel Streight objected to this, and Forrest
+gave orders that the guns must come no nearer. But the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> artillerymen
+moved around a neighboring hill as if putting several small batteries
+into position.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you many guns, general?" asked Streight.</p>
+
+<p>"Enough to blow you all to pieces before an hour," was the grandiloquent
+reply.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Streight looked doubtfully at the situation, not knowing how
+much to believe of what he saw and heard. After some more words he
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot decide without consulting my officers."</p>
+
+<p>"As you please," said Forrest, with a sublime air of indifference. "It
+will soon be over, one way or the other."</p>
+
+<p>Streight had not all the fight taken out of him yet, but he found all
+his officers in favor of a surrender and felt obliged to consent. The
+men accordingly were bidden to stack their arms and were marched back
+into a field, Forrest managing as soon as he conveniently could to get
+his men between them and their guns. The officers were started without
+delay and under a strong escort for Rome, twenty miles away. On their
+route thither they met Captain Russell returning and told him of what
+had taken place. With tears in his eyes he surrendered his two hundred
+men.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended one of the most striking achievements of the Civil War.
+Forrest's relentless and indefatigable pursuit, his prompt overcoming of
+the difficulties of the way, and his final capture of Streight's men
+with less than half their force, have been commended by military critics
+as his most brilliant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span> achievement and one of the most remarkable
+exploits in the annals of warfare.</p>
+
+<p>The outcome of Colonel Streight's raid to the South was singularly like
+that of General Morgan's famous raid to the North. Morgan's capture,
+imprisonment, and escape were paralleled in Streight's career. Sent to
+Richmond, and immured in Libby Prison, he and four of his officers took
+part in the memorable escape by a tunnel route in February, 1864. In his
+report, published after his escape, he blames his defeat largely on the
+poor mules, and claims that Forrest's force outnumbered him three to
+one. It is not unlikely that he believed this, judging from the
+incessant trouble they had given him, but the truth seems established
+that at the surrender Forrest had less than half the available force of
+his foe.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>EXPLOITS OF A BLOCKADE-RUNNER.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> were no more daring adventures and hair-breadth escapes during the
+Civil War than those encountered in running the blockade, carrying
+sadly-needed supplies into the ports of the Confederacy, and returning
+with cargoes of cotton and other valuable products of the South. There
+was money in it for the successful, much money; but, on the other hand,
+there was danger of loss of vessel and cargo, long imprisonment, perhaps
+death, and only men of unusual boldness and dare-devil recklessness were
+ready to engage in it. The stories told by blockade-runners are full of
+instances of desperate risk and thrilling adventure. As an example of
+their more ordinary experience, we shall give, from Thomas E. Taylor's
+"Running the Blockade," the interesting account of his first run to
+Wilmington harbor.</p>
+
+<p>This town, it must be premised, lies some sixteen miles up Cape Fear
+River, at whose principal entrance the formidable Fort Fisher obliged
+the blockading fleet to lie out of the range of its guns, and thus gave
+some opportunity for alert blockade-runners to slip in. Yet this was far
+from safe and easy. Each entrance to the river was surrounded by an
+in-shore squadron of Federal vessels, anchored<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span> in close order during
+the day, and at night weighing anchor and patrolling from shore to
+shore. Farther out was a second cordon of cruisers, similarly alert, and
+beyond these again gunboats were stationed at intervals, far enough out
+to sight by daybreak any vessels that crossed Wilmington bar at high
+tide in the night. Then, again, there were free cruisers patrolling the
+Gulf Stream, so that to enter the river unseen was about as difficult as
+any naval operation could well be. With this preliminary statement of
+the situation, let us permit Mr. Taylor to tell his story.</p>
+
+<p>"The 'Banshee's' engines proved so unsatisfactory that, under ordinary
+conditions, nine or ten knots was all we could get out of her; she was
+therefore not permitted to run any avoidable risks, and to this I
+attribute her extraordinary success where better boats failed. As long
+as daylight lasted a man was never out of the cross-trees, and the
+moment a sail was seen the 'Banshee's' stern was turned to it till it
+was dropped below the horizon. The look-out man, to quicken his eyes,
+had a dollar for every sail he sighted, and if it were seen from the
+deck first he was fined five. This may appear excessive, but the
+importance in blockade-running of seeing before you are seen is too
+great for any chance to be neglected; and it must be remembered that the
+pay of ordinary seamen for each round trip in and out was from &pound;50 to
+&pound;60.</p>
+
+<p>"Following these tactics, we crept noiselessly along the shores of the
+Bahamas, invisible in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span> darkness, and ran on unmolested for the first
+two days out [from the port of Nassau], though our course was often
+interfered with by the necessity of avoiding hostile vessels; then came
+the anxious moment on the third, when, her position having been taken at
+noon to see if she was near enough to run under the guns of Fort Fisher
+before the following daybreak, it was found there was just time, but
+none to spare for accidents or delay. Still, the danger of lying out
+another day so close to the blockaded port was very great, and rather
+than risk it we resolved to keep straight on our course and chance being
+overtaken by daylight before we were under the fort.</p>
+
+<p>"Now the real excitement began, and nothing I have ever experienced can
+compare with it. Hunting, pig-sticking, steeple-chasing, big-game
+shooting, polo&mdash;I have done a little of each&mdash;all have their thrilling
+moments, but none can approach 'running a blockade;' and perhaps my
+readers may sympathize with my enthusiasm when they consider the dangers
+to be encountered, after three days of constant anxiety and little
+sleep, in threading our way through a swarm of blockaders, and the
+accuracy required to hit in the nick of time the mouth of a river only
+half a mile wide, without lights and with a coast-line so low and
+featureless that, as a rule, the first intimation we had of its nearness
+was the dim white line of the surf.</p>
+
+<p>"There were, of course, many different plans of getting in, but at this
+time the favorite dodge was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">294</a></span> to run up some fifteen or twenty miles to
+the north of Cape Fear, so as to round the northernmost of the
+blockaders, instead of dashing right through the inner squadron; then to
+creep down close to the surf till the river was reached; and this was
+the course the 'Banshee' intended to adopt.</p>
+
+<p>"We steamed cautiously on until nightfall; the night proved dark, but
+dangerously clear and calm. No lights were allowed&mdash;not even a cigar;
+the engine-room hatch-ways were covered with tarpaulins, at the risk of
+suffocating the unfortunate engineers and stokers in the almost
+insufferable atmosphere below. But it was absolutely imperative that not
+a glimmer of light should appear. Even the binnacle was covered, and the
+steersman had to see as much of the compass as he could through a
+conical aperture carried almost up to his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"With everything thus in readiness, we steamed on in silence, except for
+the stroke of the engines and the beat of the paddle-floats, which in
+the calm of the night seemed distressingly loud; all hands were on deck,
+crouching behind the bulwarks, and we on the bridge, namely, the
+captain, the pilot, and I, were straining our eyes into the darkness.
+Presently Burroughs made an uneasy movement.</p>
+
+<p>"'Better get a cast of the lead, captain,' I heard him whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"A muttered order down the engine-room tube was Steele's reply, and the
+'Banshee' slowed, and then stopped. It was an anxious moment while a dim
+figure stole into the fore-chains,&mdash;for there is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span> always a danger of
+steam blowing off when engines are unexpectedly stopped, and that would
+have been enough to betray our presence for miles around. In a minute or
+two came back the report, 'Sixteen fathoms&mdash;sandy bottom with black
+specks.'</p>
+
+<p>"'We are not in as far as I thought, captain,' said Burroughs, 'and we
+are too far to the southward. Port two points and go a little faster.'</p>
+
+<p>"As he explained, we must be well to the north of the speckled bottom
+before it was safe to head for the shore, and away we went again. In
+about an hour Burroughs quietly asked for another sounding. Again she
+was gently stopped, and this time he was satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>"'Starboard, and go ahead easy,' was the order now, and as we crept in
+not a sound was heard but that of the regular beat of the paddle-floats,
+still dangerously loud in spite of our snail's pace. Suddenly Burroughs
+gripped my arm,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"'There's one of them, Mr. Taylor,' he whispered, 'on the starboard
+bow.'</p>
+
+<p>"In vain I strained my eyes to where he pointed, not a thing could I
+see; but presently I heard Steele say, beneath his breath, 'All right,
+Burroughs, I see her. Starboard a little, steady!' was the order passed
+aft.</p>
+
+<p>"A moment afterward I could make out a long, low black object on our
+starboard side, lying perfectly still. Would she see us? that was the
+question; but no, though we passed within a hundred yards of her we were
+not discovered, and I breathed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span> again. Not very long after we had
+dropped her, Burroughs whispered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"'Steamer on the port bow.'</p>
+
+<p>"And another cruiser was made out close to us.</p>
+
+<p>"'Hard-a-port,' said Steele, and round she swung, bringing our friend
+upon our beam. Still unobserved, we crept quietly on, when all at once a
+third cruiser shaped itself out of the gloom right ahead, and steaming
+slowly across our bows.</p>
+
+<p>"'Stop her,' said Steele, in a moment; and as we lay like dead our enemy
+went on and disappeared in the darkness. It was clear there was a false
+reckoning somewhere, and that instead of rounding the head of the
+blockading line we were passing through the very centre of it. However,
+Burroughs was now of opinion that we must be inside the squadron, and
+advocated making the land. So 'slow ahead' we went again, until the
+low-lying coast and the surf-line became dimly visible. Still we could
+not tell where we were, and, as time was getting on alarmingly near
+dawn, the only thing to do was to creep down along the surf as close in
+and as fast as we dared. It was a great relief when we suddenly heard
+Burroughs say, 'It's all right. I see the Big Hill.'</p>
+
+<p>"The 'Big Hill' was a hillock about as high as a full-grown oak, but it
+was the most prominent feature for miles on that dreary coast, and
+served to tell us exactly how far we were from Fort Fisher. And
+fortunate it was for us we were so near. Daylight was already breaking,
+and before we were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span>opposite the fort we could make out six or seven
+gunboats, which steamed rapidly towards us and angrily opened fire.
+Their shots were soon dropping close around us, an unpleasant sensation
+when you know you have several tons of gunpowder under your feet.</p>
+
+<p>"To make matters worse, the North Breaker Shoal now compelled us to haul
+off the shore and steam farther out. It began to look ugly for us, when
+all at once there was a flash from the shore followed by a sound that
+came like music to our ears,&mdash;that of a shell whirring over our heads.
+It was Fort Fisher, wide awake and warning the gunboats to keep their
+distance. With a parting broadside they steamed sulkily out of range,
+and in half an hour we were safely over the bar.</p>
+
+<p>"A boat put off from the fort, and then&mdash;well, it was the days of
+champagne cocktails, not whiskeys and sodas, and one did not run a
+blockade every day. For my part I was mightily proud of my first attempt
+and my baptism of fire. Blockade-running seemed the pleasantest and most
+exhilarating of pastimes. I did not know then what a very serious
+business it could be."</p>
+
+<p>On the return trip the "Banshee" was ballasted with tobacco and laden
+with cotton, three tiers of it even on deck. She ran impudently straight
+through the centre of the cordon, close by the flag-ship, and got
+through the second cordon in safety, though chased by a gunboat. When
+Nassau was reached and profits summed up, they proved to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span> amount to &pound;50
+a ton on the war material carried in, while the tobacco carried out
+netted &pound;70 a ton for a hundred tons and the cotton &pound;50 a bale for five
+hundred bales. It may be seen that successful blockade-running paid.</p>
+
+<p>It may be of interest to our readers to give some other adventures in
+which the "Banshee" figured. On one of her trips, when she was creeping
+down the land about twelve miles above Fort Fisher, a cruiser appeared
+moving along about two hundred yards from shore. An effort was made to
+pass her inside, hoping to be hidden by the dark background of the land.
+But there were eyes open on the cruiser, and there came the ominous
+hail, "Stop that steamer or I will sink you!"</p>
+
+<p>"We haven't time to stop," growled Steele, and shouted down the
+engine-room tube to "pile on the coals." There was nothing now but to
+run and hope for luck. The cruiser at once opened fire, and as the
+"Banshee" began to draw ahead a shot carried away her foremast and a
+shell exploded in her bunkers. Grape and canister followed, the crew
+escaping death by flinging themselves flat on the deck. Even the
+steersman, stricken by panic, did the same, and the boat swerved round
+and headed straight for the surf. A close shave it was as Taylor rushed
+aft, clutched the wheel, and just in time got her head off the land.
+Before they got in two other cruisers brought them under fire, but they
+ran under Fort Fisher in safety.</p>
+
+<p>One more adventure of the "Banshee" and we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span> shall close. It was on her
+sixth trip out. She had got safely through the fleet and day had dawned.
+All was joy and relaxation when Erskine, the engineer, suddenly
+exclaimed: "Mr. Taylor, look astern!" and there, not four miles away,
+and coming down under sail and steam, was a large side-wheel steamer,
+left unseen by gross carelessness on the part of the look-out.</p>
+
+<p>Erskine rushed below, and soon volumes of smoke were pouring from the
+funnels, but it was almost too late, for the chaser was coming up so
+fast that the uniformed officers on her bridge could be distinctly seen.</p>
+
+<p>"This will never do," said Steele, and ordered the helm to be altered so
+as to bring the ship up to the wind. It took them off the course to
+Nassau, but it forced their pursuer to take in her sails, and an
+exciting chase under steam right into the wind's eye began. Matters at
+length became so critical that no hope remained but to lighten the boat
+by throwing overboard her deck-load of cotton&mdash;a sore necessity in view
+of the fact that the bales which went bobbing about on the waves were
+worth to them &pound;50 or &pound;60 apiece.</p>
+
+<p>In clearing out the bales they cleared out something more, a runaway
+slave, who had been standing wedged between two bales for at least
+forty-eight hours. He received an ovation on landing at Nassau, but they
+were obliged to pay four thousand dollars to his owner on their return
+to Wilmington.</p>
+
+<p>The loss of the cotton lightened the boat and it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span> began to gain in the
+race, both craft plunging into the great seas that had arisen, yet
+neither slackening speed. A fresh danger arose when the bearings of the
+engine became overheated from the enormous strain put upon them. It was
+necessary to stop, despite the imminence of the chase, and to loosen the
+bearings and feed them liberally with salad oil mixed with gunpowder
+before they were in working order again. Thus, fifteen weary hours
+passed away, and nightfall was at hand when the chaser, then only five
+miles astern, turned and gave up the pursuit. It was learned afterward
+that her stokers were dead beat.</p>
+
+<p>But port was still far away, they having been chased one hundred and
+fifty miles out of their course, and fuel was getting perilously low. At
+the end of the third day the last coal was used, and then everything
+that would burn was shoved into the furnaces,&mdash;main-mast, bulwarks, deck
+cabin, with cotton and turpentine to aid,&mdash;and these only sufficed to
+carry them into a Bahama Island, still sixty miles from Nassau. They
+were not there two hours before they saw a Federal steamer glide slowly
+past, eying them as the fox eyed the grapes.</p>
+
+<p>The adventure was still not at its end. Mr. Taylor hired a schooner in
+the harbor to go to Nassau and bring back a cargo of coal, he and Murray
+Aynsely, a passenger, going in it. But the night proved a terrible one,
+a hurricane rising, and the crew growing so terrified by the fury of the
+gale and the vividness of the lightning that they nearly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">301</a></span> wrecked the
+schooner on the rocks. When the weather moderated the men refused to
+proceed, and it was only by dint of a show of revolvers and promise of
+reward that Taylor and his passenger induced them to go on. On reaching
+Nassau they were utterly worn out, having been almost without sleep for
+a week, while Taylor's feet were so swollen that his boots had to be cut
+off.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended one of the most notable chases in the history of
+blockade-running, it having lasted fifteen hours and covered nearly two
+hundred miles. Fortunate was it for the "Banshee" that the "James
+Adger," her pursuer, had no bow-chasers, and that the weather was too
+ugly for her to venture to yaw and use her broadside guns, or the
+"Banshee" might have there and then ended her career.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">302</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>FONTAIN, THE SCOUT, AND THE BESIEGERS OF VICKSBURG.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Civil War was not lacking in its daring and interesting adventures
+of scouts, spies, despatch-bearers, and others of that interesting tribe
+whose field of operations lies between the armies in the field, and
+whose game is played with life as the stake, this being fair prey for
+the bullet if pursued, and often for the rope if captured. We have the
+story of one these heroes of hazard to tell, a story the more
+interesting from the fact that he was a cripple who seemed fit only to
+hobble about his home. It is the remarkable feat of Lamar Fontain, a
+Confederate despatch-bearer, which the record of the war has nothing to
+surpass.</p>
+
+<p>Fontain's disability came from a broken leg, which had left him so
+disabled that he could not take a step without a crutch, and in mounting
+a horse was obliged to lift the useless leg over the saddle with his
+right hand. But once in the saddle he was as good a man as his fellow,
+and his dexterity with the pistol rendered him a dangerous fellow to
+face when it became a question of life or death.</p>
+
+<p>We must seek him at that period in 1863 when the stronghold of
+Vicksburg, on which depended the Confederacy's control of the
+Mississippi, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">303</a></span> closely invested by the army of General Grant, the
+siege lines so continuous, alike in the rear of the town and on the
+Mississippi and its opposite shore, that it seemed as if hardly a bird
+could enter or leave its streets. General Johnston kept the field in the
+rear, but Grant was much too strong for him, and he was obliged to trust
+to the chapter of chances for the hope of setting Pemberton free from
+the net by which he was surrounded.</p>
+
+<p>Knowing the daring and usual success of Lamar Fontain in very hazardous
+enterprises, Johnston engaged him to endeavor to carry a verbal message
+to General Pemberton, sending him out on the perilous and seemingly
+impossible venture of making his way into the closely beleaguered city.
+In addition to his message, he took with him a supply of some forty
+pounds of percussion caps for the use of the besieged garrison.</p>
+
+<p>On the 24th of May, 1863, Fontain set out from his father's home, at a
+considerable distance in the rear of the Federal lines. He was well
+mounted, and armed with an excellent revolver and a good sabre, which he
+carried in a wooden scabbard to prevent its rattling. His other burdens
+were his packet of percussion caps, his blanket, and his crutches.</p>
+
+<p>That night he crossed Big Black River, and before dawn of the next day
+was well within the lines of the enemy. Travel by day was now out of the
+question, so he hid his horse in a ravine, and found a place of shelter
+for himself in a fallen tree that overlooked the road. From his
+hiding-place he saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span> a confused and hasty movement of the enemy,
+seemingly in retreat from too hot a brush with the garrison. Waiting
+till their columns had passed and the nightfall made it safe for him to
+move, he mounted again and continued his journey in the direction of
+Snyder's Bluff on the Yazoo.</p>
+
+<p>Entering the telegraphic road from Yazoo City to Vicksburg, he had not
+gone far before he was confronted and hailed by a picket of the enemy.
+Spurring his spirited steed, he dashed past at full speed. A volley
+followed him, one of the balls striking his horse, though none of them
+touched him. The good steed had received a mortal wound, but by a final
+and desperate effort it carried its rider to the banks of the Yazoo
+River. Here it fell dead, leaving its late rider afoot, and lacking one
+of his crutches, which had been caught and jerked away by the limb of a
+tree as he dashed headlong past.</p>
+
+<p>With the aid of his remaining crutch, and carrying his baggage, Fontain
+groped his way along the river side, keenly looking for some means of
+conveyance on its waters. He soon found what he wanted in the shape of a
+small log canoe, tied to a tree on the river bank. Pressing this into
+his service, and disposing himself and his burden safely within, he
+paddled down the stream, hoping to reach the Mississippi and drift down
+to the city front before break of day.</p>
+
+<p>Success was not to come so easily. A sound of puffing steam came from
+down the river, and soon a trio of gunboats loomed through the gloom,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">305</a></span>heading towards Yazoo City. These were avoided by taking shelter among
+a bunch of willows that overhung the bank and served to hide the boat
+from view. The gunboats well past, Fontain took to the current again,
+soon reaching Snyder's Bluff, which was lighted up and a scene of
+animation. Whites and blacks mingled on the bank, and it looked like a
+midnight ball between the Yankee soldiers and belles of sable hue.
+Gunboats and barges lined the shore and the light was thrown far out
+over the stream. But those present were too hilarious to be watchful,
+and, lying flat in his canoe, the scout glided safely past, the dug-out
+not distinguishable from a piece of driftwood. Before the new day dawned
+he reached the backwater of the Mississippi, but in the darkness he
+missed the outlet of the Yazoo and paddled into what is called "Old
+River."</p>
+
+<p>The new day reddened in the east while he was still vainly searching for
+an opening into the broad parent stream. Then his familiarity with the
+locality showed him his mistake, and he was forced to seek a
+hiding-place for himself and his boat. He had now been out two days and
+nights. The little food he brought had long been devoured, and hunger
+was assailing him. Sleep had also scarcely visited his eyes, and the
+strain was growing severe.</p>
+
+<p>Getting some slumber that day in his covert, he set out again as soon as
+night fell, paddling back into the Yazoo, from which he soon reached the
+Mississippi. He was here on a well-peopled stream, boats and lights
+being abundant. As he glided on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span> through the gloom he passed forty or
+fifty transports, but had the good fortune to be seen by only one man,
+who hailed him from the stern of a steamer and asked him where he was
+going.</p>
+
+<p>"To look after my fishing-lines," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"All right; hope you'll have a good catch." And he floated on.</p>
+
+<p>Farther down in the bend of the stream above Vicksburg he came upon a
+more animated scene. Here were the mortar-boats in full blast,
+bombarding the city, every shot lighting up the stream for a wide space
+around. But the gun crews were too busy to pay any attention to the
+seeming drift-log that glided silently by the fleet or to notice the man
+that lay at full length within it. On he went, trusting to the current
+and keeping his recumbent position. The next day's dawn found him in the
+midst of the Confederate picket-boats in front of the city. Here, tying
+a white handkerchief to his paddle, he lifted it as a flag of truce, and
+sat upright with a loud hurrah for Jeff Davis and the Southern
+Confederacy. As may well be imagined, his cheers were echoed by the
+boatmen when they learned his mission, and he was borne in triumph
+ashore and taken to General Pemberton's head-quarters. He received a
+warm welcome from the general, alike for the message he brought and the
+very desirable supply of percussion caps. It was with no little
+admiration that Pemberton heard the story of a daring feat that seemed
+utterly impossible for a cripple on crutches.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span></p><p>During the next day the scout wandered about the beleaguered city,
+viewing the animated and in many respects terrible scene of warfare
+which it presented,&mdash;the fierce bombardment from the Federal works,
+extending in a long curve from the river above to the river below the
+city; the hot return fire of the defendants; the equally fierce exchange
+of fire between the gunboats and mortars and the intrenchments on the
+bluffs; the bursting of shells in the city streets; the ruined
+habitations, and the cave-like refuges in which the citizens sought
+safety from the death-dealing missiles. It was a scene never to be
+forgotten, a spectacle of ruin, suffering, and death. And the suffering
+was not alone from the terrible enginery of war, but from lack of food
+as well, for that dread spectre of famine, that in a few weeks more was
+to force the surrender of the valiantly defended city, was already
+showing its gaunt form in the desolated streets and the foodless homes.</p>
+
+<p>Fontain was glad enough after his day and night among the besieged to
+seek again the more open field of operations outside. Receiving a
+despatch from General Pemberton to his colleague in the field, and a
+suitable reward for his service, he betook himself again to the canoe
+which had stood him in such good stead and resumed his task of danger.
+He was on a well-guarded river and had to pass through a country full of
+foes, and the peril of his enterprise was by no means at an end.</p>
+
+<p>The gloom of evening lay on the stream when he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span> once more trusted
+himself to its swift current, which quickly brought him among the craft
+of the enemy below the city. Avoiding their picket-boats on both sides
+of the river, he floated near the gunboats as safer, passing so near one
+of them that through an open port-hole he could see a group of men
+playing cards and hear their conversation. He made a landing at length
+at Diamond Place, bidding adieu to his faithful dug-out and gladly
+setting foot on land again.</p>
+
+<p>Hobbling with the aid of his crutch through the bottom-lands, the scout
+soon reached higher ground, and here made his way to the house of an
+acquaintance, hoping to find a mount. But all the useful horses and
+mules on the place had been confiscated by the foe, there remaining only
+a worthless old gelding and a half-broken colt, of which he was offered
+the choice. He took the colt, but found it to travel so badly that he
+wished he had chosen the gelding.</p>
+
+<p>In this dilemma fortune favored him, for in the bottom he came upon a
+fine horse, tied by a blind bridle and without a saddle. A basket and an
+old bag were lying close by, and he inferred from this that a negro had
+left the horse and that a camp of the enemy was near at hand. Here was
+an opportunity for confiscation of which he did not hesitate to avail
+himself, and in all haste he exchanged bridles, saddled the horse,
+turned loose the colt, mounted, and was off.</p>
+
+<p>He took a course so as to avoid the supposed camp, but had not gone far
+before he came face to face with a Federal soldier who was evidently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">309</a></span>
+returning from a successful foray for plunder, for he was well laden
+with chickens and carried a bucket of honey. He began questioning
+Fontain with a curiosity that threatened unpleasant consequences, and
+the alert scout ended the colloquy with a pistol bullet which struck the
+plunderer squarely in the forehead. Leaving him stretched on the path,
+with his poultry and honey beside him, Fontain made all haste from that
+dangerous locality.</p>
+
+<p>Reaching a settlement at a distance from the stream, he hired a guide to
+lead him to Hankerson's Ferry, on the Big Black River, promising him
+fifty dollars if he would take him there without following any road.
+They proceeded till near the ferry, when Fontain sent his guide ahead to
+learn if any of the enemy were in that vicinity. But there was something
+about the manner and talk of the man that excited his suspicion, and as
+soon as the fellow was gone he sought a hiding-place from which he could
+watch his return. The man was gone much longer than appeared necessary.
+At length he came back alone and reported that the track was clear,
+there being no Yankees near the ferry.</p>
+
+<p>Paying and dismissing the guide, without showing his suspicions, Fontain
+took good care not to obey his directions, but selected his course so as
+to approach the river at a point above the ferry. By doing so he escaped
+a squad of soldiers that seemed posted to intercept him, for as he
+entered the road near the river bank a sentinel rose not more than ten
+feet away and bade him to halt. He seemed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span> form the right flank of a
+line of sentinels posted to command the ferry.</p>
+
+<p>It was a time for quick and decisive action. Fontain had approached,
+pistol in hand, and as the man hailed he felled him with a bullet, then
+wheeled his horse and set out at full gallop up the stream. A shower of
+balls followed him, one of them striking his right hand and wounding all
+four of its fingers. Another grazed his right leg and a third cut a hole
+through his sword scabbard. The horse fared worse, for no fewer than
+seven bullets struck it. Keeling from its wounds it still had strength
+to bear up for a mile, when it fell and died.</p>
+
+<p>He had outridden his foes, who were all on foot, and, dividing his arms
+and clothes into two packages, he trusted himself to the waters of the
+Big Black, which he swam in safety. On the other side he was in friendly
+territory, and did not walk far before he came to the house of a
+patriotic Southern woman, who loaned him the only horse she had. It was
+a stray one which had come to her place after the Yankee foragers had
+carried off all the horses she owned.</p>
+
+<p>Fontain was now in a safe region. His borrowed horse carried him to
+Raymond by two o'clock the next morning, and was here changed for a
+fresh one, which enabled him to reach Jackson during the forenoon. Here
+he delivered his despatch to General Johnston, having successfully
+performed a feat which, in view of its difficulties and his physical
+disability, may well be classed as phenomenal.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">311</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>GORDON AND THE BAYONET CHARGE AT ANTIETAM.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the opening chapter of General John B. Gordon's interesting
+"Reminiscences of the Civil War" he tells us that the bayonet, so far as
+he knew, was very rarely used in that war, and never effectively. The
+bayonet, the lineal descendant of the lance and spear of far-past
+warfare, had done remarkable service in its day, but with the advent of
+the modern rifle its day ended, except as a weapon useful in repelling
+cavalry charges or defending hollow squares. Fearful as their glittering
+and bristling points appeared when levelled in front of a charging line,
+bayonets were rarely reddened with the blood of an enemy in the Civil
+War, and the soldiers of that desperate conflict found them more useful
+as tools in the rapid throwing up of light earthworks than as weapons
+for use against their foes.</p>
+
+<p>Later in his work Gordon gives a case in point, in his vivid description
+of a bayonet charge upon the line under his command on the bloody field
+of Antietam. This is well worth repeating as an illustration of the
+modern ineffectiveness of the bayonet, and also as a story of thrilling
+interest in itself. As related by Gordon, there are few incidents in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">312</a></span>
+the war which surpass it in picturesqueness and vitality.</p>
+
+<p>The battle of Antietam was a struggle unsurpassed for its desperate and
+deadly fierceness in the whole war, the losses, in comparison with the
+numbers engaged, being the greatest of any battle-field of the conflict.
+The plain in which it was fought was literally bathed in blood.</p>
+
+<p>It is not our purpose to describe this battle, but simply that portion
+of it in which General Gordon's troops were engaged. For hour after hour
+a desperate struggle continued on the left of Lee's lines, in which
+charge and counter-charge succeeded each other, until the green corn
+which had waved there looked as if had been showered upon by a rain of
+blood. But during those hours of death not a shot had been fired upon
+the centre. Here General Gordon's men held the most advanced position,
+and were without a supporting line, their post being one of imminent
+danger in case of an assault in force.</p>
+
+<p>As the day passed onward the battle on the left at length lulled, both
+sides glad of an interval of rest. That McClellan's next attempt would
+be made upon the centre General Lee felt confident, and he rode thither
+to caution the leaders and bid them to hold their ground at any
+sacrifice. A break at that point, he told them, might prove ruinous to
+the army. He especially charged Gordon to stand stiffly with his men, as
+his small force would feel the first brunt of the expected assault.
+Gordon,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span> alike to give hope to Lee and to inspire his own men, said in
+reply,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"These men are going to stay here, general, till the sun goes down or
+victory is won."</p>
+
+<p>Lee's military judgment, as usual, was correct. He had hardly got back
+to the left of his line when the assault predicted by him came. It was a
+beautiful and brilliant day, scarcely a cloud mantling the sky. Down the
+slope opposite marched through the clear sunlight a powerful column of
+Federal troops. Crossing the little Antietam Creek they formed in column
+of assault, four lines deep. Their commander, nobly mounted, placed
+himself at their right, while the front line came to a "charge bayonets"
+and the other lines to a "right shoulder shift." In the rear front the
+band blared out martial music to give inspiration to the men. To the
+Confederates, looking silently and expectantly on the coming corps, the
+scene was one of thrilling interest. It might have been one of terror
+but for their long training in such sights.</p>
+
+<p>Who were these men so spick and span in their fresh blue uniforms, in
+strange contrast to the ragged and soiled Confederate gray? Every man of
+them wore white gaiters and neat attire, while the dust and smoke of
+battle had surely never touched the banners that floated above their
+heads. Were they new recruits from some military camp, now first to test
+their training in actual war? In the sunlight the long line of bayonets
+gleamed like burnished silver. As if fresh from the parade-ground<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">314</a></span> they
+advanced with perfect alignment, their steps keeping martial time to the
+steady beat of the drum. It was a magnificent spectacle as the line
+advanced, a show of martial beauty which it seemed a shame to destroy by
+the rude hand of war.</p>
+
+<p>One thing was evident to General Gordon. His opponent proposed to trust
+to the bayonet and attempt to break through Lee's centre by the sheer
+weight of his deep charging column. It might be done. Here were four
+lines of blue marching on the one in gray. How should the charge be met?
+By immediate and steady fire, or by withholding his fire till the lines
+were face to face, and then pouring upon the Federals a blighting storm
+of lead? Gordon decided on the latter, believing that a sudden and
+withering burst of deadly hail in the faces of men with empty guns would
+be more than any troops could stand.</p>
+
+<p>All the horses were sent to the rear and the men were ordered to lie
+down in the grass, they being told by their officers that the Federals
+were coming with unloaded guns, trusting to the bayonet, and that not a
+shot must be heard until the word "Fire!" was given. This would not be
+until the Federals were close at hand. In the old Revolutionary phrase,
+they must wait "till they saw the whites of their eyes."</p>
+
+<p>On came the long lines, still as steady and precise in movement as if
+upon holiday drill. Not a rifle-shot was heard. Neither side had
+artillery at this point, and no roar of cannon broke the strange<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span>
+silence. The awaiting boys in gray grew eager and impatient and had to
+be kept in restraint by their officers. "Wait! wait for the word!" was
+the admonition. Yet it was hard to lie there while that line of bayonets
+came closer and closer, until the eagles on the buttons of the blue
+coats could be seen, and at length the front rank was not twenty yards
+away.</p>
+
+<p>The time had come. With all the power of his lungs Gordon shouted out
+the word "Fire!" In an instant there burst from the prostrate line a
+blinding blaze of light, and a frightful hail of bullets rent through
+the Federal ranks. Terrible was the effect of that consuming volley.
+Almost the whole front rank of the foe seemed to go down in a mass. The
+brave commander and his horse fell in a heap together. In a moment he
+was on his feet; it was the horse, not the man, that the deadly bullet
+had found.</p>
+
+<p>In an instant more the recumbent Confederates were on their feet, an
+appalling yell bursting from their throats as they poured new volleys
+upon the Federal lines. No troops on earth could have faced that fire
+without a chance to reply. Their foes bore unloaded guns. Not a bayonet
+had reached the breast for which it was aimed. The lines recoiled,
+though in good order for men swept by such a blast of death. Large
+numbers of them had fallen, yet not a drop of blood had been lost by one
+of Gordon's men.</p>
+
+<p>The gallant man who led the Federals was not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">316</a></span> yet satisfied that the
+bayonet could not break the ranks of his foes. Reforming his men, now in
+three lines, he led them again with empty guns to the charge. Again they
+were driven back with heavy loss. With extraordinary persistence he
+clung to his plan of winning with the bayonet, coming on again and again
+until four fruitless charges had been made on Gordon's lines, not a man
+in which had fallen, while the Federal loss had been very heavy. Not
+until convinced by this sanguinary evidence that the day of the bayonet
+was past did he order his men to load and open fire on the hostile
+lines. It was an experiment in an obsolete method of warfare which had
+proved disastrous to those engaged in it.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p316.jpg" width="600" height="326" alt="GORDON HOUSE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Gordon House.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the remaining hours of that desperate conflict Gordon and his men had
+another experience to face. The fire from both sides grew furious and
+deadly, and at nightfall, when the carnage ceased, so many of the
+soldiers in gray had fallen that, as one of the officers afterward said,
+he could have walked on the dead bodies of the men from end to end of
+the line. How true this was Gordon was unable to say, for by this time
+he was himself a wreck, fairly riddled with bullets.</p>
+
+<p>As he tells us, his previous record was remarkably reversed in this
+fight, and we cannot better close our story than with a description of
+his new experience. He had hitherto seemed almost to bear a charmed
+life. While numbers had fallen by his side in battle, and his own
+clothing had been often<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">317</a></span> pierced and torn by balls and fragments of
+shells, he had not lost a drop of blood, and his men looked upon him as
+one destined by fate not to be killed in battle. "They can't hit him;"
+"He's as safe in one place as another," form a type of the expressions
+used by them, and Gordon grew to have much the same faith in his
+destiny, as he passed through battle after battle unharmed.</p>
+
+<p>At Antietam the record was decidedly broken. The first volley from the
+Federal troops sent a bullet whirling through the calf of his right leg.
+Soon after another ball went through the same leg, at a higher point. As
+no bone was broken, he was still able to walk along the line and
+encourage his men to bear the deadly fire which was sweeping their
+lines. Later in the day a third ball came, this passing through his arm,
+rending flesh and tendons, but still breaking no bone. Through his
+shoulder soon came a fourth ball, carrying a wad of clothing into the
+wound. The men begged their bleeding commander to leave the field, but
+he would not flinch, though fast growing faint from loss of blood.</p>
+
+<p>Finally came the fifth ball, this time striking him in the face, and
+passing out, just missing the jugular vein. Falling, he lay unconscious
+with his face in his cap, into which poured the blood from his wound
+until it threatened to smother him. It might have done so but for still
+another ball, which pierced the cap and let out the blood.</p>
+
+<p>When Gordon was borne to the rear he had been so seriously wounded and
+lost so much blood that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span> his case seemed hopeless. Fortunately for him,
+his faithful wife had followed him to the war and now became his nurse.
+As she entered the room, with a look of dismay on seeing him, Gordon,
+who could scarcely speak from the condition of his face, sought to
+reassure her with, the faintly articulated words, "Here's your handsome
+husband; been to an Irish wedding."</p>
+
+<p>It was providential for him that he had this faithful and devoted nurse
+by his side. Only her earnest and incessant care saved him to join the
+war again. Day and night she was beside him, and when erysipelas
+attacked his wounded arm and the doctors told her to paint the arm above
+the wound three or four times a day with iodine, she obeyed by painting
+it, as he thought, three or four hundred times a day. "Under God's
+providence," he says, "I owe my life to her incessant watchfulness night
+and day, and to her tender nursing through weary weeks and anxious
+months."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>THE LAST TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> story of the battle of Chancellorsville and of Jackson's famous
+flank movement, with its disastrous result to Hooker's army, and to the
+Confederates in the loss of their beloved leader, has been often told.
+But these narratives are from the outside; we propose to give one here
+from the inside, in the graphic description of Heros Von Borcke, General
+J. E. B. Stuart's chief of staff, who took an active part in the
+stirring events of that critical 2d of May, 1863.</p>
+
+<p>It is a matter of general history how General Hooker led his army across
+the Rappahannock into that ugly region at Chancellorsville, with its
+morasses, hills, and ravines, its dense forest of scrub-oaks and pines,
+and its square miles of tangled undergrowth, which was justly known as
+The Wilderness; and how he strongly intrenched himself against an attack
+in front, with breastworks of logs and an abattis of felled trees. It is
+equally familiar how Lee, well aware of the peril of attacking these
+formidable works, accepted the bold plan of Stonewall Jackson, who
+proposed to make a secret flank movement and fall with his entire corps
+on Hooker's undefended rear. This was a division of Lee's army which
+might have led to disaster and destruction;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">320</a></span> but he had learned to trust
+in Jackson's star. He accordingly made vigorous demonstrations in
+Hooker's front, in order to attract his attention and keep him employed,
+while Jackson was marching swiftly and stealthily through the thick
+woods, with Stuart's cavalry between him and the foe, to the Orange
+plank-road, four miles westward from Chancellorsville. With this
+introductory sketch of the situation we leave the details of the march
+to Von Borcke.</p>
+
+<p>"All was bustle and confusion as I galloped along the lines on the
+morning of the 2d, to obtain, according to Stuart's orders, the latest
+instructions for our cavalry from General Lee, who was located at a
+distance of some miles to our right. Anderson's and McLaws's
+sharp-shooters were advancing and already exchanging shots with the
+enemy's skirmishers&mdash;the line of battle of these two divisions having
+been partially extended over the space previously occupied by Jackson's
+corps, that they might cover its movements.</p>
+
+<p>"This splendid corps meanwhile was marching in close columns in a
+direction which set us all wondering what could be the intentions of old
+Stonewall; but as we beheld him riding along, heading the troops
+himself, we should as soon have thought of questioning the sagacity of
+our admired chief as of hesitating to follow him blindly wherever he
+should lead. The orders of the cavalry were to report to Jackson and to
+form his advanced-guard; and in that capacity we marched silently along
+through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">321</a></span> the forest, taking a small by-road, which brought us several
+times so near the enemy's lines that the stroke of axes, mingled with
+the hum of voices from their camp, was distinctly audible.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus commenced the famous flank march which, more than any other
+operation of the war, proved the brilliant strategical talents of
+General Lee and the consummate ability of his lieutenant. About two
+o'clock a body of Federal cavalry came in sight, making, however, but
+slight show of resistance, and falling back slowly before us. By about
+four o'clock we had completed our movement without encountering any
+material obstacle, and reached a patch of woods in rear of the enemy's
+right wing, formed by the Eleventh Corps, Howard's, which was encamped
+in a large open field not more than half a mile distant.</p>
+
+<p>"Halting here, the cavalry threw forward a body of skirmishers to occupy
+the enemy's attention, while the divisions of Jackson's corps&mdash;A. P.
+Hill's, Colston's, and Rode's, numbering in all about twenty-eight
+thousand men&mdash;moved into line of battle as fast as they arrived. Ordered
+to reconnoitre the position of the Federals, I rode cautiously forward
+through the forest, and reached a point whence I obtained a capital view
+of the greater part of the troops, whose attitude betokened how totally
+remote was any suspicion that a numerous host was so near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>"It was evident that the whole movement we had thus so successfully
+executed was regarded as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">322</a></span> merely an unimportant cavalry raid, for only a
+few squadrons were drawn up in line to oppose us, and a battery of four
+guns were placed in a position to command the plank-road from Germana,
+over which we had been marching for the last two hours. The main body of
+the troops were listlessly reposing, while some regiments were looking
+on, drawn up on dress parade; artillery horses were quietly grazing at
+some distance from their guns, and the whole scene presented a picture
+of the most perfect heedlessness and nonchalance, compatible only with
+utter unconsciousness of impending danger.</p>
+
+<p>"While complacently gazing on this extraordinary spectacle, somewhat
+touched myself apparently with the spell of listless incaution in which
+our antagonists were locked, I was startled with the sound of closely
+approaching footsteps, and, turning in their direction, beheld a patrol
+of six or eight of the enemy's infantry just breaking through the bushes
+and gazing at me with most unmistakable astonishment. I had no time to
+lose here, that was certain; so quickly tugging my horse's head round in
+the direction of my line of retreat, and digging my spurs into his
+sides, I dashed off from before the bewildered Yankees, and was out of
+sight ere they had time to take steady aim, the bullets that came
+whizzing after me flying far wide of the mark.</p>
+
+<p>"On my return to the spot where I had left Stuart, I found him, with
+Jackson and the officers of their respective staffs, stretched out along
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span> grass beneath a gigantic oak, and tranquilly discussing their plans
+for the impending battle which both seemed confidently to regard as
+likely to end in a great and important victory for our arms. Towards
+five o'clock Jackson's adjutant, Major Pendleton, galloped up to us and
+reported that the line of battle was formed and all was in readiness for
+immediate attack. Accordingly the order was at once given for the whole
+corps to advance. All hastened forthwith to their appointed posts,
+General Stuart and his staff joining the cavalry, which was to operate
+on the left of our infantry.</p>
+
+<p>"Scarcely had we got up to our men when the Confederate yell, which
+always preceded a charge, burst forth along our lines, and Jackson's
+veterans, who had been with difficulty held back till that moment,
+bounded forward towards the astounded and perfectly paralyzed enemy,
+while the thunder of our horse-artillery, on whom devolved the honor of
+opening the ball, reached us from the other extremity of the line. The
+more hotly we sought to hasten to the front, the more obstinately did we
+get entangled in the undergrowth, while our infantry moved on so rapidly
+that the Federals were already completely routed by the time we had got
+thoroughly quit of the forest.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/p323.jpg" width="600" height="343" alt="TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Triumph of Stonewall Jackson.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"It was a strange spectacle that now greeted us. The whole of the
+Eleventh Corps had broken at the first shock of the attack; entire
+regiments had thrown down their arms, which were lying in regular lines
+on the ground, as if for inspection; suppers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">324</a></span> just prepared had been
+abandoned; tents, baggage, wagons, cannons, half-slaughtered oxen,
+covered the foreground in chaotic confusion, while in the background a
+host of many thousand Yankees were discerned scampering for their lives
+as fast as their limbs could carry them, closely followed by our men,
+who were taking prisoners by the hundreds, and scarcely firing a shot."</p>
+
+<p>That the story of panic here told is not too much colored by the
+writer's sympathy for his cause, may be seen by the following extract
+from Lossing's "Civil War in America," a work whose sympathies are
+distinctly on the other side. After saying that Jackson's march had not
+passed unobserved by the Federals, who looked on it as a retreat towards
+Richmond, and were preparing for a vigorous pursuit of the supposed
+fugitives, Lossing thus describes the Confederate onset and the Federal
+rout:</p>
+
+<p>"He (Jackson) had crossed the Orange plank-road, and, under cover of the
+dense jungle of the wilderness, had pushed swiftly northward to the old
+turnpike and beyond, feeling his enemy at every step. Then he turned his
+face towards Chancellorsville, and, just before six o'clock in the
+evening, he burst from the thickets with twenty-five thousand men, and,
+like a sudden, unexpected, and terrible tornado, swept on towards the
+flank and rear of Howard's corps, which occupied the National right; the
+game of the forest&mdash;deers, wild turkeys, and hares&mdash;flying wildly before
+him, and becoming to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">325</a></span> the startled Unionists the heralds of the
+approaching tempest of war. These mute messengers were followed by the
+sound of bugles; then by a few shots from approaching skirmishers; then
+by a tremendous yell from a thousand throats and a murderous fire from a
+strong battle line. Jackson, in heavy force, was upon the Eleventh Corps
+at the moment when the men were preparing for supper and repose, without
+a suspicion of danger near. Deven's division, on the extreme right,
+received the first blow, and almost instantly the surprised troops,
+panic-stricken, fled towards the rear, along the line of the corps,
+communicating their emotions of alarm to the other divisions.... In the
+wildest confusion the fugitives rushed along the road towards
+Chancellorsville, upon the position of General Carl Schurz, whose
+division had already retreated, in anticipation of the onset, and the
+turbulent tide of frightened men rolled back upon General A. Von
+Steinwehr, utterly regardless of the exertions of the commander of the
+corps and his subordinate officers to check their flight. Only a few
+regiments, less demoralized than the others, made resistance, and these
+were instantly scattered like chaff, leaving half their number dead or
+dying on the field."</p>
+
+<p>With this vivid picture of an army in a panic, we shall again take up
+Von Borcke's personal narrative at the point where we left it:</p>
+
+<p>"The broken nature of the ground was against all cavalry operations, and
+though we pushed forward with all our will, it was with difficulty we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">326</a></span>
+could keep up with Jackson's 'Foot-cavalry,' as this famous infantry was
+often called. Meanwhile, a large part of the Federal army, roused by the
+firing and the alarming reports from the rear, hastened to the field of
+action, and exerted themselves in vain to arrest the disgraceful rout of
+their comrades of the Eleventh Corps. Numerous batteries having now
+joined the conflict, a terrific cannonade roared along the lines, and
+the fury of the battle was soon at its full height. Towards dark a
+sudden pause ensued in the conflict, occasioned by Jackson giving orders
+for his lines to reform for the continuation of the combat, the rapid
+and prolonged pursuit of the enemy having thrown them into considerable
+confusion. Old Stonewall being thoroughly impressed with the conviction
+that in a few hours the enemy's whole forces would be defeated, and that
+their principal line of retreat would be in the direction of Ely's Ford,
+Stuart was ordered to proceed at once towards that point with a portion
+of his cavalry, in order to barricade the road and as much as possible
+impede the retrograde movement of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>"In this operation we were joined by a North Carolina infantry regiment,
+which was already on its way towards the river. Leaving the greater part
+of the brigade behind us under Fitz Lee's command, we took only the
+First Virginia Cavalry with us, and, trotting rapidly along a small
+bypath, overtook the infantry about two miles from the ford. Riding with
+Stuart a little ahead of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span> men, I suddenly discovered, on reaching
+the summit of a slight rise in the road, a large encampment in the
+valley to our right, not more than a quarter of a mile from where we
+stood; and, farther still, on the opposite side of the river, more
+camp-fires were visible, indicating the presence of a large body of
+troops.</p>
+
+<p>"Calling a halt, the general and I rode cautiously forward to
+reconnoitre the enemy a little more closely, and we managed to approach
+near enough to hear distinctly the voices and distinguish the figures of
+the men sitting around their fires or strolling through the camp. The
+unexpected presence of so large a body of the enemy immediately in our
+path entirely disconcerted our previous arrangements. Nevertheless
+Stuart determined on giving them a slight surprise and disturbing their
+comfort by a few volleys from our infantry. Just as the regiment,
+mustering about a thousand, had formed into line according to orders,
+and was prepared to advance on the enemy, two officers of General A. P.
+Hill's staff rode up in great haste and excitement, and communicated
+something in a low tone to General Stuart, by which he seemed greatly
+startled and affected.</p>
+
+<p>"'Take the command of that regiment, and act on your own
+responsibility,' were his whispered injunctions to me, as he immediately
+rode off, followed by the other officers and the cavalry at their
+topmost speed.</p>
+
+<p>"The thunder of the cannon, which for the last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">328</a></span> hour had increased in
+loudness, announced that Jackson had recommenced the battle, but as to
+the course or actual position of affairs I had not an iota of
+information, and my anxiety being moreover increased by the suddenness
+of Stuart's departure on some unknown emergency, I felt rather awkwardly
+situated. Here was I in the darkness of the night, in an unknown and
+thickly wooded country, some six miles from our main army, and opposite
+to a far superior force, whom I was expected to attack with troops whom
+I had never before commanded, and to whom I was scarcely known. I felt,
+however, that there was no alternative but blind obedience, so I
+advanced with the regiment to within about fifty yards of the enemy's
+encampment and gave the command to fire.</p>
+
+<p>"A hail of bullets rattled through the forest, and as volley after
+volley was fired, the confusion and dismay occasioned in the camp were
+indescribable. Soldiers and officers could be plainly seen by the light
+of the fires walking helplessly about, horses were galloping wildly in
+all directions, and the sound of bugles and drums mingled with the cries
+of the wounded and flying, who sought in the distant woods a shelter
+against the murderous fire of their unseen enemy. The troops whom we
+thus dispersed and put to flight consisted, as I was afterward informed,
+of the greater part of Averil's cavalry division, and a great number of
+the men of this command were so panic-stricken that they did mot
+consider themselves safe until they had reached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">329</a></span> the opposite side of
+the Rapidan, when they straggled off for miles all through Culpeper
+County.</p>
+
+<p>"Our firing had been kept up for about half an hour, and had by this
+time stirred up alarm in the camps on the other side of the river, the
+troops of which were marching on us from various directions.
+Accordingly, I gave orders to my North Carolinians to retire, leaving
+the task of bringing his command back to the colonel; while, anxious to
+rejoin Stuart as soon as I could, I galloped on ahead through the dark
+forest, whose solemn silence was only broken by the melancholy cry of
+hosts of whippoorwills. The firing had now ceased altogether, and all
+fighting seemed to have been entirely given up, which greatly increased
+my misgivings. After a tedious ride of nearly an hour over the field of
+battle, still covered with hundreds of wounded groaning in their agony,
+I at last discovered Stuart seated under a solitary plum-tree, busily
+writing despatches by the dim light of a lantern.</p>
+
+<p>"From General Stuart I now received the first intimation of the heavy
+calamity which had befallen us by the wounding of Jackson. After having
+instructed his men to fire at everything approaching from the direction
+of the enemy, in his eagerness to reconnoitre the position of the
+Federals, and entirely forgetting his own orders, he had been riding
+with his staff-officers outside our pickets, when, on their return,
+being mistaken for the enemy, the little party were received by a South
+Carolina regiment with a volley that killed or wounded nearly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">330</a></span> every man
+of them and laid low our beloved Stonewall himself. The Federals
+advancing at the same time, a severe skirmish ensued, in the course of
+which one of the bearers of the litter on which the general was being
+carried was killed, and Jackson fell heavily to the ground, receiving
+soon afterward a second wound. For a few minutes, in fact, the general
+was in the hands of the enemy, but his men, becoming aware of his
+perilous position, rushed forward, and, speedily driving back the
+advancing foe, carried their wounded commander to the rear."</p>
+
+<p>Jackson received three balls, one in the right hand and two in the left
+arm, one of these shattering the bone just below the shoulder and
+severing an artery. He was borne to the Wilderness tavern, where a
+Confederate hospital had been established, and there his arm was
+amputated. Eight days after receiving his wounds, on the 10th of May, he
+died, an attack of pneumonia being the chief cause of his death. His
+last words were, as a smile of ineffable sweetness passed over his pale
+face, "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the
+trees."</p>
+
+<p>Thus died the man who was justly named the "right hand" of General Lee,
+and whose death converted his last great victory into a serious disaster
+for the Confederate cause, the loss of a leader like Stonewall Jackson
+being equivalent to the destruction of an army.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">331</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>JOHN MORGAN'S FAMOUS RAID.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> romance of war dwells largely upon the exploits of partisan leaders,
+men with a roving commission to do business on their own account, and in
+whose ranks are likely to gather the dare-devils of the army, those who
+love to come and go as they please, and leave a track of adventure and
+dismay behind them. There were such leaders in both armies during the
+Civil War, and especially in that of the South; and among the most
+daring and successful of them was General John H. Morgan, whose famous
+raid through Indiana and Ohio it is our purpose here to describe.</p>
+
+<p>Morgan was a son of the people, not of the aristocratic cavalier class,
+but was just the man to make his mark in a conflict of this character,
+being richly supplied by nature with courage, daring, and
+self-possession in times of peril. He became a cavalry leader in the
+regular service, but was given a free foot to control his own movements,
+and had gathered about him a body of men of his own type, with whom he
+roamed about with a daring and audacity that made him a terror to the
+enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Morgan's most famous early exploit was his invasion of Kentucky in 1862,
+in which he kept the State in a fever of apprehension during most of
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">332</a></span> summer, defeating all who faced him and venturing so near to
+Cincinnati that the people of that city grew wild with apprehension.
+Only the sharp pursuit of General G. C. Smith, with a superior cavalry
+force, saved that rich city from being made an easy prey to Morgan and
+his men.</p>
+
+<p>As preliminary to our main story, we may give in brief one of Morgan's
+characteristic exploits. The town of Gallatin, twenty miles north of
+Nashville, was occupied by a small Federal force and seemed to Morgan to
+offer a fair field for one of his characteristic raids. His men were
+ready,&mdash;they always were for an enterprise promising danger and
+loot,&mdash;and they fell on the town with a swoop that quickly made them its
+masters and its garrison their captives.</p>
+
+<p>While the victors were paying themselves for their risk by spoiling the
+enemy, Morgan proceeded to the telegraph office, with the hope that he
+might find important despatches. So sudden had been the assault that the
+operator did not know that anything out of the usual had taken place,
+and took Morgan for a Northern officer. When asked what was going on, he
+replied,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing particular, except that we hear a good deal about the doings of
+that rebel bandit, Morgan. If he should happen to come across my path, I
+have pills enough here to satisfy him." He drew his revolver and
+flourished it bravely in the air.</p>
+
+<p>Morgan turned on the braggart with a look and tone that quite robbed him
+of his courage, saying,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">333</a></span> "I am Morgan! You are speaking to Morgan, you
+miserable wretch. Do you think you have any pills to spare for me?"</p>
+
+<p>The operator almost sank on his knees with terror, while the weapon fell
+from his nerveless hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be scared," said the general. "I will not hurt you. But I want
+you to send off this despatch at once to Prentiss."</p>
+
+<p>The much-scared operator quickly ticked off the following message,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Mr. Prentiss</span>,&mdash;As I learn at this telegraph office that you intend
+to proceed to Nashville, perhaps you will allow me to escort you
+there at the head of my troop."</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">John Morgan.</span>"
+</p></div>
+
+<p>What effect this despatch had on Prentiss history sayeth not.</p>
+
+<p>With this preliminary account of Morgan and the character of his
+exploits, we proceed to the most famous incident of his career, his
+daring invasion of the North, one of the most stirring and exciting
+incidents of the war.</p>
+
+<p>The main purpose of this invasion is said to have been to contrive a
+diversion in favor of General Buckner, who proposed to make a dash
+across Kentucky and seize Louisville, and afterward, with Morgan's aid,
+to capture Cincinnati. It was also intended to form a nucleus for an
+armed counter-revolution in the Northwest, where the "Knights of the
+Golden Circle" and the "Sons of Liberty," associations in sympathy with
+the South, were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">334</a></span> strong. But with these ulterior purposes we have
+nothing here to do, our text being the incidents of the raid itself.</p>
+
+<p>General Morgan started on this bold adventure on June 27, 1863, with a
+force of several thousand mounted men, and with four pieces of
+artillery. The start was made from Sparta, Tennessee, where the swollen
+Cumberland was crossed in boats and canoes on the 1st and 2d of July,
+the horses, with some difficulty, being made to swim.</p>
+
+<p>After successful encounters with Jacob's cavalry and a troop of
+Wolford's cavalry, the adventurers pushed on, reaching the stockade at
+Green River Bridge on July 4. Here Colonel Moore was strongly intrenched
+with a small body of Michigan troops, and sent the following reply to
+Morgan's demand for a surrender: "If it was any other day I might
+consider the demand, but the 4th of July is a bad day to talk about
+surrender, and I must therefore decline."</p>
+
+<p>Moore proved quite capable, with the aid of his intrenchments, of making
+good his refusal, Morgan being repulsed, after a brisk engagement, with
+a loss of about sixty men, as estimated by Captain Cunningham, an
+officer of his staff. Lebanon was taken, after a severe engagement, on
+the 5th, yielding the Confederates a good supply of guns and ammunition,
+and the Ohio was reached, at Brandenburg, in a drenching rain, on the
+evening of the 7th. Here two steamers were seized and the whole force
+crossed on the next day to the Indiana shore.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">335</a></span></p><p>General Morgan's force had been swelled, by recruits gained in
+Kentucky, until it now numbered four thousand six hundred men, and its
+four guns had become ten. But he was being hotly pursued by General
+Hobson, who had hastily got on his track with a cavalry force stronger
+than his own. This reached the river to see the last of Morgan's men
+safe on the Indiana shore, and one of the steamers they had used
+floating, a mass of flames, down the stream.</p>
+
+<p>Hobson's loss of time in crossing the stream gave Morgan twenty-four
+hours' advance, which he diligently improved. The advance of Rosecrans
+against Bragg had prevented the proposed movement of Buckner to the
+north, and there remained for Morgan only an indefinite movement through
+the Northern States with the secondary hope of finding aid and sympathy
+there. It was likely to be an enterprise of the utmost peril, with
+Hobson hotly on his track, and the home-guards rising in his front, but
+the dauntless Morgan did not hesitate in his desperate adventure.</p>
+
+<p>The first check was at Corydon, where a force of militia had gathered.
+But these were quickly overpowered, the town was forced to yield its
+quota of spoil, three hundred fresh horses were seized, and Morgan
+adopted a shrewd system of collecting cash contributions from the
+well-to-do, demanding one thousand dollars from the owner of each mill
+and factory as a condition of saving their property from the flames. It
+may be said here that Corydon was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">336</a></span> the principal place in which any
+strong opposition was made by the people, the militia being concentrated
+at the large towns, which Morgan took care to avoid, pursuing his way
+through the panic-stricken villages and rural districts. There were
+other brushes with the home-guards, but none of much importance.</p>
+
+<p>The failure of the original purpose of the movement, and the brisk
+pursuit of the Federal cavalry, left Morgan little to hope for but to
+get in safety across the Ohio again. In addition to Hobson's cavalry
+force, General Judah's division was in active motion to intercept him,
+and the whole line of the Ohio swarmed with foes. The position of the
+raiders grew daily more desperate, but they rode gallantly on, trusting
+the result to destiny and the edge of their good swords.</p>
+
+<p>On swept Morgan and his men; on rushed Hobson and his troopers. But the
+former rode on fresh horses; the latter followed on jaded steeds. For
+five miles on each side of his line of march Morgan swept the country
+clear of horses, leaving his own weary beasts in their stead, while
+Hobson's force, finding no remounts, grew steadily less in number from
+the exhaustion of his horses. The people, through fear, even fed and
+watered the horses of Morgan's men with the greatest promptness, thus
+adding to the celerity of his movements.</p>
+
+<p>Some anecdotes of the famous ride may here be fitly given. At one point
+on his ride through Indiana Morgan left the line of march with three
+hundred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">337</a></span> and fifty of his men to visit a small town, the main body
+marching on. Dashing into the place, he found a body of some three
+hundred home-guards, each with a good horse. They were dismounted and
+their horses tied to the fences. Their captain, a confiding individual,
+on the wrong side of sixty, looked with surprise at this irruption, and
+asked,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Whose company is this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wolford's cavalry," was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>"What? Kentucky boys? Glad to see you. Where's Wolford?"</p>
+
+<p>"There he sits," answered the man, pointing to Morgan, who was
+carelessly seated sideways on his horse. Walking up to Wolford,&mdash;as he
+thought him,&mdash;the Indiana captain saluted him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Captain, how are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Bully; how are you? What are you going to do with all these men and
+horses?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you see that horse-thieving John Morgan is in this part of the
+country, cutting up the deuce. Between you and me, captain, if he comes
+this way, we'll try and give him the best we've got in the shop."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll find him hard to catch. We've been after him for fourteen days
+and can't see him at all," said Morgan.</p>
+
+<p>"If our hosses would only stand fire we'd be all right."</p>
+
+<p>"They won't stand, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not for shucks. I say, captain, I'd think it a favor if you and your
+men would put your saddles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">338</a></span> on our hosses, and give our lads a little
+idea of a cavalry drill. They say you're prime at that."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, certainly; anything to accommodate. I think we can show you some
+useful evolutions."</p>
+
+<p>Little time was lost in changing the saddles from the tired to the fresh
+horses, the hoosier boys aiding in the work, and soon the Confederates,
+delighted with the exchange, were in their saddles and ready for the
+word. Morgan rode up and down the column, then moved to the front, took
+off his hat, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"All right now, captain. If you and your men will form a double line
+along the road and watch us, we will try to show you a movement you have
+never seen."</p>
+
+<p>The captain gave the necessary order to his men, who drew up in line.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you ready?" asked Morgan.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, Wolford."</p>
+
+<p>"Forward!" shouted Morgan, and the column shot ahead at a rattling pace,
+soon leaving nothing in sight but a cloud of dust. When the news became
+whispered among the astonished hoosiers that the polite visitor was
+Morgan instead of Wolford, there was gnashing of teeth in that town,
+despite the fact that each man had been left a horse in exchange for his
+own.</p>
+
+<p>As Morgan rode on he continued his polite method of levying a tax from
+the mill-owners instead of burning their property. At Salem, the next
+place after leaving Corydon, he collected three thousand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">339</a></span> dollars from
+three mill-owners. Capturing, at another time, Washington De Pauw, a man
+of large wealth, he said to him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, do you consider your flour-mill worth two thousand dollars?"</p>
+
+<p>De Pauw thought it was worth that.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well; you can save it for that much money."</p>
+
+<p>De Pauw promptly paid the cash.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said Morgan, "do you think your woollen-mill worth three thousand
+dollars?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said De Pauw, with more hesitation.</p>
+
+<p>"You can buy it from us for that sum."</p>
+
+<p>The three thousand dollars was paid over less willingly, and the
+mill-owner was heartily glad that he had no other mills to redeem.</p>
+
+<p>Another threat to burn did not meet with as much success. Colonel
+Craven, of Ripley, who was taken prisoner, talked in so caustic a tone
+that Morgan asked where the colonel lived.</p>
+
+<p>"At Osgood," was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>"That little town on the railroad?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the colonel.</p>
+
+<p>"All right; I shall send a detachment there to burn the town."</p>
+
+<p>"Burn and be hanged!" said the colonel; "it isn't much of a town,
+anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>Morgan laughed heartily at the answer.</p>
+
+<p>"I like the way you talk, old fellow," he said, "and I guess your town
+can stand."</p>
+
+<p>As the ride went on Morgan had more and more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">340</a></span> cause for alarm. Hobson
+was hanging like a burr on his rear, rarely more than half a day's march
+behind&mdash;the lack of fresh horses kept him from getting nearer. Judah was
+on his flank, and had many of his men patrolling the Ohio. The governors
+had called for troops, and the country was rising on all sides. The Ohio
+was now the barrier between him and safety, and Morgan rode thither at
+top speed, striking the river on the 19th at Buffington Ford, above
+Pomeroy, in Ohio. For the past week, as Cunningham says, "every
+hill-side contained an enemy and every ravine a blockade, and we reached
+the river dispirited and worn down."</p>
+
+<p>At the river, instead of safety, imminent peril was found. Hundreds of
+Judah's men were on the stream in gunboats to head him off. Hobson,
+Wolford, and other cavalry leaders were closing in from behind. The
+raiders seemed environed by enemies, and sharp encounters began. Judah
+struck them heavily in flank. Hobson assailed them in the rear, and,
+hemmed in on three sides and unable to break through the environing
+lines, five hundred of the raiders, under Dick Morgan and Ward, were
+forced to surrender.</p>
+
+<p>"Seeing that the enemy had every advantage of position," says
+Cunningham, "an overwhelming force of infantry and cavalry, and that we
+were becoming completely environed in the meshes of the net set for us,
+the command was ordered to move up the river at double-quick, ... and
+we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">341</a></span> moved rapidly off the field, leaving three companies of dismounted
+men, and perhaps two hundred sick and wounded, in the enemy's
+possession. Our cannon were undoubtedly captured at the river."</p>
+
+<p>Morgan now followed the line of the stream, keeping behind the hills out
+of reach of the gunboat fire, till Bealville, fourteen miles above, was
+reached. Here he rode to the stream, having distanced the gunboats, and
+with threats demanded aid from the people in crossing. Flats and scows
+were furnished for only about three hundred of the men, who managed to
+cross before the gunboats appeared in sight. Others sought to cross by
+swimming. In this effort Cunningham had the following experience:</p>
+
+<p>"My poor mare being too weak to carry me, turned over and commenced
+going down; encumbered by clothes, sabre, and pistols, I made but poor
+progress in the turbid stream. But the recollections of home, of a
+bright-eyed maiden in the sunny South, and an inherent love of life,
+actuated me to continue swimming.... But I hear something behind me
+snorting! I feel it passing! Thank God, I am saved! A riderless horse
+dashes by; I grasp his tail; onward he bears me, and the shore is
+reached!" And thus Cunningham passes out of the story.</p>
+
+<p>The remainder of the force fled inland, hotly pursued, fighting a
+little, burning bridges, and being at length brought to bay, surrounded
+by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">342</a></span> foes, and forced to surrender, except a small party with Morgan
+still at their head. Escape for these seemed hopeless. For six days more
+they rode onward, in a desperate effort to reach the Ohio at some
+unguarded point. They were sharply pursued, and, at length, on Sunday,
+July 26, found themselves very hotly pressed. Along one road dashed
+Morgan, at the full speed of his mounts. Over a road at right angles
+rushed Major Rue, thundering along. It was a sharp burst for the
+intersection. Morgan reached it first, and Rue thought he had escaped.
+But the major knew the country like a book. His horses were fresh and
+Morgan's were jaded. Another tremendous dash was made for the Beaver
+Creek road, and this the major reached a little ahead.</p>
+
+<p>It was all up now with the famous raid. Morgan's men were too few to
+break through the intercepting force. He made the bluff of sending a
+flag with a demand to surrender; but Rue couldn't see it in that light,
+and a few minutes afterward Morgan rode up to him, saying, "You have
+beat me this time," and expressing himself as gratified that a
+Kentuckian was his captor.</p>
+
+<p>A mere fragment of the command remained, the others having been
+scattered and picked up at various points, and thus ended the career, in
+capture or death, of nearly all the more than four thousand bold raiders
+who had crossed the Ohio three weeks before. They had gained fame, but
+with captivity as its goal.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">343</a></span></p><p>Morgan and several of his officers were taken to Columbus, the capital
+of Ohio, and were there confined in felon cells in the penitentiary.
+Four months afterward the leader and six of his captains escaped and
+made their way in safety to the Confederate lines. Here is the story in
+outline of how they got free from durance vile.</p>
+
+<p>Two small knives served them for tools, with which they dug through the
+floors of their cells, composed of cement and nine inches of brickwork,
+and in this way reached an air-chamber below. They had now only to dig
+through the soft earth under the foundation walls of the penitentiary
+and open a passage into the yard. They had furnished themselves with a
+strong rope, made of their bed-clothes, and with this they scaled the
+walls. In some way they had procured citizen's clothes, so that those
+who afterward saw them had no suspicion.</p>
+
+<p>In the cell Morgan left the following note: "Cell No. 20. November 20,
+1863. Commencement, November 4, 1863. Conclusion, November 20, 1863.
+Number of hours of labor per day, three. Tools, two small knives. <i>La
+patience est am&egrave;re, mais son fruit est doux</i> [Patience is bitter, but
+its fruit is sweet]. By order of my six honorable confederates."</p>
+
+<p>Morgan and Captain Hines went immediately to the railroad station (at
+one o'clock in the morning) and boarded a train going towards
+Cincinnati. When near this city, they went to the rear car, slackened
+the speed by putting on the brake, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">344</a></span> jumped off, making their way to
+the Ohio. Here they induced a boy to row them across, and soon found
+shelter with friends in Kentucky.</p>
+
+<p>A reward of one thousand dollars was offered for Morgan, "alive or
+dead," but the news of the ovation with which he was soon after received
+in Richmond proved to his careless jailers that he was safely beyond
+their reach.</p>
+
+<p>A few words will finish the story of Morgan's career. He was soon at the
+head of a troop again, annoying the enemy immensely in Kentucky. One of
+his raiding parties, three hundred strong, actually pushed General
+Hobson, his former pursuer, into a bend of the Licking River, and
+captured him with twelve hundred well-armed men. This was Morgan's last
+exploit. Soon afterward he, with a portion of his staff, were surrounded
+when in a house at Greenville by Union troops, and the famous
+Confederate leader was shot dead while seeking to escape.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">345</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>HOME-COMING OF GENERAL LEE AND HIS VETERANS.</i></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sad</span> is defeat, and more than sad was the last march of General Lee's
+gallant army after its four years of heroic struggle, as it despondently
+made its way along the Virginian roads westward from the capital city
+which it had defended so long and valiantly. It was the verdant
+spring-tide, but the fresh green foliage had no charms for the
+heart-broken and starving men, whose food supplies had grown so low that
+they were forced to gnaw the young shoots of the trees for sustenance.
+It is not our purpose here to tell what followed the surrounding of the
+fragment of an army by an overwhelming force of foes, the surrender and
+parole, and the dispersion of the veteran troops to the four winds, but
+to confine ourselves to the homeward journey of General Lee and a few of
+his veterans.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after the surrender, General Lee returned to Richmond, riding
+slowly from the scene on his iron-gray war-horse, "Traveller," which had
+borne him so nobly through years of battle and siege. His parting with
+his soldiers was pathetic, and everywhere on his road to Richmond he
+received tokens of admiration and respect from friend and foe. Reaching
+Richmond, he and his companions passed sadly through a portion of the
+city which exhibited<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">346</a></span> a distressing scene of blackened ruins from the
+recent conflagration. As he passed onward he was recognized, and the
+people flocked to meet him, cheering and waving hats and handkerchiefs.
+The general, to whom this ovation could not have been agreeable, simply
+raised his hat in response to the greetings of the citizens, and rode on
+to his residence in Franklin Street. The closing of its doors upon his
+retiring form was the final scene in that long drama of war of which for
+years he had been the central figure. He had returned to that private
+family life for which his soul had yearned even in the most active
+scenes of the war.</p>
+
+<p>It is our purpose here to reproduce a vivid personal account of the
+adventures of some of the retiring soldiers, especially as General Lee
+bore a part in their experiences. The narrative given is the final one
+of a series of incidents in the life of the private soldier, related by
+Private Carlton McCarthy. These papers, in their day, were widely read
+and much admired, and an extract from them cannot fail still to be of
+interest. We take up the story of the "Brave Survivors, homeward bound:"</p>
+
+<p>"Early in the morning of Wednesday, the 12th of April, without the
+stirring drum or the bugle call of old, the camp awoke to the new life.
+Whether or not they had a country, these soldiers did not know. Home to
+many, when they reached it, was graves and ashes. At any rate, there
+must be, somewhere on earth, a better place than a muddy, smoky camp in
+a piece of scrubby pines;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">347</a></span> better company than gloomy, hungry comrades
+and inquisitive enemies, and something in the future more exciting, if
+not more hopeful, than nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep, nothing to do,
+and nowhere to go. The disposition to start was apparent, and the
+preparations were promptly begun.</p>
+
+<p>"To roll up the old blanket and oil-cloth, gather up the haversack,
+canteen, axe, perhaps, and a few trifles,&mdash;in time of peace of no
+value,&mdash;eat the fragments that remained, and light a pipe, was the work
+of a few moments. This slight employment, coupled with pleasant
+anticipations of the unknown, and therefore possibly enjoyable future,
+served to restore somewhat the usual light-hearted manner of soldiers
+and relieve the final farewells of much of their sadness. There was even
+a smack of hope and cheerfulness as the little groups sallied out into
+the world to combat they scarcely knew what. As we cannot follow all
+these groups, we will join ourselves to one and see them home.</p>
+
+<p>"Two 'brothers-in-arms,' whose objective-point is Richmond, take the
+road on foot. They have nothing to eat and no money. They are bound for
+their home in a city which, when they last heard from it, was in flames.
+What they will see when they arrive there they cannot imagine, but the
+instinctive love of home urges them. They walk on steadily and rapidly,
+and are not diverted by surroundings. It does not even occur to them
+that their situation, surrounded on all sides by armed enemies and
+walking a road crowded by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">348</a></span> them, is at all novel. They are suddenly
+aroused to a sense of their situation by a sharp 'Halt! Show your
+parole.' They had struck the cordon of picket-posts which surrounded the
+surrendered army. It was the first exercise of authority by the Federal
+army. A sergeant, accompanied by a couple of muskets, stepped into the
+road, with a modest air examined the paroles, and said, quietly, 'Pass
+on.'</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 376px;">
+<img src="images/p348.jpg" width="376" height="600" alt="LEE&#39;S HOUSE AT RICHMOND." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Lee&#39;s House at Richmond.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"This strictly military part of the operation being over, the social
+commenced. As the two 'survivors' passed on they were followed by
+numerous remarks, such as, 'Hello, Johnny! I say&mdash;going home?' 'Ain't
+you glad?' They made no reply, these wayfarers, but they <i>thought</i> some
+very emphatic remarks.</p>
+
+<p>"From this point 'on to Richmond' was the grand thought. Steady work it
+was. The road, strangely enough, considering the proximity of two
+armies, was quite lonesome, and not an incident of interest occurred
+during the day. Darkness found the two comrades still pushing on.</p>
+
+<p>"Some time after dark a light was seen a short distance ahead, and there
+was a 'sound of revelry.' On approaching, the light was seen to proceed
+from a large fire, built on the floor of an old and dilapidated
+outhouse, and surrounded by a ragged, hungry, singing, and jolly crowd
+of paroled prisoners of the Army of Northern Virginia, who had gotten
+possession of a quantity of cornmeal and were waiting for the ash-cakes
+then in the ashes. Being liberal, they offered the new-comers some of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">349</a></span>
+their bread. Being hungry, they accepted and ate their first meal that
+day. Finding the party noisy and riotous, the comrades pushed on in the
+darkness after a short rest and spent the night on the road.</p>
+
+<p>"Thursday morning they entered the village of Buckingham Court-House,
+and traded a small pocket-mirror for a substantial breakfast. There was
+quite a crowd of soldiers gathered around a cellar-door, trying to
+persuade an ex-Confederate A. A. A. Commissary of Subsistence that he
+might as well, in view of the fact that the army had surrendered, let
+them have some of the stores; and, after considerable persuasion and
+some threats, he decided to forego the hope of keeping them for himself
+and told the men to help themselves. They did so.</p>
+
+<p>"As the two tramps were about to leave the village and were hurrying
+along the high-road which led through it, they saw a solitary horseman
+approaching from the rear. It was easy to recognize at once General Lee.
+He rode slowly, calmly along. As he passed an old tavern on the roadside
+some ladies and children waved their handkerchiefs, smiled, and wept.
+The general raised his eyes to the porch on which they stood, and,
+slowly raising his hand to his hat, lifted it slightly and as slowly
+again dropped his hand to his side. The 'survivors' did not weep, but
+they had strange sensations. They passed on, steering, so to speak, for
+Cartersville and the ferry.</p>
+
+<p>"Before leaving the village it was the sad duty of the 'survivors' to
+stop at the humble abode of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">350</a></span> Mrs. P. and tell her of the death of her
+husband, who fell mortally wounded, pierced by a musket-ball, near
+Sailor's Creek. She was also told that a companion who was by his side
+when he fell, but who was not able to stay with him, would come along
+soon and give her the particulars. That comrade came and repeated the
+story. In a few days the dead man reached home alive and scarcely hurt.
+He was originally an infantryman, recently transferred to artillery, and
+therefore wore a small knapsack, as infantry did. The ball struck the
+knapsack with a 'whack!' and knocked the man down. That was all."</p>
+
+<p>The night was spent in an old building near the ferry, and in the
+morning the ferryman cheerfully put them across the river without
+charge.</p>
+
+<p>"Soon after crossing, a good, silver-plated tablespoon, bearing the
+monogram of one of the travellers, purchased from an aged colored woman
+a large chunk of ash-cake and about half a gallon of buttermilk. This
+old darky had lived in Richmond in her younger days. She spoke of grown
+men and women there as 'chillun what I raised.' 'Lord! boss&mdash;does you
+know Miss Sadie? Well, I nussed her and I nussed all uv their chillun;
+that I did, sah. You chillun does look hawngry, that you does. Well,
+you's welcome to these vittles, and I'm pow'ful glad to git dis spoon.
+God bless you, honey!' A big log on the roadside furnished a comfortable
+seat for the consumption of the before-mentioned ash-cake and milk.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">351</a></span></p><p>"The feast was hardly begun when the tramp of a horse's hoofs were
+heard. Looking up, the 'survivors' saw with surprise General Lee
+approaching. He was entirely alone and rode slowly along. Unconscious
+that any one saw him, he was yet erect, dignified, and apparently as
+calm and peaceful as the fields and woods around him. Having caught
+sight of the occupants of the log, he kept his eyes fixed on them, and
+as he passed turned slightly, saluted, and said, in the most gentle
+manner, 'Good-morning, gentlemen; taking your breakfast?' The soldiers
+had only time to rise, salute, and say, 'Yes, sir,' and he was gone.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems that General Lee pursued the road which the 'survivors' chose,
+and, starting later than they, overtook them, he being mounted and they
+on foot. At any rate, it was their good fortune to see him three times
+on the road from Appomattox to Richmond. The incidents introducing
+General Lee are peculiarly interesting, and the reader may rest assured
+of the truthfulness of the narration as to what occurred and what was
+said and done.</p>
+
+<p>"After the feast of bread and milk, the no longer hungry men passed on.
+About the time when men who have eaten a hearty breakfast become again
+hungry,&mdash;as good fortune would have it happen,&mdash;they reached a house
+pleasantly situated, and a comfortable place withal. Approaching the
+house, they were met by an exceedingly kind, energetic, and hospitable
+woman. She promptly asked, 'You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">352</a></span> are not deserters?' 'No,' said the
+soldiers; 'we have our paroles; we are from Richmond; we are homeward
+bound, and called to ask if you could spare us a dinner.' 'Spare you a
+dinner? Certainly I can. My husband is a miller; his mill is right
+across the road there, down the hill, and I have been cooking all day
+for the poor, starving men. Take a seat on the porch there, and I will
+get you something to eat.'</p>
+
+<p>"By the time the travellers were seated, this admirable woman was in the
+kitchen at work. The 'pat-a-pat, pat, pat, pat, pat-a-pat, pat' of the
+sifter, and the cracking and 'fizzing' of the fat bacon as it fried,
+saluted their hungry ears, and the delicious smell tickled their
+olfactory nerves most delightfully. Sitting thus, entertained by
+delightful sounds, breathing the air and wrapped in meditation, or
+anticipation, rather, the soldiers saw the dust rise in the air and
+heard the sound of an approaching party.</p>
+
+<p>"Several horsemen rode up to the road-gate, threw their bridles over the
+posts or tied them to the overhanging boughs, and dismounted. They were
+evidently officers, well-dressed, fine-looking men, and about to enter
+the gate. Almost at once the men on the porch recognized General Lee and
+his son. They were accompanied by other officers. An ambulance had
+arrived at the gate also. Without delay they entered and approached the
+house, General Lee preceding the others. Satisfied that it was the
+general's intention to enter the house, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">353</a></span> two 'brave survivors,'
+instinctively and respectfully venerating the approaching man,
+determined to give him and his companions the porch. As they were
+executing a rather rapid and undignified flank movement to gain the
+right and rear of the house, the voice of General Lee overhauled them
+thus, 'Where are you men going?' 'This lady has offered to give us a
+dinner, and we are waiting for it,' replied the soldiers. 'Well, you had
+better move on now&mdash;this gentleman will have quite a large party on him
+to-day,' said the general. The soldiers touched their caps, said, 'Yes,
+sir,' and retired, somewhat hurt, to a strong position on a hen-coop in
+the rear of the house. The party then settled on the porch.</p>
+
+<p>"The general had, of course, no authority, and the surrender of the
+porch was purely respectful. Knowing this, the soldiers were at first
+hurt, but a moment's reflection satisfied them that the general was
+right. He, no doubt, had suspicions of plunder, and these were increased
+by the movement of the men to the rear as he approached. He
+misinterpreted their conduct.</p>
+
+<p>"The lady of the house&mdash;<i>a reward for her name</i>&mdash;hearing the dialogue in
+the yard, pushed her head through the crack of the kitchen door and, as
+she tossed a lump of dough from hand to hand and gazed eagerly out,
+addressed the soldiers: 'Ain't that old General Lee?' 'Yes, General Lee
+and his son and other officers come to dine with you,' they replied.
+'Well,' she said, 'he ain't no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">354</a></span> better than the men that fought for him,
+and I don't reckon he is as hungry; so you just come in here. I am going
+to give you yours first, and then I'll get something for him.'</p>
+
+<p>"What a meal it was! Seated at the kitchen table, the large-hearted
+woman bustling about and talking away, the ravenous tramps attacked a
+pile of old Virginia hoecake and corn-dodger, a frying-pan with an inch
+of gravy and slices of bacon, streak of lean and streak of fat, very
+numerous. To finish&mdash;as much rich buttermilk as the drinkers could
+contain. With many heartfelt thanks the 'survivors' bade farewell to
+this immortal woman, and leaving the general and his party in the quiet
+possession of the front porch, pursued their way.</p>
+
+<p>"Night found the 'survivors' at the gate of a quiet, handsome, framed
+country residence. The weather was threatening, and it was desirable to
+have shelter as well as rest. Entering and knocking at the door, they
+were met by a servant girl. She was sent to her mistress with a request
+for permission to sleep on her premises. The servant returned, saying,
+'Mistis says she is a widder, and there ain't no gentleman in the house,
+and she can't let you come in.' She was sent with a second message,
+which informed the lady that the visitors were from Richmond, members of
+a certain company from there, and would be content with permission to
+sleep on the porch, in the stable, or in the barn. They would protect
+her property, etc., etc., etc.</p>
+
+<p>"This message brought the lady of the house to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">355</a></span> the door. She said, 'If
+you are members of the &mdash;&mdash; &mdash;&mdash;, you must know my nephew, he was in that
+company. Of course they knew him, 'old chum,' 'comrade,' 'particular
+friend,' 'splendid fellow,' 'hope he was well when you heard from him;
+glad to meet you, madam.' These and similar hearty expressions brought
+the longed-for 'Come in, gentlemen. You are welcome. I will see that
+supper is prepared for you at once.' (Invitation accepted.)</p>
+
+<p>"The old haversacks were deposited in a corner under the steps and their
+owners conducted downstairs to a spacious dining-room, quite prettily
+furnished. A large table occupied the centre of the room, and at one
+side there was a handsome display of silver in a glass-front case. A
+good big fire lighted the room. The lady sat quietly working at some
+woman's work, and from time to time questioning, in a rather suspicious
+manner, her guests. Their direct answers satisfied her, and their
+respectful manner reassured her, so that by the time supper was brought
+in she was chatting and laughing with her 'defenders.'</p>
+
+<p>"The supper came in steaming hot. It was abundant, well prepared, and
+served elegantly. Splendid coffee, hot biscuit, luscious butter, fried
+ham, eggs, fresh milk! The writer could not expect to be believed if he
+should tell the quantity eaten at that meal. The good lady of the house
+enjoyed the sight. She relished every mouthful, and no doubt realized
+then and there the blessing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">356</a></span> which is conferred on hospitality, and the
+truth of that saying of old, 'It is more blessed to give than to
+receive.'</p>
+
+<p>"The wayfarers were finally shown to a neat little chamber. The bed was
+soft and glistening white; too white and clean to be soiled by the
+occupancy of two Confederate soldiers who had not had a change of
+underclothing for many weeks. They looked at it, felt of it, and then
+spread their old blankets on the neat carpet and slept there till near
+the break of day.</p>
+
+<p>"While it was yet dark the travellers, unwilling to lose time waiting
+for breakfast, crept out of the house, leaving their thanks for their
+kind hostess, and passed rapidly on to Manikin Town, on the James River
+and Kanawha Canal, half a day's march from Richmond, where they arrived
+while it was yet early morning. The greensward between the canal and
+river was inviting, and the 'survivors' laid there awhile to rest and
+determine whether or not they would push on to the city. They desired to
+do so as soon as they could find a breakfast to fit them for the day's
+march."</p>
+
+<p>In this venture they met with a new experience, the party applied to, a
+well-fed, hearty man, gruffly repulsing them, and complaining that some
+scoundrels had stolen his best horse the night before. He finally
+invited them in and set before them the bony remnants of some fish he
+had had for breakfast. Rising indignantly from the table, the veterans
+told their inhospitable host that they were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">357</a></span> not dogs, and would
+consider it an insult to the canine race to call him one. Apparently
+fearing that the story of his behavior to old soldiers would be spread
+to his discredit, he now apologized for the "mistake," and offered to
+have a breakfast cooked for them, but they were past being mollified,
+and left him with the most uncomplimentary epithets at the command of
+two old soldiers of four years' service.</p>
+
+<p>"At eleven <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> of the same day two footsore, despondent, and penniless
+men stood facing the ruins of the home of a comrade who had sent a
+message to his mother. 'Tell mother I am coming.' The ruins yet smoked.
+A relative of the lady whose home was in ashes, and whose son said, 'I
+am coming,' stood by the 'survivors.' 'Well, then,' he said, 'it must
+be true that General Lee has surrendered.' The solemnity of the remark,
+coupled with the certainty in the minds of the 'survivors,' was almost
+amusing. The relative pointed out the temporary residence of the mother,
+and thither the 'survivors' wended their way.</p>
+
+<p>"A knock at the door startled the mother, and with agony in her eyes she
+appeared at the opened door, exclaiming, 'My poor boys!' 'Are safe and
+coming home,' said the 'survivors.' 'Thank God!' said the mother, and
+the tears flowed down her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"A rapid walk through ruined and smoking streets, some narrow escapes
+from negro soldiers on police duty, the satisfaction of seeing two of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">358</a></span>
+the 'boys in blue' hung up by their thumbs for pillaging, a few
+handshakings, and the 'survivors' found their way to the house of a
+relative, where they did eat bread with thanks.</p>
+
+<p>"A friend informed the 'survivors' that day that farm hands were needed
+all around the city. They made a note of that and the name of one
+farmer. Saturday night the old blankets were spread on the parlor floor.
+Sunday morning, the 16th of April, they bade farewell to the household
+and started for the farmer's house.</p>
+
+<p>"As they were about to start away, the head of the family took from his
+pocket a handful of odd silver pieces, and extending them to the guests,
+told them it was all he had, <i>but they were welcome to half of it</i>.
+Remembering that he had a wife and three or four children to feed, the
+soldiers smiled through <i>their</i> tears at <i>his</i>, bade him keep it all,
+and 'weep for himself rather than for them.' So saying, they departed,
+and at sundown were at the farmer's house, fourteen miles away.</p>
+
+<p>"Monday morning, the 17th, they 'beat their swords (muskets in this
+case) into ploughshares' and did the first day's work of the sixty which
+the <i>simple</i> farmer secured at a cost to himself of about half rations
+for two men. Behold the gratitude of a people! Where grow now the shrubs
+which of old bore leaves and twigs for garlands? The brave live! are the
+fair dead? Shall time of calamity, downfall or ruin, annihilate
+sacrifice or hatch an ingrate brood?"</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Historical Tales, Vol. 2 (of 15), by Charles Morris
+
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+Project Gutenberg's Historical Tales, Vol. 2 (of 15), by Charles Morris
+
+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: Historical Tales, Vol. 2 (of 15)
+       The Romance of Reality
+
+Author: Charles Morris
+
+Release Date: April 19, 2008 [EBook #25103]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORICAL TALES, VOL. 2 (OF 15) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Kline, Greg Bergquist and The Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF ANTIETAM.]
+
+
+
+
+  Edition d'Elite
+
+
+  Historical Tales
+  The Romance of Reality
+
+  By
+  CHARLES MORRIS
+
+  _Author of "Half-Hours with the Best American Authors," "Tales from the
+  Dramatists," etc._
+
+
+  IN FIFTEEN VOLUMES
+  Volume II
+
+
+  American
+  2
+
+
+  J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
+  PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, 1904, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
+
+Copyright, 1908, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
+
+
+
+
+  _CONTENTS._
+
+                                                         PAGE
+
+  PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH                   7
+
+  DE SOTO AND THE FATHER OF WATERS                         13
+
+  THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE                               23
+
+  THE THRILLING ADVENTURE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH            29
+
+  THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA                          40
+
+  THE GREAT REBELLION IN THE OLD DOMINION                  49
+
+  CHEVALIER LA SALLE THE EXPLORER OF THE MISSISSIPPI       62
+
+  THE FRENCH OF LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ INDIANS          76
+
+  THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE                      88
+
+  HOW OGLETHORPE SAVED GEORGIA FROM SPAIN                  95
+
+  A BOY'S WORKING HOLIDAY IN THE WILDWOOD                 104
+
+  PATRICK HENRY, THE HERALD OF THE REVOLUTION             113
+
+  GOVERNOR TRYON AND THE CAROLINA REGULATORS              124
+
+  LORD DUNMORE AND THE GUNPOWDER                          135
+
+  THE FATAL EXPEDITION OF COLONEL ROGERS                  145
+
+  HOW COLONEL CLARK WON THE NORTHWEST                     153
+
+  KING'S MOUNTAIN AND THE PATRIOTS OF TENNESSEE           166
+
+  GENERAL GREENE'S FAMOUS RETREAT                         171
+
+  ELI WHITNEY, THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON-GIN             185
+
+  HOW OLD HICKORY FOUGHT THE CREEKS                       193
+
+  THE PIRATES OF BARATARIA BAY                            206
+
+  THE HEROES OF THE ALAMO                                 217
+
+  HOW HOUSTON WON FREEDOM FOR TEXAS                       225
+
+  CAPTAIN ROBERT E. LEE AND THE LAVA-BEDS                 231
+
+  A CHRISTMAS DAY ON THE PLANTATION                       241
+
+  CAPTAIN GORDON AND THE RACCOON ROUGHS                   252
+
+  STUART'S FAMOUS CHAMBERSBURG RAID                       261
+
+  FORREST'S CHASE OF THE RAIDERS                          277
+
+  EXPLOITS OF A BLOCKADE-RUNNER                           291
+
+  FONTAIN, THE SCOUT, AND THE BESIEGERS OF VICKSBURG      302
+
+  GORDON AND THE BAYONET CHARGE AT ANTIETAM               311
+
+  THE LAST TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON                   319
+
+  JOHN MORGAN'S FAMOUS RAID                               331
+
+  HOME-COMING OF GENERAL LEE AND HIS VETERANS             347
+
+
+
+
+  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+  AMERICAN. VOLUME II.
+
+
+                                                    PAGE
+
+  BATTLE OF ANTIETAM                       _Frontispiece._
+
+  ALONG THE COAST OF FLORIDA                           9
+
+  DE SOTO DISCOVERING THE MISSISSIPPI                 19
+
+  POCAHONTAS                                          32
+
+  JAMESTOWN RUIN                                      54
+
+  COALING A MOVING BOAT ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER      73
+
+  OLD SPANISH FORT, ST. AUGUSTINE                     98
+
+  HOME OF MARY WASHINGTON, FREDERICKSBURG, VA        108
+
+  HOME OF PATRICK HENRY DURING HIS LAST TWO
+    TERMS AS GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA                    114
+
+  ST. JOHN'S CHURCH                                  122
+
+  OLD MAGAZINE AT WILLIAMSBURG                       138
+
+  VIEW IN THE NORTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS                 155
+
+  COTTON-GIN                                         186
+
+  JACKSON'S BIRTHPLACE                               198
+
+  THE ALAMO                                          218
+
+  COTTON FIELD ON SOUTHERN PLANTATION                242
+
+  COLONIAL MANSION                                   262
+
+  GORDON HOUSE                                       316
+
+  TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON                       323
+
+  LEE'S HOUSE AT RICHMOND                            348
+
+
+
+
+_PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH._
+
+
+A golden Easter day was that of the far-away year 1513, when a small
+fleet of Spanish ships, sailing westward from the green Bahamas, first
+came in sight of a flower-lined shore, rising above the blue Atlantic
+waves, and seeming to smile a welcome as the mariners gazed with eyes of
+joy and hope on the inviting arcades of its verdant forest depths. Never
+had the eyes of white men beheld this land of beauty before. English
+ships had sailed along the coast to the north, finding much of it bleak
+and uninviting. The caravels of Columbus had threaded the glowing line
+of tropic isles, and later ships had borne settlers to these lands of
+promise. But the rich southlands of the continent had never before been
+seen, and well was this unknown realm of beauty named Florida by the
+Spanish chief, whether by this name he meant to call it the "land of
+flowers" or referred to the Spanish name for Easter, Pascua Florida.
+However that be, he was the first of the discoverers to set foot on the
+soil of the great coming republic of the United States, and it is of
+interest that this was done within the domain of the sunny South.
+
+The weight of half a century of years lay upon the shoulders of Juan
+Ponce de Leon, the discoverer, but warm hope burned in his heart, that
+of winning renewed boyhood and youthful strength, for it was a magic
+vision that drew him to these new shores, in whose depths he felt sure
+the realm of enchantment lay. Somewhere amid those green copses or along
+those liquid streams, he had been told, a living fountain sprang up
+clear and sparkling from the earth, its waters of such a marvellous
+quality that whoever should bathe in them would feel new life coursing
+through his veins and the vigor of youth bounding along his limbs. It
+was the Fountain of Youth he sought, that fabled fountain of which men
+had dreamed for centuries, and which was thought to lie somewhere in
+eastern Asia. Might not its waters upspring in this new land, whose
+discovery was the great marvel of the age, and which men looked upon as
+the unknown east of Asia? Such was the new-comer's dream.
+
+Ponce de Leon was a soldier and cavalier of Spain in those days when
+Spain stood first among the nations of Europe, first in strength and
+enterprise and daring. Brave as the bravest, he had fought with
+distinguished courage against the Moors of Granada at the time when
+Columbus was setting out on his famous voyage over the unknown seas of
+the West. Drawn by the fame of the discovery of the New World, De Leon
+sailed with Columbus in his second voyage, and proved himself a gallant
+soldier in the wars for the conquest of Hispaniola, of whose eastern
+half he was made governor.
+
+To the eastward lay another island, the fair tropic land ever since
+known as Porto Rico. De Leon could see from the high hills of Hispaniola
+the far green shores of this island, which he invaded and finally
+subdued in 1509, making himself its governor. A stern oppressor of the
+natives, he won great wealth from his possessions here and in
+Hispaniola. But, like many men in his position, his heart was sore from
+the loss of the youthful vigor which would have enabled him to enjoy to
+the full his new-found wealth.
+
+[Illustration: ALONG THE COAST OF FLORIDA.]
+
+Could he but discover the wondrous fountain of youth and plunge in its
+life-giving waters! Was not this the region in which it was said to lie?
+He eagerly questioned the Indians about it, and was told by them that
+they had often heard of such a fountain somewhere not far to the north.
+It is probable enough that the Indians were ready to tell anything,
+false or true, that would rid them of the unwelcome Spaniards; but it
+may be that among their many fables they believed that such a fountain
+existed. However that may be, De Leon gladly heard their story, and lost
+no time in going forth like a knight errant in quest of the magic fount.
+On March 3, 1513, he sailed with three ships from Porto Rico, and, after
+threading the fair Bahama Islands, landing on those of rarest tropic
+charm, he came on Easter Sunday, March 27, in sight of the beautiful
+land to which he gave the name of Florida.
+
+Bad weather kept him for a time from the shore, and it was not until
+April 9 that he was able to land. It was near the mouth of the St. John
+River, not far from where St. Augustine now stands, that he set foot on
+shore, the first white man's foot to tread the soil of the coming United
+States since the days of the Northmen, five centuries before. He called
+his place of landing the Bay of the Cross, and took possession of the
+land for the king of Spain, setting up a stone cross as a sign of
+Spain's jurisdiction.
+
+And now the eager cavalier began the search for that famous fount which
+was to give him perpetual youth. It is not likely he was alone in this,
+probably most of his followers being as eager as he, for in those days
+magic was firmly believed in by half of mankind, and many wild fancies
+were current which no one now accepts. Deep into the dense woodland they
+plunged, wandering through verdant miles, bathing in every spring and
+stream they met, led on and on by the hope that some one of these might
+hold the waters of youth. Doubtless they fancied that the fountain
+sought would have some special marks, something to distinguish it from
+the host of common springs. But this might not be the case. The most
+precious things may lie concealed under the plainest aspect, like the
+fabled jewel in the toad's forehead, and it was certainly wisest to let
+no waters pass untried.
+
+Months passed on. Southward along the coast they sailed, landing here
+and there and penetrating inland, still hopeful of finding the enchanted
+spring. But wherever it might lie hidden, they found it not, for the
+marks of age which nature had brought clung to them still, and a
+bitterly disappointed man was Juan Ponce de Leon when he turned the
+prows of his ships away from the new-found shores and sailed back to
+Porto Rico.
+
+The Will-o'-the-wisp he sought had baffled him, yet something of worth
+remained, for he had made a discovery of importance, the "Island of
+Florida," as he called it and thought it to be. To Spain he went with
+the news of his voyage, and told the story of his discovery to King
+Ferdinand, to whom Columbus had told his wonderful tale some twenty
+years before. The king at once appointed him governor of Florida, and
+gave him full permission to plant a colony in the new land--continent or
+island as it might prove to be.
+
+De Leon may still have nourished hopes in his heart of finding the
+fabled fountain when, in 1521, he returned to plant the colony granted
+by the king. But the natives of Florida had seen enough of the Spaniards
+in their former visit, and now met them with arrows instead of flowers
+and smiles. Fierce fights ensued, and their efforts to establish
+themselves on the new shores proved in vain. In the end their leader
+received so severe an arrow wound that he withdrew and left to the
+victorious Indians the ownership of their land. The arrow was poisoned,
+and his wound proved mortal. In a short time after reaching Cuba he
+died, having found death instead of youth in the land of flowers.
+
+We may quote the words of the historian Robertson in support of the
+fancy which led De Leon in the path of discovery: "The Spaniards, at
+that period, were engaged in a career of activity which gave a romantic
+turn to their imagination and daily presented to them strange and
+marvellous objects. A new world was opened to their view. They visited
+islands and continents of whose existence mankind in former ages had no
+conception. In those delightful countries nature seemed to assume
+another form; every tree and plant and animal was different from those
+of the ancient hemisphere. They seemed to be transported into enchanted
+ground; and, after the wonders which they had seen, nothing, in the
+warmth and novelty of their imagination, appeared to them so
+extraordinary as to be beyond belief. If the rapid succession of new and
+striking scenes made such impression on the sound understanding of
+Columbus that he boasted of having found the seat of Paradise, it will
+not appear strange that Ponce de Leon should dream of discovering the
+fountain of youth."
+
+All we need say farther is that the first attempt to colonize the shores
+of the great republic of the future years ended in disaster and death.
+Yet De Leon's hope was not fully amiss, for in our own day many seek
+that flowery land in quest of youthful strength. They do not now hope to
+find it by bathing in any magic fountain, but it comes to them by
+breathing its health-giving atmosphere and basking in its magic clime.
+
+
+
+
+_DE SOTO AND THE FATHER OF WATERS._
+
+
+America was to the Spaniards the land of gold. Everywhere they looked
+for the yellow metal, more precious in their eyes than anything else the
+earth yields. The wonderful adventures of Cortez in Mexico and of
+Pizarro in Peru, and the vast wealth in gold found by those sons of
+fame, filled their people with hope and avarice, and men of enterprise
+began to look elsewhere for great and rich Indian nations to subdue and
+plunder.
+
+North of the Gulf of Mexico lay a vast, mysterious region, which in time
+to come was to be the seat of a great and mighty nation. To the
+Spaniards it was a land of enchantment, the mystic realm of the unknown,
+perhaps rich in marvels and wealthy beyond their dreams. It was fabled
+to contain the magic fountain of youth, the hope to bathe in whose
+pellucid waters lured Ponce de Leon to his death. Another explorer, De
+Ayllon, sailed north of Florida, seeking a sacred stream which was said
+to possess the same enchanted powers. A third, De Narvaez, went far into
+the country, with more men than Cortez led to the conquest of Mexico,
+but after months of wandering only a handful of his men returned, and
+not a grain of gold was found to pay for their suffering.
+
+But these failures only stirred the cavaliers of Spain to new thirst
+for adventure and gain. They had been told of fertile plains, of
+splendid tropical forests, of the beauty of the Indian maidens, of
+romantic incidents and hair-breadth escapes, of the wonderful influence
+exercised by a white man on tribes of dusky warriors, and who knew what
+fairy marvels or unimagined wealth might be found in the deep interior
+of this land of hope and mystery. Thus when Hernando de Soto, who had
+been with Pizarro in Peru and seen its gold-plated temples, called for
+volunteers to explore and conquer the unknown northland, hundreds of
+aspiring warriors flocked to his standard, burning with love of
+adventure and filled with thirst for gold.
+
+On the 30th of May, 1539, De Soto, with nine vessels and six or seven
+hundred well-armed followers, sailed into Tampa Bay, on the Gulf coast
+of Florida. Here they at once landed and marched inland, greedy to reach
+and grasp the spectral image of gold which floated before their eyes. A
+daring but a cruel man was this new adventurer. He brought with him
+blood-hounds to hunt the Indians and chains to fetter them. A drove of
+hogs was brought to supply the soldiers with fresh meat. They were
+provided with horses, with fire-arms, with cannon, with steel armor,
+with everything to overawe and overcome the woodland savages. Yet two
+things they needed; these were judgment and discretion. It would have
+been wise to make friends of the Indians. Instead, by their cruelty,
+they turned them into bitter and relentless enemies. So wherever they
+went they had bold and fierce foes to fight, and wounds and death marked
+their pathway across the land.
+
+Let us follow De Soto and his men into the realm of the unknown. They
+had not gone far before a strange thing happened. Out of a crowd of
+dusky Indians a white man rode on horseback to join them, making
+gestures of delight. He was a Spaniard, Juan Ortiz by name, one of the
+Narvaez band, who had been held in captivity among the Indians for ten
+years. He knew the Indian language well and offered himself as an
+interpreter and guide. Heaven seemed to have sent him, for he was worth
+a regiment to the Spaniards.
+
+Juan Ortiz had a strange story to tell. Once his captors had sought to
+burn him alive by a slow fire as a sacrifice to the evil spirit. Bound
+hand and foot, he was laid on a wooden stage and a fire kindled under
+him. But at this moment of frightful peril the daughter of the chieftain
+begged for his life, and her father listened to her prayer. Three years
+later the savage captors again decided to burn him, and again the dusky
+maiden saved his life. She warned him of his danger and led him to the
+camp of another chief. Here he stayed till the Spaniards came. What
+became of the warm-hearted maiden we are not told. She did not win the
+fame of the Pocahontas of a later day.
+
+Many and strange were the adventures of the Spaniards as they went
+deeper and deeper into the new land of promise. Misfortune tracked
+their footsteps and there was no glitter of gold to cheer their hearts.
+A year passed over their heads and still the land of gold lay far away.
+An Indian offered to lead them to a distant country, governed by a
+woman, telling them that there they would find abundance of a yellow
+metal. Inspired by hope, they now pushed eagerly forward, but the yellow
+metal proved to be copper instead of gold, and their high hopes were
+followed by the gloom of disappointment and despair. But wherever they
+went their trail was marked by blood and pillage, and the story of their
+ruthless deeds stirred up the Indians in advance to bitter hostility.
+
+Fear alone made any of the natives meet them with a show of peace, and
+this they repaid by brutal deeds. One of their visitors was an Indian
+queen--as they called her--the woman chief of a tribe of the South. When
+the Spaniards came near her domain she hastened to welcome them, hoping
+by this means to make friends of her dreaded visitors. Borne in a litter
+by four of her subjects, the dusky princess alighted before De Soto and
+came forward with gestures of pleasure, as if delighted to welcome her
+guests. Taking from her neck a heavy double string of pearls, she hung
+it on that of the Spanish leader. De Soto accepted it with the courtly
+grace of a cavalier, and pretended friendship while he questioned his
+hostess.
+
+But he no sooner obtained the information he wanted than he made her a
+prisoner, and at once began to rob her and her people of all the
+valuables they possessed. Chief among these were large numbers of
+pearls, most of them found in the graves of the distinguished men of the
+tribe. But the plunderers did not gain all they hoped for by their act
+of vandalism, for the poor queen managed to escape from her guards, and
+in her flight took with her a box of the most valuable of the pearls.
+They were those which De Soto had most prized and he was bitterly stung
+by their loss.
+
+The adventurers were now near the Atlantic, on ground which had been
+trodden by whites before, and they decided to turn inland and explore
+the country to the west. After months more of wandering, and the loss of
+many men through their battles with the Indians, they found themselves
+in the autumn of 1540 at a large village called Mavilla. It stood where
+stands to-day the city of Mobile. Here a large force of Indians was
+gathered.
+
+The Indian chief or cacique met De Soto with a show of friendship, and
+induced him and a few of his men to follow him within the palisades
+which surrounded the village. No sooner had they got there than the
+chief shouted some words of insult in his own tongue and darted into one
+of the houses. A minor chief got into a dispute with a Spanish soldier,
+who, in the usual Spanish fashion, carried forward the argument with a
+blow from his sword. This served as a signal for hostilities. In an
+instant clouds of arrows poured from the houses, and before the
+Spaniards could escape nearly the whole of them were slain. Only De
+Soto and a few others got out with their lives from the trap into which
+they had been beguiled.
+
+Filled with revengeful rage, the Spanish forces now invested and
+assailed the town, and a furious conflict began, lasting for nine hours.
+In the end the whites, from their superior weapons and organization, won
+the victory. But theirs was a costly triumph, for many of them had
+fallen and nearly all their property had been destroyed. Mavilla was
+burned and hosts of the Indians were killed, but the Spaniards were in a
+terrible situation, far from their ships, without medicine or food, and
+surrounded by brave and furious enemies.
+
+The soldiers felt that they had had enough adventure of this kind, and
+clamored to be led back to their ships. De Soto had been advised that
+the ships were then in the Bay of Pensacola, only six days' journey from
+Mavilla, but he kept this a secret from his men, for hopes of fame and
+wealth still filled his soul. In the end, despite their entreaties, he
+led the men to the north, spending the winter in a small village of the
+Chickasaw Indians.
+
+When spring opened the adventurers resumed their journey into the
+unknown. In his usual forcible fashion De Soto seized on Indians to
+carry his baggage, and in this way he brought on a violent battle, in
+which the whites met with a serious defeat and were in imminent danger
+of annihilation. Not a man of them would have lived to tell the tale if
+the savages had not been so scared at their own success that they drew
+back just when they had the hated Spaniards in their power.
+
+[Illustration: DE SOTO DISCOVERING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.]
+
+A strange-looking army was that which the indomitable De Soto led
+forward from this place. Many of the uniforms of the men had been
+carried off by the enemy, and these were replaced with skins and mats
+made of ivy-leaves, so that the adventurers looked more like forest
+braves than Christian warriors. But onward still they trudged, sick at
+heart many of them, but obeying the orders of their resolute chief, and
+in the blossoming month of May they made that famous discovery by which
+the name of Hernando de Soto has ever since been known. For they stood
+on the banks of one of the mightiest rivers of the earth, the great
+Father of Waters, the grand Mississippi. From thousands of miles to the
+north had come the waters which now rolled onward in a mighty volume
+before their eyes, hastening downward to bury themselves in the still
+distant Gulf.
+
+A discovery such as this might have been enough to satisfy the cravings
+of any ordinary man, but De Soto, in his insatiable greed for gold, saw
+in the glorious stream only an obstacle to his course, "half a league
+over." To build boats and cross the stream was the one purpose that
+filled his mind, and with much labor they succeeded in getting across
+the great stream themselves and the few of their horses that remained.
+
+At once the old story began again. The Indians beyond the Mississippi
+had heard of the Spaniards and their methods, and met them with
+relentless hostility. They had hardly landed on the opposite shore
+before new battles began. As for the Indian empire, with great cities,
+civilized inhabitants, and heaps of gold, which Be Soto so ardently
+sought, it seemed as far off as ever, and he was a sadly disappointed
+man as he led the miserable remnant of his once well-equipped and
+hopeful followers up the left bank of the great stream, dreams of wealth
+and renown not yet quite driven from his mind.
+
+At length they reached the region of the present State of Missouri. Here
+the simple-minded people took the white strangers to be children of the
+Sun, the god of their worship, and they brought out their blind, hoping
+to have them restored to sight by a touch from the healing hands of
+these divine visitors. Leaving after a time these superstitious tribes,
+De Soto led his men to the west, lured on still by the phantom of a
+wealthy Indian realm, and the next winter was passed near where Little
+Rock, Arkansas, is now built.
+
+Spring returned at length, and the weary wanderings of the devoted band
+were resumed. Depressed, worn-out, hopeless, they trudged onward, hardly
+a man among them looking for aught but death in those forest wilds. Juan
+Ortiz, the most useful man in the band, died, and left the enterprise
+still more hopeless. But De Soto, worn, sick, emaciated, was indomitable
+still and the dream of a brilliant success lingered as ever in his
+brain. He tried now to win over the Indians by pretending to be
+immortal and to be gifted with supernatural powers, but it was too late
+to make them credit any such fantastic notion.
+
+The band encamped in an unhealthy spot near the great river. Here
+disease attacked the men; scouts were sent out to seek a better place,
+but they found only trackless woods and rumors of Indian bands creeping
+stealthily up on all sides to destroy what remained of the little army
+of whites.
+
+Almost for the first time De Soto's resolute mind now gave way. Broken
+down by his many labors and cares, perhaps assailed by the disease that
+was attacking his men, he felt that death was near at hand. Calling
+around him the sparse remnant of his once gallant company, he humbly
+begged their pardon for the sufferings and evils he had brought upon
+them, and named Luis de Alvaredo to succeed him in command. The next
+day, May 21, 1542, the unfortunate hero died. Thus passed away one of
+the three greatest Spanish explorers of the New World, a man as great in
+his way and as indomitable in his efforts as his rivals, Cortez and
+Pizarro, though not so fortunate in his results. For three years he had
+led his little band through a primitive wilderness, fighting his way
+steadily through hosts of savage foes, and never yielding until the hand
+of death was laid upon his limbs.
+
+Fearing a fierce attack from the savages if they should learn that the
+"immortal" chief of the whites was dead, Alvaredo had him buried
+secretly outside the walls of the camp. But the new-made grave was
+suspicious. The prowling Indians might dig it up and discover the noted
+form it held. To prevent this, Alvaredo had the body of De Soto dug up
+in the night, wrapped it in cloths filled with sand, and dropped it into
+the Mississippi, to whose bottom it immediately sank. Thus was the great
+river he had discovered made the famous explorer's final resting-place.
+
+With the death of De Soto the work of the explorers was practically at
+an end. To the Indians who asked what had become of the Child of the
+Sun, Alvaredo answered that he had gone to heaven for a visit, but would
+soon return. Then, while the Indians waited this return of the chief,
+the camp was broken up and the band set out again on a westward course,
+hoping to reach the Pacific coast, whose distance they did not dream.
+Months more passed by in hopeless wandering, then back to the great
+river they came and spent six months more in building boats, as their
+last hope of escape.
+
+On the 2d of July, 1543, the scanty remnant of the once powerful band
+embarked on the waters of the great river, and for seventeen days
+floated downward, while the Indians on the bank poured arrows on them
+incessantly as they passed. Fifty days later a few haggard, half-naked
+survivors of De Soto's great expedition landed at the Spanish settlement
+of Panuco in Mexico. They had long been given up as lost, and were
+received as men risen from the grave.
+
+
+
+
+_THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE._
+
+
+In the year 1584 two wandering vessels, like the caravels of Columbus a
+century earlier, found themselves in the vicinity of a new land; not, as
+in the case of Columbus, by seeing twigs and fruit floating on the
+water, but in the more poetical way of being visited, while far at sea,
+by a sweet fragrance, as of a delicious garden full of perfumed flowers.
+A garden it was, planted not by the hand of man, but by that of nature,
+on the North Carolinian shores. For this was the first expedition sent
+out by Sir Walter Raleigh, the earliest of Englishmen to attempt to
+settle the new-discovered continent, and it was at that season as truly
+a land of flowers as the more southern Florida.
+
+The ships soon reached shore at a beautiful island called by the Indians
+Wocokon, where the mariners gazed with wonder and delight on the scene
+that lay before them. Wild flowers, whose perfume had reached their
+senses while still two days' sail from land, thickly carpeted the soil,
+and grapes grew so plentifully that the ocean waves, as they broke upon
+the strand, dashed their spray upon the thick-growing clusters. "The
+forests formed themselves into wonderfully beautiful bowers, frequented
+by multitudes of birds. It was like a Garden of Eden, and the gentle,
+friendly inhabitants appeared in unison with the scene. On the island
+of Roanoke they were received by the wife of the king, and entertained
+with Arcadian hospitality."
+
+When these vessels returned to England and the mariners told of what
+they had seen, the people were filled with enthusiasm. Queen Elizabeth
+was so delighted with what was said of the beauty of the country that
+she gave it the name of Virginia, in honor of herself as a virgin queen.
+The next year a larger expedition was sent out, carrying one hundred and
+fifty colonists, who were to form the vanguard of the British dominion
+in the New World.
+
+They found the land all they had been told. Ralph Lane, the governor,
+wrote home: "It is the goodliest soil under the cope of heaven; the most
+pleasing territory in the world; the continent is of a huge and unknown
+greatness, and very well peopled and towned, though savagely. The
+climate is so wholesome that we have none sick. If Virginia had but
+horses and kine, and were inhabited by Englishmen, no realm in
+Christendom were comparable with it."
+
+But they did not find the natives so kindly disposed as in the year
+before, and no wonder; for the first thing the English did after landing
+on Roanoke Island was to accuse the Indians of stealing a silver cup,
+for which they took revenge by burning a village and destroying the
+standing corn. Whether this method was copied from the Spaniards or not,
+it proved a most unwise one, for at once the colonists found themselves
+surrounded by warlike foes, instead of in intercourse with confiding
+friends.
+
+The English colonists had the same fault as those of Spain. The stories
+of the wonderful wealth of Mexico and Peru had spread far and wide over
+Europe, and the thirst for gold was in all hearts. Instead of planting
+grain and building homes, the new-comers sought the yellow evil far and
+wide, almost as if they expected the soil to be paved with it. The
+Indians were eagerly questioned and their wildest stories believed. As
+the natives of Porto Rico had invented a magic fountain to rid
+themselves of Ponce de Leon and his countrymen, so those of Roanoke told
+marvellous fables to lure away the unwelcome English. The Roanoke River,
+they said, gushed forth from a rock so near the western ocean that in
+storms the salt sea-water was hurled into the fresh-water stream. Far
+away on its banks there dwelt a nation rich in gold, and inhabiting a
+city the walls of which glittered with precious pearls.
+
+Lane himself, whom we may trust to have been an educated man, accepted
+these tales of marvel as readily as the most ignorant of his people. In
+truth, he had much warrant for it in the experience of the Spaniards.
+Taking a party of the colonists, he ascended the river in search of the
+golden region. On and on they went, finding nothing but the unending
+forest, hearing nothing but the cries of wild beasts and the Indian
+war-cries, but drawn onward still by hope until their food ran out and
+bitter famine assailed them. Then, after being forced to kill their
+dogs for food, they came back again, much to the disappointment of the
+Indians, who fancied they were well rid of their troublesome guests.
+
+As the settlers were not to be disposed of by fairy-stories of cities of
+gold, the natives now tried another plan. They resolved to plant no more
+corn, so that the English must either go away or starve. Lane made
+matters worse by a piece of foolish and useless cruelty. Wisdom should
+have taught him to plant corn himself. But what he did was to invite the
+Indians to a conference, and then to attack them, sword in hand, and
+kill the chief, with many braves of the tribe. He might have expected
+what followed. The furious natives at once cut off all supplies from the
+colonists, and they would have died of hunger if Sir Francis Drake, in
+one of his expeditions, had not just then appeared with a large fleet.
+
+Here ended the first attempt to plant an English colony in America.
+Drake, finding the people in a desperate state, took them in his ships
+and sailed with them for England. Hardly had they gone before other
+ships came and the missing colonists were sought for in vain. Then
+fifteen men were left on the island to hold it for England, and the
+ships returned.
+
+In 1587 Raleigh's last colony reached Roanoke Island. This time he took
+care to send farmers instead of gold-seekers, and sent with them a
+supply of farming tools. But it was not encouraging when they looked
+for the fifteen men left the year before to find only some of their
+bones, while their fort was a ruin and their deserted dwellings
+overgrown with vines. The Indians had taken revenge on their oppressors.
+One event of interest took place before the ship returned, the birth of
+the first English child born in America. In honor of the name which the
+queen had given the land, this little waif was called Virginia Dare.
+
+Now we come to the story of the mysterious fate of this second English
+colony. When the ships which had borne it to Roanoke went back to
+England they found that island in an excited state. The great Spanish
+Armada was being prepared to invade and conquer Elizabeth's realm, and
+hasty preparations were making to defend the British soil. The fate of
+the Armada is well known. England triumphed. But several years passed
+before Raleigh, who was now deep laden with debt, was able to send out a
+vessel to the relief of his abandoned colonists.
+
+When the people sent by him landed on the island, they looked around
+them in dismay. Here were no happy homes, no smiling fields, no bustling
+colonists. The island was deserted. What had become of the inhabitants
+was not easy to guess. Not even their bones had been left, as in the
+case of the hapless fifteen, though many relics of their dwelling-places
+were found. The only indication of their fate was the single word
+"Croatan" cut into the bark of a tree.
+
+Croatan was the name of an island not far from that on which they were,
+but it was the stormy season of the year, and John White, the captain,
+made this an excuse for not venturing there. So he sailed again for home
+with only the story of a vanished colony.
+
+From that time to this the fate of the colony has been a mystery. No
+trace of any of its members was ever found. If they had made their way
+to Croatan, they were never seen there. Five times the noble-hearted
+Raleigh sent out ships to search for them, but all in vain; they had
+gone past finding; the forest land had swallowed them up.
+
+It has been conjectured that they had mingled with a friendly tribe of
+Indians and become children of the forest like their hosts. Some
+tradition of this kind remained among the Indians, and it has been
+fancied that the Hatteras Indians showed traces of English blood. But
+all this is conjecture, and the fate of the lost colonists of Roanoke
+must remain forever unknown.
+
+
+
+
+_THE THRILLING ADVENTURE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH._
+
+
+For those who love stories of the Indians, and the strange and perilous
+adventures of white men in dealing with the forest tribes, we cannot do
+better than give a remarkable anecdote of life in the Virginia woodlands
+three centuries ago.
+
+On a day near the opening of the winter of 1608 a small boat, in which
+were several men, might have been seen going up the James River under
+the shadow of the high trees that bordered its banks.
+
+They came at length to a point where a smaller stream flowed into the
+James, wide at its mouth but soon growing narrow. Into this the boat was
+turned and rowed briskly onward, under the direction of the leader of
+the expedition. They were soon in the heart of the wildwood, whose dense
+forest growth clustered thickly on either bank of the stream, which ran
+in a narrow silver thread through the green wilderness. The stream they
+pursued is that now known as the Chickahominy River, so called from an
+Indian tribe of that name, the most daring and warlike of all the
+savages of the region.
+
+As they went on the stream grew narrower still, and in time became so
+shallow that the boat could go no farther. As they sat there in doubt,
+debating what had better be done, the bushes by the waterside were
+thrust aside and dusky faces looked out upon them through the leaves.
+The leader of the whites beckoned to them and two men stepped out of the
+bushy thicket, making signs of great friendliness. They pointed to the
+large boat, and indicated by gestures that they had smaller craft near
+at hand and would lend one to the whites if they wished to go farther
+up. They would go along with them and show them the way.
+
+The leader of the party of whites was named John Smith. This is a very
+common name, but he was the one John Smith who has made the name famous
+in history. He had met many Indians before and found most of them
+friendly, but he had never seen any of the Chickahominies and did not
+know that they were enemies to the whites. So he accepted the offer of
+the Indians. The boat was taken back down the stream to a sort of wide
+bay where he thought it would be safe. Here the Indians brought him one
+of their light but strong canoes. Smith wanted to explore the stream
+higher up, and, thinking that he could trust these very friendly looking
+red men, he got into the canoe, bidding two of his men to come with him.
+To the others he said,--
+
+"Do not leave your boat on any account. These fellows seem all right,
+but they are never to be trusted too far. There may be more of them in
+the woods, so be wide awake and keep your wits about you."
+
+The two Indians now got into the canoe with Smith and his men and began
+to paddle it up the stream, keeping on until they were miles from the
+starting-point. Undergrowth rose thickly on the banks and vines hung
+down in green masses from the trees, so that the boat they had left was
+quickly lost to sight. Soon after that the men in the large boat did a
+very foolish thing. Heedless of the orders of their leader, they left
+the boat and strolled into the woods. They had not gone far before a
+party of savages came rushing at them with wild cries, and followed them
+fiercely as they turned and ran back to their boat. One of them was
+caught by the savages, and as the fugitives sprang into their boat they
+were horrified to see the hapless fellow killed by his captors. This
+lesson taught them not to leave the boat again.
+
+Ignorant of all this, Smith went on, the boat being paddled here under a
+low canopy of vines, there through open spaces, until far up the stream.
+At length, as passage grew more difficult, he bade his guides to stop,
+and stepped ashore. Taking one of the Indians with him, he set out,
+carbine on shoulder, saying that he would provide food for the party. He
+cautioned his two followers, as he had done those in the large boat, to
+keep a sharp look-out and not let themselves be surprised.
+
+But these men proved to be as foolish and reckless as the others. The
+air was cool and they built a fire on the bank. Then, utterly heedless
+of danger, they lay down beside it and soon were fast asleep. As they
+lay slumbering the Indians, who had started up the stream after killing
+their prisoner at the boat, came upon them in this helpless state. They
+at once killed the foolish pair, and then started into the woods on the
+trail of Smith.
+
+[Illustration: POCAHONTAS.]
+
+Daring and full of resources as Captain John Smith was, he had taken a
+dangerous risk in thus venturing alone into those forest depths, peopled
+only by prowling and hostile savages. It proved to be the most desperate
+crisis of his life, full of adventure as this life had been. As a
+youthful soldier he had gone through great perils in the wars with the
+Turks, and once had killed three Turkish warriors in single combat
+between two armies, but never before had he been in such danger of death
+as he was now, alone with a treacherous Indian while a dozen or more of
+others, bent on his death, were trailing him through the woods.
+
+He was first made aware of his danger when a flight of arrows came from
+the low bushes near by. Then, with fierce war-whoops, the Indian braves
+rushed upon him with brandished knives and tomahawks. But desperate as
+was his situation, in the heart of the forest, far from help, surrounded
+by foes who thirsted for his blood, Smith did not lose his courage or
+his coolness. He fired his pistol at the Indians, two of them falling
+wounded or dead. As they drew back in dismay, he seized his guide and
+tied him to his left arm with his garter as a protection from their
+arrows, and then started through the woods in the direction of the
+canoe. Walking backward, with his face to his pursuers, and keeping
+them off with his weapons, he had not taken many steps before he found
+his feet sinking in the soft soil. He was in the edge of the great swamp
+still known in that region, and before he was aware of the danger he
+sank into it to his waist and his guide with him. The other Indians held
+back in fear until he had thrown away his weapons, when they rushed upon
+him, drew him out of the mud, and led him captive to the fire where his
+two companions lay dead.
+
+Smith's case now seemed truly desperate. He knew enough of the savages
+to have very little hope of life. Yet he was not inclined to give up
+while a shadowy chance remained. Taking from his pocket a small compass,
+which he carried to aid him in his forest journeys, he gave it to the
+Indian chief, showing him how the needle always pointed to the north.
+But while the chief was looking curiously at this magic toy, as it
+seemed to him, the other Indians bound their captive to a tree, and bent
+their bows to shoot him. Their deadly purpose was prevented by the
+chief, who waved the compass in the air and bade them stop. For the time
+the mystery of the compass seemed to have saved the captive's life.
+
+Smith was now taken through the woods, the journey ending at an Indian
+village called Orapakes. Here the dusky women and children took the
+captive in hand, dancing wildly around him, with fierce cries and
+threatening gestures, while the warriors looked grimly on. Yet Smith
+bore their insults and threats with impassive face and unflinching
+attitude. At length Opechancanough, the chief, pleased to find that he
+had a brave man for captive, bade them cease, and food was brought forth
+for Smith and his captors.
+
+While they were in this village two interesting examples of the
+simplicity of Indian thought took place. Smith wrote a message to
+Jamestown, the settlement of the whites, sending it by one of the
+Indians, and receiving an answer. On his reading this and speaking of
+what he had learned from it, the Indians looked on it as the work of
+enchantment. They could not comprehend how "paper could talk." Another
+thing was the following: They showed him a bag of gunpowder which they
+had somehow obtained, saying that they were going to sow it in the
+ground the next spring and gather a crop of this useful substance. After
+spending some days in this and other villages, the captive was taken
+into the woods, his captors making him understand that they were going
+on a long journey.
+
+Whither he was being taken or what was to be his fate Smith was not
+aware. The language of gestures, which was his only way of conversing
+with the savages, soon reached its limit, and he was quite ignorant of
+what they proposed to do with him, though his heart must have sunk as
+they went on day after day, northward through the forest. On they walked
+in single file, Smith unbound and seemingly free in their midst, but
+with a watchful Indian guard close beside him, ready to shoot him if he
+made any effort to escape. Village after village was passed, in each of
+which the women and children danced and shrieked around him as at
+Orapakes. It was evident they knew the value of their prisoner, and
+recognized that they had in their hands the great chief of the Pale
+Faces.
+
+In fact, the Chickahominy chief felt that his captive was of too much
+importance to be dealt with hastily, and was taking him to the village
+of the great chief Powhatan, who ruled like an emperor over a powerful
+confederation of tribes. In summer his residence was near the Falls of
+the James River, but he was in the habit of spending the winter on the
+banks of York River, his purpose being to enjoy the fish and oysters of
+the neighboring Chesapeake. Wesowocomoca was the name of this winter
+residence, and here the captive was at length brought, after the long
+woodland journey.
+
+Captain Smith had met the old Indian emperor before, at his summer home
+on the James River, near where the city of Richmond now stands. But that
+was as a freeman, with his guard around him and his hands unbound. Now
+he was brought before him as a captive, subject to his royal will or
+caprice.
+
+He found the famous lord of the tribes in his large wigwam, with his
+wives around him, and his vigilant guard of warriors grouped on the
+greensward outside, where the Indian lodges stretched in a considerable
+village along the stream. Powhatan wore a large robe made of raccoon
+skins. A rich plume of feathers ornamented his head and a string of
+beads depended from his neck. At his head and feet sat two young Indian
+girls, his favorite wives, wearing richly adorned dresses of fur, with
+plumes in their hair and necklaces of pearls. Other women were in the
+room, and a number of the leading warriors who sat around gave the
+fierce war-cry of the tribe as the captive was brought in.
+
+The old chieftain looked with keen eyes on his famous prisoner, of whose
+capture he had been advised by runners sent before. There was a look of
+triumph and malignity in his eyes, but Captain Smith stood before him
+unmoved. He had been through too many dangers to be easily dismayed, and
+near death's door too often to yield to despair. Powhatan gave an order
+to a young Indian woman, who brought him a wooden basin of water that he
+might wash his hands. Then she presented him a bunch of feathers to
+serve as a towel. This done, meat and corn-bread were placed before him.
+As he ate Powhatan talked with his warriors, consulting with them, the
+captive feared, upon his fate. But he finished his meal with little loss
+of appetite, trusting to the Providence which had saved him more than
+once before to come to his aid again.
+
+As he ate, his vigilant eyes looked heedfully around the room. Many who
+were there gazed on him with interest, and one of them, a young Indian
+girl of twelve or thirteen years of age, with pity and concern. It was
+evident that she was of high rank in the tribe, for she was richly
+dressed and wore in her hair a plume of feathers like that of Powhatan,
+and on her feet moccasins embroidered like his. There was a troubled and
+compassionate look in her eyes, as she gazed on the captive white man, a
+look which he may perhaps have seen and taken comfort from in his hour
+of dread.
+
+No such feeling as this seemed to rest in the heart of the old chief and
+his warriors. Their conference quickly ended, and, though its words were
+strange to him, the captive could read his fate in their dark and
+frowning faces. They had grown to hate the whites, and now that their
+leader was a captive before them, they decided to put him to death.
+
+There was no loss of time in preparation for the execution of the fatal
+decree. At an order from Powhatan the captive was seized and securely
+bound, then he was laid on the floor of the hut, with his head on a
+large stone brought in from outside. Beside him stood a stalwart savage
+grasping a huge war-club. A word, a signal from Powhatan, was alone
+needed and the victim's brains would have been dashed out.
+
+At this critical moment Smith's good angel watched over him. A low cry
+of pity was heard, and the young girl who had watched him with such
+concern sprang forward and clasped her arms around the poor prisoner,
+looking up at the Indian emperor with beseeching eyes. It was
+Pocahontas, his favorite daughter. Her looks touched the old man's
+heart, and he bade the executioner to stand back, and gave orders that
+the captive should be released. Powhatan soon showed that he was in
+earnest in his act of mercy. He treated the prisoner in a friendly
+fashion, and two days later set him free to return to Jamestown.
+
+All that he asked in return was that the whites should send him two of
+their great guns and a grindstone. Smith readily consented, no doubt
+with a secret sense of amusement, and set out for the settlement, led by
+Indian guides. Rawhunt, a favorite servant of Powhatan, was one of the
+guides, and on reaching Jamestown Smith showed him two cannon and a
+grindstone, and bade him carry them home to his master. Rawhunt tried,
+but when he found that he could not stir one of the weighty presents
+from the ground, he was quite content to take back less bulky presents
+in their place.
+
+So runs the story of Captain Smith's remarkable adventure. No doubt it
+is well to say here that there are writers who doubt the whole story of
+Pocahontas and her deed of mercy, simply because Captain Smith did not
+speak of it in his first book. But there is no very good reason to doubt
+it, and we know that things like this happened in other cases. Thus, in
+the story of De Soto we have told how Juan Ortiz, the Spanish captive,
+was saved from being burned alive by an Indian maiden in much the same
+way.
+
+Pocahontas after that was always a friend of the English, and often
+visited them in Jamestown. Once she stole away through the woods and
+told her English friends that Powhatan and his warriors were going to
+attack them. Then she stole back again. When the Indians came they found
+the English ready, and concluded to defer their attack. Later, after she
+had grown up, she was taken prisoner and held in Jamestown as a hostage
+to make her father quit threatening the English. While there a young
+planter named John Rolfe fell deeply in love with her, and she loved him
+warmly in return.
+
+In the end Pocahontas became a Christian and was baptized at Jamestown
+under the name of Rebecca. Then she and John Rolfe were married and went
+to live in England, where she was known as the "Lady Rebecca" and
+treated as if she were indeed a princess. She met John Smith once more,
+and was full of joy at sight of her "father," as she called him. But
+when he told her that she must not call him that, and spoke to her very
+respectfully as Lady Rebecca, she covered her face with her hands and
+began to weep. She had always called him father, she said, and he had
+called her child, and she meant to do so still. They had told her he was
+dead, and she was very glad to learn that this was false, for she loved
+him as a father and would always do so.
+
+That was her last meeting with Captain Smith. In less than a year
+afterward she was taken sick and died, just as she was about to return
+to her beloved Virginia.
+
+
+
+
+_THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA._
+
+
+Friday, the 22d of March, of the year 1622, dawned brightly over a
+peaceful domain in Virginia. In the fifteen years that had passed since
+the first settlers landed and built themselves homes at Jamestown the
+dominion of the whites had spread, until there were nearly eighty
+settlements, while scattered plantations rose over a space of several
+hundred square miles. Powhatan, the Indian emperor, as he was called,
+had long shown himself the friend of the whites, and friendly relations
+grew up between the new-comers and the old owners of the soil that
+continued unbroken for years.
+
+Everywhere peace and tranquillity now prevailed. The English had settled
+on the fertile lands along the bay and up the many rivers, the musket
+had largely given place to the plough and the sword to the sickle and
+the hoe, and trustful industry had succeeded the old martial vigilance.
+The friendliest intercourse existed between the settlers and the
+natives. These were admitted freely to their houses, often supplied with
+fire-arms, employed in hunting and fishing, and looked upon as faithful
+allies, many of whom had accepted the Christian faith.
+
+But in 1618 the mild-tempered Powhatan had died, and Opechancanough, a
+warrior of very different character, had taken his place as chief of the
+confederacy of tribes. We have met with this savage before, in the
+adventurous career of Captain John Smith. He was a true Indian leader,
+shrewd, cunning, cruel in disposition, patient in suffering, skilled in
+deceit, and possessed of that ready eloquence which always had so strong
+an influence over the savage mind. Jealous of the progress of the
+whites, he nourished treacherous designs against them, but these were
+hidden deep in his savage soul, and he vowed that the heavens should
+fall before he would lift a hand in war against his white friends. Such
+was the tranquil and peaceful state of affairs which existed in Virginia
+in the morning of March 22, 1622. There was not a cloud in the social
+sky, nothing to show that the Indians were other than the devoted allies
+and servants of the whites.
+
+On that morning, as often before, many of the savages came to take their
+breakfast with their white friends, some of them bringing deer, turkeys,
+fish, or fruit, which, as usual, they offered for sale. Others of them
+borrowed the boats of the settlers to cross the rivers and visit the
+outlying plantations. By many a hearth the pipe of peace was smoked, the
+hand of friendship extended, the voice of harmony raised.
+
+Such was the aspect of affairs when the hour of noontide struck on that
+fatal day. In an instant, as if this were the signal of death, the scene
+changed from peace to terror. Knives and tomahawks were drawn and many
+of those with whom the savages had been quietly conversing a moment
+before were stretched in death at their feet. Neither sex nor age was
+spared. Wives were felled, weltering in blood, before the eyes of their
+horrified husbands. The tender infant was snatched from its mother's
+arms to be ruthlessly slain. The old, the sick, the helpless were struck
+down as mercilessly as the young and strong. As if by magic, the savages
+appeared at every point, yelling like demons of death, and slaughtering
+all they met. The men in the fields were killed with their own hoes and
+hatchets. Those in the houses were murdered on their own hearth-stones.
+So unlooked-for and terrible was the assault that in that day of blood
+three hundred and forty-seven men, women, and children fell victims to
+their merciless foes. Not content with their work of death, the savage
+murderers mutilated the bodies of their victims in the most revolting
+manner and revelled shamelessly in their crimes.
+
+Yet with all their treacherous rage, they showed themselves cowardly.
+Wherever they were opposed they fled. One old soldier, who had served
+under Captain John Smith, was severely wounded by his savage assailants.
+He clove the skull of one of them with an axe, and the others at once
+took to flight. In the same way a Mr. Baldwin, whose wife lay bleeding
+from many wounds before his eyes, drove away a throng of murderers by
+one well-aimed discharge from his musket. A number of fugitive settlers
+obtained a few muskets from a ship that was lying in a stream near
+their homes, and with these they routed and dispersed the Indians for a
+long distance around.
+
+The principal settlement, that of Jamestown, was a main point for the
+proposed Indian assault. Here the confidence and sense of security was
+as great as in any of the plantations, and only a fortunate warning
+saved the settlers from a far more terrible loss. One of the young
+converts among the Indians, moved by the true spirit of his new faith,
+warned a white friend of the deadly conspiracy, and the latter hastened
+to Jamestown with the ominous news. As a result, the Indian murderers on
+reaching there found the gates closed and the inhabitants on the alert.
+They made a demonstration, but did not venture on an assault, and
+quickly withdrew.
+
+Such was the first great Indian massacre in America, and one of the most
+unexpected and malignant of them all.
+
+It was the work of Opechancanough, who had laid his plot and organized
+the work of death in the most secret and skilful manner. Passing from
+tribe to tribe, he eloquently depicted their wrongs, roused them to
+revenge, pointed out the defenceless state of the whites, and worked on
+their passions by promises of blood and rapine. A complete organization
+was formed, the day and hour were fixed, and the savages of Virginia
+waited in silence and impatience for the time in which they hoped to rid
+the land of every white settler on its soil and win back their old
+domain.
+
+While they did not succeed in this, they filled the whole colony with
+terror and dismay. The planters who had survived the attack were hastily
+called in to Jamestown, and their homes and fields abandoned, so that of
+the eighty recent settlements only six remained. Some of the people were
+bold enough to refuse to obey the order, arming their servants, mounting
+cannon, and preparing to defend their own homes. One of these bold
+spirits was a woman. But the authorities at Jamestown would not permit
+this, and they were all compelled to abandon their strongholds and unite
+for the general defence.
+
+The reign of peace was at an end. A reign of war had begun. The savages
+were everywhere in arms, with Opechancanough at their head. The
+settlers, as soon as the first period of dread had passed, marched
+against them, burning for revenge, and relentless slaughter became the
+rule. It was the first Indian war in the British settlements, but was of
+the type of them all. Wherever any Indian showed himself he was
+instantly shot down. Wherever a white man ventured within reach of the
+red foe he was slain on the spot or dragged off for the more dreadful
+death by torture. There was no truce, no relaxation; it was war to the
+knife.
+
+Only when seed-time was at hand did necessity demand a temporary pause
+in hostilities. The English now showed that they could be as treacherous
+and lacking in honor as their savage enemy. They offered peace to the
+savages, and in this way induced them to leave their hiding-places and
+plant their fields. While thus engaged the English rushed suddenly upon
+them and cut down a large number, including some of the most valiant
+warriors and leading chiefs.
+
+From that time on there was no talk or thought of peace. Alike the
+plantation buildings of the whites and the villages of the Indians were
+burned. The swords and muskets of the whites, the knives and tomahawks
+of the red men, were ever ready for the work of death. For ten years the
+bloody work continued, and by the end of that time great numbers of the
+Indians had been killed, while of the four thousand whites in Virginia
+only two thousand five hundred remained.
+
+Exhaustion at length brought peace, and for ten years more the reign of
+blood ceased. Yet the irritation of the Indians continued. They saw the
+whites spreading ever more widely through the land and taking possession
+of the hunting-grounds without regard for the rights of the native
+owners, and their hatred for the whites grew steadily more virulent.
+Opechancanough was now a very aged man. In the year 1643 he reached the
+hundreth year of his age. A gaunt and withered veteran, with shrunken
+limbs and a tottering and wasted form, his spirit of hostility to the
+whites burned still unquenched. Age had not robbed him of his influence
+over the tribes. His wise counsel, the veneration they felt for him, the
+tradition of his valorous deeds in the past, gave him unquestioned
+control, and in 1643 he repeated his work of twenty-one years before,
+organizing another secret conspiracy against the whites.
+
+It was a reproduction of the former plot. The Indians were charged to
+the utmost secrecy. They were bidden to ambush the whites in their
+plantations and settlements and at a fixed time to fall upon them and to
+spare none that they could kill. The conspiracy was managed as skilfully
+as the former one. No warning of it was received, and at the appointed
+hour the work of death began. Before it ended five hundred of the
+settlers were ruthlessly slain. They were principally those of the
+outlying plantations. Wherever the settlers were in a position for
+effective resistance, the savages were routed and driven back to their
+forest lurking-places.
+
+Their work of death done, the red-skinned murderers at once dispersed,
+knowing well that they could not withstand their foes in open fight. Sir
+William Berkeley, the governor of Virginia, hastily called out a strong
+force of armed men and marched to the main seat of the slaughter. No
+foes were to be found. The Indians had vanished in the woodland
+wilderness. It was useless to pursue them farther on foot, and the
+governor continued the pursuit with a troop of cavalry, sweeping onward
+through the tribal confines.
+
+The chief result of the expedition was the capture of the organizer of
+the conspiracy, the hoary leader of the tribal confederacy, who was
+found near his place of residence on the Pamunky. Too feeble for hasty
+flight, his aged limbs refusing to bear him and his weakened sight to
+aid him, he was easily overtaken by the pursuers, and was carried back
+in triumph to Jamestown, as the very central figure of Indian hostility.
+
+It was the clement purpose of the governor to send the old chief to
+England as a royal captive, there to be held in honorable custody until
+death should close his career. But this purpose was not to be achieved.
+A death of violence awaited the old Indian chieftain. A wretched fellow
+of the neighborhood, one of the kind who would not have dared to face an
+Indian in arms, slipped secretly behind the famous veteran and shot him
+with his musket through the back, inflicting a deadly wound.
+
+Aged and infirm as Opechancanough was, the wound was not instantly
+mortal. He lingered for a few days in agonizing pain. Yet to the last
+moment of his life his dignity of demeanor was preserved. It was
+especially shown when a crowd of idlers gathered in the room to sate
+their unfeeling curiosity on the actions of the dying chief.
+
+His muscles had grown so weak that he could not raise his eyelids
+without aid, and, on hearing the noise around him, he motioned to his
+attendants to lift his lids that he might see what it meant. When he saw
+the idle and curious crowd, a flash of wounded pride and just resentment
+stirred his vanished powers. Sending for the governor, he said, with a
+keen reproach that has grown historic, "Had I taken Sir William Berkeley
+prisoner, I would not have exposed him as a show to my people." Closing
+his eyes again, in a short time afterward the Indian hero was dead.
+
+With the death of Opechancanough, the confederacy over which Powhatan
+and he had ruled so long came to an end. It was now without a head, and
+the associated tribes fell apart. How long it had been in existence
+before the whites came to Virginia we cannot say, but the tread of the
+white man's foot was fatal to the Indian power, and as that foot
+advanced in triumph over the land the strength of the red men everywhere
+waned and disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+_THE GREAT REBELLION IN THE OLD DOMINION._
+
+
+The years ending in "'76" are remarkable in America as years of struggle
+against tyranny and strife for the right. We shall not soon forget the
+year 1776, when the famous rebellion of the colonies against Great
+Britain reached its climax in the Declaration of Independence. In 1676,
+a century before, there broke out in Virginia what was called the "Great
+Rebellion," a famous movement for right and justice. It was brought
+about by the tyranny of Sir William Berkeley, the governor of the colony
+of Virginia, as that of 1776 was by the tyranny of George III., the King
+of England. It is the story of the first American rebellion that we are
+about to tell.
+
+Sir William had ruled over Virginia at intervals for many years. It was
+he who took old Opechancanough prisoner after the massacre of 1643. In
+1676 he was again governor of the colony. He was a man of high temper
+and revengeful disposition, but for a long time he and the Virginians
+got along very well together, for the planters greatly liked the grand
+style in which he lived on his broad estate of "Green Springs," with his
+many servants, and rich silver plate, and costly entertainments, and
+stately dignity. They lived much that way themselves, so far as their
+means let them, and were proud of their governor's grand display.
+
+But what they did not like was his arbitrary way of deciding every
+question in favor of England and against Virginia, and the tyranny with
+which he enforced every order of the king. Still less were they pleased
+with the fact that, when the Indians in the mountain district began to
+attack the settlers, and put men, women, and children to death, the
+governor took no steps to punish the savage foe, and left the people to
+defend themselves in the best way they could. A feeling of panic like
+that of the older times of massacre ensued. The exposed families were
+forced to abandon their homes and seek places of refuge. Neighbors
+banded together for work in the field, and kept their arms close at
+hand. No man left his door without taking his musket. Even Jamestown was
+in danger, for the woodland stretched nearly to its dwellings, and the
+lurking red men, stealing with noiseless tread through the forest
+shades, prowled from the mountains almost to the sea, like panthers in
+search of prey.
+
+At that time there was a man of great influence in Virginia, named
+Nathaniel Bacon. He was a new-comer, who had been in America less than
+three years, but he had bought a large estate and had been made a member
+of the governor's council. He was a handsome man and a fine speaker,
+and these and other qualities made him very popular with the planters
+and the people.
+
+Bacon's plantation was near the Falls of the James River, where the city
+of Richmond now stands. Here his overseer, to whom he was much attached,
+and one of his servants were killed by the Indians. Highly indignant at
+the outrage, Bacon made up his mind that something must be done. He
+called a meeting of the neighboring planters, and addressed them hotly
+on the delay of the governor in coming to their defence. He advised them
+to act for themselves, and asked if any of them were ready to march
+against the savages, and whom they would choose as their leader. With a
+shout they declared that they were ready, and that he should lead.
+
+This was very much like taking the law into their own hands. If the
+governor would not act, they would. As a proper measure, however, Bacon
+sent to the governor and asked for a commission as captain of the force
+of planters. The governor received the demand in an angry way. It hurt
+his sense of dignity to find these men acting on their own account, and
+he refused to grant a commission or to countenance their action. He went
+so far as to issue a proclamation, in which he declared that all who did
+not return to their homes within a certain time would be held as rebels.
+This so scared the planters that the most of them went home, only
+fifty-seven of them remaining with their chosen leader.
+
+With this small force Bacon marched into the wilderness, where he met
+and defeated a party of Indians, killing many of them, and dispersing
+the remainder. Then he and his men returned home in triumph.
+
+By this time the autocratic old governor was in a high state of rage. He
+denounced Bacon and his men as rebels and traitors, and gathered a force
+to punish them. But when he found that the whole colony was on Bacon's
+side he changed his tone. He had Bacon arrested, it is true, when he
+came to Jamestown as a member of the House of Burgesses, but this was
+only a matter of form, to save his dignity, and when the culprit went
+down on one knee and asked pardon of God, the king, and the governor,
+Berkeley was glad enough to get out of his difficulty by forgiving him.
+But for all this fine show of forgiveness Bacon did not trust the old
+tyrant, and soon slipped quietly out of Jamestown and made his way home.
+
+He was right; the governor was making plans to seize him and hold him
+prisoner; he had issued secret orders, and Bacon had got away in good
+time. Very soon he was back again, this time at the head of four hundred
+planters. As they marched on, others joined them, and when they came
+into the old town, and drew up on the State-house green, there were six
+hundred of them, horse and foot.
+
+The sight of this rebel band threw old Berkeley into a towering rage. He
+rushed out from the State-house at the head of his council, and,
+tearing open his ruffled shirt, cried out, in a furious tone:
+
+"Here, shoot me! 'fore God, fair mark; shoot!"
+
+"No," said Bacon, "may it please your honor, we will not hurt a hair of
+your head, nor of any other man's. We are come for a commission to save
+our lives from the Indians, which you have so often promised; and now we
+will have it before we go."
+
+Both men were in a violent rage, walking up and down and gesticulating
+like men distracted. Soon Sir William withdrew with his council to his
+office in the State-house. Bacon followed, his hand now touching his hat
+in deference, now his sword-hilt as anger rose in his heart. Some of his
+men appeared at a window of the room with their guns cocked and ready,
+crying out, "We will have it; we will have it."
+
+This continued till one of the burgesses came to the window and waved
+his handkerchief, calling out, "You shall have it; you shall have it."
+
+Hearing this, the men drew back and rested their guns on the ground and
+Bacon left the chamber and joined them. The matter ended in Bacon's
+getting his commission as general and commander-in-chief, while an act
+was passed by the legislature justifying him in all he had done, and a
+letter to the same effect was written to the king and signed by the
+governor, council, and assembly. Bacon had won in all he demanded.
+
+His triumph was only temporary. While he was invading the country of
+the Pamunky Indians, killing many of them and destroying their towns,
+Berkeley repudiated all he had done. He proclaimed Bacon a rebel and
+traitor and issued a summons for the train-bands to the number of twelve
+hundred men, bidding them pursue and put down Bacon the rebel. The men
+assembled, but when they heard for what they were wanted they broke out
+into a shout of "Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!" and dispersed again, leaving the
+old tyrant and his attendants alone. News of these events quickly
+reached Bacon and his men in the field. He at once turned and marched
+back.
+
+"While I am hunting wolves which are destroying innocent lambs," he
+exclaimed, indignantly, "here are the governor and his men after me like
+hounds in full cry. I am like one between two millstones, which will
+grind me to powder if I do not look to it."
+
+As he came near Jamestown the governor fled, crossing Chesapeake Bay to
+Accomac, and leaving Bacon in full possession. A new House of Burgesses
+was called into session and Bacon's men pledged themselves not to lay
+down their arms. Sir William had sent to England for soldiers, they
+said, and they would stand ready to fight these soldiers, as they had
+fought the governor. A paper to this effect was drawn up and signed,
+dated August, 1676. It was the first American declaration of
+independence.
+
+[Illustration: JAMESTOWN RUIN.]
+
+The tide of rebellion was now in full flow. The movement against the
+Indians had, by the unwarranted behavior of the governor, been converted
+into civil war, nearly the whole colony supporting Bacon and demanding
+that the tyrant governor should be deposed.
+
+But, while this was going on, the Indians took to the war-path again,
+and Bacon at once marched against them, leaving Sir William to his own
+devices. His first movement was against the Appomattox tribe, which
+dwelt on the river of the same name, where Petersburg now stands. Taking
+them by surprise, he burned their town, killed many of them, and
+dispersed the remainder. Then he marched south and attacked other
+tribes, driving them before him and punishing them so severely as quite
+to cure them of all desire to meddle with the whites.
+
+From that time forward Eastern Virginia was free from Indian troubles,
+and Bacon was looked upon as the deliverer of the colony. But lack of
+provisions forced him to return and disband his forces, only a few men
+remaining with him. He soon learned that he had a worse enemy than the
+Indians to fight at home. Some of his leading supporters in Jamestown,
+Lawrence, Drummond, Hansford, and others, came hastily to his camp,
+saying that they had been obliged to flee for safety, as Sir William was
+back again, with eighteen ships in the river and eight hundred men he
+had gathered in the eastern counties.
+
+The affair had now come to a focus. It was fight, or yield and be
+treated as a traitor. Bacon resolved to fight, and he found many to back
+him in it, for he soon had a force collected. How many there were we do
+not know. Some say only one hundred and fifty, some say eight hundred;
+but however that be, he marched with them on Jamestown, bringing his
+Indian captives with him. Rebels and Royalists the two parties were now
+called; people and tyrant would have been better titles, for Bacon was
+in arms for the public right and had the people at his back.
+
+The old governor was ready. While in Accomac he had taken and hung two
+friends of Bacon, who had gone there to try and capture him. He asked
+for nothing better than the chance to serve Bacon in the same way. His
+ships, armed with cannon, now lay in the river near the town. A
+palisade, ten paces wide, had been built across the neck of the
+peninsula in which Jamestown stood. Behind it lay a strong body of armed
+men. Berkeley felt that he had the best of the situation, and was
+defiant of his foes.
+
+It was at the end of a September day when Bacon and his small army of
+"rebels" arrived. Springing from his horse, he led the tired men up to
+the palisades and surveyed the governor's works of defence. Then he
+ordered his trumpeter to sound defiance and his men to fire on the
+garrison. There was no return fire. Sir William knew that the assailants
+were short of provisions, and trusted to hunger to make them retire. But
+Bacon was versed in the art of foraging. At Green Spring, three miles
+away, was Governor Berkeley's fine mansion, and from this the invading
+army quickly supplied itself. The governor afterwards bitterly
+complained that his mansion "was almost ruined; his household goods, and
+others of great value, totally plundered; that he had not a bed to lie
+on; two great beasts, three hundred sheep, seventy horses and mares, all
+his corn and provisions, taken away." Evidently the "rebels" knew
+something about the art of war.
+
+This was not all, for their leader adopted another stratagem not well in
+accordance with the rules of chivalry. A number of the loyalists of the
+vicinity had joined Berkeley, and Bacon sent out small parties of horse,
+which captured the wives of these men and brought them into camp. Among
+them were the lady of Colonel Bacon, Madame Bray, Madame Page, and
+Madame Ballard. He sent one of these ladies to the town, with a warning
+to the husbands not to attack him in his camp, or they would find their
+wives in front of his line.
+
+What Bacon actually wanted these ladies for was to make use of them in
+building his works. He raised by moonlight a defensive work of trees,
+brushwood and earth around the governor's outwork of palisades, placing
+the ladies in front of the workmen to keep the garrison from firing on
+them. But he had the chivalry to take them out of harm's way when the
+governor's men made a sortie on his camp.
+
+The fight that took place may have been a hard one or a light one. We
+have no very full account of it. The most we know is that Bacon and his
+men won the victory, and that the governor's men were driven back,
+leaving their drum and their dead behind them. Whether hard or light,
+his repulse was enough for Sir William's valor. Well intrenched as he
+was and superior in numbers, his courage suddenly gave out, and he fled
+in haste to his ships, which set sail in equal haste down the river,
+their speed accelerated by the cannon-balls which the "rebels" sent
+after them.
+
+Once more the doughty governor was a fugitive, and Bacon was master of
+the situation. Jamestown, the original Virginia settlement, was in his
+hands. What should he do with it? He could not stay there, for he knew
+that Colonel Brent, with some twelve hundred men, was marching down on
+him from the Potomac. He did not care to leave it for Berkeley to return
+to. In this dilemma he concluded to burn it. To this none of his men
+made any objection. Two of them, indeed, Lawrence and Drummond, who had
+houses in the place, set fire to them with their own hands. And thus the
+famous old town of John Smith and the early settlers was burned to the
+ground. Old as it was, we are told that it contained only a church and
+sixteen or eighteen houses, and in some of these there were no families.
+To-day nothing but the ruined church tower remains.
+
+Bacon now marched north to York River to meet Colonel Brent and his men.
+But by the time he got there the men had dispersed. The news of the
+affair at Jamestown had reached them, and they concluded they did not
+want to fight. Bacon was now master of Virginia, with the power though
+not the name of governor.
+
+What would have come of his movement had he lived it is impossible to
+say, for in the hour of his triumph a more perilous foe than Sir William
+Berkeley was near at hand. While directing his men in their work at the
+Jamestown trenches a fever had attacked him, and this led to a dangerous
+dysentery which carried him off after a few weeks' illness. His death
+was a terrible blow to his followers, for the whole movement rested on
+the courage and ability as a leader of this one man. They even feared
+the vindictive Berkeley would attempt some outrage upon the remains of
+the "rebel" leader, and they buried his body at night in a secret place.
+Some traditions assert that he was dealt with as De Soto had been before
+him, his body being sunk in the bosom of the majestic York River, where
+it was left with the winds and the waves to chant its requiem.
+
+Thus ended what Sir William Berkeley called the "Great Rebellion." Its
+leader dead, there was none to take his place. In despair the men
+returned to their homes. Many of them made their way to North Carolina,
+in which new colony they were warmly welcomed. A few kept up a show of
+resistance, but they were soon dispersed, and Berkeley came back in
+triumph, his heart full of revengeful passion. He had sent to England
+for troops, and the arrival of these gave him support in his cruel
+designs.
+
+All the leading friends of Bacon whom he could seize were mercilessly
+put to death, some of them with coarse and aggravating insults. The wife
+of Major Cheeseman, one of the prisoners, knelt at the governor's feet
+and pitifully pleaded for her husband's life, but all she got in return
+from the old brute was a vulgar insult. The major escaped the gallows
+only by dying in prison.
+
+One of the most important of the prisoners was William Drummond, a close
+friend of Bacon. Berkeley hated him and greeted him with the most
+stinging insult he could think of.
+
+"Mr. Drummond," said he, with a bitter sneer, "you are very welcome; I
+am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, you
+shall be hanged in half an hour."
+
+And he was. His property was also seized, but when the king heard of
+this he ordered it to be restored to his widow.
+
+"God has been inexpressibly merciful to this poor province," wrote
+Berkeley, with sickening hypocrisy, after one of his hangings. Charles
+II., the king, took a different view of the matter, saying: "That old
+fool has hung more men in that naked province than I did for the murder
+of my father." More than twenty of Bacon's chief supporters were hung,
+and the governor's revenge came to an end only when the assembly met and
+insisted that these executions should cease.
+
+We have told how Bacon came to his end. We must do the same for
+Berkeley, his foe. Finding that he was hated and despised in Virginia,
+he sailed for England, many of the people celebrating his departure by
+firing cannon and illuminating their houses. He never returned. The king
+was so angry with him that he refused to see him; a slight which
+affected the old man so severely that he soon died, of a broken heart,
+it is said. Thus ended the first rebellion of the people of the American
+colonies.
+
+
+
+
+_CHEVALIER LA SALLE, THE EXPLORER OF THE MISSISSIPPI._
+
+
+There are two great explorers whose names have been made famous by their
+association with the mighty river of the West, the Mississippi, or
+Father of Waters,--De Soto, the discoverer, and La Salle, the explorer,
+of that stupendous stream. Among all the rivers of the earth the
+Mississippi ranks first. It has its rivals in length and volume, but
+stands without a rival as a noble channel of commerce, the pride of the
+West and the glory of the South. We have told the story of its discovery
+by De Soto, the Spanish adventurer; we have now to tell that of its
+exploration by La Salle, the French chevalier.
+
+Let us say here that though the honor of exploring the Mississippi has
+been given to La Salle, he was not the first to traverse its waters. The
+followers of De Soto descended the stream from the Arkansas to its mouth
+in 1542. Father Marquette and Joliet, the explorer, descended from the
+Wisconsin to the Arkansas in 1673. In 1680 Father Hennepin, a Jesuit
+missionary sent by La Salle, ascended the stream from the Illinois to
+the Falls of St. Anthony. Thus white men had followed the great river
+for nearly its whole length. But the greatest of all these explorers and
+the first to traverse the river for the greater part of its course, was
+the Chevalier Robert de la Salle, and to his name is given the glory of
+revealing this grand stream to mankind.
+
+Never was there a more daring and indefatigable explorer than Robert de
+la Salle. He seemed born to make new lands and new people known to the
+world. Coming to Canada in 1667, he began his career by engaging in the
+fur trade on Lake Ontario. But he could not rest while the great
+interior remained unknown. In 1669 he made an expedition to the west and
+south, and was the first white man to gaze on the waters of the swift
+Ohio. In 1679 he launched on the Great Lakes the first vessel that ever
+spread its sails on those mighty inland seas, and in this vessel, the
+Griffin, he sailed through Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan.
+
+La Salle next descended the Illinois River, and built a fort where the
+city of Peoria now stands. But his vessel was wrecked, and he was forced
+to make his way on foot through a thousand miles of wilderness to obtain
+supplies at Montreal. Such was the early record of this remarkable man,
+and for two years afterward his life was full of adventure and
+misfortune. At length, in 1682, he entered upon the great performance of
+his life, his famous journey upon the bosom of the Father of Waters.
+
+It was midwinter when La Salle and his men set out from the lakes with
+their canoes. On the 4th of January, 1682, they reached the mouth of the
+Chicago River, where its waters enter Lake Michigan. The river was
+frozen hard, and they had to build sledges to drag their large and heavy
+canoes down the ice-closed stream. Reaching the portage to the Illinois,
+they continued their journey across the bleak and snowy waste,
+toilsomely dragging canoes, baggage, and provisions to the other stream.
+Here, too, they found a sheet of ice, and for some days longer trudged
+down the channel of the silent and dreary stream. Its banks had been
+desolated by Indian wars, and where once many flourishing villages rose
+there were to be seen only ashes and smoke-blackened ruins.
+
+About the 1st of February they reached Crevecoeur, the fort La Salle
+had built some years earlier. Below this point the stream was free from
+ice, and after a week's rest the canoes were launched on the liquid
+surface. They were not long in reaching the point where the Illinois
+buries its waters in the mighty main river, the grave of so many broad
+and splendid streams.
+
+Past the point they had now reached the Mississippi poured swiftly
+downward, its waters swollen, and bearing upon them great sheets of ice,
+the contribution of the distant north. It was no safe channel for their
+frail birch-bark canoes, and they were obliged to wait a week till the
+vast freightage of ice had run past. Then, on the 13th of February,
+1682, they launched their canoes on the great stream, and began their
+famous voyage down its mighty course.
+
+A day's journey brought them to the place where the turbulent Missouri
+pours its contribution, gathered from thousands of miles of mountain and
+prairie, into the parent stream, rushing with the force and roar of a
+rapid through a channel half a mile broad, and quickly converting the
+clear Mississippi waters into a turbid yellow torrent, thick with mud.
+
+La Salle, like so many of the early explorers, was full of the idea of
+finding a short route across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, and he
+found the Indians at the mouth of the Missouri ready to tell him
+anything he wanted to know. They said that by sailing ten or twelve days
+up the stream, through populous villages of their people, he would come
+to a range of mountains in which the river rose; and by climbing to the
+summit of these lofty hills he could gaze upon a vast and boundless sea,
+whose waves broke on their farther side. It was one of those imaginative
+stories which the Indians were always ready to tell, and the whites as
+ready to believe, and it was well for La Salle that he did not attempt
+the fanciful adventure.
+
+Savage settlements were numerous along the Mississippi, as De Soto had
+found a century and more earlier. About thirty miles below the Missouri
+they came to another village of peaceful natives, whose souls they made
+happy by a few trifling gifts which were of priceless worth to their
+untutored minds. Then downward still they went for a hundred miles or
+more farther, to the mouth of another great stream, this one flowing
+from the east, and as noble in its milder way as the Missouri had been
+in its turbulent flow. Unlike the latter, this stream was gentle in its
+current, and its waters were of crystal clearness. It was the splendid
+river which the Indians called the Wabash, or Beautiful River, and the
+French by the similar name of La Belle Riviere. It is now known as the
+Ohio, the Indian name being transferred to one of its tributaries. This
+was the stream on whose waters La Salle had gazed with admiration
+thirteen years before.
+
+The voyagers were obliged to proceed slowly. Unable to carry many
+provisions in their crowded canoes, they were often forced to stop and
+fish or hunt for game. As the Indians told them they would find no good
+camping-grounds for many miles below the Ohio, they stopped for ten days
+at its mouth, hunting and gathering supplies. Parties were sent out to
+explore in various directions, and one of the men, Peter Prudhomme,
+failed to return. It was feared that he had been taken captive by the
+Indians, traces of whom had been seen near by, and a party of Frenchmen,
+with Indian guides, was sent out on the trails of the natives. They
+returned without the lost man, and La Salle, at length, reluctantly
+giving him up, prepared to continue the journey. Just as they were
+entering the canoes the missing man reappeared. For nine days he had
+been lost in the forest, vainly seeking his friends, and wandering
+hopelessly. His gun, however, had provided him with food, and he reached
+the stream just in time.
+
+Once more the expedition was launched on the swift-flowing current,
+eight or ten large birch canoes filled with Indians and Frenchmen in
+Indian garb, and laden with supplies. The waters bore them swiftly
+onward, there was little labor with the paddles, the wintry weather was
+passing and the air growing mild, the sky sunny, and the light-hearted
+sons of France enjoyed their daily journey through new and strange
+scenes with the warmest zest.
+
+About one hundred and twenty miles below the Ohio they reached the
+vicinity of the Arkansas River, the point near which the voyage of
+Marquette had ended and that of the followers of De Soto began. Here,
+for the first time in their journey, they met with hostile Indians. As
+the flotilla glided on past the Arkansas bluffs, on the 3d of March, its
+people were startled by hearing the yells of a large body of savages and
+the loud sound of a drum, coming from behind the bluff. The natives had
+taken the alarm, supposing that a war party of their enemies was coming
+to attack them.
+
+La Salle ordered his canoes at once to be paddled to the other side of
+the stream, here a mile wide. The party landing, some intrenchments were
+hastily thrown up, for across the river they could now see a large
+village, filled with excited and armed warriors. Preparations for
+defence made, La Salle advanced to the water's edge and made signs of
+friendship and amity. Pacified by these signals of peace, some of the
+Indian chiefs rowed across until near the bank, when they stopped and
+beckoned to the strangers to come to them.
+
+Father Membre, the priest who accompanied the expedition, entered a
+canoe and was rowed out to the native boat by two Indians. He held out
+to them the calumet, or pipe of peace, the Indian signal of friendship,
+and easily induced the chiefs to go with him to the camp of the whites.
+There were six of them, frank and cordial in manner, and seemingly
+disposed to friendship. La Salle made them very happy with a few small
+presents, and at their request the whole party embarked and accompanied
+them across the river to their village.
+
+All the men of the place crowded to the bank to receive their strange
+visitors, women and children remaining timidly back. They were escorted
+to the wigwams, treated with every show of friendship, and regaled with
+the utmost hospitality. These Arkansas Indians were found to be a
+handsome race, and very different in disposition from the northern
+tribes, for they replaced the taciturn and often sullen demeanor of the
+latter with a gay and frank manner better suited to their warmer clime.
+They were also much more civilized, being skilled agriculturists, and
+working their fields by the aid of slaves captured in war. Corn, beans,
+melons, and a variety of fruits were grown in their fields, and large
+flocks of turkeys and other fowls were seen round their dwellings.
+
+La Salle and his party stayed in the village for some two weeks, and
+before leaving went through the form of taking possession of the
+country in the name of the king of France. This proceeding was conducted
+with all the ceremony possible under the circumstances, a large cross
+being planted in the centre of the village, anthems sung, and religious
+rites performed. The Indians looked on in delight at the spectacle,
+blankly ignorant of what it all meant, and probably thinking it was got
+up for their entertainment. Had they known its full significance they
+might not have been so well pleased.
+
+Embarking again on the 17th of March, the explorers continued their
+journey down the stream, coming after several days to a place where the
+river widened into a lake-like expanse. This broad sheet of water was
+surrounded with villages, forty being counted on the east side and
+thirty-four on the west. On landing in this populous community, they
+found the villages to be well built, the houses being constructed of
+clay mixed with straw, and covered with dome-like roofs of canes. Many
+convenient articles of furniture were found within.
+
+These Southern Indians proved to be organized under a very different
+system from that prevailing in the North. There each tribe was a small
+republic, electing its chiefs, and preserving the liberty of its people.
+Here the tribes were absolute monarchies. The head-chief, or king, had
+the lives and property of all his subjects at his disposal, and kept his
+court with the ceremonious dignity of a European monarch. When he called
+on La Salle, who was too sick at that time to go and see him, the
+ceremony was regal. Every obstruction was removed from his path by a
+party of pioneers, and the way made level for his feet. The spot where
+he gave audience was carefully smoothed and covered with showy mats.
+
+The dusky autocrat made his appearance richly attired in white robes,
+and preceded by two officers who bore plumes of gorgeously colored
+feathers. An official followed with two large plates of polished copper.
+The monarch had the courteous dignity and gravity of one born to the
+throne, though his interview with La Salle was conducted largely with
+smiles and gestures, as no word spoken could be understood. The
+travellers remained among this friendly people for several days,
+rambling through the villages and being entertained in the dwellings,
+and found them far advanced in civilization beyond the tribes of the
+North.
+
+Father Membre has given the following account of their productions: "The
+whole country is covered with palm-trees, laurels of two kinds, plums,
+peaches, mulberry, apple, and pear-trees of every variety. There are
+also five or six kinds of nut-trees, some of which bear nuts of
+extraordinary size. They also gave us several kinds of dried fruit to
+taste. We found them large and good. They have also many varieties of
+fruit-trees which I never saw in Europe. The season was, however, too
+early to allow us to see the fruit. We observed vines already out of
+blossom."
+
+Continuing their journey down the stream, the adventurers next came to
+the country of the Natchez Indians, whom they found as friendly as those
+they had recently left. La Salle, indeed, was a man of such genial and
+kind disposition and engaging manners that he made friends of all he
+met. As Father Membre says, "He so impressed the hearts of these Indians
+that they did not know how to treat us well enough." This was a very
+different reception to that accorded De Soto and his followers, whose
+persistent ill-treatment of the Indians made bitter enemies of all they
+encountered.
+
+The voyagers, however, were soon to meet savages of different character.
+On the 2d of April, as they floated downward through a narrow channel
+where a long island divided the stream, their ears were suddenly greeted
+with fierce war-whoops and the hostile beating of drums. Soon a cloud of
+warriors was seen in the dense border of forest, gliding from tree to
+tree and armed with strong bows and long arrows. La Salle at once
+stopped the flotilla and sent one canoe ahead, the Frenchmen in it
+presenting the calumet of peace. But this emblem here lost its effect,
+for the boat was greeted with a volley of arrows. Another canoe was
+sent, with four Indians, who bore the calumet; but they met with the
+same hostile reception.
+
+Seeing that the savages were inveterately hostile, La Salle ordered his
+men to their paddles, bidding them to hug the opposite bank and to row
+with all their strength. No one was to fire, as no good could come from
+that. The rapidity of the current and the swift play of the paddles
+soon sent the canoes speeding down the stream, and though the natives
+drove their keen arrows with all their strength, and ran down the banks
+to keep up their fire, the party passed without a wound.
+
+A few days more took the explorers past the site of the future city of
+New Orleans and to the head of the delta of the Mississippi, where it
+separates into a number of branches. Here the fleet was divided into
+three sections, each taking a branch of the stream, and very soon they
+found the water salty and the current becoming slow. The weather was
+mild and delightful, and the sun shone clear and warm, when at length
+they came into the open waters of the Gulf and their famous voyage was
+at an end.
+
+Ascending the western branch again until they came to solid ground, a
+massive column bearing the arms of France was erected, and by its side
+was planted a great cross. At the foot of the column was buried a leaden
+plate, on which, in Latin, the following words were inscribed:
+
+"Louis the Great reigns. Robert, Cavalier, with Lord Tonti, Ambassador,
+Zenobia Membre, Ecclesiastic, and twenty Frenchmen, first navigated this
+river from the country of the Illinois, and passed through this mouth on
+the ninth of April, sixteen hundred and eighty-two."
+
+La Salle then made an address, in which he took possession for France of
+the country of Louisiana; of all its peoples and productions, from the
+mouth of the Ohio; of all the rivers flowing into the Mississippi from
+their sources, and of the main stream to its mouth in the sea. Thus,
+according to the law of nations, as then existing, the whole valley of
+the Mississippi was annexed to France; a magnificent acquisition, of
+which that country was destined to enjoy a very small section, and
+finally to lose it all.
+
+[Illustration: Copyright, 1906, by Detroit Publishing Company.
+
+COALING A MOVING BOAT ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.]
+
+We might tell the story of the return voyage and of the fierce conflict
+which the voyagers had with the hostile Quinnipissa Indians, who had
+attacked them so savagely in their descent, but it will be of more
+interest to give the account written by Father Membre of the country
+through which they had passed.
+
+"The banks of the Mississippi," he writes, "for twenty or thirty leagues
+from its mouth are covered with a dense growth of canes, except in
+fifteen or twenty places where there are very pretty hills and spacious,
+convenient landing-places. Behind this fringe of marshy land you see the
+finest country in the world. Our hunters, both French and Indian, were
+delighted with it. For an extent of six hundred miles in length and as
+much in breadth, we were told there are vast fields of excellent land,
+diversified with pleasing hills, lofty woods, groves through which you
+might ride on horseback, so clear and unobstructed are the paths.
+
+"The fields are full of all kinds of game,--wild cattle, does, deer,
+stags, bears, turkeys, partridges, parrots, quails, woodcock, wild
+pigeons, and ring-doves. There are also beaver, otters, and martens.
+The cattle of this country surpass ours in size. Their head is monstrous
+and their look is frightful, on account of the long, black hair with
+which it is surrounded and which hangs below the chin. The hair is fine,
+and scarce inferior to wool.
+
+"We observed wood fit for every use. There were the most beautiful
+cedars in the world. There was one kind of tree which shed an abundance
+of gum, as pleasant to burn as the best French pastilles. We also saw
+fine hemlocks and other large trees with white bark. The
+cottonwood-trees were very large. Of these the Indians dug out canoes,
+forty or fifty feet long. Sometimes there were fleets of a hundred and
+fifty at their villages. We saw every kind of tree fit for
+ship-building. There is also plenty of hemp for cordage, and tar could
+be made in abundance.
+
+"Prairies are seen everywhere. Sometimes they are fifty or sixty miles
+in length on the river front and many leagues in depth. They are very
+rich and fertile, without a stone or a tree to obstruct the plough.
+These prairies are capable of sustaining an immense population. Beans
+grow wild, and the stalks last several years, bearing fruit. The
+bean-vines are thicker than a man's arm, and run to the top of the
+highest trees. Peach-trees are abundant and bear fruit equal to the best
+that can be found in France. They are often so loaded in the gardens of
+the Indians that they have to prop up the branches. There are whole
+forests of mulberries, whose ripened fruit we begin to eat in the month
+of May. Plums are found in great variety, many of which are not known in
+Europe. Grape-vines and pomegranates are common. Three or four crops of
+corn can be raised in a year."
+
+From all this it appears that the good Father was very observant, though
+his observation, or the information he obtained from the Indians, was
+not always to be trusted. He goes on to speak of the tribes, whose
+people and customs he found very different from the Indians of Canada.
+"They have large public squares, games, and assemblies. They seem
+mirthful and full of vivacity. Their chiefs have absolute authority. No
+one would dare to pass between the chief and the cane torch which burns
+in his cabin and is carried before him when he goes out. All make a
+circuit around it with some ceremony."
+
+
+
+
+_THE FRENCH OF LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ INDIANS._
+
+
+The story of the American Indian is one of the darkest blots on the page
+of the history of civilization. Of the three principal peoples of Europe
+who settled the New World,--the Spanish, the British, and the
+French,--the Spanish made slaves of them and dealt with them with
+shocking cruelty, and the British were, in a different way, as unjust,
+and at times little less cruel. As for the French, while they showed
+more sympathy with the natives, and treated them in a more friendly and
+considerate spirit, their dealings with them were by no means free from
+the charge of injustice and cruelty. This we shall seek to show in the
+following story.
+
+When we talk of the Indians of the United States we are very apt to get
+wrong ideas about them. The word Indian means to us a member of the
+savage hunting tribes of the North; a fierce, treacherous, implacable
+foe, though he could be loyal and generous as a friend; a being who made
+war a trade and cruelty a pastime, and was incapable of civilization.
+But this is only one type of the native inhabitants of the land. Those
+of the South were very different. Instead of being rude savages, like
+their Northern brethren, they had made some approach to civilization;
+instead of being roving hunters, they were settled agriculturists;
+instead of being morose and taciturn, they were genial and
+light-hearted; and instead of possessing only crude forms of government
+and religion, they were equal in both these respects to some peoples who
+are classed as civilized.
+
+If any feel a doubt of this, let them read what La Salle and the
+intelligent priest who went with him had to say about the Indians of the
+lower Mississippi, their government, agriculture, and friendliness of
+disposition, and their genial and sociable manner. It is one of the
+tribes of Southern Indians with which we are here concerned, the Natchez
+tribe or nation, with whom La Salle had such pleasing relations.
+
+It may be of interest to our readers to be told something more about the
+customs of the Southern Indians, since they differed very greatly from
+those of the North, and are little known to most readers. Let us take
+the Creeks, for instance,--a powerful association made up of many tribes
+of the Gulf region. They had their chiefs and their governing council,
+like the Northern Indians, but the Mico, who took the place of the
+Sachem of the North, had almost absolute power, and the office was
+hereditary in his family. Agriculture was their principal industry, the
+fields being carefully cultivated, though they were active hunters also.
+The land was the property of the tribe, not of individuals, and each
+family who cultivated it had to deposit a part of their products in the
+public store-house. This was under the full control of the Mico, though
+food was distributed to all in times of need.
+
+Their religion was much more advanced than that of the Northern tribes.
+They had the medicine man and the notions about spirits of the North,
+but they also worshipped the sun as the great deity of the universe, and
+had their temples, and priests, and religious ceremonies. One of their
+great objects of care was the sacred fire, which was carefully
+extinguished at the close of the year, and rekindled with "new fire" for
+the coming year. While it was out serious calamities were feared and the
+people were in a state of terror. There was nothing like this in the
+North.
+
+The most remarkable of the United States Indians were the Natchez, of
+whom we have above spoken. Not only La Salle, but later French writers
+have told us about them. They had a different language and were
+different in other ways from the neighboring Indians. They worshipped
+the sun as their great deity, and had a complete system of temples,
+priests, idols, religious festivals, sacred objects and the like, the
+people being deeply superstitious. Their temples were built on great
+mounds, and in them the sacred fire was very carefully guarded by the
+priests. If it should go out fearful misfortunes were expected to ensue.
+
+Their ruler was high priest as well as monarch. He was called the Sun
+and was believed to be a direct descendant of the great deity. He was a
+complete autocrat, with the power of life and death over the people, and
+his nearest female relative, who was known as the woman chief, had the
+same power. On his death there were many human sacrifices, though it was
+not his son, but that of the woman chief, who succeeded to the throne.
+Not only the ruler, but all the members of the royal caste, were called
+Suns, and had special privileges. Under them there was a nobility, also
+with its powers and privileges, but the common people had very few
+rights. On the temple of the sun were the figures of three eagles, with
+their heads turned to the east. It may be seen that this people was a
+very interesting one, far advanced in culture beyond the rude tribes of
+the North, and it is a great pity that they were utterly destroyed and
+their institutions swept away before they were studied by the scientists
+of the land. Their destruction was due to French injustice, and this is
+how it came about.
+
+Louisiana was not settled by the French until about twenty years after
+La Salle's great journey, and New Orleans was not founded till 1718.
+The French gradually spread their authority over the country, bringing
+the Mississippi tribes under their influence. Among these were the
+Natchez, situated up the river in a locality indicated by the present
+city of Natchez. The trouble with them came about in 1729, through the
+unjust behavior of a French officer named Chopart. He had been once
+removed for injustice, but a new governor, M. Perier, had replaced him,
+not knowing his character.
+
+Chopart, on his return to the Natchez country, was full of great views,
+in which the rights of the old owners of the land did not count. He was
+going to make his province a grand and important one, and in the
+presence of his ambition the old inhabitants must bend the knee. He
+wanted a large space for his projected settlement, and on looking about
+could find no spot that suited him but that which was occupied by the
+Indian village of the White Apple. That the natives might object to this
+appropriation of their land did not seem to trouble his lordly soul.
+
+He sent to the Sun of the village, bidding him to come to the fort,
+which was about six miles away. When the chief arrived there, Chopart
+told him, bluntly enough, that he had decided to build a settlement on
+the site of the White Apple village, and that he must clear away the
+huts and build somewhere else. His only excuse was that it was necessary
+for the French to settle on the banks of the rivulet on whose waters
+stood the Grand Tillage and the abode of the Grand Sun.
+
+The Sun of the Apple was taken aback by this arbitrary demand. He
+replied with dignity that his ancestors had dwelt in that village for as
+many years as there were hairs in his head, and that it was good that he
+and his people should continue there. This reasonable answer threw
+Chopart into a passion, and he violently told the Sun that he must quit
+his village in a few days or he should repent it.
+
+"When your people came to ask us for lands to settle on," said the
+Indian in reply, "you told us that there was plenty of unoccupied land
+which you would be willing to take. The same sun, you said, would shine
+on us all and we would all walk in the same path."
+
+Before he could proceed, Chopart violently interrupted him, saying that
+he wanted to hear no more, he only wanted to be obeyed. At this the
+insulted chief withdrew, saying, with the same quiet dignity as before,
+that he would call together the old men of the village and hold a
+council on the affair.
+
+The Indians, finding the French official so violent and arbitrary, at
+first sought to obtain delay, saying that the corn was just above the
+ground and the chickens were laying their eggs. The commandant replied
+that this did not matter to him, they must obey his order or they should
+suffer for their obstinacy. They next tried the effect of a bribe,
+offering to pay him a basket of corn and a fowl for each hut in the
+village if he would wait till the harvest was gathered. Chopart proved
+to be as avaricious as he was arbitrary, and agreed to accept this
+offer.
+
+He did not know the people he was dealing with. Stung with the injustice
+of the demand, and deeply incensed by the insolence of the commandant,
+the village council secretly resolved that they would not be slaves to
+these base intruders, but would cut them off to a man. The oldest chief
+suggested the following plan. On the day fixed they should go to the
+fort with some corn, and carrying their arms as if going out to hunt.
+There should be two or three Natchez for every Frenchman, and they
+should borrow arms and ammunition for a hunting match to be made on
+account of a grand feast, promising to bring back meat in payment. The
+arms once obtained, the discharge of a gun would be the signal for them
+to fall on the unsuspecting French and kill them all.
+
+He further suggested that all the other villages should be apprised of
+the project and asked to assist. A bundle of rods was to be sent to each
+village, the rods indicating the number of days preceding that fixed for
+the assault. That no mistake might be made, a prudent person in each
+village should be appointed to draw out a rod on each day and throw it
+away. This was their way of counting time.
+
+The scheme was accepted by the council, the Sun warmly approving of it.
+When it was made known to the chiefs of the nation, they all joined in
+approval, including the Grand Sun, their chief ruler, and his uncle, the
+Stung Serpent. It was kept secret, however, from the people at large,
+and from all the women of the noble and royal castes, not excepting the
+woman chief.
+
+This it was not easy to do. Secret meetings were being held, and the
+object of these the female Suns had a right to demand. The woman chief
+at that time was a young princess, scarce eighteen, and little inclined
+to trouble herself with political affairs; but the Strong Arm, the
+mother of the Grand Sun, was an able and experienced woman, and one
+friendly to the French. Her son, strongly importuned by her, told her of
+the scheme, and also of the purpose of the bundle of rods that lay in
+the temple.
+
+Strong Arm was politic enough to appear to approve the project, but
+secretly she was anxious to save the French. The time was growing short,
+and she sought to have the commandant warned by hints of danger. These
+were brought him by soldiers, but in his supercilious self-conceit he
+paid no heed to them, but went on blindly towards destruction. He went
+so far as to put in irons seven of those who warned him of the peril,
+accusing them of cowardice. Finding this effort unavailing, the Strong
+Arm secretly pulled some rods out of the fatal bundle, hoping in this
+way to disarrange the project of the conspirators.
+
+Heedless of all that had been told him, Chopart and some other Frenchmen
+went on the night before the fatal day to the great village of the
+Natchez, on a party of pleasure, not returning till break of day, and
+then the worse for his potations. In the mean time the secret had grown
+more open, and on his entering the fort he was strongly advised to be on
+his guard.
+
+The drink he had taken made a complete fool of him, however, and he at
+once sent to the village from which he had just returned, bidding his
+interpreter to ask the Grand Sun whether he intended to come with his
+warriors and kill the French. The Grand Sun, as might have been
+expected, sent word back that he did not dream of such a thing, and he
+would be very sorry, indeed, to do any harm to his good friends, the
+French. This answer fully satisfied the commandant, and he went to his
+house, near the fort, disdaining the advice of the informers.
+
+It was on the eve of St. Andrew's Day, in 1729, that a party of the
+Natchez approached the French settlement. It was some days in advance of
+that fixed, on account of the meddling with the rods. They brought with
+them one of the common people, armed with a wooden hatchet, to kill the
+commandant, the warriors having too much contempt for him to be willing
+to lay hands on him. The natives strayed in friendly fashion into the
+houses, and many made their way through the open gates into the fort,
+where they found the soldiers unsuspicious of danger and without an
+officer, or even a sergeant, at their head.
+
+Soon the Grand Sun appeared, with a number of warriors laden with corn,
+as if to pay the first installment of the contribution. Their entrance
+was quickly followed by several shots. This being the signal agreed
+upon, in an instant the natives made a murderous assault on the unarmed
+French, cutting them down in their houses and shooting them on every
+side. The commandant, for the first time aware of his blind folly, ran
+in terror into the garden of his house, but he was sharply pursued and
+cut down. The massacre was so well devised and went on so
+simultaneously in all directions that very few of the seven hundred
+Frenchmen in the settlement escaped, a handful of the fugitives alone
+bringing the news of the bloody affair to New Orleans. The Natchez
+completed their vengeance by setting on fire and burning all the
+buildings, so that of the late flourishing settlement only a few ruined
+walls remained.
+
+As may be seen, this massacre was due to the injustice, and to the
+subsequent incompetence, of one man, Chopart, the commandant. It led to
+lamentable consequences, in the utter destruction of the Natchez nation
+and the loss of one of the most interesting native communities in
+America.
+
+No sooner, in fact, had the news of the massacre reached New Orleans
+than active steps were taken for revenge. A force, largely made up of
+Choctaw allies, assailed the fort of the Natchez. The latter asked for
+peace, promising to release the French women and children they held as
+prisoners. This was agreed to, and the Indians took advantage of it to
+vacate the fort by stealth, under cover of night, taking with them all
+their baggage and plunder. They took refuge in a secret place to the
+west of the Mississippi, which the French had much difficulty to
+discover.
+
+The place found, a strong force was sent against the Indians, its route
+being up the Red River, then up the Black River, and finally up Silver
+Creek, which flows from a small lake, near which the Natchez had built a
+fort for defence against the French. This place they maintained with
+some resolution, but when the French batteries were placed and bombs
+began to fall in the fort, dealing death to women and children as well
+as men, the warriors, horrified at these frightful instruments of death,
+made signals of their readiness to capitulate.
+
+Night fell before terms were decided upon, and the Indians asked that
+the settlement should be left till the next day. Their purpose was to
+attempt to escape, as they had done before during the night, but they
+were too closely watched to make this effective. Some of them succeeded
+in getting away, but the great body were driven back into the fort, and
+the next day were obliged to surrender at discretion. Among them were
+the Grand Sun and the women Suns, with many warriors, women, and
+children.
+
+The end of the story of the Natchez is the only instance on record of
+the deliberate annihilation of an Indian tribe. Some have perished
+through the event of war, no other through fixed intention. All the
+captives were carried to New Orleans, where they were used as slaves,
+not excepting the Strong Arm, who had made such efforts to save the
+French. These slaves were afterward sent to St. Domingo to prevent their
+escape, and in order that the Natchez nation might be utterly rooted
+out.
+
+Those of the warriors who had escaped from the fort, and others who were
+out hunting, were still at large, but there were few women among them,
+and the nation was lost past renewal. These fugitives made their way to
+the villages of the Chickasaws, and were finally absorbed in that
+nation, "and thus," says Du Pratz, the historian of this affair, "that
+nation, the most conspicuous in the colony, and most useful to the
+French, was destroyed."
+
+Du Pratz was a resident of New Orleans at the time, and got his
+information from the parties directly concerned. He tells us that among
+the women slaves "was the female Sun called the Strong Arm, who then
+told me all she had done in order to save the French." It appears that
+all she had done was not enough to save herself.
+
+
+
+
+_THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE._
+
+
+On a fine day in the pleasant month of August of the year 1714 a large
+party of horsemen rode along Duke of Gloucester Street, in the city of
+Williamsburg, Virginia, while the men, women, and children of the place
+flocked to the doors of the houses cheering and waving their
+handkerchiefs as the gallant cavaliers passed by. They were gayly
+dressed, in the showy costumes worn by the gentlemen of that time, and
+at their head was a handsome and vigorous man, with the erect bearing
+and manly attitude of one who had served in the wars. They were all
+mounted on spirited horses and carried their guns on their saddles,
+prepared to hunt or perhaps to defend themselves if attacked. Behind
+them followed a string of mules, carrying the packs of the horsemen and
+in charge of mounted servants.
+
+Thus equipped, the showy cavalcade passed through the main streets of
+the small town, which had succeeded Jamestown as the Virginian capital,
+and rode away over the westward-leading road. On they went, mile after
+mile, others joining them, as they passed onward, the party steadily
+increasing in numbers until it reached a place called Germanna, on the
+Rapid Ann--now the Rapidan--River, on the edge of the Spotsylvania
+Wilderness.
+
+No doubt you will wish to know who these men were and what was the
+object of their journey. It was a romantic one, as you will learn,--a
+journey of adventure into the unknown wilderness. At that time Virginia
+had been settled more than a hundred years, yet its people knew very
+little about it beyond the seaboard plain. West of this rose the Blue
+Ridge Mountains, behind which lay a great mysterious land, almost as
+unknown as the mountains of the moon. There were people as late as that
+who thought that the Mississippi River rose in these mountains.
+
+The Virginians had given this land of mystery a name. They called it
+Orange County. There were rumors that it was filled with great forests
+and lofty mountains, that it held fertile valleys watered by beautiful
+rivers, that it was a realm of strange and wonderful scenes. The
+Indians, who had been driven from the east, were still numerous there,
+and wild animals peopled the forests plentifully, but few of the whites
+had ventured within its confines. Now and then a daring hunter had
+crossed the Blue Ridge into this country and brought back surprising
+tales of what was to be seen there, but nothing that could be trusted
+was known about the land beyond the hills.
+
+All this was of great interest to Alexander Spotswood, who was then
+governor of Virginia. He was a man whose life had been one of adventure
+and who had distinguished himself as a soldier at the famous battle of
+Blenheim, and he was still young and fond of adventure when the king
+chose him to be governor of the oldest American colony.
+
+We do not propose to tell the whole story of Governor Spotswood; but as
+he was a very active and enterprising man, some of the things he did may
+be of interest. He had an oddly shaped powder-magazine built at
+Williamsburg, which still stands in that old town, and he opened the
+college of William and Mary free to the sons of the few Indians who
+remained in the settled part of Virginia. Then he built iron-furnaces
+and began to smelt iron for the use of the people. Those were the first
+iron-furnaces in the colonies, and the people called him the "Tubal Cain
+of Virginia," after a famous worker in iron mentioned in the Bible. His
+furnaces were at the settlement of Germanna, where the expedition made
+its first stop. This name came from a colony of Germans whom he had
+brought there to work his iron-mines and forges.
+
+After what has been told it may not be difficult to guess the purpose of
+the expedition. Governor Spotswood was practical enough to wish to
+explore the mysterious land beyond the blue-peaked hills, and romantic
+enough to desire to do this himself, instead of sending out a party of
+pioneers. So he sent word to the planters that he proposed to make a
+holiday excursion over the mountains, and would gladly welcome any of
+them who wished to join.
+
+We may be sure that there were plenty, especially among the younger
+men, who were glad to accept his invitation, and on the appointed day
+many of them came riding in, with their servants and pack-mules, well
+laden with provisions and stores, for they looked on the excursion as a
+picnic on a large scale.
+
+One thing they had forgotten--a very necessary one. At that time iron
+was scarce and costly in Virginia, and as the roads were soft and sandy,
+as they still are in the seaboard country, it was the custom to ride
+horses _barefooted_, there being no need for iron shoes. But now they
+were about to ride up rocky mountain-paths and over the stony summits,
+and it was suddenly discovered that their horses must be shod. So all
+the smiths available were put actively at work making horseshoes and
+nailing them on the horses' feet. It was this incident that gave rise to
+the name of the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," as will appear
+farther on.
+
+At Germanna Governor Spotswood had a summer residence, to which he
+retired when the weather grew sultry in the lower country. Colonel
+William Byrd, a planter on the James River, has told us all about this
+summer house of the governor. One of his stories is, that when he
+visited there a tame deer, frightened at seeing him, leaped against a
+large mirror in the drawing-room, thinking that it was a window, and
+smashed it into splinters. It is not likely the governor thanked his
+visitor for that.
+
+After leaving Germanna the explorers soon entered a region quite unknown
+to them. They were in high spirits, for everything about them was new
+and delightful. The woods were in their full August foliage, the streams
+gurgling, the birds warbling, beautiful views on every hand, and the
+charm of nature's domain on all sides. At mid-day they would stop in
+some green forest glade to rest and pasture their horses, and enjoy the
+contents of their packs with a keen appetite given by the fresh forest
+air.
+
+To these repasts the hunters of the party added their share,
+disappearing at intervals in the woods and returning with pheasant, wild
+turkey, or mayhap a fat deer, to add to the woodland feast. At night
+they would hobble their horses and leave them to graze, would eat
+heartily of their own food with the grass for table-cloth and a fresh
+appetite for sauce, then, wrapping their cloaks around them, would sleep
+as soundly as if in their own beds at home. The story of the ride has
+been written by one of the party, and it goes in much the way here
+described.
+
+The mountains were reached at length, and up their rugged sides the
+party rode, seeking the easiest paths they could find. No one knows just
+where this was, but it is thought that it was near Rockfish Gap, through
+which the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad now passes. There are some who
+say that they crossed the valley beyond the Blue Ridge and rode over the
+Alleghany Mountains also, but this is not at all likely.
+
+When they reached the summit of the range and looked out to the west,
+they saw before them a wild but lovely landscape, a broad valley through
+whose midst ran a beautiful river, the Shenandoah, an Indian name that
+means "daughter of the stars." To the right and left the mountain-range
+extended as far as the eye could reach, the hill summits and sides
+covered everywhere with verdant forest-trees. In front, far off across
+the valley, rose the long blue line of the Alleghanies, concealing new
+mysteries beyond.
+
+The party gazed around in delight, and carved their names on the rocks
+to mark the spot. A peak near at hand they named Mount George, in honor
+of George I., who had just been made king, and a second one Mount
+Alexander, in honor of the governor, and they drank the health of both.
+Then they rode down the western slope into the lovely valley they had
+gazed upon. Here they had no warlike or romantic adventures, fights with
+Indians or wild beasts, but they had a very enjoyable time. After a
+delightful ride through the valley they recrossed the mountains, and
+rode joyously homeward to tell the people of the plain the story of what
+they had seen.
+
+We have said nothing yet of the Golden Horseshoe. That was a fanciful
+idea of Governor Spotswood. He thought the excursion and the fine valley
+it had explored were worthy to be remembered by making them the basis of
+an order of knighthood. He was somewhat puzzled to think of a good name
+for it, but at length he remembered the shoeing of the horses at
+Williamsburg, so he decided to call it the Order of the Golden
+Horseshoe, and sent to England for a number of small golden horseshoes,
+one of which he gave to each of his late companions. There was a Latin
+inscription on them signifying, "Thus we swear to cross the mountains."
+When the king heard of the expedition, he made the governor a knight,
+under the title of Sir Alexander Spotswood, but we think a better title
+for him was that he won for himself,--Sir Knight of the Golden
+Horseshoe.
+
+
+
+
+_HOW OGLETHORPE SAVED GEORGIA FROM SPAIN._
+
+
+On the 5th day of July, in the year 1742, unwonted signs of activity
+might have been seen in the usually deserted St. Simon's harbor, on the
+coast of Georgia. Into that sequestered bay there sailed a powerful
+squadron of fifty-six well-armed war-vessels, one of them carrying
+twenty-four guns and two of them twenty guns each, while there was a
+large following of smaller vessels. A host of men in uniform crowded the
+decks of these vessels, and the gleam of arms gave lustre to the scene.
+It was a strong Spanish fleet, sent to wrest the province of Georgia
+from English hands, and mayhap to punish these intruders in the
+murderous way that the Spaniards had punished the French Huguenots two
+centuries before.
+
+In all the time that had elapsed since the discovery of America, Spain
+had made only one settlement on the Atlantic coast of the United States,
+that of St. Augustine in Florida. But slow as they were in taking
+possession, they were not slow in making claims, for they looked on
+Florida as extending to the Arctic zone. More than once had they tried
+to drive the English out of Charleston, and now they were about to make
+a similar effort in Georgia. That colony had been settled, only ten
+years before, on land which Spain claimed as her own, and the English
+were not there long before hostilities began. In 1739 General
+Oglethorpe, the proprietor of Georgia, invaded Florida and laid siege to
+St. Augustine. He failed in this undertaking, and in 1742 the Spaniards
+prepared to take revenge, sending the strong fleet mentioned against
+their foes. It looked as if Georgia would be lost to England, for on
+these vessels were five thousand men, a force greater than all Georgia
+could raise.
+
+Oglethorpe knew that the Spaniards were coming, and made hasty
+preparations to meet them. Troops of rangers were raised, the planters
+were armed, fortifications built, and a ship of twenty-two guns
+equipped. But with all his efforts his force was pitifully small as
+compared with the great Spanish equipment. Besides the ship named, there
+were some small armed vessels and a shore battery, with which the
+English for four hours kept up a weak contest with their foes. Then the
+fleet sailed past the defences and up the river before a strong breeze,
+and Oglethorpe was obliged to spike the guns and destroy the
+war-material at Fort St. Simon's and withdraw to the stronger post of
+Frederica, where he proposed to make his stand. Not long afterward the
+Spaniards landed their five thousand men four miles below Frederica.
+These marched down the island and occupied the deserted fort.
+
+There may not seem to our readers much of interest in all this, but when
+it is learned that against the fifty-six ships and more than five
+thousand men of the Spaniards the utmost force that General Oglethorpe
+could muster consisted of two ships and six hundred and fifty-two men,
+including militia and Indians, and that with this handful of men he
+completely baffled his assailants, the case grows more interesting. It
+was largely an example of tactics against numbers, as will be seen on
+reading the story of how the Spaniards were put to the right about and
+forced to flee in utter dismay.
+
+On the 7th of July some of the Georgia rangers discovered a small body
+of Spanish troops within a mile of Frederica. On learning of their
+approach, Oglethorpe did not wait for them to attack him in his not very
+powerful stronghold, but at once advanced with a party of Indians and
+rangers, and a company of Highlanders who were on parade. Ordering the
+regiment to follow, he hurried forward with this small detachment,
+proposing to attack the invaders while in the forest defiles and before
+they could deploy in the open plain near the fort.
+
+So furious was his charge and so utter the surprise of the Spaniards
+that nearly their entire party, consisting of one hundred and
+twenty-five of their best woodsmen and forty-five Indians, were either
+killed, wounded, or made prisoners. The few fugitives were pursued for
+several miles through the forest to an open meadow or savannah. Here the
+general posted three platoons of the regiment and a company of Highland
+foot under cover of the wood, so that any Spaniards advancing through
+the meadow would have to pass under their fire. Then he hastened back
+to Frederica and mustered the remainder of his force.
+
+[Illustration: OLD SPANISH FORT, ST. AUGUSTINE.]
+
+Just as they were ready to march, severe firing was heard in the
+direction of the ambushed troops. Oglethorpe made all haste towards them
+and met two of the platoons in full retreat. They had been driven from
+their post by Don Antonia Barba at the head of three hundred grenadiers
+and infantry, who had pushed through the meadow under a drifting rain
+and charged into the wood with wild huzzas and rolling drums.
+
+The affair looked very bad for the English. Forced back by a small
+advance-guard of the invaders, what would be their fate when the total
+Spanish army came upon them? Oglethorpe was told that the whole force
+had been routed, but on looking over the men before him he saw that one
+platoon and a company of rangers were missing. At the same time the
+sound of firing came from the woods at a distance, and he ordered the
+officers to rally their men and follow him.
+
+Let us trace the doings of the missing men. Instead of following their
+retreating comrades, they had, under their officers, Lieutenants
+Sutherland and MacKay, made a skilful detour in the woods to the rear of
+the enemy, reaching a point where the road passed from the forest to the
+open marsh across a small semicircular cove. Here they formed an
+ambuscade in a thick grove of palmettos which nearly surrounded the
+narrow pass.
+
+They had not been there long when the Spaniards returned in high glee
+from their pursuit. Reaching this open spot, well protected from assault
+as it appeared by the open morass on one side and the crescent-shaped
+hedge of palmettos and underwood on the other, they deemed themselves
+perfectly secure, stacking their arms and throwing themselves on the
+ground to rest after their late exertions.
+
+The ambushed force had keenly watched their movements from their
+hiding-place, preserving utter silence as the foe entered the trap. At
+length Sutherland and MacKay raised the signal of attack, a Highland cap
+upon a sword, and in an instant a deadly fire was poured upon the
+unsuspecting enemy. Volley after volley succeeded, strewing the ground
+with the dead and dying. The Spaniards sprang to their feet in confusion
+and panic. Some of their officers attempted to reform their broken
+ranks, but in vain; all discipline was gone, orders were unheard, safety
+alone was sought. In a minute more, with a Highland shout, the platoon
+burst upon them with levelled bayonet and gleaming claymore, and they
+fled like panic-stricken deer; some to the marsh, where they mired and
+were captured; some along the defile, where they were cut down; some to
+the thicket, where they became entangled and lost. Their defeat was
+complete, only a few of them escaping to their camp. Barba, their
+leader, was mortally wounded; other officers and one hundred and sixty
+privates were killed; the prisoners numbered twenty. The feat of arms
+was as brilliant as it was successful, and Oglethorpe, who did not
+reach the scene of action till the victory was gained, promoted the two
+young officers on the spot as a reward for their valor and military
+skill. The scene of the action has ever since been known as the "Bloody
+Marsh."
+
+The enterprise of the Spaniards had so far been attended by misfortune,
+a fact which caused dissention among their leaders. Learning of this,
+Oglethorpe resolved to surprise them by a night attack. On the 12th he
+marched with five hundred men until within a mile of the Spanish
+quarters, and after nightfall went forward with a small party to
+reconnoitre. His purpose was to attack them, if all appeared favorable,
+but he was foiled by the treachery of a Frenchman in his ranks, who
+fired his musket and deserted to the enemy under cover of the darkness.
+Disconcerted by this unlucky circumstance, the general withdrew his
+reconnoitering party; reaching his men, he distributed the drummers
+about the wood to represent a large force, and ordered them to beat the
+grenadier's march. This they did for half an hour; then, all being
+still, they retreated to Frederica.
+
+The defection of the Frenchman threw the general into a state of alarm.
+The fellow would undoubtedly tell the Spaniards how small a force
+opposed them, and advise them that, with their superior land and naval
+forces, they could easily surround and destroy the English. In this
+dilemma it occurred to him to try the effect of stratagem, and seek to
+discredit the traitor's story.
+
+He wrote a letter in French, as if from a friend of the deserter,
+telling him that he had received the money, and advising him to make
+every effort to convince the Spanish commander that the English were
+very weak. He suggested to him to offer to pilot up their boats and
+galleys, and to bring them under the woods where he knew the hidden
+batteries were. If he succeeded in this, his pay would be doubled. If he
+could not do this, he was to use all his influence to keep them three
+days more at Fort St. Simon's. By that time the English would be
+reinforced by two thousand infantry and six men-of-war which had already
+sailed from Charleston. In a postscript he was cautioned on no account
+to mention that Admiral Vernon was about to make an attack on St.
+Augustine.
+
+This letter was given to a Spanish prisoner, who was paid a sum of money
+on his promise that he would carry the letter privately and deliver it
+to the French deserter. The prisoner was then secretly set free, and
+made his way back to the Spanish camp. After being detained and
+questioned at the outposts he was taken before the general, Don Manuel
+de Mantiano. So far all had gone as Oglethorpe hoped. The fugitive was
+asked how he escaped and if he had any letters. When he denied having
+any he was searched and the decoy letter found on his person. It was not
+addressed to any one, but on promise of pardon he confessed that he had
+received money to deliver it to the Frenchman.
+
+As it proved, the deserter had joined the English as a spy for the
+Spaniards. He earnestly protested that he was not false to his
+agreement; that he knew nothing of any hidden battery or of the other
+contents of the letter, and that he had received no money or had any
+correspondence with Oglethorpe. Some of the general's council believed
+him, and looked on the letter as an English trick. But the most of them
+believed him to be a double spy, and advised an immediate retreat. While
+the council was warmly debating on this subject word was brought them
+that three vessels had been seen off the bar. This settled the question
+in their minds. The fleet from Charleston was at hand; if they stayed
+longer they might be hemmed in by sea and land; they resolved to fly
+while the path to safety was still open. Their resolution was hastened
+by an advance of Oglethorpe's small naval force down the stream, and a
+successful attack on their fleet. Setting fire to the fort, they
+embarked so hastily that a part of their military stores were abandoned,
+and fled as if from an overwhelming force, Oglethorpe hastening their
+flight by pursuit with his few vessels.
+
+Thus ended this affair, one of the most remarkable in its outcome of any
+in the military history of the United States. For fifteen days General
+Oglethorpe, with little over six hundred men and two armed vessels, had
+baffled the Spanish general with fifty-six ships and five thousand men,
+defeating him in every encounter in the field, and at length, by an
+ingenious stratagem, compelling him to retreat with the loss of several
+ships and much of his provisions, munitions, and artillery. In all our
+colonial history there is nothing to match this repulse of such a
+formidable force by a mere handful of men. It had the effect of saving
+Georgia, and perhaps Carolina, from falling into the hands of the
+Spanish. From that time forward Spain made no effort to invade the
+English colonies. The sole hostile action of the Spaniards of Florida
+was to inspire the Indians of that peninsula to make raids in Georgia,
+and this annoyance led in the end to the loss of Florida by Spain.
+
+
+
+
+_A BOY'S WORKING HOLIDAY IN THE WILDWOOD._
+
+
+We wish to say something here about a curious old man who lived in
+Virginia when George Washington was a boy, and who was wise enough to
+see that young Washington was anything but a common boy. This man was an
+English nobleman named Lord Fairfax. As the nobles of England were not
+in the habit of coming to the colonies, except as governors, we must
+tell what brought this one across the sea.
+
+It happened in this way. His grandfather, Lord Culpeper, had at one time
+been governor of Virginia, and, like some other governors, had taken
+care to feather his nest. Seeing how rich the land was between the
+Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers, when he went home he asked the king to
+give him all this land, and the king, Charles II., in his good easy way
+of giving away what did not belong to him, readily consented, without
+troubling himself about the rights of the people who lived on the land.
+A great and valuable estate it was. Not many dwelt on it, and Lord
+Culpeper promised to have it settled and cultivated, but we cannot say
+that he troubled himself much about doing so.
+
+When old Culpeper died the Virginia land went to his daughter, and from
+her it descended to her son, Lord Fairfax, who sent out his cousin,
+William Fairfax, to look after his great estate, which covered a whole
+broad county in the wilderness, and counties in those days were often
+very large. Lord Fairfax was not much concerned about the American
+wildwood. He was one of the fashionable young men in London society, and
+something of an author, too, for he helped the famous Addison by writing
+some papers for the "Spectator."
+
+But noblemen, like common men, are liable to fall in love, and this Lord
+Fairfax did. He became engaged to be married to a handsome young lady;
+but she proved to be less faithful than pretty, and when a nobleman of
+higher rank asked her to marry him, she threw her first lover aside and
+gave herself to the richer one.
+
+This was a bitter blow to Lord Fairfax. He went to his country home and
+dwelt there in deep distress, vowing that all women were false-hearted
+and that he would never marry any of them. And he never did. Even his
+country home was not solitary enough for the broken-hearted lover, so he
+resolved to cross the ocean and seek a new home in his wilderness land
+in America. It was this that brought him to Virginia, where he went to
+live at his cousin's fine mansion called Belvoir, a place not far away
+from the Washington estate of Mount Vernon.
+
+Lord Fairfax was a middle-aged man at that time, a tall, gaunt,
+near-sighted personage, who spent much of his time in hunting, of which
+he was very fond. And his favorite companion in these hunting
+excursions was young George Washington, then a fine, fresh, active boy
+of fourteen, who dearly loved outdoor life. There was a strong contrast
+between the old lord and the youthful Virginian, but they soon became
+close friends, riding out fox-hunting together and growing intimate in
+other ways.
+
+Laurence Washington, George's elder brother, who lived at Mount Vernon,
+had married a daughter of William Fairfax, and that brought the Mount
+Vernon and Belvoir families much together, so that when young George was
+visiting his brother he was often at Belvoir. Lord Fairfax grew to like
+him so much that he resolved to give him some important work to do. He
+saw that the boy was strong, manly, and quick-witted, and anxious to be
+doing something for himself, and as George had made some study of
+surveying, he decided to employ him at this.
+
+Lord Fairfax's Virginia estate, as we have said, was very large. The
+best-known part of it lay east, but it also crossed the Blue Ridge
+Mountains, and ran over into the beautiful valley beyond, which the
+Knights of the Golden Horseshoe had visited more than thirty years
+before. This splendid valley was still largely in a wild state, with few
+inhabitants besides the savage Indians and wild beasts. Before it could
+be fairly opened to settlers it must be measured by the surveyor's chain
+and mapped out so that it would be easy to tell where any tract was
+located. It was this that Lord Fairfax asked young Washington to do, and
+which the active boy gladly consented to undertake, for he liked
+nothing better than wild life and adventure in the wilderness, and here
+was the chance to have a delightful time in a new and beautiful country,
+an opportunity that would warm the heart of any live and healthy boy.
+
+This is a long introduction to the story of Washington's wildwood
+outing, but no doubt you will like to know what brought it about. It was
+in the early spring of 1748 that the youthful surveyor set out on his
+ride, the blood bounding warmly in his veins as he thought of the new
+sensations and stirring adventures which lay before him. He was not
+alone. George William Fairfax, a son of the master of Belvoir, went with
+him, a young man of twenty-two. Washington was then just sixteen, young
+enough to be in high spirits at the prospect before him. He brought his
+surveyors' instruments, and they both bore guns as well, for they looked
+for some fine sport in the woods.
+
+The valley beyond the mountains was not the land of mystery which it had
+been thirty-four years before, when Governor Spotswood and his gay troop
+looked down on it from the green mountain summit. There were now some
+scattered settlers in it, and Lord Fairfax had built himself a lodge in
+the wilderness, which he named "Greenway Court," and where now and then
+he went for a hunting excursion.
+
+Crossing the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Gap and fording the bright
+Shenandoah, the young surveyors made their way towards this wildwood
+lodge. It was a house with broad stone gables, its sloping roof coming
+down over a long porch in front. The locality was not altogether a safe
+one. There were still some Indians in that country, and something might
+stir them up against the whites. In two belfries on the roof hung
+alarm-bells, to be rung to collect the neighboring settlers if report of
+an Indian rising should be brought.
+
+[Illustration: HOME OF MARY WASHINGTON, FREDERICKSBURG, VA.
+
+Purchased by George Washington for his mother.]
+
+On the forest road leading to Greenway Court a white post was planted,
+with an arm pointing towards the house, as a direction to visitors. As
+the post decayed or was thrown down by any cause another was erected,
+and on this spot to-day such a post stands, with the village of White
+Post built around it. But when young Washington and Fairfax passed the
+spot only forest trees stood round the post, and they rode on to the
+Court, where they rested awhile under the hospitable care of Lord
+Fairfax's manager.
+
+It was a charming region in which the young surveyors found themselves
+after their brief term of rest, a land of lofty forests and broad grassy
+openings, with the silvery river sparkling through their midst. The buds
+were just bursting on the trees, the earliest spring flowers were
+opening, and to right and left extended long blue mountain-ranges, the
+giant guardians of the charming valley of the Shenandoah. In those days
+there were none of the yellow grain-fields, the old mansions surrounded
+by groves, the bustling villages and towns which now mark the scene,
+but nature had done her best to make it picturesque and beautiful, and
+the youthful visitors enjoyed it as only those of young blood can.
+
+Up the banks of the Shenandoah went the surveyors, measuring and marking
+the land and mapping down its leading features. It was no easy work, but
+they enjoyed it to the full. At night they would stop at the rude house
+of some settler, if one was to be found; if not, they would build a fire
+in the woods, cook the game their guns had brought down, wrap their
+cloaks around them, and sleep heartily under the broad blanket of the
+open air.
+
+Thus they journeyed on up the Shenandoah until they reached the point
+where its waters flow into the Potomac. Then up this stream they made
+their way, crossing the mountains and finally reaching the place which
+is now called Berkeley Springs. It was then in the depth of the
+wilderness, but in time a town grew up around it, and many years
+afterward Washington and his family often went there in the summer to
+drink and bathe in its wholesome mineral waters.
+
+The surveyors had their adventures, and no doubt often made the woodland
+echoes ring with the report of their guns as they brought down partridge
+or pheasant, or tracked a deer through the brushwood. Nothing of special
+note happened to them, the thing which interested them most being the
+sight of a band of Indians, the first they had ever seen. The red men
+had long since disappeared from the part of Virginia in which they
+lived.
+
+These tenants of the forest came along one day when the youths had
+stopped at the house of a settler. There were about thirty of them in
+their war-paint, and one of them had a fresh scalp hanging at his belt.
+This indicated that they had recently been at war with their enemies, of
+whom at least one had been killed. The Indians were given some liquor,
+in return for which they danced their war-dance before the boys. For
+music one of them drummed on a deer-skin which he stretched over an iron
+pot, and another rattled a gourd containing some shot and ornamented
+with a horse's tail. The others danced with wild whoops and yells around
+a large fire they had built. Altogether the spectacle was a singular and
+exciting one on which the boys looked with much interest.
+
+While they had no serious adventures, their life in the forest was not a
+very luxurious one. In many ways they had to rough it. At times they
+were drenched by downpours of rain. They slept anywhere, now and then in
+houses, but most often in the open air. On one occasion some straw on
+which they lay asleep caught fire and they woke just in time to escape
+being scorched by the flames.
+
+"I have not slept above three or four nights in a bed," wrote George to
+a friend, "but after walking a good deal all the day I have lain down
+before the fire on a little straw or fodder, or a bear-skin, whatever
+was to be had, with man, wife, and children, like dogs and cats; and
+happy is he who gets the berth nearest the fire."
+
+Their cooking was often done by impaling the meat on sharp sticks and
+holding it over the fire, while chips cut with their hatchet took the
+place of dishes. But to them all this was enjoyment, their appetites
+were hearty, and anything having the spice of adventure was gladly
+welcomed. It was the event of their young lives.
+
+It was still April when they returned from their long river ride to
+Greenway Court, and here enjoyed for some time the comforts of
+civilization, so far as they had penetrated that frontier scene. Spring
+was still upon the land, though summer was near by, when George and his
+friend rode back across the Blue Ridge and returned to Belvoir with the
+report of what they had done. Lord Fairfax was highly pleased with the
+report, and liked George more than ever for the faithful and intelligent
+manner in which he had carried out his task. He paid the young surveyor
+at the rate of seven dollars a day for the time he was actually at work,
+and half this amount for the remaining time. This was worth a good deal
+more then than the same sum of money would be now, and was very good pay
+for a boy of sixteen. No doubt the lad felt rich with the first money he
+had ever earned in his pocket.
+
+As for Lord Fairfax, he was in high glee to learn what a valuable
+property he had across the hills, and especially how fine a country it
+was for hunting. He soon left Belvoir and made his home at Greenway
+Court, where he spent the remainder of his life. It was a very different
+life from that of his early days in the bustle of fashionable life in
+London, but it seemed to suit him as well or better.
+
+One thing more we have to say about him. He was still living at Greenway
+Court when the Revolutionary War came on. A loyalist in grain, he
+bitterly opposed the rebellion of the colonists. By the year 1781 he had
+grown very old and feeble. One day he was in Winchester, a town which
+had grown up not far from Greenway, when he heard loud shouts and cheers
+in the street.
+
+"What is all that noise about?" he asked his old servant.
+
+"Dey say dat Gin'ral Washington has took Lord Cornwallis an' all his
+army prisoners. Yorktown is surrendered, an' de wa' is ovah."
+
+"Take me to bed, Joe," groaned the old lord; "it is time for me to die."
+
+Five years after his surveying excursion George Washington had a far
+more famous adventure in the wilderness, when the governor of Virginia
+sent him through the great forest to visit the French forts near Lake
+Erie. The story of this journey is one of the most exciting and romantic
+events in American history, yet it is one with which most readers of
+history are familiar, so we have told the tale of his earlier adventures
+instead. His forest experience on the Shenandoah had much to do with
+making Governor Dinwiddie choose him as his envoy to the French forts,
+so that it was, in a way, the beginning of his wonderful career.
+
+
+
+
+_PATRICK HENRY, THE HERALD OF THE REVOLUTION._
+
+
+There was a day in the history of the Old Dominion when a great lawsuit
+was to be tried,--a great one, that is, to the people of Hanover County,
+where it was heard, and to the colony of Virginia, though not to the
+country at large. The Church of England was the legal church in
+Virginia, whose people were expected to support it. This the members of
+other churches did not like to do, and the people of Hanover County
+would not pay the clergymen for their preaching. This question of paying
+the preachers spread far and wide. It came to the House of Burgesses,
+which body decided that the people need not pay them. It crossed the
+ocean and reached the king of England, who decided that the people must
+pay them. As the king's voice was stronger than that of the burgesses,
+the clergy felt that they had an excellent case, and they brought a
+lawsuit to recover their claims. By the old law each clergyman was to be
+paid his salary in tobacco, one hundred and sixty thousand pounds weight
+a year.
+
+There seemed to be nothing to do but pay them, either in cash or
+tobacco. All the old lawyers who looked into the question gave it up at
+once, saying that the people had no standing against the king and the
+clergy. But while men were saying that the case for the county would be
+passed without a trial and a verdict rendered for the clergy, an amusing
+rumor began to spread around. It was said that young Patrick Henry was
+going to conduct the case for the people.
+
+[Illustration: Copyright, 1906, by R. A. Lancaster, Jr.
+
+HOME OF PATRICK HENRY DURING HIS LAST TWO TERMS AS GOVERNOR OF
+VIRGINIA.]
+
+We call this amusing, and so it was to those who knew Patrick Henry. He
+was a lawyer, to be sure, but one who knew almost nothing about the law
+and had never made a public speech in his life. He was only twenty-seven
+years of age, and those years had gone over him mainly in idleness. In
+his boyhood days he had spent his time in fishing, hunting, dancing, and
+playing the fiddle, instead of working on his father's farm. As he grew
+older he liked sport too much and work too little to make a living. He
+tried store-keeping and failed through neglect of his business. He
+married a wife whose father gave him a farm, but he failed with this,
+too, fishing and fiddling when he should have been working, and in two
+years the farm was sold. Then he went back to store-keeping, and with
+the same result. The trouble was his love for the fiddle and the
+fishing-line, which stood very much in the way of business. He was too
+lazy and fond of good company and a good time to make a living for
+himself and his wife.
+
+The easy-going fellow was now in a critical situation. He had to do
+something if he did not want to starve, so he borrowed some old
+law-books and began to read law. Six weeks later he applied to an old
+judge for a license to practise in the courts. The judge questioned him
+and found that he knew nothing about the law; but young Henry pleaded
+with him so ardently, and promised so faithfully to keep on studying,
+that the judge gave him the license and he hung out his shingle as a
+lawyer.
+
+Whatever else Patrick Henry might be good for, people thought that to
+call himself a lawyer was a mere laughing matter. An awkward, stooping,
+ungainly fellow, dressed roughly in leather breeches and yarn stockings,
+and not knowing even how to pronounce the king's English correctly, how
+could he ever succeed in a learned profession? As a specimen of his
+manner of speech at that time we are told that once, when denying the
+advantages of education, he clinched the argument by exclaiming,
+"Nait'ral parts are better than all the larnin' on airth."
+
+As for the law, he did not know enough about it to draw up the simplest
+law-paper. As a result, he got no business, and was forced, as a last
+resort, to help keep a tavern which his father-in-law possessed at
+Hanover Court-House. And so he went on for two or three years, till
+1763, when the celebrated case came up. Those who knew him might well
+look on it as a joke when the word went round that Patrick Henry was
+going to "plead against the parsons." That so ignorant a lawyer should
+undertake to handle a case which all the old lawyers had refused might
+well be held as worthy only of ridicule. They did not know Patrick
+Henry. It is not quite sure that he knew himself. His father sat on the
+bench as judge, but what he thought of his son's audacity history does
+not say.
+
+When the day for the trial came there was a great crowd at Hanover
+Court-House, for the people were much interested in the case. On the
+opening of the court the young lawyer crossed the street from the tavern
+and took his seat behind the bar. What he saw was enough to dismay and
+confuse a much older man. The court-room was crowded, and every man in
+it seemed to have his eyes fixed on the daring young counsel, many of
+them with covert smiles on their faces. The twelve men of the jury were
+chosen. There were present a large number of the clergy waiting
+triumphantly for the verdict, which they were sure would be in their
+favor, and looking in disdain at the young lawyer. On the bench as judge
+sat John Henry, doubtless feeling that he had a double duty to perform,
+to judge at once the case and his son.
+
+The aspiring advocate, so little learned in the law and so poorly
+dressed and ungainly in appearance, looked as if he would have given
+much just then to be out of the court and clear of the case. But the die
+was cast; he was in for it now.
+
+The counsel for the clergymen opened the case. He dwelt much on the law
+of the matter, whose exact meaning he declared was beyond question. The
+courts had already decided on that subject, and so had his sacred
+majesty, the king of England. There was nothing for the jury to do, he
+asserted, but to decide how much money his clients were entitled to
+under the law. The matter seemed so clear that he made but a brief
+address and sat down with a look of complete satisfaction. As he did so
+Patrick Henry rose.
+
+This, as may well be imagined, was a critical moment in the young
+lawyer's life. He rose very awkwardly and seemed thoroughly frightened.
+Every eye was fixed on him and not a sound was heard. Henry was in a
+state of painful embarrassment. When he began to speak, his voice was so
+low that he could hardly be heard, and he faltered so sadly that his
+friends felt that all was at an end.
+
+But, as he himself had once said, "Nait'ral parts are better than all
+the larnin' on airth;" and he had these "nait'ral parts," as he was
+about to prove. As he went on a change in his aspect took place. His
+form became erect, his head uplifted, his voice clearer and firmer. He
+soon began to make it appear that he had thought deeply on the people's
+cause and was prepared to handle it strongly. His eyes began to flash,
+his voice to grow resonant and fill the room; in the words of William
+Wirt, his biographer, "As his mind rolled along and began to glow from
+its own action, all the exuviae of the clown seemed to shed themselves
+spontaneously."
+
+The audience listened in surprise, the clergy in consternation. Was this
+the Patrick Henry they had known? It was very evident that the young
+advocate knew just what he was talking about, and he went on with a
+forcible and burning eloquence that fairly carried away every listener.
+There was no thought now of his clothes and his uncouthness. The _man_
+stood revealed before them, a man with a gift of eloquence such as
+Virginia had never before known. He said very little on the law of the
+case, knowing that to be against him, but he addressed himself to the
+jury on the rights of the people and of the colony, and told them it was
+their duty to decide between the House of Burgesses and the king of
+England. The Burgesses, he said, were their own people, men of their own
+choice, who had decided in their favor; the king was a stranger to them,
+and had no right to order them what to do.
+
+Here he was interrupted by the old counsel for the clergy, who rose in
+great indignation and exclaimed, "The gentleman has spoken treason."
+
+We do not know just what words Henry used in reply. We have no record of
+that famous speech. But he was not the man to be frightened by the word
+"treason," and did not hesitate to repeat his words more vigorously than
+before. As for the parsons, he declared, their case was worthless. Men
+who led such lives as they were known to have done had no right to
+demand money from the people. So bitterly did he denounce them that all
+those in the room rose and left the court in a body.
+
+By the time the young advocate had reached the end of his speech the
+whole audience was in a state of intense excitement. They had been
+treated to the sensation of their lives, and looked with utter
+astonishment at the marvellous orator, who had risen from obscurity to
+fame in that brief hour. Breathless was the interest with which the
+jury's verdict was awaited. The judge charged that the law was in favor
+of the parsons and that the king's order must be obeyed, but they had
+the right to decide on the amount of damages. They were not long in
+deciding, and their verdict was the astounding one of _one penny
+damages_.
+
+The crowd was now beyond control. A shout of delight and approbation
+broke out. Uproar and confusion followed the late decorous quiet. The
+parsons' lawyer cried out that the verdict was illegal and asked the
+judge to send the jury back. But his voice was lost in the acclamations
+of the multitude. Gathering round Patrick Henry, they picked him up
+bodily, lifted him to their shoulders, and bore him out, carrying him in
+triumph through the town, which rang loudly with their cries and cheers.
+Thus it was that the young lawyer of Hanover rose to fame.
+
+Two years after that memorable day Patrick Henry found himself in a
+different situation. He was now a member of the dignified House of
+Burgesses, the oldest legislative body in America. An aristocratic body
+it was, made up mostly of wealthy landholders, dressed in courtly attire
+and sitting in proud array. There were few poor men among them, and
+perhaps no other plain countryman to compare with the new member from
+Hanover County, who had changed but little in dress and appearance from
+his former aspect.
+
+A great question was before the House. The Stamp Act had been passed in
+England and the people of the colonies were in a high state of
+indignation. They rose in riotous mobs and vowed they would never pay a
+penny of the tax. As for the Burgesses, they proposed to act with more
+loyalty and moderation. They would petition the king to do them justice.
+It was as good as rebellion to refuse to obey him.
+
+The member from Hanover listened to their debate, and said to himself
+that it was weak and its purpose futile. He felt sure that the action
+they proposed would do no good, and when they had fairly exhausted
+themselves he rose to offer his views on the question at issue.
+
+Very likely some of the fine gentlemen there looked at him with surprise
+and indignation. Who was this presumptuous new member who proposed to
+tell the older members what to do? Some of them may have known him and
+been familiar with that scene in Hanover Court-House. Others perhaps
+mentally deplored the indignity of sending common fellows like this to
+sit in their midst.
+
+But Patrick Henry now knew his powers, and cared not a whit for their
+_respectable_ sentiments. He had something to say and proposed to say
+it. Beginning in a quiet voice, he told them that the Stamp Act was
+illegal, as ignoring the right of the House to make the laws for the
+colony. It was not only illegal, but it was oppressive, and he moved
+that the House of Burgesses should pass a series of resolutions which he
+would read.
+
+These resolutions were respectful in tone, but very decided in meaning.
+The last of them declared that nobody but the Burgesses had the right to
+tax Virginians. This statement roused the house. It sounded like
+rebellion against the king. Several speakers rose together and all of
+them denounced the resolutions as injudicious and impertinent. The
+excitement of the loyalists grew as they proceeded, but they subsided
+into silence when the man who had offered the resolutions rose to defend
+them.
+
+Patrick Henry was aroused. As he spoke his figure grew straight and
+erect, his voice loud and resonant, his eye flashed, the very sweep of
+his hand was full of force and power. He for one was not prepared to
+become a slave to England and her king. He denounced the islanders who
+proposed to rob Americans of their vested rights. In what way was an
+Englishman better than a Virginian? he asked. Were they not of one blood
+and born with the same right to liberty and justice? What right had the
+Parliament to act the tyrant to the colonies? Then, referring to the
+king, he bade him in thundering tones to beware of the consequences of
+his acts.
+
+"Caesar had his Brutus," he exclaimed, in tones of thrilling force,
+"Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third----"
+
+"Treason! Treason!" came from a dozen excited voices, but Henry did not
+flinch.
+
+"May profit by their example." Then, in a quieter tone, he added: "If
+this be treason, make the most of it!"
+
+[Illustration: ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.]
+
+He took his seat. He had said his words. These words still roll down the
+tide of American history as resonantly as when they were spoken. As for
+the House of Burgesses, it was carried away by the strength of this
+wonderful speech. When the resolutions came to a vote it was seen that
+Henry had won. They were carried, even the last and most daring of them,
+by one vote majority. As the Burgesses tumultuously adjourned, one
+member rushed out in great excitement, declaring that he would have
+given five hundred guineas for one vote to defeat the treasonable
+resolutions. But the people with delight heard of what had passed, and
+as Henry passed through the crowd a plain countryman clapped him on the
+shoulder, exclaiming,--
+
+"Stick to us, old fellow, or we are gone."
+
+Ten years later, in the old church of St. John's, at Richmond, Virginia,
+standing not far from the spot where the old Indian emperor, Powhatan,
+once resided, a convention was assembled to decide on the state of the
+country. Rebellion was in the air. In a month more the first shots of
+the Revolution were to be fired at Lexington. Patrick Henry, still the
+same daring patriot as of old, rose and moved that Virginia "be
+immediately put in a state of defence."
+
+This raised almost as much opposition as his former resolutions in the
+House of Burgesses, and his blood was boiling as he rose to speak. It
+was the first speech of his that has been preserved, and it was one that
+still remains unsurpassed in the annals of American eloquence. We give
+its concluding words. He exclaimed, in tones of thunder,--
+
+"There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are
+forged, their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is
+inevitable; and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! It is in
+vain to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, 'Peace, peace,' but
+there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps
+from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our
+brethren are already in the field. What is it that gentlemen wish? What
+would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased
+at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not
+what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me
+death!"
+
+His motion was passed, and Virginia told the world that she was ready to
+fight. A month later there came from the north "the clash of resounding
+arms;" the American Revolution was launched.
+
+"It is not easy to say what we would have done without Patrick Henry,"
+says Thomas Jefferson. "His eloquence was peculiar; if, indeed, it
+should be called eloquence, for it was impressive and sublime beyond
+what can be imagined. After all, it must be allowed that he was our
+leader. He left us all far behind."
+
+
+
+
+_GOVERNOR TRYON AND THE CAROLINA REGULATORS._
+
+
+The first blood shed by "rebels" in America, in those critical years
+when the tide of events was setting strong towards war and revolution,
+was by the settlers on the upper waters of the Cape Fear River in North
+Carolina. A hardy people these were, of that Highland Scotch stock whose
+fathers had fought against oppression for many generations. Coming to
+America for peace and liberty, they found bitter oppression still, and
+fought against it as their ancestors had done at home. It is the story
+of these sturdy "Regulators" that we have here to tell.
+
+It was not the tyranny of king or parliament with which these
+liberty-lovers had to deal, but that of Governor Tryon, the king's
+representative in this colony, and one of the worst of all the royal
+governors. Bancroft has well described his character. "The Cherokee
+chiefs, who knew well the cruelty and craft of the most pernicious beast
+of prey in the mountains, ceremoniously distinguished the governor by
+the name of the Great Wolf." It was this Great Wolf who was placed in
+command over the settlers of North Carolina, and whose lawless acts
+drove them to rebellion.
+
+Under Governor Tryon the condition of the colony of North Carolina was
+worse than that of a great city under the rule of a political "Boss."
+The people were frightfully overtaxed, illegal fees were charged for
+every service, juries were packed, and costs of suits at law made
+exorbitant. The officers of the law were insolent and arbitrary, and by
+trickery and extortion managed to rob many settlers of their property.
+And this was the more hateful to the people from the fact that much of
+the money raised was known to go into the pockets of officials and much
+of it was used by Governor Tryon in building himself a costly and showy
+"palace." Such was the state of affairs which led to the "rebellion" in
+North Carolina.
+
+Many of the people of the mountain districts organized under the name of
+"Regulators," binding themselves to fight against illegal taxes and
+fees, and not to pay them unless forced to do so. The first outbreak
+took place in 1768 when a Regulator rode into Hillsborough, and Colonel
+Fanning wantonly seized his horse for his tax. It was quickly rescued by
+a mob armed with clubs and muskets, some of which were fired at
+Fanning's house.
+
+This brought matters to a head. Supported by the governor, Fanning
+denounced the Regulators as rebels, threatened to call out the militia,
+and sent out a secret party who arrested two of the settlers. One of
+these, Herman Husbands, had never joined the Regulators or been
+concerned in any tumult, and was seized while quietly at home on his
+own land. But he was bound, insulted, hurried to prison, and threatened
+with the gallows. He escaped only by the payment of money and the threat
+of the Regulators to take him by force from the jail.
+
+The next step was taken after Governor Tryon had promised to hear the
+complaints of the people and punish the men guilty of extortion. Under
+this promise Husbands brought suit against Fanning for unjust
+imprisonment. At once the governor showed his real sentiment. He
+demanded the complete submission of the Regulators, called out fifteen
+hundred armed men, and was said to intend to rouse the Indians to cut
+off the men of Orange County as rebels.
+
+In spite of this threatening attitude of the governor, Husbands was
+acquitted on every charge, and Fanning was found guilty on six separate
+indictments. There was also a verdict given against three Regulators.
+This was the decision of the jury alone. That of the judges showed a
+different spirit. They punished Fanning by fining him one penny on each
+charge, while the Regulators were each sentenced to fifty pounds fine
+and six months' imprisonment. To support this one-sided justice Tryon
+threatened the Regulators with fire and sword, and they remained quietly
+at home, brooding moodily over their failure but hesitating to act.
+
+We must now go on to the year 1770. The old troubles had
+continued,--illegal fees and taxes, peculation and robbery. The
+sheriffs and tax-collectors were known to have embezzled over fifty
+thousand pounds. The costs of suits at law had so increased that justice
+lay beyond the reach of the poor. And back of all this reigned Governor
+Tryon in his palace, supporting the spoilers of the people. So incensed
+did they become that at the September court, finding that their cases
+were to be ignored, they seized Fanning and another lawyer and beat them
+soundly with cowhide whips, ending by a destructive raid on Fanning's
+house.
+
+The Assembly met in December. It had been chosen under a state of
+general alarm. The Regulators elected many representatives, among them
+the persecuted Herman Husbands, who was chosen to represent Orange
+County. This defiant action of the people roused the "Great Wolf" again.
+Husbands had been acquitted of everything charged against him, yet Tryon
+had him voted a disturber of the peace and expelled from the House, and
+immediately afterward had him arrested and put in prison without bail,
+though there was not a grain of evidence against him.
+
+The governor followed this act of violence with a "Riot Act" of the most
+oppressive and illegal character. Under it if any ten men assembled and
+did not disperse when ordered to do so, they were to be held guilty of
+felony. For a riot committed either before or after this act was
+published any persons accused might be tried before the Superior Court,
+no matter how far it was from their homes, and if they did not appear
+within sixty days, with or without notice, they were to be proclaimed
+outlaws and to forfeit their lives and property. The governor also sent
+out a request for volunteers to march against the "rebels," but the
+Assembly refused to grant money for this warlike purpose.
+
+Governor Tryon had shown himself as unjust and tyrannous as Governor
+Berkeley of Virginia had done in his contest with Bacon. It did not take
+him long to foment the rebellion which he seemed determined to provoke.
+When the Regulators heard that their representative had been thrown into
+prison, and that they were threatened with exile or death as outlaws,
+they prepared to march on Newbern for the rescue of Husbands, filling
+the governor with such alarm for the safety of his fine new palace that
+he felt it wise to release his captive. He tried to indict the sturdy
+Highlander for a pretended libel, but the Grand Jury refused to support
+him in this, and Husbands was set free. The Regulators thereupon
+dispersed, after a party of them had visited the Superior Court at
+Salisbury and expressed their opinion very freely about the lawyers, the
+officials, and the Riot Act, which they declared had no warrant in the
+laws of England.
+
+As yet the Regulators had done little more than to protest against
+tyranny and oppression and to show an intention to defend their
+representative against unjust imprisonment, yet they had done enough to
+arouse their lordly governor to revenge. Rebels they were, for they had
+dared to question his acts, and rebels he would hold them. As the Grand
+Jury would not support him in his purpose, he took steps to obtain
+juries and witnesses on whom he could rely, and then brought charges
+against many of the leading Regulators of Orange County, several of whom
+had been quietly at home during the riots of which they were accused.
+
+The governor's next step was to call the Grand Jury to his palace and
+volunteer to them to lead troops into the western counties, the haunt of
+the Regulators. The jurymen, who were his own creatures, hastened to
+applaud his purpose, and the Council agreed. The Assembly refused to
+provide funds for such a purpose, but Tryon got over this difficulty by
+issuing a paper currency.
+
+A force of militia was now raised in the lower part of the colony and
+the country of the Regulators was invaded. Tryon marched at the head of
+a strong force into Orange County, and proceeded to deal with it as if
+it were a country conquered in war. As he advanced, the wheat-fields
+were destroyed and the orchards felled. Every house found empty was
+burned to the ground. Cattle, poultry, and all the produce of the
+plantations were seized. The terrified people ran together like sheep
+pursued by a wolf. The men who had been indicted for felony at Newbern,
+and who had failed to submit themselves to the mercy of his packed
+juries and false witnesses, were proclaimed outlaws, whose lives and
+property were forfeit. Never had the colonies been so spoiled on such
+slight pretence.
+
+Thus marching onward like a conquering general of the Middle Ages,
+leaving havoc and ruin in his rear, on the evening of May 14, 1771,
+Tryon reached the great Alamance River, at the head of a force of a
+little over one thousand men. About five miles beyond this stream were
+gathered the Regulators who had fled before his threatening march. They
+were probably superior in numbers to Tryon's men, but many of them had
+no weapons, and they were principally concerned lest the governor "would
+not lend an ear to the just complaints of the people." These "rebels"
+were certainly not in the frame of mind to make rebellion successful.
+
+The Regulators were not without a leader. One of their number, James
+Hunter, they looked upon as their "general," a title of which his
+excellent capacity and high courage made him worthy. On the approach of
+Tryon at the head of his men James Hunter and Benjamin Merrill advanced
+to meet him. They received from him this ultimatum:
+
+"I require you to lay down your arms, surrender up the outlawed
+ringleaders, submit yourselves to the laws, and rest on the lenity of
+the government. By accepting these terms in one hour you will prevent an
+effusion of blood, as you are at this time in a state of war and
+rebellion."
+
+Hopeless as the Regulators felt their cause, they were not ready to
+submit to such a demand as this. There was not an outlaw among them, for
+not one of them had been legally indicted. As to the lenity of the
+government, they had an example before their eyes in the wanton ruin of
+their houses and crops. With such a demand, nothing was left them but to
+fight.
+
+Tryon began the action by firing a field-piece into the group of
+Regulators. At this the more timid of them--perhaps only the unarmed
+ones--withdrew, but the bold remainder returned the fire, and a hot
+conflict began, which was kept up steadily for two hours. The battle, at
+first in the open field, soon shifted to the woodland, where the
+opponents sheltered themselves behind trees and kept up the fight. Not
+until their ammunition was nearly gone, and further resistance was
+impossible, did Hunter and his men retreat, leaving Tryon master of the
+field. They had lost twenty of their number besides the wounded and some
+prisoners taken in the pursuit. Of Tryon's men nine were killed and
+sixty-one wounded. Thus ended the affray known as the battle of the
+Alamance, in which were fired the first shots for freedom from tyranny
+by the people of the American colonies.
+
+The victorious governor hastened to make revengeful use of his triumph.
+He began the next day by hanging James Few, one of the prisoners, as an
+outlaw, and confiscating his estate. A series of severe proclamations
+followed, and his troops lived at free quarters on the Regulators,
+forcing them to contribute provisions, and burning the houses and laying
+waste the plantations of all those who had been denounced as outlaws.
+
+On his return to Hillsborough the governor issued a proclamation
+denouncing Herman Husbands, James Hunter, and some others, asking "every
+person" to shoot them at sight, and offering a large reward for their
+bodies alive or dead. Of the prisoners still in his hands, he had six of
+them hung in his own presence for the crime of treason. Then, some ten
+days later, having played the tyrant to the full in North Carolina, he
+left that colony forever, having been appointed governor of New York.
+The colony was saddled by him with an illegal debt of forty thousand
+pounds, which he left for its people to pay.
+
+As for the fugitive Regulators, there was no safety for them in North
+Carolina, and the governors of South Carolina and Virginia were
+requested not to give them refuge. But they knew of a harbor of refuge
+to which no royal governors had come, over which the flag of England had
+never waved, and where no lawyer or tax-collector had yet set foot, in
+that sylvan land west of the Alleghenies on which few besides Daniel
+Boone, the famous hunter, had yet set foot.
+
+Here was a realm for a nation, and one on which nature had lavished her
+richest treasures. Here in spring the wild crab-apple filled the air
+with the sweetest of perfumes, here the clear mountain-streams flowed
+abundantly, the fertile soil was full of promise of rich harvests, the
+climate was freshly invigorating, and the west winds ripe with the seeds
+of health. Here were broad groves of hickory and oak, of maple, elm,
+and ash, in which the elk and the red deer made their haunts, and the
+black bear, whose flesh the hunter held to be delicious beyond rivalry,
+fattened on the abundant crop of acorns and chestnuts. In the trees and
+on the grasses were quail, turkeys, and pigeons numberless, while the
+golden eagle built its nest on the mountain-peaks and swooped in circles
+over the forest land. Where the thickets of spruce and rhododendron
+threw their cooling shade upon the swift streams, the brook trout was
+abundant, plenty and promise were everywhere, and, aside from the peril
+of the prowling savage, the land was a paradise.
+
+It was not in Kentucky, where Boone then dwelt alone, but in Tennessee
+that the fugitive Regulators sought a realm of safety. James Robertson,
+one of their number, had already sought the land beyond the hills and
+was cultivating his fields of maize on the Watauga's fertile banks. He
+was to become one of the leading men in later Tennessee. Hither the
+Regulators, fleeing from their persecutors, followed him, and in 1772
+founded a republic in the wilderness by a written compact, Robertson
+being chosen one of their earliest magistrates. Thus, still defiant of
+persecution, they "set to the people of America the dangerous example of
+erecting themselves into a separate state, distinct from and independent
+of the authority of the British king."
+
+Thus we owe to the Regulators of North Carolina the first decided step
+in the great struggle for independence so soon to come. And to North
+Carolina we must give the credit of making the earliest declaration of
+independence. More than a year before Jefferson's famous Declaration the
+people of Mecklenburg County passed a series of resolutions in which
+they declared themselves free from allegiance to the British crown. This
+was in May, 1775. On April 12, 1776, North Carolina authorized her
+delegates in the Continental Congress to declare for independence. Thus
+again the Old North State was the first to set her seal for liberty. The
+old Regulators had not all left her soil, and we seem to hear in these
+resolutions an echo of the guns which were fired on the Alamance in the
+first stroke of the colonists of America for freedom from tyranny.
+
+
+
+
+_LORD DUNMORE AND THE GUNPOWDER._
+
+
+In the city of Williamsburg, the old capital of Virginia, there still
+stands a curious old powder magazine, built nearly two centuries ago by
+Governor Spotswood, the hero of the "Golden Horseshoe" adventure. It is
+a strong stone building, with eight-sided walls and roof, which looks as
+if it might stand for centuries to come. On this old magazine hinges a
+Revolutionary tale, which seems to us well worth the telling. The story
+begins on April 19, 1775, the day that the shots at Lexington brought on
+the war for independence.
+
+The British government did not like the look of things in America. The
+clouds in the air, and the occasional lightning flash and thunder roar,
+were full of threat of a coming storm. To prevent this, orders were sent
+from England to the royal governors to seize all the powder and arms in
+the colonies on a fixed day, This is what Governor Gage, of
+Massachusetts, tried to do at Concord on April 19th. In the night of the
+same day, Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, attempted the same thing
+at Williamsburg.
+
+Had this been done openly in Virginia, as in Massachusetts, the story of
+Lexington would have been repeated there. Lord Dunmore took the
+patriots by surprise. A British ship-of-war, the "Magdalen," some time
+before, came sailing up York River, and dropped its anchor in the stream
+not far from Williamsburg. On the 19th of April Lord Dunmore sent word
+to Captain Collins, of the "Magdalen," that all was ready, and after
+dark on that day a party of soldiers, led by the captain, landed from
+the ship. About midnight they marched silently into the town. All was
+quiet, the people in their beds, sleeping the sleep of the just, and not
+dreaming that treachery was at their doors. The captain had the key to
+the magazine and opened its door, setting his soldiers to carry out as
+quietly as possible the half-barrels of gunpowder with which it was
+stored. They came like ghosts, and so departed. All was done so
+stealthily, that the morning of the 20th dawned before the citizens knew
+that anything had been going on in their streets under the midnight
+shadows.
+
+When the news spread abroad the town was in an uproar. What right had
+the governor to meddle with anything bought with the hard cash of
+Virginia and belonging to the colony? In their anger they resolved to
+seize the governor and make him answer to the people for his act. They
+did not like Lord Dunmore, whom they knew to be a false-hearted man, and
+would have liked to make him pay for some former deeds of treachery. But
+the cooler heads advised them not to act in haste, saying that it was
+wiser to take peaceful measures, and to send and tell Dunmore that
+their powder must be returned.
+
+This was done. The governor answered with a falsehood. He said that he
+had heard of some danger of an insurrection among the slaves in a
+neighboring county, and had taken the powder to use against them. If
+nothing happened, he would soon return it; they need not worry, all
+would be right.
+
+This false story quieted the people of Williamsburg for a time. But it
+did not satisfy the people of Virginia. As the news spread through the
+colony the excitement grew intense. What right had Lord Dunmore to carry
+off the people's powder, bought for their defence? Many of them seized
+their arms, and at Fredericksburg seven hundred men assembled and sent
+word that they were ready to march on Williamsburg. Among them were the
+"minute men" of Culpeper, a famous band of frontiersmen, wearing green
+hunting-shirts and carrying knives and tomahawks. "Liberty or Death,"
+Patrick Henry's stirring words, were on their breasts, and over their
+heads floated a significant banner. On it was a coiled rattlesnake, with
+the warning motto, "Don't tread on me!"
+
+Prompt as these men were, there was one man in Virginia still more
+prompt, a man not to be trifled with by any lordly governor. This was
+Patrick Henry, the patriotic orator. The instant he heard of the
+stealing of the powder he sent word to the people in his vicinity to
+meet him at Newcastle, ready to fight for Virginia's rights. They came,
+one hundred and fifty of them, all well armed, and without hesitation he
+led them against the treacherous governor. It looked as if there was to
+be a battle in Virginia, as there had been in Massachusetts. Lord
+Dunmore was scared when he heard that the patriots were marching on him,
+as they had marched on Lord Berkeley a century before. He sent word
+hastily to Patrick Henry to stop his march and that he would pay for the
+powder.
+
+[Illustration: OLD MAGAZINE AT WILLIAMSBURG.]
+
+Very likely this disappointed the indignant orator. Just then he would
+rather have fought Dunmore than take his money. But he had no good
+excuse for refusing it, so the cash was paid over, three hundred and
+thirty pounds sterling,--equal to about sixteen hundred dollars,--and
+Henry and his men marched home.
+
+Lord Dunmore was in a towering rage at his defeat. He did what Berkeley
+had done against Bacon long before, issuing a proclamation in which he
+said that Patrick Henry and all those with him were traitors to the
+king. Then he sent to the "Magdalen" for soldiers, and had arms laid on
+the floors of his lordly mansion ready for use when the troops should
+come.
+
+All was ripe for an outbreak. The people of Virginia had not been used
+to see British troops on their soil. If Lord Dunmore wanted war they
+were quite ready to let him have it. Arms were lacking, and some young
+men broke open the door of the magazine to see if any were there. As
+they did so there was a loud report and one of the party fell back
+bleeding. A spring-gun had been placed behind the door, doubtless by
+Lord Dunmore's orders.
+
+The startling sound brought out the people. When they learned what had
+been done, they ran angrily to the magazine and seized all the arms they
+could find there. In doing so they made a discovery that doubled their
+indignation. Beneath the floor several barrels of gunpowder were hidden,
+as if to blow up any one who entered. While they were saying that this
+was another treacherous trick of the governor's, word was brought them
+that the troops from the "Magdalen" were marching on the town. With
+shouts of fury they ran for their arms. If Lord Dunmore was so eager for
+a fight, they were quite ready to accommodate him and to stand up before
+his British soldiers and strike for American rights. A few words will
+end this part of our story. When the governor saw the spirit of the
+people he did as Berkeley before him had done, fled to his ships and
+relieved Williamsburg of his presence. The Virginians had got rid of
+their governor and his British troops without a fight.
+
+This ends the story of the gunpowder, but there were things that
+followed worth the telling. Virginia was not done with Lord Dunmore.
+Sailing in the "Magdalen" to Chesapeake Bay, he found there some other
+war-vessels, and proceeded with this squadron to Norfolk, of which he
+took possession. Most of the people of that town were true patriots,
+though by promises of plunder he induced some of the lower class of
+whites to join him, and also brought in many negro slaves from the
+country around. With this motley crew he committed many acts of
+violence, rousing all Virginia to resistance. A "Committee of Safety"
+was appointed and hundreds of men eagerly enlisted and were sent to
+invest Norfolk. But their enemy was not easy to find, as they kept out
+of reach most of the time on his ships.
+
+On December 9, 1775, the first battle of the Revolution in the South
+took place. The patriot forces at that time were at a place called Great
+Bridge, near the Dismal Swamp, and not far from Norfolk. Against them
+Dunmore sent a body of his troops. These reached Great Bridge to find it
+a small wooden bridge over a stream, and to see the Americans awaiting
+them behind a breastwork which they had thrown up across the road at the
+opposite end of the bridge. Among them were the Culpeper "minute men,"
+of whom we have spoken, with their rattlesnake standard, and one of the
+lieutenants in their company was a man who was to become famous in after
+years,--John Marshall, the celebrated Chief Justice of the United
+States.
+
+The British posted their cannon and opened fire on the Virginians; then,
+when they fancied they had taken the spirit out of the backwoods
+militia, a force of grenadiers charged across the bridge, led by Captain
+Fordyce. He proved himself a good soldier, but he found the colonials
+good soldiers too. They held back their fire till the grenadiers were
+across the bridge and less than fifty yards away. Then the crack of
+rifles was heard and a line of fire flashed out all along the low
+breastwork. And it came from huntsmen who knew how to bring down their
+game.
+
+Many of the grenadiers fell before this scorching fire. Their line was
+broken and thrown into confusion. Captain Fordyce at their head waved
+his hat, shouting, "The day is ours!" The words were barely spoken when
+he fell. In an instant he was on his feet again, brushing his knee as if
+he had only stumbled. Yet the brave fellow was mortally wounded, no less
+than fourteen bullets having passed through his body, and after a
+staggering step or two he fell dead.
+
+This took the courage out of the grenadiers. They fell back in disorder
+upon the bridge, hastened by the bullets of the patriots. At every step
+some of them fell. The Virginians, their standard-bearer at their head,
+leaped with cheers of triumph over the breastwork and pursued them,
+driving them back in panic flight, and keeping up the pursuit till the
+fugitives were safe in Norfolk. Thus ended in victory the first battle
+for American liberty on the soil of the South.
+
+Lord Dunmore had confidently expected his bold grenadiers to return with
+trophies of their victory over the untrained colonials. The news of
+their complete defeat filled him with fear and fury. At first he
+refused to believe it, and threatened to hang the boy who brought him
+the news. But the sight of the blood-stained fugitives soon convinced
+him, and in a sudden panic he took refuge with all his forces in his
+ships. The triumphant Virginians at once took possession of the town.
+
+Dunmore lingered in the harbor with his fleet, and the victors opened
+fire with their cannon on the ships. "Stop your fire or I will burn your
+town with hot shot," he sent word. "Do your worst," retorted the bold
+Virginia commander, and bade his men to keep their cannons going. The
+ruthless governor kept his word, bombarding the town with red-hot shot,
+and soon it was in flames.
+
+The fire could not be extinguished. For three days it raged, spreading
+in all directions, till the whole town was a sheet of flames. Not until
+there was nothing left to burn did the flames subside. Norfolk was a
+complete ruin. Its six thousand inhabitants, men, women, and children,
+were forced to flee from their burning homes and seek what scant refuge
+they could find in that chill winter season. Dunmore even landed his
+troops to fire on the place. Then, having visited the peaceful
+inhabitants with the direst horrors of war, he sailed in triumph away,
+glorying in his revenge.
+
+The lordly governor now acted the pirate in earnest. He sailed up and
+down the shores of Chesapeake Bay, landing and plundering the
+plantations on every side. At a place called Gwyn's Island, on the
+western shore, he had a fort built, which he garrisoned mainly with the
+negroes and low whites he had brought from Norfolk. Just what was his
+purpose in this is not known, for the Virginians gave him no chance to
+carry it out. General Andrew Lewis, a famous Indian fighter, led a force
+of patriot volunteers against him, planting his cannon on the shore
+opposite the island, and opened a hot fire on the fort and the ships.
+
+The first ball fired struck the "Dunmore," the ship which held the
+governor. A second struck the same ship, and killed one of its crew. A
+third smashed the governor's crockery, and a splinter wounded him in the
+leg. This was more than the courage of a Dunmore could stand, and sail
+was set in all haste, the fleet scattering like a flock of frightened
+birds. The firing continued all day long. Night came, and no signs of
+surrender were seen, though the fire was not returned. At daylight the
+next morning two hundred men were sent in boats to reconnoitre and
+attack the fort. They quickly learned that there was nothing to attack.
+Lord Dunmore had been preparing all night for flight. The fort had been
+dismantled of everything of value, and as the assailants sprang from
+their boats on the island the ships sailed hurriedly away.
+
+The island itself was a sickening spectacle. The cannonade had made
+terrible havoc, and men lay dead or wounded all around, while many of
+the dead had been buried so hastily as to be barely covered. While they
+were looking at the frightful scene, a strong light appeared in the
+direction of the governor's flight. Its meaning was evident at a
+glance. Some of the vessels had grounded in the sands, and, as they
+could not be got off, he had set them afire to save them from the enemy.
+
+That was almost the last exploit of Lord Dunmore. He kept up his
+plundering raids a little longer, and once sailed up the Potomac to
+Mount Vernon, with the fancy that he might find and capture Washington.
+But soon after that he sailed away with his plunder and about one
+thousand slaves whom he had taken from the plantations, and Virginia was
+well rid of her last royal governor. A patriot governor soon followed,
+Patrick Henry being chosen, and occupying the very mansion at
+Williamsburg from which Dunmore had proclaimed him a traitor.
+
+
+
+
+_THE FATAL EXPEDITION OF COLONEL ROGERS._
+
+
+One of the great needs of the Americans in the war of the Revolution was
+ammunition. Gunpowder and cannon-balls were hard to get and easy to get
+rid of, being fired away with the utmost generosity whenever the armies
+came together, and sought for with the utmost solicitude when the armies
+were apart. The patriots made what they could and bought what they
+could, and on one occasion sent as far as New Orleans, on the lower
+Mississippi, to buy some ammunition which the Spaniards were willing to
+sell.
+
+But it was one thing to buy this much needed material and another thing
+to get it where it was needed. In those days it was a long journey to
+New Orleans and back. Yet the only way to obtain the ammunition was to
+send for it, and a valiant man, named Colonel David Rogers, a native of
+Virginia or Maryland, was chosen to go and bring it. His expedition was
+so full of adventure, and ended in such a tragic way, that it seems well
+worth telling about.
+
+It was from the Old Red Stone Fort on the Monongahela River, one of the
+two streams that make up the Ohio, that the expedition was to start, and
+here Colonel Rogers found the boats and men waiting for him at the end
+of his ride across the hill country. There were forty men in the party,
+and embarking with these, Rogers soon floated down past Fort Pitt and
+entered the Ohio, prepared for a journey of some thousands of miles in
+length.
+
+It was in the summer of the year 1778 that these bold men set out on a
+perilous journey from which few of them were to return. But what might
+come troubled them little. The weather was pleasant, the trees along the
+stream were charming in their summer foliage, and their hearts were full
+of hope and joy as they floated and rowed down the "Beautiful River," as
+it had been named by the Indians and the French.
+
+They needed, indeed, to be alert and watchful, for they knew well that
+hundreds of hostile savages dwelt in the forest depths on both sides of
+the stream, eager for blood and scalps. But the rough frontiersmen had
+little fear of the Indians, with the water beneath them and their good
+rifles beside them, and they sang their border songs and chatted in
+jovial tones as they went steadily onward, eating and sleeping in the
+boats, for it was nowhere safe to land. In this way they reached the
+mouth of the Ohio in safety and turned their prows into the broader
+current of the Mississippi.
+
+The first important stopping-point of the expedition was at the spot
+made historic by De Soto and Marquette, at the mouth of the Arkansas
+River, or the Ozark, as it was then called. Here stood a Spanish fort,
+near the locality where La Salle, a century earlier, had spent a
+pleasant week with the friendly Arkansas Indians. Colonel Rogers had
+been told about this fort, and advised to stop there and confer with its
+commander. As he came near them, he notified the Spaniards of his
+approach by a salvo of rifle shots, firing thirteen guns in honor of the
+fighting colonies and as a salute to the lords of the stream. The
+Spanish officer in command replied with three cannon shots, the woods
+echoing back their report.
+
+Colonel Rogers now landed and marched at the head of his men to the
+fort, over them floating the Stars and Stripes, a new-born standard yet
+to become glorious, and to wave in honor all along that stream on whose
+banks it was then for the first time displayed. As they came near the
+fort they were met by the Spanish commandant, Captain Devilie, with his
+troops drawn up behind him, and the flag of Spain waving as if in salute
+to the new banner of the United States. The Spaniard met Rogers with
+dignified courtesy, both of them making low bows and exchanging words of
+friendly greeting. Devilie invited his guest into the fort, and, by way
+of entertaining the Americans, put his men through a series of parade
+movements near the fort. The two officers looked on from the walls,
+Devilie in his showy Spanish uniform and Rogers gay with his gold-laced
+hat and silver-hilted sword.
+
+These performances at an end, Colonel Rogers told his host the purpose
+of his expedition, and was informed by him that the war-material which
+he was seeking was no longer at New Orleans, but had been removed to a
+fort farther up the river, near the locality where the city of St. Louis
+now stands. If the colonel had been advised of this sooner he might have
+saved himself a long journey. But there was the possibility that the
+officer at the St. Louis fort would refuse to surrender the ammunition
+without orders from his superiors. Besides this, he had been directed to
+go to New Orleans. So, on the whole, he thought it best to obey orders
+strictly, and to obtain from the Spanish governor an order to the
+commandant of the fort to deliver the goods. There was one difficulty in
+the way. The English had a hold on the river at a place called Natchez,
+where, as Captain Devilie told the colonel, they had built a fort. They
+might fire on him in passing and sink his boats, or force him to land
+and hold him prisoner. To escape this peril Colonel Rogers left the bulk
+of his men at the Spanish fort, taking only a single canoe and a
+half-dozen men with him. It was his purpose to try and slip past the
+Natchez fort in the night, and this was successfully done, the canoe
+gliding past unseen and conveying the small party safely to New Orleans.
+
+Our readers no doubt remember how, a century before this time, the
+Chevalier La Salle floated down the great river and claimed all the
+country surrounding it for the king of France. Later on French settlers
+came there, and in 1718 they laid out the town of New Orleans, which
+soon became the capital of the province. The settlements here did not
+grow very fast, and it does not seem that France valued them highly, for
+in 1763, after the British had taken Canada from the French, all the
+land west of the Mississippi River was given up by France to Spain. This
+was to pay that country for the loss of Florida, which was given over to
+England. That is how the Spaniards came to own New Orleans, and to have
+forts along the river where French forts had once been.
+
+Colonel Rogers found the Spanish governor at New Orleans as obliging as
+Captain Devilie had been. He got an order for the ammunition without
+trouble, and had nothing before him but to go back up-stream again. But
+that was not so easy to do. The river ran so swiftly that he soon found
+it would be no light matter to row his canoe up against the strong
+current. There was also the English fort at Natchez to pass, which might
+be very dangerous when going slowly up-stream. So he concluded to let
+the boat go and travel by land through the forest. This also was a hard
+task in a land of dense cane-brakes and matted woodland, and the small
+party had a toilsome time of it in pushing through the woods. At length,
+however, the Spanish fort on the Ozark was reached, and the men of the
+expedition were reunited. Bidding farewell to Captain Devilie, they took
+to their boats again and rowed up-stream past the mouth of the Ohio
+until Fort St. Louis was reached. The colonel was received here with the
+same courtesy as below, and on presenting his order was given the
+ammunition without question. It was carefully stowed in the boats,
+good-by was said to the officer who had hospitably entertained them, the
+oars were brought into play again, and the expedition started homeward.
+
+So far all had gone well. The journey had been slow and weeks had
+lengthened into months, but no misadventure had happened, and their
+hearts were full of hope as the deeply laden craft were rowed into the
+Ohio and began the toilsome ascent of that stream. It was now the month
+of October. There was an autumn snap in the air, but this only fitted
+them the better for their work, and all around them was beautiful as
+they moved onward with song and jest, joyful in the hope of soon
+reaching their homes again. They did not know the fate that awaited them
+in those dark Ohio woodlands.
+
+The boats made their way upward to a point in the river near where the
+city of Cincinnati was to be founded a few years later. As they passed
+this locality they saw a small party of Indians in a canoe crossing the
+river not far ahead of them. These were the first of the Ohio Indians
+they had seen, and the sight of them roused the frontier blood of the
+hardy boatmen. Too many cabins on the border had been burned and their
+inmates mercilessly slain for a frontiersman to see an Indian without a
+burning inclination to kill him. The colonel was in the same spirit with
+his men, and the boats were at once turned towards shore in pursuit of
+the savages. At the point they had reached the Licking River empties
+into the Ohio. Rowing into its mouth the men landed and, led by the
+colonel, climbed up the bank to look for the foe.
+
+They found far more than they had counted on. The canoe-load of savages
+was but a decoy to lure them ashore, and as they ascended the river-bank
+a hot fire was opened on them by a large body of Indians hidden in the
+undergrowth. A trap had been laid for them and they had fallen into it.
+
+The sudden and deadly volley threw the party into confusion, though
+after a minute they returned the fire and rushed upon the ambushed foe,
+Colonel Rogers at their head. Following him with cheers and yells, the
+men were soon engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand conflict, the sound of
+blows, shots, and war-cries filling the air, as the whites and red men
+fought obstinately for victory. But the Indians far outnumbered their
+opponents, and when at length the brave Rogers was seen to stagger and
+fall all hope left his followers. It was impossible to regain the boats
+which they had imprudently left, and they broke and fled into the
+forest, pursued by their savage foes.
+
+Many days later the survivors of the bloody contest, thirteen in all,
+came straggling wearily into a white settlement on the Kanawha River in
+Virginia. Of the remainder of their party and their gallant leader
+nothing was ever heard again. One of the men reported that he had stayed
+with the wounded colonel during the night after the battle, where he
+"remained in the woods, in extreme pain and utterly past recovery." In
+the morning he was obliged to leave him to save his own life, and that
+was the last known on earth of Colonel Rogers.
+
+As for the ammunition for which he had been sent, and which he had been
+decoyed by an Indian trick into abandoning, it fell into the hands of
+the savages, and was probably used in the later war in the service of
+those against whom it was intended to be employed. Such is the fortune
+of war.
+
+
+
+
+_HOW COLONEL CLARK WON THE NORTHWEST._
+
+
+On the evening of the 4th of July, 1778, a merry dance was taking place
+at the small settlement of Kaskaskia, in that far western region
+afterward known as Illinois. It must not be imagined that this was a
+celebration of the American Independence day, for the people of
+Kaskaskia knew little and cared less about American independence. It was
+only by chance that this day was chosen for the dance, but it had its
+significance for all that, for the first step was to be taken there that
+day in adding the great Northwest to the United States. The man by whom
+this was to be done was a brave Kentuckian named George Rogers Clark. He
+came of a daring family, for he was a brother of Captain William Clark,
+who, years afterward, was engaged with Captain Lewis in the famous Lewis
+and Clark expedition across the vast unknown wilderness between the
+Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean.
+
+Kaskaskia was one of the settlements made by the French between the
+Great Lakes and the Mississippi. After the loss of Canada this country
+passed to England, and there were English garrisons placed in some of
+the forts. But Kaskaskia was thought so far away and so safe that it was
+left in charge of a French officer and French soldiers. A gay and
+light-hearted people they were, as the French are apt to be; and, as
+they found time hang heavy on their hands at that frontier stronghold,
+they had invited the people of the place, on the evening in question, to
+a ball at the fort.
+
+All this is by way of introduction; now let us see what took place at
+the fort on that pleasant summer night. All the girls of the village
+were there and many of the men, and most of the soldiers were on the
+floor as well. They were dancing away at a jovial rate to the lively
+music of a fiddle, played by a man who sat on a chair at the side. Near
+him on the floor lay an Indian, looking on with lazy eyes at the
+dancers. The room was lighted by torches thrust into the cracks of the
+wall, and the whole party were in the best of spirits.
+
+The Indian was not the only looker-on. In the midst of the fun a tall
+young man stepped into the room and stood leaning against the side of
+the door, with his eyes fixed on the dancers. He was dressed in the garb
+of the backwoods, but it was easy to be seen that he was not a
+Frenchman,--if any of the gay throng had taken the trouble to look at
+him.
+
+All at once there was a startling interruption. The Indian sprang to his
+feet and his shrill war-whoop rang loudly through the room. His keen
+eyes had rested on the stranger and seen at a glance that there was
+something wrong. The new-comer was evidently an American, and that
+meant something there.
+
+His yell of alarm broke up the dance in an instant. The women, who had
+just been laughing and talking, screamed with fright. All, men and women
+alike, huddled together in alarm. Some of the men ran for their guns,
+but the stranger did not move. From his place by the door he simply
+said, in a quiet way, "Don't be scared. Go on with your dance. But
+remember that you are dancing under Virginia and not under England."
+
+[Illustration: VIEW IN THE NORTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS.]
+
+As he was speaking, a crowd of men dressed like himself slipped into the
+room. They were all armed, and in a minute they spread through the fort,
+laying hands on the guns of the soldiers. The fort had been taken
+without a blow or a shot.
+
+Rocheblave, the French commandant, was in bed while these events were
+taking place, not dreaming that an American was within five hundred
+miles. He learned better when the new-comers took him prisoner and began
+to search for his papers. The reason they did not find many of these was
+on account of their American respect for ladies. The papers were in
+Madame Rocheblave's room, which the Americans were too polite to enter,
+not knowing that she was shoving them as fast as she could into the
+fire, so that there was soon only a heap of ashes. A few were found
+outside, enough to show what the Americans wanted to make sure of,--that
+the English were doing their best to stir up the Indians against the
+settlers. To end this part of our story, we may say that the Americans
+got possession of Kaskaskia and its fort, and Rocheblave was sent off,
+with his papers, to Virginia. Probably his wide-awake wife went with
+him.
+
+Now let us go back a bit and see how all this came to pass. Colonel
+Clark was a native of Virginia, but he had gone to Kentucky in his early
+manhood, being very fond of life in the woods. Here he became a friend
+of Daniel Boone, and no doubt often joined him in hunting excursions;
+but his business was that of a surveyor, at which he found plenty to do
+in this new country.
+
+Meanwhile, the war for independence came on, and as it proceeded Clark
+saw plainly that the English at the forts in the West were stirring up
+the Indians to attack the American settlements and kill the settlers. It
+is believed that they paid them for this dreadful work and supplied them
+with arms and ammunition. All this Clark was sure of and he determined
+to try and stop it. So he made his way back to the East and had a talk
+with Patrick Henry, who was then governor of Virginia. He asked the
+governor to let him have a force to attack the English forts in the
+West. He thought he could capture them, and in this way put an end to
+the Indian raids.
+
+Patrick Henry was highly pleased with Clark's plan. He gave him orders
+to "proceed to the defence of Kentucky," which was done to keep his real
+purpose a secret. He was also supplied with a large sum of money and
+told to enlist four companies of men, of whom he was to be the colonel.
+These he recruited among the hunters and pioneers of the frontier, who
+were the kind of men he wanted, and in the spring of 1778 he set out on
+his daring expedition.
+
+With a force of about one hundred and fifty men Colonel Clark floated
+down the Ohio River in boats, landing at length about fifty miles above
+the river's mouth and setting off through the woods towards Kaskaskia.
+It was a difficult journey, and they had many hardships. Their food ran
+out on the way and they had to live on roots to keep from starvation.
+But at length one night they came near enough to hear the fiddle and the
+dancing. How they stopped the dance you have read.
+
+Thus ends the first part of our story. It was easy enough to end, as has
+been seen. But there was a second part which was not so easy. You must
+know that the British had other strongholds in that country. One of them
+was Detroit, on the Detroit River, near Lake Erie. This was their
+starting-point. Far to the south, on the Wabash River, in what is now
+the State of Indiana, was another fort called Vincennes, which lay about
+one hundred and fifty miles to the east of Fort Kaskaskia. This was an
+old French fort also, and it was held by the French for the British as
+Kaskaskia had been. Colonel Clark wanted this fort too, and got it
+without much trouble. He had not men enough to take it by force, so he
+sent a French priest there, who told the people that their best friends
+were the Americans, not the British. It was not hard to make them
+believe this, for the French people had never liked the British. So they
+hauled down the British ensign and hauled up the Stars and Stripes, and
+Vincennes became an American fort.
+
+After that Colonel Clark went back to Kentucky, proud to think that he
+had won the great Northwest Territory for the United States with so
+little trouble. But he might have known that the British would not let
+themselves be driven out of the country in this easy manner, and before
+the winter was over he heard news that was not much to his liking.
+Colonel Hamilton, the English commander at Detroit, had marched down to
+Vincennes and taken the fort back again. It was also said that he
+intended to capture Kaskaskia, and then march south and try and win
+Kentucky for the English. This Hamilton was the man who was said to have
+hired the Indians to murder the American settlers, and Clark was much
+disturbed by the news. He must be quick to act, or all that he had won
+would be lost.
+
+He had a terrible task before him. The winter was near its end and the
+Wabash had risen and overflowed its banks on all sides. For hundreds of
+square miles the country was under water, and Vincennes was in the
+centre of a great shallow lake. It was freezing water, too, for this was
+no longer the warm spring time, as it had been in the march to
+Kaskaskia, but dull and drear February. Yet the brave colonel knew that
+he must act quickly if he was to act at all. Hamilton had only eighty
+men; he could raise twice that many. He had no money to pay them, but a
+merchant in St. Louis offered to lend him all he needed. There was the
+water to cross, but the hardy Kentucky hunters were used to wet and
+cold. So Colonel Clark hastily collected his men and set out for
+Vincennes.
+
+A sturdy set of men they were who followed him, dressed in
+hunting-shirts and carrying their long and tried rifles. On their heads
+were fur caps, ornamented with deer or raccoon tails. They believed in
+Colonel Clark, and that is a great deal in warlike affairs. As they
+trudged onward there came days of cold, hard rain, so that every night
+they had to build great fires to warm themselves and dry their clothes.
+Thus they went on, day after day, through the woods and prairies,
+carrying their packs of provisions and supplies on their backs, and
+shooting game to add to their food supply.
+
+This was holiday work to what lay before them. After a week of this kind
+of travel they came to a new kind. The "drowned lands" of the Wabash lay
+before them. Everywhere nothing but water was to be seen. The winter
+rains had so flooded the streams that a great part of the country was
+overflowed. And there was no way to reach the fort except by crossing
+those waters, for they spread round it on all sides. They must plunge in
+and wade through or give up and go back.
+
+We may be sure that there were faint hearts among them when they felt
+the cold water and knew that there were miles of it to cross, here
+ankle- or knee-deep, there waist-deep. But they had known this when they
+started, and they were not the men to turn back. At Colonel Clark's
+cheery word of command they plunged in and began their long and
+shivering journey.
+
+For nearly a week this terrible journey went on. It was a frightful
+experience. Now and then one of them would stumble and fall, and come up
+dripping. All day long they tramped dismally on through that endless
+waste of icy water. Here and there were islands of dry land over which
+they were glad enough to trudge, but at night they often had trouble to
+find a dry spot to build their fires and cook their food, and to sleep
+on beside the welcome blaze. It was hard enough to find game in that
+dreary waste, and their food ran out, so that for two whole days they
+had to go hungry. Thus they went on till they came to the point where
+White River runs into the Wabash.
+
+Here they found some friends who had come by a much easier way. On
+setting out Colonel Clark had sent Captain Rogers and forty men, with
+two small cannon, in a boat up Wabash River, telling them to stop at the
+White River fork, about fifteen or twenty miles below Vincennes. Here
+their trudging friends found them, and from this point they resumed
+their march in company. It was easy enough now to transport the cannon
+by dragging or rowing the boat through the deep water which they had to
+traverse.
+
+The worst of their difficult journey lay before them, for surrounding
+the fort was a sheet of water four miles wide which was deeper than any
+they had yet gone through. They had waded to their knees, and at times
+to their waists, but now they might have to wade to their necks. Some of
+them thrust their hands into the water and shivered at the touch, saying
+that it was freezing cold. There were men among them who held back,
+exclaiming that it was folly to think of crossing that icy lake.
+
+"We have not come so far to turn back now," said Colonel Clark, sternly.
+"Yonder lies the fort, and a few hours will take us there. Follow me,"
+and he walked boldly into the flood. As he did so he told one of his
+officers to shoot the first man who refused to follow. That settled the
+matter; they all plunged in.
+
+It was the most frightful part of their journey. The water at places, as
+we have said, came at times almost to their necks. Much of it reached
+their waists. They struggled resolutely on, almost benumbed with the
+cold, now stumbling and catching themselves again, holding their guns
+and powder above their heads to keep them from becoming wet, and glad
+enough when they found the water growing shallower. At length dry land
+was reached once more, and none too soon, for some of the men were so
+faint and weak that they fell flat on the ground. Colonel Clark set two
+of his men to pick up these worn-out ones and run them up and down till
+they were warm again. In this way they were soon made all right.
+
+It was now the evening of the 18th of February, 1779. They were near
+enough to the fort to hear the boom of the evening gun. This satisfied
+the colonel that they were at the end of their journey, and he bade his
+men to lie down and sleep and get ready for the work before them. There
+was no more wading to do, but there was likely to be some fighting.
+
+Bright and early the next morning they were up and had got their arms
+and equipments in order. They were on the wrong side of the river, but a
+large boat was found, in which they crossed. Vincennes was now near at
+hand, and one of its people soon appeared, a Frenchman, who looked at
+them with as much astonishment as if they had dropped down from the sky.
+Colonel Clark questioned him about matters in the fort, and then gave
+him a letter to Colonel Hamilton, telling the colonel that they had come
+across the water to take back the fort, and that he had better surrender
+and save trouble.
+
+We may be sure that the English colonel was astounded on receiving such
+a letter at such a time. That any men on earth could have crossed those
+wintry waters he could hardly believe, and it seemed to him that they
+must have come on wings. But there they were, asking him to give up the
+fort, a thing he had no notion of doing without a fight. If Colonel
+Clark wanted the fort he must come and take it.
+
+Colonel Clark did want it. He wanted it badly. And it was not long
+before the two cannon which he had brought with him were loaded and
+pouring their shot into the fort, while the riflemen kept them company
+with their guns. Colonel Hamilton fired back with grape-shot and
+cannon-balls, and for hour after hour the siege went on, the roar of
+cannon echoing back from woodland and water. For fourteen hours the
+cannonade was kept up, all day long and far into the night, the red
+flashes from cannon and rifle lighting up all around. At length both
+sides were worn out, and they lay down to sleep, expecting to begin
+again with the morning light.
+
+But that day's work, and the sure shooting of the Kentucky riflemen, had
+made such havoc in the fort as to teach Colonel Hamilton that the bold
+Kentuckians were too much for him. So when, at day dawn, another
+messenger came with a summons to surrender, he accepted as gracefully as
+he could. He asked to be given the honors of war, and to be allowed to
+march back to Detroit, but Colonel Clark wrathfully answered, "To that I
+can by no means agree. I will not again leave it in your power to spirit
+up the Indian nations to scalp men, women, and children."
+
+Soon into the fort marched the victors, with shouts of triumph, their
+long rifles slanting over their shoulders. And soon the red cross flag
+of England came down and the star-spangled banner of America waved in
+its place. Hamilton and his men were prisoners in American hands.
+
+There was proof enough that this English colonel had been busy in
+stirring the Indians up to their dreadful work. His papers showed that.
+And even while the fight was going on some of the red demons came up
+with the scalps of white men and women to receive their pay. The pay
+they got was in bullets when they fell into the hands of the incensed
+Kentuckians. Colonel Hamilton and his officers were sent as prisoners to
+Williamsburg, Virginia, and were there put in fetters for their
+murderous conduct. It would have served them right to hang them, but the
+laws of war forbade, and they were soon set free.
+
+We have told this story that you may see what brave men Virginia and
+Kentucky bred in the old times. In all American history there is no
+exploit to surpass that of Colonel Clark and his men. And it led to
+something of the greatest importance to the republic of the United
+States, as you shall hear.
+
+It was not long after that time that the war ended and the freedom of
+the colonies was gained. When the treaty of peace was made the question
+arose, "What territory should belong to the new republic and what should
+still be held by England?" It was finally decided that the land which
+each country held at the end of the war should be held still. In that
+way England held Canada. And it would have held the great country north
+of the Ohio, too, if it had not been for George Rogers Clark. His
+capture of Kaskaskia and his splendid two weeks' march through the
+"drowned lands" of the Wabash had won that country for the United
+States, and when the treaty was signed all this fine country became part
+of the territory of the United States. So it is to George Rogers Clark,
+the Virginian and Kentuckian, that this country owes the region which in
+time was divided up into the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
+and Michigan, and perhaps Kentucky also, since only for him the British
+might have taken the new-settled land of Daniel Boone.
+
+
+
+
+_KING'S MOUNTAIN AND THE PATRIOTS OF TENNESSEE._
+
+
+Never was the South in so desperate a plight as in the autumn months of
+that year of peril, 1780. The British had made themselves masters of
+Georgia, and South Carolina and North Carolina were strongly threatened.
+The boastful Gates had been defeated at Camden so utterly that he ran
+away from his army faster than it did from the British, and in three
+days and a half afterward he rode alone into Hillsborough, North
+Carolina, two hundred miles away. Sumter was defeated as badly and rode
+as fast to Charlotte, without hat or saddle. Marion's small band was
+nearly the only American force left in South Carolina.
+
+Cornwallis, the British commander, was in an ecstasy of delight at his
+success. He felt sure that all the South was won. The harvest was ready
+and needed only to be reaped. He laid his plans to march north, winning
+victory after victory, till all America south of Delaware should be
+conquered for the British crown. Then, if the North became free, the
+South would still be under the rule of George the Third. There was only
+one serious mistake in his calculations: he did not build upon the
+spirit of the South.
+
+Cornwallis began by trying to crush out that spirit, and soon brought
+about a reign of terror in South Carolina. He ordered that all who would
+not take up arms for the king should be seized and their property
+destroyed. Every man who had borne arms for the British and afterward
+joined the Americans was to be hanged as soon as taken. Houses were
+burned, estates ravaged, men put to death, women and children driven
+from their homes with no fit clothing, thousands confined in prisons and
+prison-ships in which malignant fevers raged, the whole State rent and
+torn by a most cruel and merciless persecution. Such was the Lord
+Cornwallis ideal of war.
+
+Near the middle of September Cornwallis began his march northward, which
+was not to end till the whole South lay prostrate under his hand. It was
+his aim to fill his ranks with the loyalists of North Carolina and sweep
+all before him. Major Patrick Ferguson, his ablest partisan leader, was
+sent with two hundred of the best British troops to the South Carolina
+uplands, and here he gathered in such Tories as he could find, and with
+them a horde of wretches who cared only for the side that gave them the
+best chance to plunder and ravage. The Cherokee Indians were also bribed
+to attack the American settlers west of the mountains.
+
+But while Cornwallis was thus making his march of triumph, the American
+patriots were not at rest. Marion was flying about, like a wasp with a
+very sharp sting. Sumter was back again, cutting off strays and
+foragers. Other parties of patriots were afoot and active. And in the
+new settlements west of the Alleghanies the hardy backwoodsmen, who had
+been far out of the reach of war and its terrors, were growing eager to
+strike a blow for the country which they loved.
+
+Such was the state of affairs in the middle South in the month of
+September, 1780. And it leads us to a tale of triumph in which the
+Western woodsmen struck their blow for freedom, teaching the
+over-confident Cornwallis a lesson he sadly needed. It is the tale of
+how Ferguson, the Tory leader, met his fate at the hands of the
+mountaineers and hunters of Tennessee and the neighboring regions.
+
+After leaving Cornwallis, Ferguson met with a small party of North
+Carolina militia under Colonel Macdowell, whom he defeated and pursued
+so sharply as to drive them into the mountain wilds. Here their only
+hope of safety lay in crossing the crags and ridges to the great forest
+land beyond. They found a refuge at last among the bold frontiersmen of
+the Watauga in Tennessee, many of whom were the Regulators of North
+Carolina, the refugees from Governor Tryon's tyranny.
+
+The arrival of these fugitives stirred up the woodsmen as they had never
+been stirred before. It brought the evils of the war for the first time
+to their doors. These poor fugitives had been driven from their homes
+and robbed of their all, as the Regulators had been in former years. Was
+it not the duty of the freemen of Tennessee to restore them and strike
+one blow for the liberty of their native land?
+
+The bold Westerners thought so, and lost no time in putting their
+thoughts into effect. Men were quickly enlisted and regiments formed
+under Isaac Shelby and John Sevier, two of their leaders. An express was
+sent to William Campbell, who had under him four hundred of the
+backwoodsmen of Southwest Virginia, asking him to join their ranks. On
+the 25th of September these three regiments of riflemen, with Macdowell
+and his fugitives, met on the Watauga, each man on his own horse, armed
+with his own rifle, and carrying his own provisions, and each bent on
+dealing a telling blow for the relief of their brethren in the East.
+
+True patriots were they, risking their all for their duty to their
+native land. Their families were left in secluded valleys, often at long
+distances apart, exposed to danger alike from the Tories and the
+Indians. Before them lay the highest peaks of the Alleghanies, to be
+traversed only by way of lofty and difficult passes. No highway existed;
+there was not even a bridle-path through the dense forest; and for forty
+miles between the Watauga and the Catawba there was not a single house
+or a cultivated acre. On the evening of the 30th the Westerners were
+reinforced by Colonel Cleveland, with three hundred and fifty men from
+North Carolina who had been notified by them of their approach.
+
+Their foe was before them. After Ferguson had pursued Macdowell to the
+foot of the mountains he shaped his course for King's Mountain, a
+natural stronghold, where he established his camp in what seemed a
+secure position and sent to Cornwallis for a few hundred more men,
+saying that these "would finish the business. This is their last push in
+this quarter." Cornwallis at once despatched Tarleton with a
+considerable reinforcement. He was destined to be too late.
+
+Ferguson did not know all the peril that threatened him. On the east
+Colonel James Williams was pursuing him up the Catawba with over four
+hundred horsemen. A vigilant leader, he kept his scouts out on every
+side, and on October 2 one of these brought him the most welcome of
+news. The backwoodsmen were up, said the scout; half of the people
+beyond the mountains were under arms and on the march. A few days later
+they met him, thirteen hundred strong.
+
+Not a day, not an hour, was lost. Williams told them where their foes
+were encamped, and they resolved to march against them that very night
+and seek to take them by surprise. It was the evening of October 6 when
+the two forces joined. So prompt were they to act that at eight o' clock
+that same evening nine hundred of their best horsemen had been selected
+and were on the march. All night they rode, with the moon to light them
+on their way. The next day they rode still onward, and in the afternoon
+reached the foot of King's Mountain, on whose summit Ferguson lay
+encamped.
+
+This mountain lies just south of the North Carolina border, at the end
+of a branching ridge from, the main line of the Alleghanies. The British
+were posted on its summit, over eleven hundred in number, a thousand of
+them being Tories, the others British regulars. They felt thoroughly
+secure in their elevated fortress, the approach up the mountain-side
+being almost a precipice, the slaty rock cropping out into natural
+breastworks along its sides and on its heights. And, so far as they
+knew, no foe was within many miles.
+
+The Americans dismounted; that craggy hill was impassable to horsemen.
+Though less in number than their foes, and with a steep mountain to
+climb, they did not hesitate. The gallant nine hundred were formed into
+four columns, Campbell's regiment on the right centre and Shelby's on
+the left, taking the post of greatest peril. Sevier, with a part of
+Cleveland's men, led the right wing, and Williams, with the remainder of
+Cleveland's men, the left, their orders being to pass the position of
+Ferguson to right and left and climb the ridge in his rear, while the
+centre columns attacked him in front.
+
+So well was the surprise managed that the Westerners were within a
+quarter of a mile of the enemy before they were discovered. Climbing
+steadily upon their front, the two centre columns quickly began the
+attack. Shelby, a hardy, resolute man, "stiff as iron," brave among the
+bravest, led the way straight onward and upward, with but one thought in
+his mind,--to do that for which he had come. Facing Campbell were the
+British regulars, who sprang to their arms and charged his men with
+fixed bayonets, forcing the riflemen, who had no bayonets, to recoil.
+But they were soon rallied by their gallant leader, and returned eagerly
+to the attack.
+
+For ten or fifteen minutes a fierce and bloody battle was kept up at
+this point, the sharp-shooting woodsmen making havoc in the ranks of the
+foe. Then the right and left wings of the Americans closed in on the
+flank and rear of the British and encircled them with a hot fire. For
+nearly an hour the battle continued, with a heavy fire on both sides. At
+length the right wing gained the summit of the cliff and poured such a
+deadly fire on the foe from their point of vantage that it was
+impossible to bear it.
+
+Ferguson had been killed, and his men began to retreat along the top of
+the ridge, but here they found themselves in the face of the American
+left wing, and their leader, seeing that escape was impossible and
+resistance hopeless, displayed a white flag. At once the firing ceased,
+the enemy throwing down their arms and surrendering themselves prisoners
+of war. More than a third of the British force lay dead, or badly
+wounded; the remainder were prisoners; not more than twenty of the whole
+were missing. The total loss of the Americans was twenty-eight killed
+and sixty wounded, Colonel Williams, a man of great valor and
+discretion, being among the killed.
+
+The battle ended, a thirst for vengeance arose. Among the Tory
+prisoners were known house--burners and murderers. Among the victors
+were men who had seen their cruel work, had beheld women and children,
+homeless and hopeless, robbed and wronged, nestling about fires kindled
+in the ground, where they mourned their slain fathers and husbands.
+Under such circumstances it is not strange that they seized and hanged
+nine or ten of the captives, desisting only when Campbell gave orders
+that this work should cease, and threatened with severe punishment all
+who engaged in it.
+
+The victory of the men of the backwoods at King's Mountain was like the
+former one of Washington at Trenton. It inspired with hope the
+despairing people and changed the whole aspect of the war. It filled the
+Tories of North Carolina with such wholesome dread that they no longer
+dared to join the foe or molest their patriot neighbors. The patriots of
+both the Carolinas were stirred to new zeal. The broken and dispirited
+fragments of Gates's army took courage again and once more came together
+and organized, soon afterward coming under the skilled command of
+General Greene.
+
+Tarleton had reached the forks of the Catawba when news of Ferguson's
+signal defeat reached him and caused him to return in all haste to join
+Cornwallis. The latter, utterly surprised to find an enemy falling on
+his flank from the far wilderness beyond the mountains, whence he had
+not dreamed of a foe, halted in alarm. He dared not leave an enemy like
+this in his rear, and found himself obliged to retreat, giving up his
+grand plan of sweeping the two Carolinas and Virginia into his
+victorious net. Such was the work done by the valiant men of the
+Watauga. They saved the South from loss until Morgan and Greene could
+come to finish the work they had so well begun.
+
+
+
+
+_GENERAL GREENE'S FAMOUS RETREAT._
+
+
+The rain was pouring pitilessly from the skies. The wind blew chill from
+the north. The country was soaked with the falling flood, dark
+rain-clouds swept across the heavens, and a dreary mist shut out all the
+distant view. In the midst of this cheerless scene a solitary horseman
+stood on a lonely roadside, with his military cape drawn closely up, and
+his horse's head drooping as if the poor beast was utterly weary of the
+situation. In truth, they had kept watch and ward there for hours, and
+night was near at hand, the weary watcher still looking southward with
+an anxiety that seemed fast growing into hopeless despondency.
+
+At times, as he waited, a faint, far-off, booming sound was heard, which
+caused the lonely cavalier to lift his head and listen intently. It
+might have been the sound of cannon, it might have been distant thunder,
+but whatever it was, his anxiety seemed steadily to increase.
+
+The day darkened into night, and hour by hour night crept on until
+midnight came and passed, yet the lone watcher waited still, his horse
+beside him, the gloom around him, the rain still plashing on the sodden
+road. It was a wearing vigil, and only a critical need could have kept
+him there through those slow and dreary hours of gloom.
+
+At length he sharply lifted his head and listened more intently than
+before. It was not the dull and distant boom this time, but a nearer
+sound that grew momentarily more distinct, the thud, it seemed, of a
+horse's hoofs. In a few minutes more a horseman rode into the narrow
+circle of view.
+
+"Is that you, sergeant?" asked the watcher.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the other, with an instinctive military salute.
+
+"What news? I have been waiting here for hours for the militia, and not
+a man has come. I trust there is nothing wrong."
+
+"Everything is wrong," answered the new-comer. "Davidson is dead and the
+militia are scattered to the winds. Cornwallis is over the Catawba and
+is in camp five miles this side of the river."
+
+"You bring bad news," said the listener, with a look of agitation.
+"Davidson dead and his men dispersed! That is bad enough. And Morgan?"
+
+"I know nothing about him."
+
+Sad of heart, the questioner mounted his impatient steed and rode
+disconsolately away along the muddy road. He was no less a person than
+General Greene, the newly-appointed commander of the American forces in
+the South, and the tidings he had just heard had disarranged all his
+plans. With the militia on whose aid he had depended scattered in
+flight, and no sign of others coming, his hope of facing Cornwallis in
+the field was gone, and he was a heavy-hearted man when he rode at
+length into the North Carolina town of Salisbury and dismounted at the
+door of Steele's tavern, the house of entertainment in that place. As he
+entered the reception-room of the hotel, stiff and weary from his long
+vigil, he was met by Dr. Read, a friend.
+
+"What! alone, General?" exclaimed Read.
+
+"Yes; tired, hungry, alone, and penniless."
+
+The fate of the patriot cause in the South seemed to lie in those
+hopeless words. Mrs. Steele, the landlady, heard them, and made all
+haste to prepare a bountiful supper for her late guest, who sat seeking
+to dry himself before the blazing fire. As quickly as possible a smoking
+hot supper was on the table before him, and as he sat enjoying it with a
+craving appetite, Mrs. Steele again entered the room.
+
+Closing the door carefully behind her, she advanced with a look of
+sympathy on her face, and drew her hands from under her apron, each of
+them holding a small bag of silver coin.
+
+"Take these, general," she said. "You need them, and I can do without
+them."
+
+A look of hope beamed on Greene's face as he heard these words. With a
+spirit like this in the women of the country, he felt that no man should
+despair. Rising with a sudden impulse, he walked to where a portrait of
+George III. hung over the fireplace, remaining from the old ante-war
+time. He turned the face of this to the wall and wrote these words on
+the back: "Hide thy face, George, and blush."
+
+It is said that this portrait was still hanging in the same place not
+many years ago, with Greene's writing yet legible upon it, and possibly
+it may be there still. As for Mrs. Steele, she had proved herself a
+patriot woman, of the type of Mrs. Motte, who furnished Marion with
+arrows for the burning of her own house when it was occupied by a party
+of British soldiers whom he could not dislodge. And they two were far
+from alone in the list of patriot women in the South.
+
+The incident in General Greene's career above given has become famous.
+And connected with it is the skilful military movement by which he
+restored the American cause in the South, which had been nearly lost by
+the disastrous defeat of General Gates. This celebrated example of
+strategy has often been described, but is worth telling again.
+
+Lord Cornwallis, the most active of the British commanders in the war of
+American Independence, had brought South Carolina and Georgia under his
+control, and was marching north with the expectation of soon bringing
+North Carolina into subjection, and following up his success with the
+conquest of Virginia. This accomplished, he would have the whole South
+subdued. But in some respects he reckoned without his host. He had now
+such men as Greene and Morgan in his front, Marion and Sumter in his
+rear, and his task was not likely to prove an easy one.
+
+As for Morgan, he sent the rough-rider Tarleton to deal with him,
+fancying that the noted rifleman, who had won undying fame in the
+North, would now meet fate in the face, and perhaps be captured, with
+all his men. But Morgan had a word to say about that, as was proved on
+the 17th of January, 1781, when he met Tarleton at the Cowpens, a place
+about five miles south of the North Carolina line.
+
+Tarleton had the strongest and best appointed force, and Morgan, many of
+whose men were untried militia, seemed in imminent danger, especially
+when the men of the Maryland line began to retreat, and the British,
+thinking the day their own, pressed upon them with exultant shouts. But
+to their surprise the bold Marylanders suddenly halted, turned, and
+greeted their pursuers with a destructive volley. At the same time the
+Virginia riflemen, who had been posted on the wings, closed in on both
+flanks of the British and poured a shower of bullets into their ranks.
+The British were stunned by this abrupt change in the situation, and
+when the Maryland line charged upon them with levelled bayonets they
+broke and fled in dismay.
+
+Colonel Washington commanded the small cavalry force, so far held in
+reserve and unseen. This compact body of troopers now charged on the
+British cavalry, more than three times their numbers, and quickly put
+them to flight. Tarleton himself made a narrow escape, for he received a
+wound from Washington's sword in the hot pursuit. So utter was the rout
+of the British that they were pursued for twenty miles, and lost more
+than three hundred of their number in killed and wounded and six
+hundred in prisoners, with many horses, wagons, muskets, and cannon.
+Tarleton's abundant baggage was burned by his own order to save it from
+capture. In this signal victory Morgan lost only ten men killed and
+sixty wounded.
+
+And now began that famous retreat, which was of more advantage to the
+Americans than a victory. Morgan, knowing well that Cornwallis would
+soon be after him to retrieve the disaster at the Cowpens, hastened with
+his prisoners and spoils across the Catawba. Cornwallis, furious at his
+defeat and eager to move rapidly in pursuit, set fire to all his baggage
+and wagons except those absolutely needed, thus turning his army into
+light troops at the expense of the greater part of its food-supply and
+munitions.
+
+But when he reached the Catawba, he found it so swollen with the rains
+that he was forced to halt on its banks while Morgan continued his
+march. Meanwhile, General Greene was making earnest efforts to collect a
+force of militia, directing all those who came in to meet at a certain
+point. Such was the situation on the 1st of February when Greene waited
+for weary hours at the place fixed upon for the militia to assemble,
+only to learn that Cornwallis had forced the passage of the river,
+dispersing the North Carolina militia left to guard the ford, and
+killing General Davidson, their commander. He had certainly abundant
+reason for depression on that wet and dreary night when he rode alone
+into Salisbury.
+
+The Catawba crossed, the next stream of importance was the Yadkin.
+Hither Morgan marched in all haste, crossing the stream on the 2d and 3d
+of February, and at once securing all boats. The rains began to fall
+again before his men were fairly over, and soon the stream was swelling
+with the mountain floods. When Cornwallis reached its banks it was
+swollen high and running madly, and it was the 7th of February before he
+was able to cross. It seemed, indeed, as if Providence had come to the
+aid of the Americans, lowering the rains for them and raising them for
+their foes.
+
+Meanwhile, the two divisions of the American army were marching on
+converging lines, and on the 9th the forces under Greene and Morgan made
+a junction at Guilford Court-House, Cornwallis being then at Salem,
+twenty-five miles distant. A battle was fought at this place a month
+later, but just then the force under Greene's command was too small to
+risk a fight. A defeat at that time might have proved fatal to the cause
+of the South. Nothing remained but to continue the retreat across the
+State to the border of Virginia, and there put the Dan River between him
+and his foe.
+
+To cover the route of his retreat from the enemy, Greene detached
+General Williams with the flower of his troops to act as a light corps,
+watch and impede Cornwallis and strive to lead him towards Dix's ferry
+on the Dan, while the crossing would be made twenty miles lower down.
+
+It was a terrible march which the poor patriots made during the next
+four days. Without tents, with thin and ragged clothes, most of them
+without shoes, "many hundreds of the soldiers tracking the ground with
+their bloody feet," they retreated at the rate of seventeen miles a day
+along barely passable roads, the wagon-wheels sinking deep in the mud,
+and every creek swollen with the rains. In these four days of anxiety
+Greene slept barely four hours, watching every detail with a vigilant
+eye, which nothing escaped. On the 14th they reached the ford, hurrying
+the wagons across and then the troops, and before nightfall Greene was
+able to write that "all his troops were over and the stage was clear."
+
+General Williams had aided him ably in this critical march, keeping just
+beyond reach of Cornwallis, and deceiving him for a day or two as to the
+intention of the Americans. When the British general discovered how he
+had been deceived, he got rid of more of his baggage by the easy method
+of fire, and chased Williams across the State at the speed of thirty
+miles a day. But the alert Americans marched forty miles a day and
+reached the fords of the Dan just as the last of Greene's men had
+crossed. That night the rear guard crossed the stream, and when
+Cornwallis reached its banks, on the morning of the 15th, to his deep
+chagrin he found all the Americans safe on the Virginia side and ready
+to contest the crossing if he should seek to continue the pursuit.
+
+That famous march of two hundred miles, from the south side of the
+Catawba to the north side of the Dan, in which the whole State of North
+Carolina was crossed by the ragged and largely shoeless army, was the
+salvation of the Southern States. In Greene's camp there was only joy
+and congratulation. Little did the soldiers heed their tattered
+garments, their shoeless feet, their lack of blankets and of regular
+food, in their pride at having outwitted the British army and fulfilled
+their duty to their country. With renewed courage they were ready to
+cross the Dan again and attack Cornwallis and his men. Washington wrote
+to General Greene, applauding him highly for his skilful feat, and even
+a British historian gave him great praise and credit for his skill in
+strategy.
+
+Shall we tell in a few words the outcome of this fine feat? Cornwallis
+had been drawn so far from his base of supplies, and had burned so much
+of his war-material, that he found himself in an ugly quandary. On his
+return march Greene became the pursuer, harassing him at every step.
+When Guilford Court-House was reached again Greene felt strong enough to
+fight, and though Cornwallis held the field at the end of the battle he
+was left in such a sorry plight that he was forced to retreat to
+Wilmington and leave South Carolina uncovered. Here it did not take
+Greene long, with the aid of such valiant partisans as Marion, Sumter,
+and Lee, to shut the British up in Charleston and win back the State.
+
+Cornwallis, on the other hand, concluded to try his fortune in
+Virginia, where there seemed to be a fine chance for fighting and
+conquest. But he was not long there before he found himself shut up in
+Yorktown like a rat in a trap, with Washington and his forces in front
+and the French fleet in the rear. His surrender, soon after, not only
+freed the South from its foes, but cured George III. of any further
+desire to put down the rebels in America.
+
+
+
+
+_ELI WHITNEY, THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON-GIN._
+
+
+In the harvest season of the cotton States of the South a vast, fleecy
+snow-fall seems to have come down in the silence of the night and
+covered acres innumerable with its virgin emblem of plenty and
+prosperity. It is the regal fibre which is to set millions of looms in
+busy whirl and to clothe, when duly spun and woven, half the population
+of the earth. That "cotton is king" has long been held as a potent
+political axiom in the United States, yet there was a time when cotton
+was not king, but was an insignificant member of the agricultural
+community. How cotton came to the throne is the subject of our present
+sketch.
+
+In those far-off days when King George of England was trying to force
+the rebellious Americans to buy and drink his tea and pay for his
+stamps, the people of Georgia and South Carolina were first beginning to
+try if they could do something in the way of raising cotton. After the
+war of independence was over, an American merchant in Liverpool received
+from the South a small consignment of eight bags of cotton, holding
+about twelve hundred pounds, the feeble pioneer of the great cotton
+commerce. When it was landed on the wharves in Liverpool, in 1784, the
+custom-house officials of that place looked at it with alarm and
+suspicion. What was this white-faced stranger doing here, claiming to
+come from a land that had never seen a cotton-plant? It must have come
+from somewhere else, and this was only a deep-laid plot to get itself
+landed on English soil without paying an entrance fee.
+
+So the stranger was seized and locked up, and Mr. Rathbone, the
+merchant, had no easy time in proving to the officials that it was
+really a scion of the American soil, and that the ships that brought it
+had the right to do so. But after it was released from confinement there
+was still a difficulty. Nobody would buy it. The manufacturers were
+afraid to handle this new and unknown kind of cotton for fear it would
+not pay to work it up, and at last it had to be sold for a song to get a
+trial. Such was the state of the American industry at the period when
+the great republic was just born. It may be said that the nation and its
+greatest product were born together, like twin children.
+
+[Illustration: COTTON-GIN.]
+
+The new industry grew very slowly, and the planters who were trying to
+raise cotton in their fields felt much like giving it up as something
+that would never pay. In fact, there was a great difficulty in the way
+that gave them no end of trouble, and made the cost of cotton so great
+that there was very little room for profit. For a time it looked as if
+they would have to go back to corn and rice and let cotton go by the
+board.
+
+The trouble lay in the fact that in the midst of each little head of
+cotton fibres, like a young bird in its nest, lay a number of seeds, to
+which the fibres were closely attached. These seeds had to be got out,
+and this was very slow work. It had to be done by hand, and in each
+plantation store-house a group of old negroes might be seen, diligently
+at work in pulling the seeds out from the fibres. Work as hard as they
+could it was not easy to clean more than a pound a day, so that by the
+time the crop was ready for market it had cost so much that the planter
+had to be content with a very small rate of profit. Such was the state
+of the cotton industry as late as 1792, when the total product was one
+hundred and thirty-eight thousand pounds. In 1795 it had jumped to six
+million pounds, and in 1801 to twenty million pounds. This was a
+wonderful change, and it may well be asked how it was brought about.
+This question brings us to our story, which we have next to tell.
+
+In the year 1792 a bright young Yankee came down to Georgia to begin his
+career by teaching in a private family. He was one of the kind who are
+born with a great turn for tinkering. When he was a boy he mended the
+fiddles of all the people round about, and after that took to making
+nails, canes, and hat-pins. He was so handy that the people said there
+was nothing Eli Whitney could not do.
+
+But he seems to have become tired of tinkering, for he went to college
+after he had grown to manhood, and from college he went to Georgia to
+teach. But there he found himself too late, for another teacher had the
+place which he expected to get, so there he was, stranded far from home,
+with nothing to do and with little money in his purse. By good fortune
+he found an excellent friend. Mrs. Greene, the widow of the famous
+General Greene of the Revolution, lived near Savannah, and took quite a
+fancy to the poor young man. She urged him to stay in Georgia and to
+keep up his studies, saying that he could have a home in her house as
+long as he pleased.
+
+This example of Southern hospitality was very grateful to the friendless
+young man, and he accepted the kindly invitation, trying to pay his way
+by teaching Mrs. Greene's children, and at the same time studying law.
+But he was born for an inventor, not a lawyer, and could not keep his
+fingers off of things. Nothing broke down about Mrs. Greene's house that
+he did not soon set working all right again. He fitted up embroidery
+frames for her, and made other things, showing himself so very handy
+that she fancied he could do anything.
+
+One day Mrs. Greene heard some of the neighboring planters complaining
+of the trouble they had in clearing the cotton of its seeds. They could
+manage what was called the long-staple cotton by the use of a rough
+roller machine brought from England, which crushed the seeds, and then
+"bowed" or whipped the dirt out of the lint. But this would not work
+with short-staple cotton, the kind usually grown, and there was nothing
+to do but to pick the hard seeds out by hand, at the rate of a pound a
+day by the fastest workers. The planters said it would be a splendid
+thing if they only had a machine that would do this work. Mrs. Greene
+told them that this might not be so hard to do. "There is a young man at
+my house," she said, "who can make anything;" and to prove it, she
+showed them some of the things he had made. Then she introduced them to
+Eli Whitney, and they asked him if he thought he could make a machine to
+do the work they so badly wanted.
+
+"I don't know about that," he replied. "I know no more about cotton than
+a child knows about the moon."
+
+"You can easily learn all there is to know about it," they urged. "We
+would be glad to show you our fields and our picker-houses and give you
+all the chance you need to study the subject."
+
+Mr. Whitney made other objections. He was interested in his law studies,
+and did not wish to break them off. But a chance to work at machinery
+was too great an attraction for him to withstand, and at length he
+consented to look over the matter and see if he could do anything with
+it.
+
+The young inventor lost no time. This was something much more to his
+liking than poring over the dry books of the law, and he went to work
+with enthusiasm. He went into the fields and studied the growing cotton.
+Then he watched the seed-pickers at their work. Taking specimens of the
+ripe cotton-boll to his room, he studied the seeds as they lay cradled
+in the fibre, and saw how they were fastened to it. To get them out
+there must be some way of dragging them apart, pulling the fibres from
+the seed and keeping them separate.
+
+The inventor studied and thought and dreamed, and in a very short time
+his quick genius saw how the work could be done. And he no sooner saw it
+than he set to work to do it. The idea of the cotton-gin was fully
+formed in his mind before he had lifted his hand towards making one.
+
+It was not easy, in fact. It is often a long road between an inventor's
+first idea and a machine that will do all he wants it to. And he had
+nothing to work with, but had to make his own tools and manufacture his
+own wire, and work upward from the very bottom of things.
+
+In a few months, however, he had a model ready. Mrs. Greene was so
+interested in his work and so proud of his success that she induced him
+to show the model and explain its working to some of her planter
+friends, especially those who had induced him to engage in the work.
+When they saw what he had done, and were convinced of the truth of what
+he told them,--that they could clean more cotton in a day by his machine
+than in many months by the old hand-picking way,--their excitement was
+great, and the report of the wonderful invention spread far and wide.
+
+Shall we say here what this machine was like? The principle was simple
+enough, and from that day to this, though the machine has been greatly
+improved, Whitney's first idea still holds good. It was a saw-gin then,
+and it is a saw-gin still. "Gin," we may say here, is short for
+"engine."
+
+This is the plan. There is a grid, or row of wires, set upright and so
+close together that the seeds will not go through the openings. Behind
+these is a set of circular saws, so placed that their teeth pass through
+the openings between the wires. When the machine is set in motion the
+cotton is put into a hopper, which feeds it to the grid, and the
+revolving saws catch the fibre or lint with their teeth and drag it
+through the wires. The seeds are too large to follow, so the cotton is
+torn loose from them and they slide down and out of the way. As the
+wheel turns round with its teeth full of cotton lint, a revolving brush
+sweeps it away so that the teeth are cleaned and ready to take up more
+lint. A simple principle, you may say, but it took a good head to think
+it out, and to it we owe the famous cotton industry of the South.
+
+But poor Whitney did not get the good from his invention that he
+deserved, for a terrible misfortune happened to him. Many people came to
+see the invention, but he kept the workshop locked, for he did not want
+strangers to see it till he had it finished and his patent granted. The
+end was, that one night some thieves broke into the shop and stole the
+model, and there were some machines made and in operation before the
+poor inventor could make another model and secure his patent.
+
+This is only one of the instances in which an inventor has been robbed
+of the work of his brain, and others have grown rich by it, while he
+has had trouble to make a living. A Mr. Miller, who afterward married
+Mrs. Greene, went into partnership with Whitney, and supplied him with
+funds, and he got out a patent in 1794. But the demand for the machines
+was so great that he could not begin to supply them, and the pirated
+machines, though they were much inferior to his perfected ones, were
+eagerly bought. Then his shop burned with all its contents, and that
+made him a bankrupt.
+
+For years after that Whitney sought to obtain justice. In some of the
+States he was fairly treated and in others he was not, and in 1812
+Congress refused to renew the patent, and the field was thrown open for
+everybody to make the machines. Nearly all he ever got for his invention
+was fifty thousand dollars paid him by the Legislature of South
+Carolina.
+
+In later years Whitney began to make fire-arms for the government, and
+he was so successful in this that he grew rich, while he greatly
+improved the machinery and methods. It was he who first began to make
+each part separately, so it would fit in any gun, a system now used in
+all branches of manufacture. As for the cotton industry, to which Eli
+Whitney gave the first great start, it will suffice to say that its
+product has grown from less than one thousand bales, when he began his
+work, to over ten million bales a year.
+
+
+
+
+_HOW OLD HICKORY FOUGHT THE CREEKS._
+
+
+Shall we seek to picture to our readers a scene in the streets of
+Nashville, Tennessee, less than a century ago, though it seems to belong
+to the days of barbarism? Two groups of men, made up of the most
+respectable citizens of the place, stood furiously shooting at each
+other with pistols and guns, as if this was their idea of after-dinner
+recreation. Their leaders were Colonel Thomas H. Benton, afterward
+famous in the United States Senate, and General Andrew Jackson, famous
+in a dozen ways. The men of the frontier in those days were hot in
+temper and quick in action, and family feuds led quickly to wounds and
+death, as they still do in the mountains of East Tennessee.
+
+Some trifling quarrel, that might perhaps have been settled by five
+minutes of common-sense arbitration, led to this fierce fray, in the
+midst of which Jesse Benton, brother of the colonel, fired at Jackson
+with a huge pistol, loaded to the muzzle with bullets and slugs. It was
+like a charge of grape-shot. A slug from it shattered Jackson's left
+shoulder, a ball sank to the bone in his left arm, and another ball
+splintered a board by his side.
+
+When the fight ended Jackson was found insensible in the entry of a
+tavern, with the blood pouring profusely from his wounds. He was carried
+in and all the doctors of the town were summoned, but before the
+bleeding could be stopped two mattresses were soaked through with blood.
+The doctors said the arm was so badly injured that it must be taken off
+at once. But when Old Hickory set his lips in his grim way, and said,
+"I'll keep my arm," the question was settled; no one dare touch that
+arm.
+
+For weeks afterward Jackson lay, a helpless invalid, while his terrible
+wounds slowly healed. And while he lay there a dreadful event took place
+in the territory to the south, which called for the presence of men like
+Old Hickory, sound of limb and in full strength. This was the frightful
+Indian massacre at Fort Mimms, one of the worst in all our history.
+
+It was now the autumn of the year 1813, the second year of the war with
+England. Tecumseh, the famous Indian warrior and orator, had stirred up
+the savages of the South to take the British side in the war, and for
+fear of an Indian rising the settlers around Fort Mimms, in southern
+Alabama, had crowded into the fort, which was only a rude log stockade.
+On the morning of August 30 more than five hundred and fifty souls, one
+hundred of them being women and children, were crowded within that
+contracted space. On the evening of that day four hundred of them,
+including all the women and children, lay bleeding on the ground,
+scalped and shockingly mangled. A thousand Creek Indians had broken into
+the carelessly guarded fort, and perpetrated one of the most horrid
+massacres in the history of Indian wars. Weathersford, the leader of the
+Indians, tried to stop the ferocious warriors in their dreadful work,
+but they surrounded him and threatened him with their tomahawks while
+they glutted to the full their thirst for blood.
+
+Many days passed before the news of this frightful affair in the
+southern wilderness reached Nashville. The excitement it created was
+intense. The savages were in arms and had tasted blood. The settlements
+everywhere were in peril. The country might be ravaged from the Ohio to
+the Gulf. It was agreed by all that there was only one thing to do, the
+Indians must be put down. But the man best fitted to do it, the man who
+was depended upon in every emergency, lay half dead in his room, slowly
+recovering from his dreadful wound.
+
+A year before Jackson had led two thousand men to Natchez to defend New
+Orleans in case the British should come, and had been made by the
+government a major-general of volunteers. He was the man every one
+wanted now, but to get him seemed impossible, and the best that could be
+done was to get his advice. So a committee was appointed to visit and
+confer with the wounded hero.
+
+When the members of the committee called on the war-horse of the West
+they found him still within the shadow of death, his wounds sore and
+festering, his frame so weak that he could barely raise his head from
+the pillow. But when they told him of the massacre and the revengeful
+feeling of the people, the news almost lifted him from his bed. It
+seemed to send new life coursing through his veins. His voice, weakened
+by illness, yet with its old ring of decision, was raised for quick and
+stern action against the savage foes who had so long menaced Tennessee.
+And if they wanted a leader he was the man.
+
+When the committee reported the next day, they said there was no doubt
+that "our brave and patriotic General Jackson" would be ready to lead
+the men of war by the time they were ready to march. Where Jackson led
+there would be plenty to follow. Four thousand men were called out with
+orders to assemble at Fayetteville, eighty miles south of Nashville, on
+October 4, just one month from the day when Jackson had received his
+wounds. From his bed he took command. By his orders Colonel Coffee rode
+to Huntsville, Alabama, with five hundred men. As he advanced volunteers
+came riding in armed and equipped, till he was at the head of thirteen
+hundred men.
+
+On the 7th of October Jackson himself reached the rendezvous. He was
+still a mere wreck, thin as a shadow, tottering with weakness, and
+needing to be lifted bodily to his horse. His arm was closely bound and
+in a sling. His wounds were so sensitive that the least jar or wrench
+gave him agony. His stomach was in such a state that he was in danger
+of dying from starvation. Several times during his first two days' ride
+he had to be sponged from head to foot with whiskey. Yet his dauntless
+spirit kept him up, and he bore the dreadful ride of eighty miles with a
+fortitude rarely equalled. So resolute was he that he reached
+Fayetteville before half the men had gathered. He was glad there to
+receive news that the Creeks were advancing northward towards Tennessee.
+
+"Give them my thanks for saving me the pain of travelling," he said. "I
+must not be outdone in politeness, and will try to meet them half-way."
+
+On the 11th a new advance was made to Huntsville, the troops riding six
+miles an hour for five hours, a remarkable feat for a man in Jackson's
+condition. Many a twinge of bitter pain he had on that march, but his
+spirit was past yielding. At this point Colonel Coffee was joined, and
+the troops encamped on a bend of the Tennessee River. A false alarm of
+the advance of the Indians had caused this hasty march.
+
+Jackson and his men--twenty-five hundred in number with thirteen hundred
+horses--now found themselves threatened by a foe more terrible than the
+Indians they had come to meet. They were in the heart of the wilderness
+of Alabama, far away from any full supply of food. Jackson thus
+describes this foe, in a letter written by his secretary:
+
+"There is an enemy whom I dread much more than I do the hostile
+Creeks--I mean the meagre monster _Famine_. I shall leave this
+encampment in the morning direct for the Ten Islands, and yet I have
+not on hand two days' supply of bread-stuffs."
+
+[Illustration: JACKSON'S BIRTHPLACE.]
+
+A thousand barrels of flour and a proportionate supply of meat had been
+purchased for him a week before. But the Tennessee River was low, the
+flatboats would not float, and the much-needed food lay in the shallows
+three hundred miles up-stream. There was nothing to do but to live on
+the country, and this Colonel Coffee had swept almost clear of
+provisions on his advance movement.
+
+Under such circumstances Jackson ran a great risk in marching farther
+into the Indian country. Yet the exigency was one in which boldness
+seemed necessary. A reverse movement might have brought the Indians in
+force on the settlers of Tennessee, with sanguinary results. Keeping his
+foragers busy in search of food, he moved steadily southward till the
+Coosa River was reached. Here came the first encounter with the savages.
+There was a large body of them at Tallushatches, thirteen miles away. At
+daybreak on the morning after the Coosa was reached the Indian camp was
+encircled by Colonel Coffee with a thousand men. The savages, taken by
+surprise, fought fiercely and desperately, and fell where they stood,
+fighting while a warrior remained alive. All the prisoners were women
+and children, who were taken to the settlements and kindly treated.
+Jackson himself brought up one of the boys in his own family.
+
+Four days afterward news came that a body of friendly Creeks, one
+hundred and fifty in number, were at Talladega, thirty miles away,
+surrounded by a thousand hostile Indians, cut off from their
+water-supply and in imminent danger of annihilation. A wily chief had
+dressed himself in the skin of a large hog, and in this disguise passed
+unsuspected through the hostile lines, bringing his story to Jackson
+twenty-four hours later.
+
+At that moment the little army had only one day's supply of food, but
+its general did not hesitate. Advancing with all the men fit to move,
+they came within hearing of the yelling enemy, and quickly closed in
+upon them. When that brief battle ended two hundred of the Indian braves
+lay dead on the field and Colonel Coffee with his horsemen was in hot
+pursuit of the remainder. As for the rescued Indians, their joy was
+beyond measure, for they had looked only for death. They gathered around
+their preserver, expressing their gratitude by joyful cries and
+gestures, and gladly gave what little corn they had left to feed the
+hungry soldiers.
+
+The loss of the whites in this raid was fifteen men killed and
+eighty-six wounded. The badly wounded were carried in litters back to
+Fort Strother, where the sick had been left, and where Jackson now fully
+expected to find a full supply of food. To his acute disappointment not
+an ounce had arrived, little in the shape of food being left but a few
+half-starved cattle. For several days Jackson and his staff ate nothing
+but tripe without seasoning.
+
+And now, for ten long weeks, came that dread contest he had feared,--the
+battle with famine. With a good supply of provisions he could have
+ended the war in a fortnight. As it was, the men had simply to wait and
+forage, being at times almost in a starving state. The brave borderers
+found it far harder to sit and starve than it would have been to fight,
+and discontent in the camp rose to the height of mutiny, which it took
+all the general's tact and firmness to overcome.
+
+Part of his men were militia, part of them volunteers, and between these
+there was a degree of jealousy. On one occasion the militia resolved to
+start for home, but when they set out in the early morning they found
+the volunteers drawn up across the road, with their grim general at
+their head. When they saw Jackson they turned and marched back to their
+quarters again. Soon afterward the volunteers were infected with the
+same fancy. But again Jackson was aware of their purpose, and when they
+marched from their quarters they found their way blocked by the militia,
+with Jackson at their head. The tables had been turned on them.
+
+As time went on and hunger grew more relentless, the spirit of
+discontent infected the entire force, and it took all the general's
+power to keep them in camp. On one occasion, a large body of the men
+seized their arms, and, swearing that they would not stay there to be
+starved, got ready to march home. General Jackson, hot with wrath,
+seized a musket, and planting himself before them, swore "by the
+Eternal" that he would shoot the first man that set a foot forward. His
+countenance was appalling in its concentrated rage, his eyes blazed
+with a terrible fire, and the mutineers, confronted by this apparition
+of fury, hesitated, drew back, and retired to their tents.
+
+But the time came at length in which nothing would hold them back.
+Persuasion and threats were alike useless. The general used entreaties
+and promises, saying,--
+
+"I have advices that supply-wagons are on the way, and that there is a
+large drove of cattle near at hand. Wait two days more, and if then they
+do not come, we will all march home together."
+
+The two days passed and the food did not arrive. Much against his will,
+he was obliged to keep his word. "If only two men will stay with me," he
+cried, "I will never give up the post."
+
+One hundred and nine men agreed to remain, and, leaving these in charge
+of the fort, Jackson set out at the head of the others, with their
+promise that, when they procured supplies and satisfied their hunger,
+they would return to the fort and march upon the foe. The next day the
+expected provision-train was met, and the hungry men were well fed. But
+home was in their minds, and it took all the general's indomitable will
+and fierce energy to induce them to turn back, and they did so then in
+sullen discontent. In the end it was necessary to exchange these men for
+fresh volunteers.
+
+When the dissatisfied men got home they told such doleful tales of their
+hardships and sufferings that the people were filled with dismay,
+volunteering came to an end, and even the governor wrote to Jackson,
+advising him to give up the expedition as hopeless and return home.
+
+Had not Andrew Jackson been one man in a million he would not have
+hesitated to obey. A well man might justly have despaired. But to a
+physical wreck, his shoulder still painful, his left arm useless,
+suffering from insufficient food, from acute dyspepsia, from chronic
+diarrhoea, from cramps of terrible severity--to a man in this
+condition, who should have been in bed under a physician's care, to
+remain seemed utter madness, and yet he remained. His indomitable spirit
+triumphed over his enfeebled body. He had set out to subdue the hostile
+Indians and save the settlements from their murderous raids, and, "by
+the Eternal," he would.
+
+He wrote a letter to Governor Blount, eloquent, logical, appealing,
+resolute, and so convincing in its arguments that the governor changed
+his sentiment, the people became enthusiastic, volunteers came forward
+freely, and the most earnest exertions were made to collect and forward
+supplies. But this was not till the spring of 1814, and the lack of
+supplies continued the winter through. Only nine hundred discontented
+troops remained, but with these he won two victories over the Indians,
+in one of which an utter panic was averted only by his courage and
+decision in the hour of peril.
+
+At length fresh troops began to arrive. A regiment of United States
+soldiers, six hundred strong, reached him on February 6. By the 1st of
+March there were six thousand troops near Fort Strother, and only the
+arrival of a good food supply was awaited to make a finishing move. Food
+came slowly, despite all exertions. Over the miry roads the wagon-teams
+could hardly be moved with light loads. Only absolutely necessary food
+was brought,--even whiskey, considered indispensable in those days,
+being barred out. All sick and disabled men were sent home, and the
+non-combatants weeded out so thoroughly that only one man was left in
+camp who could beat the ordinary calls on the drum. At length, about the
+middle of March, a sufficient supply of food was at hand and the final
+advance began.
+
+Meanwhile, the hostile Creeks had made themselves a stronghold at a
+place fifty-five miles to the south. Here was a bend of Tallapoosa
+River, called, from its shape, Tohopeka, or the "Horseshoe." It was a
+well-wooded area, about one hundred acres in extent, across whose neck
+the Indians had built a strong breastwork of logs, with two rows of
+port-holes, the whole so well constructed that it was evident they had
+been aided by British soldiers in its erection. At the bottom of the
+bend was a village of wigwams, and there were many canoes in the stream.
+
+Within this stronghold was gathered the fighting force of the tribe,
+nearly a thousand warriors, and in the wigwams were about three hundred
+women and children. It was evident that they intended to make here their
+final, desperate stand.
+
+The force led against them was two thousand strong. Their route of
+travel lay through the unbroken forest wilds, and it took eleven days to
+reach the Indian fort. A glance at it showed Jackson the weakness of the
+savage engineering. As he said, they had "penned themselves in for
+destruction."
+
+The work began by sending Colonel Coffee across the river, with orders
+to post his men opposite the line of canoes and prevent the Indians from
+escaping. Coffee did more than this; he sent swimmers over who cut loose
+the canoes and brought them across the stream. With their aid he sent
+troops over the bend to attack the savages in the rear while Jackson
+assailed them in front.
+
+The battle began with a fierce assault, but soon settled down to a slow
+slaughter, which lasted for five or six hours,--the fierce warriors, as
+in the former battles, refusing to ask for quarter or to accept their
+lives. Their prophets had told them that if they did they would be put
+to death by torture. When the battle ended few of them were left alive.
+On the side of the whites only fifty-five were killed and about three
+times as many wounded.
+
+This signal defeat ended forever the power of the Cree nation, once the
+leading Indian power of the Gulf region. Such of the chiefs as survived
+surrendered. Among them was Weathersford, their valiant half-breed
+leader. Mounted on his well-known gray horse, famed for its speed and
+endurance, he rode to the door of Jackson's tent. The old soldier looked
+up to see before him this famous warrior, tall, erect, majestic, and
+dignified.
+
+"I am Weathersford," he said; "late your enemy, now your captive."
+
+From without the tent came fierce cries of "Kill him! kill him!"
+
+"You may kill me if you wish," said the proud chief; "but I came to tell
+you that our women and children are starving in the woods. They never
+did you any harm and I came to beg you to send them food."
+
+Jackson looked sternly at the angry throng outside, and said, in his
+vigorous way, "Any man who would kill as brave a man as this would rob
+the dead."
+
+He then invited the chief into his tent, where he promised him the aid
+he asked for and freedom for himself. "I do not war with women and
+children," he said.
+
+So corn was sent to the suffering women, and Weathersford was allowed to
+mount his good gray steed and ride away as he had come. He induced the
+remaining Creeks to accept the terms offered by the victorious general,
+these being peace and protection, with the provision that half their
+lands should be ceded to the United States.
+
+As may well be imagined, a triumphant reception was given Jackson and
+his men on their return to Nashville. Shortly afterward came the news
+that he had been appointed Major-General in the army of the United
+States, to succeed William Henry Harrison, resigned. He had made his
+mark well against the Indians; he was soon to make it as well against
+the British at New Orleans.
+
+
+
+
+_THE PIRATES OF BARATARIA BAY._
+
+
+On the coast of Louisiana, westward from the delta of the Mississippi,
+there lies a strange country, in which sea and land seem struggling for
+dominion, neither being victor in the endless contest. It is a low,
+flat, moist land, where countless water-courses intertwine into a
+complex net-work; while nearer the sea are a multitude of bays,
+stretching far inland, and largely shut off from the salt sea waves by
+barriers of long, narrow islands. Some of these islands are low
+stretches of white sand, flung up by the restless waters which ever wash
+to and fro. Others are of rich earth, brought down by lazy water-ways
+from the fertile north and deposited at the river outlets. Tall marsh
+grasses grow profusely here, and hide alike water and land. Everywhere
+are slow-moving, half-sleeping bayous, winding and twisting
+interminably, and encircling multitudes of islands, which lie hidden
+behind a dense growth of rushes and reeds, twelve feet high.
+
+It was through this region, neither water nor land, that the hapless
+Evangeline, the heroine of Longfellow's famous poem, was rowed, seeking
+her lover in these flooded wilds, and not dreaming that he lay behind
+one of those reedy barrens, almost within touch, yet as unseen as if
+leagues of land separated them.
+
+One of the bays of this liquid coast, some sixty miles south of New
+Orleans, is a large sheet of water, with a narrow island partly shutting
+it off from the Gulf. This is known as Grande Terre, and west of it is
+another island known as Grande Isle. Between these two long land gates
+is a broad, deep channel which serves as entrance to the bay. On the
+western side lies a host of smaller islands, the passes between them
+made by the bayous which straggle down through the land. Northward the
+bay stretches sixteen miles inland, and then breaks up into a medley of
+bayous and small lakes, cutting far into the land, and yielding an easy
+passage to the level of the Mississippi, opposite New Orleans.
+
+Such is Barataria Bay, once the famous haunt of the buccaneers. It seems
+made by nature as a lurking-place for smugglers and pirates, and that is
+the purpose to which it was long devoted. The passages inland served
+admirably for the disposal of ill-gotten goods. For years the pirates of
+Barataria Bay defied the authorities, making the Gulf the scene of their
+exploits and finding a secret and ready market for their wares in New
+Orleans.
+
+The pirate leaders were two daring Frenchmen, Pierre and Jean Lafitte,
+who came from Bordeaux some time after 1800 and settled in New Orleans.
+They were educated men, who had seen much of the world and spoke several
+languages fluently. Pierre, having served in the French army, became a
+skilled fencing-master. Jean set up a blacksmith shop, his slaves doing
+the work. Such was the creditable way in which these worthies began
+their new-world career.
+
+Their occupation changed in 1808, in which year the slave-trade was
+brought to an end by act of Congress. There was also passed an Embargo
+Act, which forbade trade with foreign countries. Here was a double
+opportunity for men who placed gain above law. The Lafittes at once took
+advantage of it, smuggling negroes and British goods, bringing their
+illicit wares inland by way of the bayous of the coastal plain and
+readily disposing of them as honest goods.
+
+Not long after this time the British cruisers broke up the pirate hordes
+which had long infested the West Indies. Their haunts were taken and
+they had to flee. Some of them became smugglers, landing their goods on
+Amelia Island, on the coast of Florida. Others sought the bays of
+Louisiana, where they kept up their old trade.
+
+The Lafittes now found it to their advantage to handle the goods of
+these buccaneers, in which they posed as honest merchants. Later on they
+made piracy their trade, the whole fleet of the rovers coming under
+their control. Throwing off the cloak of honesty, they openly defied the
+laws. Prize goods and negroes were introduced into New Orleans with
+little effort at secrecy, and were sold in disregard of the law and the
+customs. It was well known that the Baratarian rovers were pirates, but
+the weak efforts to dislodge them failed and the government was openly
+despised.
+
+Making Barataria Bay their head-quarters and harbor of refuge, the
+pirates fortified Grande Terre, and built on it their dwellings and
+store-houses. On Grande Isle farms were cultivated and orange-groves
+planted. On another island, named the Temple, they held auctions for the
+sale of their plunder, the purchasers smuggling it up the bayous and
+introducing it under cover of night into New Orleans, where there was
+nothing to show its source, though suspicion was rife. Such was
+Barataria until the war with England began, and such it continued
+through this war till 1814, the Lafittes and their pirate followers
+flourishing in their desperate trade.
+
+We might go on to tell a gruesome story of fearful deeds by these
+bandits of the sea; of vessels plundered and scuttled, and sailors made
+to walk the plank of death; of rich spoil won by ruthless murder, and
+wild orgies on the shores of Grande Terre. But of all this there is
+little record, and the lives of these pirates yield us none of the
+scenes of picturesque wickedness and wholesale murder which embellish
+the stories of Blackbeard, Morgan, and other sea-rovers of old. Yet the
+career of the Lafittes has an historical interest which makes it worth
+the telling.
+
+It was not until 1814, during the height of the war with England, that
+the easy-going Creoles of New Orleans grew indignant enough at the bold
+defiance of law by the Lafittes to make a vigorous effort to stop it. It
+was high time, for the buccaneers had grown so bold as to fire on the
+revenue officers of the government. Determined to bear this disgrace no
+longer, Pierre Lafitte was seized in the streets of New Orleans, and
+with one of his captains, named Dominique Yon, was locked up in the
+calaboosa.
+
+This step was followed by a proclamation from Governor Claiborne,
+offering five hundred dollars for the arrest of Jean Lafitte, the acting
+pirate chief. Lafitte insolently retorted by offering five thousand
+dollars for the head of the governor. This impudent defiance aroused
+Claiborne to more decisive action. A force of militia was called out and
+sent overland to Barataria, with orders to capture and destroy the
+settlement of the buccaneers and seize all the pirates they could lay
+hands on.
+
+The governor did not know the men with whom he had to deal. Their spies
+kept them fully informed of all his movements. Southward trudged the
+citizen soldiers, tracking their oozy way through the water-soaked land.
+All was silent and seemingly deserted. They were near their goal, and
+not a man had been seen. But suddenly a boatswain's whistle sounded, and
+from a dozen secret passages armed men swarmed out upon them, and in a
+few minutes had them surrounded and under their guns. Resistance was
+hopeless, and they were obliged to surrender at discretion. The grim
+pirates stood ready to slaughter them all if a hand were raised in
+self-defence, and Lafitte, stepping forward, invited them to join his
+men, promising them an easy life and excellent pay. Their captain
+sturdily refused.
+
+"Very well," said Lafitte, with disdainful generosity. "You can go or
+stay as you please. Yonder is the road you came by. You are free to
+follow it back. But if you are wise you will in future keep out of reach
+of the Jolly Rovers of the Gulf."
+
+We are not sure if these were Lafitte's exact words, but at any rate the
+captain and his men were set free and trudged back again, glad enough to
+get off with whole skins. Soon after that the war, which had lingered so
+long in the North, showed signs of making its way to the South. A
+British fleet appeared in the Gulf in the early autumn of 1814, and made
+an attack on Mobile. In September a war-vessel from this fleet appeared
+off Barataria Bay, fired on one of the pirate craft, and dropped anchor
+some six miles out. Soon a pinnace, bearing a white flag, put off from
+its side and was rowed shoreward. It was met by a vessel which had put
+off from Grande Terre.
+
+"I am Captain Lockyer, of the 'Sophia,'" said the British officer. "I
+wish to see Captain Lafitte."
+
+"I am he," came a voice from the pirate bark.
+
+"Then this is for you," and Captain Lockyer handed Lafitte a bulky
+package.
+
+"Will you come ashore while I examine this?" asked Lafitte, courteously.
+"I offer you such humble entertainment as we poor mariners can afford."
+
+"I shall be glad to be your guest," answered the officer.
+
+Lafitte now led the way ashore, welcomed the visitors to his island
+domain, and proceeded to open and examine the package brought him. It
+contained four documents, their general purport being to threaten the
+pirates with utter destruction if they continued to prey on the commerce
+of England and Spain, and to offer Lafitte, if he would aid the British
+cause, the rank of captain in the service of Great Britain, with a large
+sum of money and full protection for person and property.
+
+The letters read, Lafitte left the room, saying that he wished time to
+consider before he could answer. But hardly had he gone when some of his
+men rushed in, seized Captain Lockyer and his men, and locked them up as
+prisoners. They were held captive all night, doubtless in deep anxiety,
+for pirates are scarcely safe hosts, but in the morning Lafitte appeared
+with profuse apologies, declaring loudly that his men had acted without
+his knowledge or consent, and leading the way to their boat. Lockyer was
+likely glad enough to find himself on the Gulf waters again, despite the
+pirate's excuses. Two hours later Lafitte sent him word that he would
+accept his offer, but that he must have two weeks to get his affairs in
+order. With this answer, the "Sophia" lifted anchor, spread sails, and
+glided away.
+
+All this was a bit of diplomatic by-play on the part of Jean Lafitte. He
+had no notion of joining the British cause. The "Sophia" had not long
+disappeared when he sent the papers to New Orleans, asking only one
+favor in return, the release of his brother Pierre. This the authorities
+seem to have granted in their own way, for in the next morning's papers
+was an offer of one thousand dollars reward for the capture of Pierre
+Lafitte, who had, probably with their connivance, broken jail during the
+night.
+
+Jean Lafitte now offered Governor Claiborne his services in the war with
+the British. He was no pirate, he said. That was a base libel. His ships
+were legitimate privateers, bearing letters of marque from Venezuela in
+the war of that country with Spain. He was ready and anxious to transfer
+his allegiance to the United States.
+
+His sudden change of tone had its sufficient reason. It is probable that
+Lafitte was well aware of a serious danger just then impending, far more
+threatening than the militia raid which had been so easily defeated. A
+naval expedition was ready to set out against him. It consisted of three
+barges of troops under Commander Patterson of the American navy. These
+were joined at the Balize by six gunboats and a schooner, and proceeded
+against the piratical stronghold.
+
+On the 16th of September the small fleet came within sight of Grande
+Terre, drew up in line of battle, and started for the entrance to
+Barataria Bay. Within this the pirate fleet, ten vessels in all, was in
+line to receive them. Soon there was trouble for the assailants. Shoal
+water stopped the schooner, and the two larger gunboats ran aground. But
+their men swarmed into boats and rowed on in the wake of the other
+vessels, which quickly made their way through the pass and began a
+vigorous attack on its defenders.
+
+Now the war was all afoot, and we should be glad to tell of a gallant
+and nobly contested battle, in which the sea-rovers showed desperate
+courage and reddened the sea with their blood. There might be inserted
+here a battle-piece worthy of the Drakes and Morgans of old, if the
+facts only bore us out. Instead of that, however, we are forced to say
+that the pirates proved sheer caitiffs when matched against honest men,
+and the battle was a barren farce.
+
+Commander Patterson and his men dashed bravely on, and in a very short
+time two of the pirate vessels were briskly burning, a third had run
+aground, and the others were captured. Many of the pirates had fled; the
+others were taken. The battle over, the buildings on Grande Terre and
+Grande Isle were destroyed and the piratical lurking-place utterly
+broken up. This done, the fleet sailed in triumph for New Orleans,
+bringing with them the captured craft and the prisoners who had been
+taken. But among the captives was neither of the Lafittes. They had not
+stood to their guns, but had escaped with the other fugitives into the
+secret places of the bay.
+
+Thus ends the history of Barataria Bay as a haunt of pirates. Since
+that day only honest craft have entered its sheltered waters. But the
+Lafittes were not yet at the end of their career, or at least one of
+them, for of Pierre Lafitte we hear very little after this time. Two
+months after their flight the famous British assault was made on New
+Orleans. General Jackson hurried to its defence and called armed men to
+his aid from all quarters, caring little who they were so they were
+ready to fight.
+
+Among those who answered the summons was Jean Lafitte. He called on Old
+Hickory and told him that he had a body of trained artillerymen under
+his command, tried and capable men, and would like to take a hand in
+defence of the city. Jackson, who had not long before spoken of the
+Lafittes as "hellish banditti," was very glad now to accept their aid.
+We read of his politely alluding to them as "these gentlemen," and he
+gave into their charge the siege-guns in several of the forts.
+
+These guns were skilfully handled and vigorously served, the Baratarians
+fighting far more bravely in defence of the city than they had done in
+defence of their ships. They lent important aid in the defeat of
+Packenham and his army, and after the battle Jackson commended them
+warmly for their gallant conduct, praising the Lafittes also for "the
+same courage and fidelity."
+
+A few words more and we have done. Of the pirates, two only made any
+future mark. Dominique Yon, the captain who had shared imprisonment
+with Pierre Lafitte, now settled down to quiet city life, became a
+leader in ward politics, and grew into something of a local hero,
+fighting in the precincts instead of on the deck.
+
+Jean Lafitte, however, went back to his old trade. From New Orleans he
+made his way to Texas, then a province of Mexico, and soon we hear of
+him at his buccaneering work. For a time he figured as governor of
+Galveston. Then, for some years, he commanded a fleet that wore the thin
+guise of Columbian privateers. After that he threw off all disguise and
+became an open pirate, and as late as 1822 his name was the terror of
+the Gulf. Soon afterward a fleet of the United States swept those waters
+and cleared it of all piratical craft. Jean Lafitte then vanished from
+view, and no one knows whether he died fighting for the black flag or
+ended his life quietly on land.
+
+
+
+
+_THE HEROES OF THE ALAMO._
+
+
+On a day in the year 1835 the people of Nacogdoches, Texas, were engaged
+in the pleasant function of giving a public dinner to one of their
+leading citizens. In the midst of the festivities a person entered the
+room whose appearance was greeted with a salvo of hearty cheers. There
+seemed nothing in this person's appearance to call forth such a welcome.
+He was dressed in a half-Indian, half-hunter's garb, a long-barrelled
+rifle was slanted over his shoulder, and he seemed a favorable specimen
+of the "half-horse, half-alligator" type of the early West. But there
+was a shrewd look on his weather-beaten face and a humorous twinkle in
+his eyes that betokened a man above the ordinary frontier level, while
+it was very evident that the guests present looked upon him as no
+every-day individual.
+
+The visitor was, indeed, a man of fame, for he was no less a personage
+than the celebrated Davy Crockett, the hunter hero of West Tennessee.
+His fame was due less to his wonderful skill with the rifle than to his
+genial humor, his endless stories of adventure, his marvellous power of
+"drawing the long bow." Davy had once been sent to Congress, but there
+he found himself in waters too deep for his footing. The frontier was
+the place made for him, and when he heard that Texas was in revolt
+against Mexican rule, he shouldered his famous rifle and set out to take
+a hand in the game of revolution. It was a question in those days with
+the reckless borderers whether shooting a Mexican or a coon was the
+better sport.
+
+[Illustration: THE ALAMO.]
+
+The festive citizens of Nacogdoches heard that Davy Crockett had arrived
+in their town on his way to join the Texan army, and at once sent a
+committee to invite him to join in their feast. Hearty cheers, as we
+have said, hailed his entrance, and it was not long before he had his
+worthy hosts in roars of laughter with his quaint frontier stories. He
+had come to stay with them as a citizen of Texas, he said, and to help
+them drive out the yellow-legged greasers, and he wanted, then and
+there, to take the oath of allegiance to their new republic. If they
+wanted to know what claim he had to the honor, he would let Old
+Betsy--his rifle--speak for him. Like George Washington, Betsy never
+told a lie. The Nacogdochians were not long in making him a citizen, and
+he soon after set out for the Alamo, the scene of his final exploit and
+his heroic death.
+
+The Alamo was a stronghold in the town of San Antonio de Bexar, in
+Western Texas. It had been built for a mission house of the early
+Spaniards, and though its walls were thick and strong, they were only
+eight feet high and were destitute of bastion or redoubt. The place had
+nothing to make it suitable for warlike use, yet it was to win a great
+name in the history of Texan independence, a name that spread far
+beyond the borders of the "Lone Star State" and made its story a
+tradition of American heroism.
+
+Soon after the insurrection began a force of Texans had taken San
+Antonio, driving out its Mexican garrison. Santa Anna, the president of
+Mexico, quickly marched north with an army, breathing vengeance against
+the rebels. This town, which lay well towards the western border, was
+the first he proposed to take. Under the circumstances the Texans would
+have been wise to retreat, for they were few in number, they had little
+ammunition and provisions, and the town was in no condition for defence.
+But retreat was far from their thoughts, and when, on an afternoon in
+February, 1836, Santa Anna and his army appeared in the vicinity of San
+Antonio, the Texans withdrew to the Alamo, the strongest building near
+the town, prepared to fight to the death.
+
+There were less than two hundred of them in all, against the thousands
+of the enemy, but they were men of heroic mould. Colonel Travis, the
+commander, mounted the walls with eight pieces of artillery, and did all
+he could besides to put the place in a state of defence. To show the
+kind of man Travis was, we cannot do better than to quote his letter
+asking for aid.
+
+     "FELLOW-CITIZENS AND COMPATRIOTS,--I am besieged by a thousand or
+     more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. The enemy have commanded a
+     surrender at discretion; otherwise the garrison is to be put to the
+     sword if the place is taken. I have answered the summons with a
+     cannon-shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I
+     shall never surrender or retreat. Then I call on you in the name of
+     liberty, of patriotism, and of everything dear to the American
+     character, to come to our aid with all despatch. The enemy are
+     receiving reinforcements daily, and will no doubt increase to three
+     or four thousand in four or five days. Though this call may be
+     neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible,
+     and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own
+     honor or that of his country. Victory or death!"
+
+          "W. BARRETT TRAVIS,
+          Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding."
+
+     "P.S.--The Lord is on our side. When the enemy appeared in sight we
+     had not three bushels of corn. We have since found, in deserted
+     houses, eighty or ninety bushels, and got into the walls twenty or
+     thirty head of beeves."
+
+          "T."
+
+
+
+The only reinforcements received in response to this appeal were
+thirty-two gallant men from Gonzales, who made the whole number one
+hundred and eighty-eight. Colonel Fannin, at Goliad, set out with three
+hundred men, but the breaking down of one of his wagons and a scarcity
+of supplies obliged him to return. Among the patriot garrison were Davy
+Crockett and Colonel James Bowie, the latter as famous a man in his way
+as the great hunter. He was a duelist of national fame, in those days
+when the border duels were fought with knife instead of pistol. He
+invented the Bowie knife, a terrible weapon in the hands of a resolute
+man. To be famed as a duelist is no worthy claim to admiration, but to
+fight hand to hand with knife for weapon is significant of high courage.
+
+Small as were their numbers, and slight as were their means of defence,
+the heroes of the Alamo fought on without flinching. Santa Anna planted
+his batteries around the stronghold and kept up a steady bombardment.
+The Texans made little reply; their store of ammunition was so small
+that it had to be kept for more critical work. In the town a blood-red
+banner was displayed in lurid token of the sanguinary purpose of the
+Mexican leader, but the garrison showed no signs of dismay. They were
+the descendants of men who had fought against the Indians of the South
+under like conditions, and they were not likely to forget the traditions
+of their race.
+
+On the 3d of March a battery was erected within musket-shot of the north
+wall of the fort, on which it poured a destructive fire. Travis now sent
+out a final appeal for aid, and with it an affecting note to a friend,
+in which he said,--
+
+"Take care of my boy. If the country should be saved I may make him a
+splendid fortune; but if the country should be lost and I should
+perish, he will have nothing but the proud recollection that he is the
+son of a man who died for his country."
+
+The invading force increased in numbers until, by the 5th of March,
+there were more than four thousand of them around the fort, most of them
+fresh, while the garrison was worn out with incessant toil and watching.
+The end was near at hand. Soon after midnight on the 6th the Mexican
+army gathered close around the fort, prepared for an assault. The
+infantry carried scaling-ladders. Behind them were drawn up the cavalry
+with orders to kill any man who might fly from the ranks. This indicated
+Santa Anna's character and his opinion of his men.
+
+The men within the walls had no need to be driven to their work. Every
+one was alert and at his post, and they met with a hot fire from cannon
+and rifles the Mexican advance. Just as the new day dawned, the ladders
+were placed against the walls and the Mexicans scrambled up their
+rounds. They were driven back with heavy loss. Again the charge for
+assault was sounded and a second rush was made for the walls, and once
+more the bullets of the defenders swept the field and the assailants
+fell back in dismay.
+
+Santa Anna now went through the beaten ranks with threats and promises,
+seeking to inspire his men with new courage, and again they rushed
+forward on all sides of the fort. Many of the Texans had fallen and all
+of them were exhausted. It was impossible to defend the whole circle of
+the walls. The assailants who first reached the tops of the ladders
+were hurled to the ground, but hundreds rushed in to take their places,
+and at a dozen points they clambered over the walls. It was no longer
+possible for the handful of survivors to keep them back.
+
+In a few minutes the fort seemed full of assailants. The Texans
+continued to fight with unflinching courage. When their rifles were
+emptied they used them as clubs and struggled on till overwhelmed by
+numbers. Near the western wall of the fort stood Travis, in the corner
+near the church stood Crockett, both fighting like Homeric heroes. Old
+Betsy had done an ample share of work that fatal night. Now, used as a
+club, it added nobly to its record. The two heroes at length fell, but
+around each was a heap of slain.
+
+Colonel Bowie had taken no part in the fight, having been for some days
+sick in bed. He was there butchered and mutilated. All others who were
+unable to fight met the same fate. It had been proposed to blow up the
+magazine, but Major Evans, the man selected for this duty, was shot as
+he attempted to perform it. The struggle did not end while a man of the
+garrison was alive, the only survivors being two Mexican women, Mrs.
+Dickenson (wife of one of the defenders) and her child, and the negro
+servant of Colonel Travis. As for the dead Texans, their bodies were
+brutally mutilated and then thrown into heaps and burned.
+
+Thus fell the Alamo. Thus did the gallant Travis and his men keep their
+pledge of "victory or death." Like the Spartans at Thermopylae, the
+heroes of the Alamo did not retreat or ask for quarter, but lay where
+they had stood in obedience to their country's commands. And before and
+around them lay the bodies of more than five hundred of their enemies,
+with as many wounded. The Texans had not perished unavenged. The sun
+rose in the skies until it was an hour high. In the fort all was still;
+but the waters of the aqueduct surrounding resembled in their crimson
+hue the red flag of death flying in the town. The Alamo was the American
+Thermopylae.
+
+
+
+
+_HOW HOUSTON WON FREEDOM FOR TEXAS._
+
+
+We have told the story of the Alamo. It needs to complete it the story
+of how Travis and his band of heroes were avenged. And this is also the
+story of how Texas won its independence, and took its place in the
+colony of nations as the "Lone Star Republic."
+
+The patriots of Texas had more to avenge than the slaughter at the
+Alamo. The defenders of Goliad, over four hundred in number, under
+Colonel Fannin, surrendered, with a solemn promise of protection from
+Santa Anna. After the surrender they were divided into several
+companies, marched in different directions out of the town, and there
+shot down in cold blood by the Mexican soldiers, not a man of them being
+left alive.
+
+Santa Anna now fancied himself the victor. He had killed two hundred men
+with arms in their hands, and made himself infamous by the massacre of
+four hundred more, and he sent despatches to Mexico to the effect that
+he had put down the rebellion and conquered a peace. What he had really
+done was to fill the Texans with thirst for revenge as well as love of
+independence. He had dealt with Travis and Fannin; he had Sam Houston
+still to deal with.
+
+General Houston was the leader of the Texan revolt. While these
+murderous events were taking place he had only four hundred men under
+his command, and was quite unable to prevent them. Defence now seemed
+hopeless; the country was in a state of panic; the settlers were
+abandoning their homes and fleeing as the Mexicans advanced; but Sam
+Houston kept the field with a spirit like that which had animated the
+gallant Travis.
+
+As the Mexicans advanced Houston slowly retreated. He was manoeuvring
+for time and place, and seeking to increase his force. Finally, after
+having brought up his small army to something over seven hundred men, he
+took a stand on Buffalo Bayou, a deep, narrow stream flowing into the
+San Jacinto River, resolved there to strike a blow for Texan
+independence. It was a forlorn hope, for against him was marshalled the
+far greater force of the Mexican army. But Houston gave his men a
+watchword that added to their courage the hot fire of revenge. After
+making them an eloquent and impassioned address, he fired their souls
+with the war-cry of "Remember the Alamo!"
+
+Soon afterward the Mexican bugles rang out over the prairie, announcing
+the approach of the vanguard of their army, eighteen hundred strong.
+They were well appointed, and made a showy display as they marched
+across the plain. Houston grimly watched their approach. Turning to his
+own sparse ranks, he said, "Men, there is the enemy; do you wish to
+fight?" "We do," came in a fierce shout. "Well, then, remember it is
+for liberty or death! _Remember the Alamo!_"
+
+As they stood behind their light breastworks, ready for an attack, if it
+should be made, a lieutenant came galloping up, his horse covered with
+foam. As he drew near he shouted along the lines, "I've cut down Vince's
+bridge." This was a bridge which both armies had used in coming to the
+battle-field. General Houston had ordered its destruction. Its fall left
+the vanquished in that day's fight without hope of escape.
+
+Santa Anna evidently was not ready for an immediate assault. His men
+halted and intrenched themselves. But Houston did not propose to delay.
+At three in the afternoon, while many of the Mexican officers were
+enjoying their siesta in perfect confidence, Santa Anna himself being
+asleep, the word to charge passed from rank to rank along the Texan
+front, and in a moment the whole line advanced at double-quick time,
+filling the air with vengeful cries of "Remember the Alamo! Remember
+Goliad!"
+
+The Mexican troops sprang to their arms and awaited the attack,
+reserving their fire until the patriots were within sixty paces. Then
+they poured forth a volley which, fortunately for the Texans, went over
+their heads, though a ball struck General Houston's ankle, inflicting a
+very painful wound. Yet, though bleeding and suffering, the old hero
+kept to his saddle till the action was at an end.
+
+The Texans made no reply to the fire of the foe until within
+pistol-shot, and then poured their leaden hail into the very bosoms of
+the Mexicans. Hundreds of them fell. There was no time to reload. Having
+no bayonets, the Texans clubbed their rifles and rushed in fury upon the
+foe, still rending the air with their wild war-cry of "Remember the
+Alamo!" The Mexicans were utterly unprepared for this furious
+hand-to-hand assault, and quickly broke before the violent onset.
+
+On all sides they gave way. On the left the Texans penetrated the
+woodland; the Mexicans fled. On the right their cavalry charged that of
+Santa Anna, which quickly broke and sought safety in flight. In the
+centre they stormed the breastworks, took the enemy's artillery and
+drove them back in dismay. In fifteen minutes after the charge the
+Mexicans were in panic flight, the Texans in mad pursuit. Scarce an hour
+had passed since the patriots left their works, and the battle was won.
+
+Such was the consternation of the Mexicans, so sudden and utter their
+rout, that their cannon were left loaded and their movables untouched.
+Those who were asleep awoke only in time to flee; those who were cooking
+their dinner left it uneaten; those who were playing their favorite game
+of monte left it unfinished. The pursuit was kept up till nightfall, by
+which time the bulk of the Mexican army were prisoners of war. The
+victory had been won almost without loss. Only seven of the Texans were
+killed and twenty-three wounded. The Mexican loss was six hundred and
+thirty, while seven hundred and thirty were made prisoners.
+
+But the man they most wanted was still at large. Santa Anna was not
+among the captives. On the morning of the following day, April 22, the
+Texan cavalry, scouring the country for prisoners, with a sharp eye open
+for the hated leader of the foe, saw a Mexican whom they loudly bade to
+surrender. At their demand he fell on the grass and threw a blanket over
+his head. They had to call on him several times to rise before he slowly
+dragged himself to his feet. Then he went up to Sylvester, the leader of
+the party, and kissed his hand, asking if he was General Houston.
+
+The man was evidently half beside himself with fright. He was only a
+private soldier, he declared; but when his captors pointed to the fine
+studs in the bosom of his shirt he burst into tears and declared that he
+was an aide to Santa Anna. The truth came out as the captors brought him
+back to camp, passing the prisoners, many of whom cried out, "El
+Presidente." It was evidently Santa Anna himself. The President of
+Mexico was a prisoner and Texas was free! When the trembling captive was
+brought before Houston, he said, "General, you can afford to be
+generous,--you have conquered the Napoleon of the West." Had Houston
+done full justice to this Napoleon of the West he would have hung him on
+the spot. As it was, his captors proved generous and his life was
+spared.
+
+The victory of San Jacinto struck the fetters from the hands of Texas.
+No further attempt was made to conquer it, and General Houston became
+the hero and the first president of the new republic. When Texas was
+made a part of the United States, Houston was one of its first senators,
+and in later years he served as governor of the State. His splendid
+victory had made him its favorite son.
+
+
+
+
+_CAPTAIN ROBERT E. LEE AND THE LAVA-BEDS._
+
+
+The Mexican War, brief as was its period of operations in the field, was
+marked by many deeds of daring, and also was the scene of the first
+service in the field of various officers who afterward became prominent
+in the Civil War. Chief among these were the two great leaders on the
+opposite sides, General Lee and General Grant. Lee's services in the
+campaign which Scott conducted against the city of Mexico were
+especially brilliant, and are likely to be less familiar to the reader
+than any incident drawn from his well-known record in the Civil War. The
+most striking among them was his midnight crossing of the lava-fields
+before Contreras.
+
+On the 19th of August, 1847, Scott's army lay in and around San
+Augustin, a place situated on a branch of the main road running south
+from the city of Mexico. This road divided into two at Churubusco, the
+other branch running near Contreras. Between these two roads and a ridge
+of hills south of San Augustin extended a triangular region known as the
+Pedregal, and about as ugly a place to cross as any ground could well
+be.
+
+It was made up of a vast spread of volcanic rock and scoriae, rent and
+broken into a thousand forms, and with sharp ridges and deep fissures,
+making it very difficult for foot-soldiers to get over, and quite
+impassable for cavalry or artillery. It was like a sea of hardened lava,
+with no signs of vegetation except a few clumps of bushes and dwarf
+trees that found footing in the rocks. The only road across it was a
+difficult, crooked, and barely passable pathway, little better than a
+mule track, leading from San Augustin to the main road from the city of
+Mexico.
+
+On the plateau beyond this sterile region the Mexicans had gathered in
+force. Just beyond it General Valencia lay intrenched, with his fine
+division of about six thousand men and twenty-four guns, commanding the
+approach from San Augustin. A mile or more north of Contreras lay
+General Santa Anna, his force holding the main city road.
+
+Such was the situation of the respective armies at the date given, with
+the Pedregal separating them. Captain Lee, who had already done
+excellent engineering service at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo, assisted by
+Lieutenants Beauregard and Tower of the engineers, had carefully
+reconnoitred the position of the enemy, and on the morning of the 19th
+the advance from San Augustin began, Captain Lee accompanying the troops
+in their arduous passage across the Pedregal. One of those present thus
+describes the exploit:
+
+"Late in the morning of the 19th the brigade of which my regiment was a
+part (Riley's) was sent out from San Augustin in the direction of
+Contreras. We soon struck a region over which it was said no horses
+could go, and men only with difficulty. No road was available; my
+regiment was in advance, my company leading, and its point of direction
+was a church-spire at or near Contreras. Taking the lead, we soon struck
+the Pedregal, a field of volcanic rock like boiling scoria suddenly
+solidified, pathless, precipitous, and generally compelling rapid gait
+in order to spring from point to point of rock, on which two feet could
+not rest and which cut through our shoes. A fall on this sharp material
+would have seriously cut and injured one, whilst the effort to climb
+some of it cut the hands.
+
+"Just before reaching the main road from Contreras to the city of Mexico
+we reached a watery ravine, the sides of which were nearly
+perpendicular, up which I had to be pushed and then to pull others. On
+looking back over this bed of lava or scoria, I saw the troops, much
+scattered, picking their way very slowly; while of my own company, some
+eighty or ninety strong, only five men crossed with me or during some
+twenty minutes after.
+
+"With these five I examined the country beyond, and struck upon the
+small guard of a paymaster's park, which, from the character of the
+country over which we had passed, was deemed perfectly safe from
+capture. My men gained a paymaster's chest well filled with bags of
+silver dollars, and the firing and fuss we made both frightened the
+guard with the belief that the infernals were upon them and made our
+men hasten to our support.
+
+"Before sundown all of Riley's, and I believe of Cadwallader's, Smith's,
+and Pierce's brigades, were over, and by nine o' clock a council of war,
+presided over by Persifer Smith and counselled by Captain R. E. Lee, was
+held at the church. I have always understood that what was devised and
+finally determined upon was suggested by Captain Lee; at all events, the
+council was closed by his saying that he desired to return to General
+Scott with the decision of General Smith, and that, as it was late, the
+decision must be given as soon as possible, since General Scott wished
+him to return in time to give directions for co-operation.
+
+"During the council, and for hours after, the rain fell in torrents,
+whilst the darkness was so intense that one could move only by groping.
+To illustrate: my company again led the way to gain the Mexican rear,
+and when, after two hours of motion, light broke sufficiently to enable
+us to see a companion a few feet off, we had not moved four hundred
+yards, and the only persons present were half a dozen officers and one
+guide."
+
+Much is said of the perils of war and of the courage necessary to face
+them. But who would not rather face a firing-line of infantry in full
+daylight than to venture alone in such a dark and stormy night as was
+this upon such a perilous and threatening region as the Pedregal, in
+which a misstep in the darkness would surely lead to wounds and perhaps
+to death. Its crossing, under such conditions, might well be deemed
+impossible, had not Captain Lee succeeded, borne up by his strong sense
+of duty, in this daring enterprise.
+
+General Scott, who was very anxious to know the position of the advance
+forces, had sent out seven officers about sundown with instructions to
+the troops at Contreras, but they had all returned, completely baffled
+by the insuperable difficulties of the way. Not a man except Robert E.
+Lee had the daring, skill, and persistence to cross this region of
+volcanic knife-blades on that night of rain and gloom.
+
+The writer above quoted from says, "History gives him the credit of
+having succeeded, but it has always seemed incredible to me when I
+recollect the distance amid darkness and storm, and the dangers of the
+Pedregal which he must have traversed. Scarcely a step could be taken
+without danger of death; but that to him, a true soldier, was the
+willing risk of duty in a good cause."
+
+General Scott adds his testimony to this by saying, after mentioning the
+failure of the officers sent out by him, "But the gallant and
+indefatigable Captain Lee, of the engineers, who has been constantly
+with the operating forces, is just in from Shields, Smith, Cadwallader,
+etc., to report, and to request that a powerful diversion be made
+against the centre of the intrenched camp to-morrow morning."
+
+Scott subsequently gave the following testimony to the same effect:
+"Captain Lee, engineers, came to me from the hamlet (Contreras) with a
+message from Brigadier-General Smith, about midnight. He, having passed
+over the difficult ground by daylight, found it just possible to return
+to San Augustin in the dark,--_the greatest feat of physical and moral
+courage performed by any individual, in my knowledge, pending the
+campaign_."
+
+This praise is certainly not misapplied, when we remember that Lee
+passed over miles of the kind of ground above described in a pitch-dark
+night, without light or companion, with no guide but the wind as it
+drove the pelting rain against his face, or an occasional flash of
+lightning, and with the danger of falling into the hands of Valencia or
+Santa Anna if he should happen to stray to the right or the left. It is
+doubtful if another man in the army would have succeeded in such an
+enterprise, if any one had had the courage to attempt it. It took a man
+of the caliber which Robert E. Lee afterward proved himself to possess
+to perform such a deed of daring.
+
+We may briefly describe Lee's connection with the subsequent events. He
+bore an important part in the operations against the Mexicans, guiding
+the troops when they set out about three o'clock in the morning on a
+tedious march through darkness, rain, and mud; an elevation in the rear
+of the enemy's forces being gained about sunrise. An assault was at once
+made on the surprised Mexicans, their intrenchments were stormed, and in
+seventeen minutes after the charge began they were in full flight and
+the American flag was floating proudly above their works.
+
+Thus ended the battle of Contreras. Captain Lee was next sent to
+reconnoitre the well fortified stronghold of Coyacan, while another
+reconnaissance was made towards Churubusco, one mile distant. After Lee
+had completed his task, he was ordered to conduct Pierce's brigade by a
+third road, to a point from which an attack could be made on the enemy's
+right and rear. Shields was ordered to follow Pierce closely and take
+command of the left wing.
+
+The battle soon raged violently along the whole line. Shields, in his
+exposed position, was hard pressed and in danger of being crushed by
+overwhelming forces. In this alarming situation Captain Lee made his way
+to General Scott to report the impending disaster, and led back two
+troops of the Second Dragoons and the Rifles to the support of the left
+wing. The affair ended in the repulse of the enemy and victory for the
+Americans. Soon after a third victory was won at the Molino del Rey.
+
+Scott's army was now rapidly approaching the city of Mexico, the central
+point of all these operations, and the engineer officers, Captain Lee,
+Lieutenant Beauregard, and others, were kept busy in reconnaissances,
+which they performed with daring and success. Then quickly followed the
+boldest and most spectacular exploit of the war, the brilliant charge up
+the steep heights of Chapultepec, a hill that bristled with walls,
+mines, and batteries, and whose summit was crowned with a powerful
+fortress, swarming with confident defenders.
+
+Up this hill went the American infantry like so many panthers, bounding
+impetuously onward in face of the hot fire from the Mexican works,
+scaling crags, clambering up declivities, all with a fiery valor and
+intrepidity which nothing could check, until the heights were carried,
+the works scaled, and the enemy put to flight. In this charge, one of
+the most brilliant in American history, Captain Lee took an active part,
+till he was disabled by a severe wound and loss of blood. General Scott
+again speaks of his service here in complimentary words, saying that he
+was "as distinguished for felicitous execution as for science and
+daring," and also stating that "Captain Lee, so constantly
+distinguished, also bore important orders from me, until he fainted from
+a wound and the loss of two nights' sleep at the batteries."
+
+Scott, indeed, had an exalted opinion of Lee's remarkable military
+abilities, and Hon. Reverdy Johnson has stated that he "had heard
+General Scott more than once say that his success in Mexico was largely
+due to the skill, valor, and undaunted energy of Robert E. Lee." In
+later years Scott said, "Lee is the greatest military genius in
+America."
+
+Lee's services were not left without reward. He received successively
+the brevet rank of major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, the latter
+for his service at Chapultepec. The victory at this point was the
+culminating event of the war. Shortly afterward the Mexican capital was
+occupied, and the Mexicans soon gave up the contest as hopeless. A new
+Cortez was in their streets, who was not to be got rid of except at a
+heavy sacrifice.
+
+As to how Lee occupied himself during this period, we may quote an
+anecdote coming from General Magruder.
+
+"After the fall of Mexico, when the American army was enjoying the ease
+and relaxation which it had bought by toil and blood, a brilliant
+assembly of officers sat over their wine discussing the operations of
+the capture and indulging hopes of a speedy return to the United States.
+
+"One among them rose to propose the health of the Captain of Engineers
+who had found a way for the army into the city, and then it was remarked
+that Captain Lee was absent. Magruder was despatched to bring him to the
+hall, and, departing on his mission, at last found the object of his
+search in a remote room of the palace, busy on a map. Magruder accosted
+him and reproached him for his absence. The earnest worker looked up
+from his labors with the calm, mild gaze which was so characteristic of
+the man, and, pointing to his instruments, shook his head.
+
+"'But,' said Magruder, in his impetuous way, 'this is mere drudgery.
+Make somebody else do it, and come with me.'
+
+"'No,' was the reply; 'no, I am but doing my duty.'"
+
+This is very significant of Lee's subsequent character, in which the
+demands of duty always outweighed any thought of pleasure or relaxation,
+and in which his remarkable ability as an engineer was of inestimable
+advantage to the cause he served.
+
+
+
+
+_A CHRISTMAS DAY ON THE PLANTATION._
+
+
+Shall we not break for a time from our record of special tales and let
+fall on our pages a bit of winter sunshine from the South, the story of
+a Christmas festival in the land of the rose and magnolia? It is a story
+which has been repeated so many successive seasons in the life of the
+South that it has grown to be a part of its being, the joyous festal
+period in the workday world of the year. The writer once spent Christmas
+as a guest in the manor house of old Major Delmar, "away down South,"
+and feels like halting to tell the tale of genial merrymaking and
+free-hearted enjoyment on that gladsome occasion.
+
+On the plantation, Christmas is the beginning and end of the calendar.
+Time is measured by the days "before Christmas" or the days "since
+Christmas." There are other seasons of holiday and enjoyment, alike for
+black and white, but "The Holidays" has one meaning only: it is the
+merry Christmas time, when the work of the year past is ended and that
+of the year to come not begun, and when pleasure and jollity rule
+supreme.
+
+A hearty, whole-souled, genial host and kindly, considerate master was
+the old major, in the days of his reign, "before the war," and
+fortunate was he who received an invitation to spend the midwinter
+festival season under his hospitable roof. It was always crowded with
+well-chosen guests. The members of the family came in from near and far;
+friends were invited in wholesome numbers; an atmosphere of good-will
+spread all around, from master and mistress downward through the young
+fry and to the dusky-faced house-servants and plantation hands;
+everybody, great and small, old and young, black and white, was glad at
+heart when the merry Christmas time came round.
+
+[Illustration: COTTON FIELD ON SOUTHERN PLANTATION.]
+
+As the Yule-tide season approached the work of the plantation was
+rounded up and everything got ready for the festival. The corn was all
+in the cribs; the hog-killing was at an end, the meat salted or cured,
+the lard tried out, the sausage-meat made. The mince-meat was ready for
+the Christmas pies, the turkeys were fattened, especially the majestic
+"old gobbler," whose generous weight was to grace the great dish on the
+manor-house table. The presents were all ready,--new shoes, winter
+clothes, and other useful gifts for the slaves; less useful but more
+artistic and ornamental remembrances for the household and guests. All
+this took no small thought and labor, but it was a labor of love, for
+was it not all meant to make the coming holiday a merry, happy time?
+
+I well remember the jolly stir of it all, for my visit spread over the
+days of busy preparation. In the woods the axe was busy at work,
+cutting through the tough hickory trunks. Other wood might serve for
+other seasons, but nothing but good old hickory would do to kindle the
+Christmas fires. All day long the laden wagons creaked and rumbled along
+the roads, bringing in the solid logs, and in the wood-yards the shining
+axes rang, making the white chips fly, as the great logs were chopped
+down to the requisite length.
+
+From the distant station came the groaning ox-cart, laden with boxes
+from the far-off city, boxes full of mysterious wares, the black driver
+seeking to look as if curiosity did not rend his soul while he stolidly
+drove with his precious goods to the store-room. Here they were unloaded
+with mirthful haste, jokes passing among the laughing workers as to what
+"massa" or "mistis" was going to give them out of those heavy crates.
+The opening of these boxes added fuel to the growing excitement, as the
+well-wrapped-up parcels were taken out, in some cases openly, in others
+with a mysterious secrecy that doubled the curiosity and added to the
+season's charm.
+
+There was another feature of the work of preparation in which all were
+glad to take part, the gathering of the evergreens--red-berried holly,
+mistletoe with its glistening pearls, ground-pine, moss, and other wood
+treasures--for the decoration of parlor, hall, and dining-room, and,
+above all, of the old village church, a gleeful labor in which the whole
+neighborhood took part, and helpers came from miles away. Young men and
+blooming maidens alike joined in, some as artists in decoration, others
+as busy workers, and all as merry aids.
+
+Days rolled on while all this was being done,--the wood chopped and
+heaped away in the wood-sheds and under the back portico; the church and
+house made as green as spring-tide with their abundant decorations,
+tastefully arranged in wreaths and folds and circles, with the great
+green "Merrie Christmas" welcoming all comers from over the high parlor
+mantel. All was finished in ample time before the day of Christmas Eve
+arrived, though there were dozens of final touches still to be made,
+last happy thoughts that had to be worked out in green, red, or white.
+
+On that same day came the finish which all had wished but scarcely dared
+hoped for, a fleecy fall of snow that drifted in feathery particles down
+through the still atmosphere, and covered the ground with an inch-deep
+carpet of white. I well remember old Delmar, with his wrinkled, kindly
+face and abundant white hair, and his "By Jove, isn't that just the
+thing!" as he stood on the porch and looked with boyish glee at the
+fast-falling flakes. And I remember as well his sweet-faced wife, small,
+delicate, yet still pretty in her old age, and placidly sharing his
+enjoyment of the spectacle, rare enough in that climate, in spite of the
+tradition that a freeze and a snow-fall always came with the Christmas
+season.
+
+Christmas Eve! That was a time indeed! Parlor and hall, porch and
+wood-shed, all were well enough in their way, but out in the kitchen
+busy things were going on without which the whole festival would have
+been sadly incomplete. The stoves were heaped with hickory and glowing
+with ardent heat, their ovens crammed full of toothsome preparations,
+while about the tables and shelves clustered the mistress of the place
+and her regiment of special assistants, many of them famous for their
+skill in some branch of culinary art, their glistening faces and shining
+teeth testifying to their pride in their one special talent.
+
+Pies and puddings, cakes and tarts, everything that could be got ready
+in advance, were being drawn from the ovens and heaped on awaiting
+shelves, while a dozen hands busied themselves in getting ready the
+turkey and game and the other essentials of the coming feast that had to
+wait till the next day for their turn at the heated ovens.
+
+As the day moved on the excitement grew. Visitors were expected: the
+boys from college with their invited chums; sons and grandsons, aunts
+and cousins, and invited guests, from near and far. And not only these,
+but "hired out" servants from neighboring towns, whose terms were fixed
+from New Year to Christmas, so that they could spend the holiday week at
+home, made their appearance and were greeted with as much hilarious
+welcome in the cabins as were the white guests in the mansion. In the
+manor house itself they were welcomed like home-coming members of the
+family, as, already wearing their presents of new winter clothes, they
+came to pay their "respecs to massa and mistis."
+
+As the day went on the carriages were sent to the railroad station for
+the expected visitors, old and young, and a growing impatience testified
+to the warmth of welcome with which their arrival would be greeted. They
+are late--to be late seems a fixed feature of the situation, especially
+when the roads are heavy with unwonted snow. Night has fallen, the stars
+are out in the skies, before the listening ears on the porch first catch
+the distant creak of wheels and axles. The glow of the wood-fires on the
+hearths and of candles on table and mantel is shining out far over the
+snow when at length the carriages come in sight, laden outside and in
+with trunks and passengers, whose cheery voices and gay calls have
+already heralded their approach.
+
+What a time there is when they arrive, the boys and girls tumbling and
+leaping out and flying up the steps, to be met with warm embraces or
+genial welcomes; the elders coming more sedately, to be received with
+earnest handclasps and cordial greetings, Never was there a happier man
+than the old major when he saw his house filled with guests, and bade
+the strangers welcome with a dignified, but earnest, courtesy. But when
+the younger comers stormed him, with their glad shouts of "uncle" or
+"grandpa" or other titles of relationship, and their jovial echo of
+"Merry Christmas," the warm-hearted old fellow seemed fairly transformed
+into a boy again. Guest as I was, I felt quite taken off my feet by the
+flood of greetings, and was swept into the general overflow of high
+spirits and joyful welcomes.
+
+The frosty poll of the major and the silvery hair of his good wife were
+significant of venerable age, but there were younger people in the
+family, and with them a fair sprinkling of children. Of these the
+diminutive stockings were duly hung in a row over the big fireplace,
+waiting for the expected coming of Santa Claus, while their late wearers
+were soon huddled in bed, though with little hope of sleep in the
+excitement and sense of enchantment that surrounded them. Their
+disappearance made little void in the crowd that filled the parlor, a
+gay and merry throng, full of the spirit of fun and hearty enjoyment,
+and thoroughly genuine in their mirth, not a grain of airiness or
+ostentation marring their pleasure, though in its way it was as refined
+as in more showy circles.
+
+Morning dawned,--Christmas morning. Little chance was there for
+sleepy-heads to indulge themselves that sunny Yule-tide morn. The stir
+began long before the late sun had risen, that of the children first of
+all; stealing about like tiny, white-clad spectres, with bulging
+stockings clasped tightly in their arms; craftily opening bedroom doors
+and shouting "Christmas gift!" at drowsy slumberers, then scurrying away
+and seeking the hearth-side, whose embers yielded light enough for a
+first glance at their treasures.
+
+Soon the opening and closing of doors was heard, and one by one the
+older inmates of the mansion appeared, with warm "Merry Christmas"
+greetings, and all so merry-hearted that the breakfast-table was a
+constant round of quips and jokes, and of stories of pranks played in
+the night by representatives of Santa Claus. Where all are bent on
+having a good time, it is wonderful how little will serve to kindle
+laughter and set joy afloat.
+
+Aside from the church-going,--with the hymns and anthems sung in concert
+and the reading of the service,--the special event of the day was the
+distribution of the mysterious contents of the great boxes which had
+come days before. There were presents for every one; nobody, guest or
+member of the family, was forgotten, and whether costly, or homely but
+useful, the gifts seemed to give equal joy. It was the season of
+good-will, in which the kindly thought, not the costliness of the gift,
+was alone considered, and when all tokens of kindliness were accepted in
+the same spirit of gratefulness and enjoyment.
+
+A special feature of a Christmas on the plantation, especially "before
+the war," was the row of shining, happy black faces that swarmed up to
+the great house in the morning light, with their mellow outcry of "Merry
+Christmas, massa!" "Merry Christmas, missis!" and their hopeful looks
+and eyes bulging with expectation. Joyful was the time when their gifts
+were handed out,--useful articles of clothing, household goods, and the
+like, all gladly and hilariously received, with a joy as childlike as
+that of the little ones with their stockings. Off they tripped merrily
+through the snow with their burdens, laughing and joking, to their
+cabins, where dinners awaited them which were humble copies of that
+preparing for the guests at the master's table. Turkey was not wanting,
+varied here and there by that rare dish of raccoon or "'possum" which
+the Southern darky so highly enjoys.
+
+The great event of the mansion house was the dinner. All day till the
+dinner-hour the kitchen was full of busy preparation for this crowning
+culmination of the festival. Cooks there were in plenty, and the din of
+their busy labor and the perfume of their culinary triumphs seemed to
+pervade the whole house.
+
+When the dinner was served, it was a sight to behold. The solid old
+mahogany table groaned with the weight laid upon it. In the place of
+honor was the big gobbler, brown as a berry and done to a turn. For
+those who preferred other meat there was a huge round of venison and an
+artistically ornamented ham. These formed the backbone of the feast, but
+with and around them were every vegetable and delicacy that a Southern
+garden could provide, and tasteful dishes which it took all the
+ingenuity of a trained mistress of the kitchen to prepare. This was the
+season to test the genius of the dusky Southern cooks, and they had
+exhausted their art and skill for that day's feast. On the ample
+sideboard, shining with glass, was the abundant dessert, the cakes,
+pies, puddings, and other aids to a failing appetite that had been
+devised the day before.
+
+That this dinner was done honor to need scarcely be said. The journey
+the day before and the outdoor exercise in that day's frosty air had
+given every one an excellent appetite, and the appearance of the table
+at the end of the feast showed that the skill of Aunt Dinah and her
+assistants had been amply appreciated. After dinner came apple-toddy and
+eggnog, and the great ovation to the Christmas good cheer was at an end.
+
+But the festival was not over. Games and dances followed the feast. The
+piano-top was lifted, and light fingers rattled out lively music to
+which a hundred flying feet quickly responded. Country-dances they were,
+the lancers and quadrilles. Round dances were still looked upon in that
+rural locality as an improper innovation. The good old major, in his
+frock coat and high collar, started the ball, seizing the prettiest girl
+by the hand and leading her to the head of the room, while the others
+quickly followed in pairs. Thus, with the touch of nimble fingers on the
+ivory keys and the tap of feet and the whirl of skirts over the unwaxed
+floor, mingled with jest and mirth, the evening passed gayly on, the
+old-fashioned Virginia reel closing the ball and bringing the day's busy
+reign of festivity to an end.
+
+But the whites did not have all the fun to themselves. The colored
+folks had their parties and festivities as well, their mistresses
+superintending the suppers and decorating the tables with their own
+hands, while ladies and gentlemen from the mansion came to look on, an
+attention which was considered a compliment by the ebon guests. And the
+Christmas season rarely passed without a colored wedding, the holidays
+being specially chosen for this interesting ceremony.
+
+The dining-room or the hall of the mansion often served for this
+occasion, the master joining in matrimony the happy couple; or a colored
+preacher might perform the ceremony in the quarters. But in either case
+the event went gayly off, the family attending to get what amusement
+they could out of the occasion, while the mistress arranged the
+trousseau for the dusky bride.
+
+But it is with the one Christmas only that we are here concerned, and
+that ended as happily and merrily as it had begun, midnight passing
+before the festivities came to an end. How many happy dreams followed
+the day of joy and how many nightmares the heavy feast is more than we
+are prepared to put on record.
+
+
+
+
+_CAPTAIN GORDON AND THE RACCOON ROUGHS._
+
+
+The outbreak of the Civil War, the most momentous conflict of recent
+times, was marked by a wave of fervent enthusiasm in the States of the
+South which swept with the swiftness of a prairie fire over the land.
+Pouring in multitudes into the centres of enlistment, thousands and tens
+of thousands of stalwart men offered their services in defence of their
+cause, gathering into companies and regiments far more rapidly than they
+could be absorbed. This state of affairs, indeed, existed in the North
+as well as in the South, but it is with the extraordinary fervor of
+patriotism in the latter that we are here concerned, and especially with
+the very interesting experience of General John B. Gordon, as related by
+him in his "Reminiscences of the Civil War."
+
+When the war began Gordon, as he tells us, was practically living in
+three States. His house was in Alabama, his post-office in Tennessee,
+and he was engaged in coal-mining enterprises in the mountains of
+Georgia, the locality being where these three States meet in a point. No
+sooner was the coming conflict in the air than the stalwart mountaineers
+of the mining district became wild with eagerness to fight for the
+Confederacy, and Gordon, in whom the war spirit burned as hotly as in
+any of them, needed but a word to gather about him a company of
+volunteers. They unanimously elected him their captain, and organized
+themselves at once into a cavalry company, most of them, like so many of
+the sons of the South, much preferring to travel on horseback than on
+foot.
+
+As yet the war was only a probability, and no volunteers had been called
+for. But with the ardor that had brought them together, Gordon's company
+hastened to offer their services, only to be met with the laconic and
+disappointing reply, "No cavalry now needed."
+
+What was to be done? They did not relish the idea of giving up their
+horses, yet they wanted to fight still more than to ride, and the fear
+came upon them that if they waited till cavalry was needed they might be
+quite lost sight of in that mountain corner and the war end before they
+could take a hand in it. This notion of a quick end to the war was
+common enough at that early day, very few foreseeing the vastness of the
+coming conflict; and, dreading that they might be left out in the cold,
+the ardent mountaineers took a vote on the question, "Shall we dismount
+and go as infantry?" This motion was carried with a shout of approval,
+and away went the stalwart recruits without arms, without uniform,
+without military training, with little beyond the thirst to fight, the
+captain knowing hardly more of military tactics than his men. They had
+courage and enthusiasm, and felt that all things besides would come to
+them.
+
+As for arms suitable for modern warfare, the South at that time was
+sadly lacking in them. Men looked up their old double-barrelled
+shot-guns and squirrel rifles, and Governor Brown, of Georgia, set men
+at work making what were called "Joe Brown's pikes," being a sort of
+steel-pointed lances or bayonets on poles, like those used by pikemen in
+mediaeval warfare. In modern war they were about as useful as
+knitting-needles would have been. Governor Brown knew this well enough,
+but the volunteers were coming in such numbers and were so eager to
+fight that the pikes were made more to satisfy them than with hope of
+their being of any service in actual war.
+
+Gordon's company was among the earliest of these volunteers. Reluctantly
+leaving their horses, and not waiting for orders, they bade a quick
+adieu to all they had held dear and set off cheerily for Milledgeville,
+then the capital of Georgia. They were destined to a sad disappointment.
+On reaching Atlanta they were met by a telegram from the governor, who
+had been advised of their coming, telling them to go back home and wait
+until advised that they were wanted.
+
+This was like a shower of cold water poured on the ardor of the
+volunteers. Go home? After they had cut loose from their homes and
+started for the war? They would do nothing of the kind; they were on
+foot to fight and would not consent to be turned back by Governor Brown
+or any one else. The captain felt very much like his men. He too was an
+eager Confederate patriot, but his position was one demanding obedience
+to the constituted authorities, and by dint of much persuasion and a
+cautious exercise of his new authority he induced his men to board the
+train heading back for their homes.
+
+But the repressed anger of the rebellious mountaineers broke forth again
+when the engine-bell rang and the whistle gave its shrill starting
+signal. Some of the men rushed forward and tore out the coupling of the
+foremost car, and the engine was left in condition to make its journey
+alone. While the trainmen looked on in astonishment the mountaineers
+sprang from the train, gathered round their captain, and told him that
+they had made up their minds on the matter and were not going back. They
+had enlisted for the war and intended to go to it; if Governor Brown
+would not take them, some other governor would.
+
+There was nothing left for the young captain but to lead his
+undisciplined and rebellious company through Atlanta in search of a
+suitable camping-place. Their disregard of discipline did not trouble
+him greatly, for in his heart he sympathized with them, and he knew well
+that in their rude earnestness was the stuff of which good soldiers are
+made.
+
+Gordon gives an interesting and amusing description of the appearance
+his men made and the interest they excited in Atlanta's streets. These
+were filled with citizens, who looked upon the motley crew with a
+feeling in which approval was tempered by mirth. The spectacle of the
+march--or rather the straggle--of the mountaineers was one not soon to
+be forgotten. Utterly untrained in marching, they walked at will, no two
+keeping step, while no two were dressed alike. There were almost as many
+different hues and cuts in their raiment as there were men in their
+ranks. The nearest approach to a uniform was in their rough fur caps
+made of raccoon skins, and with the streaked and bushy tail of the
+raccoon hanging down behind.
+
+The amusement of the people was mingled with curiosity. "Are you the
+captain of this company?" some of them asked Gordon, who was rather
+proud of his men and saw nothing of the grotesque in their appearance.
+
+"I am, sir," he replied, in a satisfied tone.
+
+"What company is it, captain?"
+
+As yet the company had no name other than one which he had chosen as
+fine sounding and suitable, but had not yet mentioned to the men.
+
+"This company is the Mountain Rifles," said the captain, proudly.
+
+His pride was destined to a fall. From a tall mountaineer in the ranks
+came, in words not intended for his ears, but plainly audible, the
+disconcerting words,--
+
+"Mountain hell! We are no Mountain Rifles. We are the Raccoon Roughs."
+
+And Raccoon Roughs they continued through all the war, Gordon's
+fine-spun name being never heard of again. The feeble remnant of the
+war-scarred company which was mustered out at Appomattox was still
+known as Raccoon Roughs.
+
+Who would have them, since Governor Brown would not, was now the
+question. Telegrams sped out right and left to governors of other
+States, begging a chance for the upland patriots. An answer came at
+length from Governor Moore, of Alabama, who consented to incorporate the
+Raccoon Roughs and their captain in one of the new regiments he was
+organizing. Gordon gladly read the telegram to his eager company, and
+from their hundred throats came the first example of the "rebel yell" he
+had ever heard,--a wild and thrilling roar that was to form the
+inspiration to many a mad charge in later years.
+
+No time was lost by the gallant fellows in setting out on their journey
+to Montgomery. As they went on they found the whole country in a blaze
+of enthusiasm. No one who saw the scene would have doubted for a moment
+that the South was an ardent unit in support of its cause. By day the
+troop trains were wildly cheered as they passed; at night bonfires
+blazed on the hills and torchlight processions paraded the streets of
+the towns. As no cannon were at hand to salute the incoming volunteers,
+blacksmith anvils took their place, ringing with the blows of hammers
+swung by muscular arms. Every station was a throng of welcoming people,
+filling the air with shouts and the lively sound of fife and drum, and
+bearing banners of all sizes and shapes, on which Southern independence
+was proclaimed and the last dollar and man pledged to the cause. The
+women were out as enthusiastically as the men; staid matrons and ardent
+maids springing upon the cars, pinning blue cockades on the lapels of
+the new soldiers' coats, and singing the war-songs already in vogue, the
+favorite "Dixie" and the "Bonnie Blue Flag," in whose chorus the harsh
+voices of the Raccoon Boughs mingled with the musical tones of their
+fair admirers.
+
+Montgomery was at length reached to find it thronged with shouting
+volunteers, every man of them burning with enthusiasm. Mingled with them
+were visiting statesmen and patriotic citizens, for that city was the
+cradle of the new-born Confederacy and the centre of Southern
+enthusiasm. Every heart was full of hope, every face marked with energy,
+a prayer for the success of the cause on every lip. Never had more
+fervent and universal enthusiasm been seen. On the hills and around the
+capital cannon boomed welcome to the inflowing volunteers, wagons
+rumbled by carrying arms and ammunition to the camps, on every street
+marched untrained but courageous recruits. As for the Raccoon Roughs,
+Governor Moore kept his word, assigning them to a place in the Sixth
+Alabama Regiment, of which Captain Gordon, unexpectedly and against his
+wishes, was unanimously elected major.
+
+Such were the scenes which the coming war excited in the far South, such
+the fervid enthusiasm with which the coming conflict for Southern
+independence was hailed. So vast was the number of volunteers, in
+companies and in regiments, each eager to be accepted, that the Hon.
+Leroy P. Walker, the first Secretary of War of the Confederacy, was
+fairly overwhelmed by the flood of applicants that poured in on him day
+and night. Their captains and colonels waylaid him on the streets to
+urge the immediate acceptance of their services, and he was obliged to
+seek his office by roundabout ways to avoid the flood of importunities.
+It is said that before the Confederate government left Montgomery for
+Richmond, about three hundred and sixty thousand volunteers, very many
+of them from the best element of the Southern population, had offered to
+devote their lives and fortunes to their country's cause.
+
+Many striking examples of this outburst of enthusiasm and patriotic
+devotion might be adduced, but we must content ourselves with one, cited
+as an instance in point by General Gordon. This was the case of Mr. W.
+C. Heyward, of South Carolina, a West Point graduate and a man of
+fortune and position. The Confederate government was no sooner organized
+than Mr. Heyward sought Montgomery, tendering his services and those of
+a full regiment enlisted by him for the war. Such was the pressure upon
+the authorities, and so far beyond the power of absorption at that time
+the offers of volunteers, that Mr. Heyward sought long in vain for an
+interview with the Secretary of War. When this was at last obtained he
+found the ranks so filled that it was impossible to accept his
+regiment. Returning home in deep disappointment, but with his patriotism
+unquenched, this wealthy and trained soldier joined the Home Guards and
+died in the war as a private in the ranks.
+
+Such was the unanimity with which the sons of the South, hosts of them
+armed with no better weapons than old-fashioned flint and steel muskets,
+double-barrelled shot-guns, and long-barrelled squirrel rifles, rushed
+to the defence of their States, with a spontaneous and burning
+enthusiasm that has never been surpassed. The impulse of self-defence
+was uppermost in their hearts. It was not the question of the
+preservation of slavery that sustained them in the terrible conflict for
+four years of desolating war. It was far more that of the sovereignty of
+the States. The South maintained that the Union formed under the
+Constitution was one of consent and not of force; that each State
+retained the right to resume its independence on sufficient cause, and
+that the Constitution gave no warrant for the attempt to invade and
+coerce a sovereign State. It was for this, not to preserve slavery, that
+the people sprang as one man to arms and fought as men had rarely fought
+before.
+
+
+
+
+_STUART'S FAMOUS CHAMBERSBURG RAID._
+
+
+Of all the minor operations of the Civil War, the one most marked at
+once by daring and success was the pioneer invasion of the Northern
+States, the notable Chambersburg raid of the most famous cavalry leader
+of the Confederacy, General J. E. B. Stuart. This story of bold venture
+and phenomenal good fortune, though often told, is worth giving again in
+its interesting details.
+
+The interim after the battle of Sharpsburg or Antietam was one of rest
+and recuperation in both the armies engaged. During this period the
+cavalry of Lee's army was encamped in the vicinity of Charlestown, some
+ten miles to the southward of Harper's Ferry. Stuart's head-quarters
+were located under the splendid oaks which graced the lawn of "The
+Bower," whose proprietor, Mr. A. S. Dandridge, entertained the officers
+with an open-hearted and genial hospitality which made their stay one of
+great pleasure and enjoyment.
+
+There were warriors in plenty who would not have been hasty to break up
+that agreeable period of rest and social intercourse, but Stuart was not
+of that class. He felt that he must be up and doing, demonstrating that
+the Army of Northern Virginia had not gone to sleep; and the early days
+of October, 1862, saw a stir about head-quarters which indicated that
+something out of the ordinary was afoot. During the evening of the 8th
+the officers were engaged in a lively social intercourse with the ladies
+of "The Bower," the entertainment ending in a serenade in which the
+banjo and fiddle took chief part. Warlike affairs seemed absent from the
+thoughts of all, with the exception that the general devoted more time
+than usual to his papers.
+
+[Illustration: COLONIAL MANSION.]
+
+With the morning of the 9th a new state of affairs came on. The roads
+suddenly appeared full of well-mounted and well-appointed troopers,
+riding northward with jingling reins and genial calls, while the cheery
+sound of the bugle rang through the fresh morning air. There were
+eighteen hundred of these horsemen, selected from the best mounted and
+most trustworthy men in the corps, for they were chosen for an
+expedition that would need all their resources of alertness, activity,
+and self-control, no less a one than an invasion of Pennsylvania, a
+perilous enterprise in which the least error might expose them all to
+capture or death.
+
+On reaching the appointed place of rendezvous, at Darksville, Stuart
+issued an address in which he advised his followers that the enterprise
+in which they were to engage demanded the greatest coolness, decision,
+and courage, implicit obedience to orders, and the strictest order and
+sobriety. While the full purpose of the expedition must still be kept
+secret, he said, it was one in which success would reflect the highest
+credit on their arms. The seizure of private property in the State of
+Maryland was strictly prohibited, and it was to be done in Pennsylvania
+only under orders from the brigade commanders, individual plundering
+being strongly forbidden.
+
+These preliminaries adjusted, the march northward began, the command
+being divided into three detachments of six hundred men each, under the
+direction of General Wade Hampton, Colonel W. H. F. Lee, and Colonel W.
+E. Jones. A battery of four guns accompanied the expedition. It was with
+high expectations that the men rode forward, the secrecy of the
+enterprise giving it an added zest. Most of them had followed Stuart in
+daring rides in the earlier months of that year, and all were ready to
+follow wherever he chose to lead.
+
+Darkness had fallen when they reached Hedgesville, the point on the
+Potomac where it was designed to cross. Here they bivouacked for the
+night, a select party of some thirty men being sent across the river,
+their purpose being to capture the Federal picket on the Maryland side.
+In this they failed, but the picket was cut off from its reserve, so
+that the fugitives were not able to report the attack. Day had not
+dawned when all the men were in their saddles, and as soon as word of
+the result of the night's enterprise was received, the foremost troops
+plunged into the river and the crossing began. It was completed without
+difficulty, and Colonel Butler, leading the advance, rode briskly
+forward to the National turnpike which joins Hancock and Hagerstown.
+
+Along this road, a few hours before, General Cox's division of Federal
+infantry had passed, Butler coming so close to his rear that the
+stragglers were captured. But a heavy fog covered the valley and hid all
+things from sight, so that Cox continued his march in ignorance that a
+strong body of Confederate cavalry was so close upon his track. On
+Fairview Heights, near the road, was a Federal signal-station, which a
+squad was sent to capture. The two officers in charge of it escaped, but
+two privates and all its equipments were taken.
+
+Yet, despite all efforts at secrecy, the march had not gone on unseen. A
+citizen had observed the crossing and reported it to Captain Logan of
+the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, and the news spread with much rapidity.
+But there was no strong force of cavalry available to check the
+movement, and Stuart's braves passed steadily forward unopposed. Their
+line of march was remote from telegraph or railroad, and the
+Pennsylvania farmers, who did not dream of the war invading their
+fields, were stricken with consternation when Stuart's bold riders
+crossed Mason and Dixon's line and appeared on their soil.
+
+It was hard for them to believe it. One old gentleman, whose sorrel mare
+was taken from his cart, protested bitterly, saying that orders from
+Washington had forbidden the impressment of horses, and threatening the
+vengeance of the government on the supposed Federal raiders. A shoe
+merchant at Mercersburg completely equipped Butler's advance guard with
+foot-wear, and was sadly surprised when paid with a receipt calling on
+the Federal government to pay for damages. While nothing was disturbed
+in Maryland, horses were diligently seized in Pennsylvania, the country
+on both sides of the line of march being swept clean of its farm
+animals. Ladies on the road, however, were not molested, and the men
+were strictly prohibited from seizing private property--even from taking
+provisions for themselves.
+
+Chambersburg, the goal of the expedition, was reached on the evening of
+the 10th, after a day's hard ride. So rapid and well conducted had been
+the journey that as yet scarce one enemy had been seen; and when the
+town was called on to surrender within thirty minutes, under penalty of
+a bombardment, resistance was out of the question; there was no one
+capable of resisting, and the troops were immediately marched into the
+town, where they were drawn up in the public square.
+
+The bank was the first place visited. Colonel Butler, under orders from
+his chief, entered the building and demanded its funds. But the cashier
+assured him that it was empty of money, all its cash having been sent
+away that morning, and convinced him of this by opening the safe and
+drawers for his inspection. Telegraphic warning had evidently reached
+the town. Butler had acted with such courtesy that the cashier now
+called the ladies of his family, and bade them to prepare food for the
+men who had made the search. That the captors of the town behaved with
+like courtesy throughout we have the evidence of Colonel A. K. McClure,
+subsequently editor of the Philadelphia _Times_, who then dwelt in the
+near vicinity of Chambersburg. Though a United States officer and
+subject to arrest or parole, and though he had good opportunity to
+escape, he resolved to stay and share the fate of his fellow-townsmen.
+We quote from his description of the incidents of that night. After
+speaking of an interview he had--as one of the committee of three
+citizens to surrender the town--with General Hampton, and the courteous
+manner of the latter, he proceeds:
+
+"With sixty acres of corn in shock, and three barns full of grain,
+excellent farm and saddle horses, and a number of best blooded cattle,
+the question of property was worthy of a thought. I resolved to stay, as
+I felt so bound by the terms of surrender, and take my chances of
+discovery and parole....
+
+"I started in advance of them for my house, but not in time to save the
+horses. I confidently expected to be overrun by them, and to find the
+place one scene of desolation in the morning. I resolved, however, that
+things should be done soberly, if possible, and I had just time to
+destroy all the liquors about the house. As their pickets were all
+around me I could not get it off. I finished just in time, for they were
+soon upon me in force, and every horse in the barn, ten in all, was
+promptly equipped and mounted by a rebel cavalryman. They passed on
+towards Shippensburg, leaving a picket force on the road.
+
+"In an hour they returned with all the horses they could find, and
+dismounted to spend the night on the turnpike in front of my door. It
+was now midnight, and I sat on the porch observing their movements. They
+had my best corn-field beside them and their horses fared well. In a
+little while one entered the yard, came up to me, and after a profound
+bow, politely asked for a few coals to start a fire. I supplied him, and
+informed him as blandly as possible where he would find wood
+conveniently, as I had dim visions of camp-fires made of my palings. I
+was thanked in return, and the mild-mannered villain proceeded at once
+to strip the fence and kindle fires. Soon after a squad came and asked
+permission to get some water. I piloted them to the pump, and again
+received a profusion of thanks....
+
+"About one o'clock, half a dozen officers came to the door and asked to
+have some coffee made for them, offering to pay liberally for it in
+Confederate scrip. After concluding a treaty with them on behalf of the
+colored servants, coffee was promised them, and they then asked for a
+little bread with it. They were wet and shivering, and, seeing a bright,
+open wood-fire in the library, they asked permission to enter and warm
+themselves until their coffee should be ready, assuring me that under
+no circumstances should anything in the house be disturbed by their men.
+I had no alternative but to accept them as my guests until it might
+please them to depart, and I did so with as good grace as possible.
+
+"Once seated round the fire all reserve seemed to be forgotten on their
+part, and they opened a general conversation on politics, the war, the
+different battles, the merits of generals of both armies. They spoke
+with entire freedom upon every subject but their movement into
+Chambersburg. Most of them were men of more than ordinary intelligence
+and culture, and their demeanor was in all respects eminently courteous.
+I took a cup of coffee with them, and have never seen anything more
+keenly relished. They said that they had not tasted coffee for weeks
+before, and that then they had paid from six to ten dollars per pound
+for it. When they were through they asked whether there was any coffee
+left, and finding that there was some, they proposed to bring some more
+officers and a few privates, who were prostrated by exposure, to get
+what was left. They were, of course, as welcome as those present, and on
+they came in squads of five or more until every grain of brown coffee
+was exhausted. Then they asked for tea, and that was served to some
+twenty more.
+
+"In the mean time a subordinate officer had begged of me a little bread
+for himself and a few men, and he was supplied in the kitchen. He was
+followed by others in turn, until nearly a hundred had been supplied
+with something to eat or drink. All, however, politely asked permission
+to enter the house, and behaved with entire propriety. They did not make
+a single rude or profane remark, even to the servants. In the mean time
+the officers who had first entered the house had filled their pipes from
+the box of Killikinick on the mantel--after being assured that smoking
+was not offensive--and we had another hour of free talk on matters
+generally....
+
+"At four o'clock in the morning the welcome blast of the bugle was
+heard, and they rose hurriedly to depart. Thanking me for the
+hospitality they had received, we parted, mutually expressing the hope
+that should we ever meet again, it would be under more pleasant
+circumstances. In a few minutes they were mounted and moved into
+Chambersburg. About seven o'clock I went into town....
+
+"General Stuart sat on his horse in the centre of the town, surrounded
+by his staff, and his command was coming in from the country in large
+squads, leading their old horses and riding the new ones they had found
+in the stables hereabouts. General Stuart is of medium size, has a keen
+eye, and wears immense sandy whiskers and moustache. His demeanor to our
+people was that of a humane soldier. In several instances his men
+commenced to take private property from stores, but they were arrested
+by General Stuart's provost-guard. In a single instance only, that I
+heard of, did they enter a store by intimidating the proprietor. All of
+our stores and shops were closed, and with a very few exceptions were
+not disturbed."
+
+This was certainly not like the usual behavior of soldiers on foreign
+soil, and the incident at once illustrates the strict control which
+General Stuart held over his men and the character of the men
+themselves, largely recruited, as they were, from the higher class of
+Southern society. Though Colonel McClure evidently felt that the lion's
+claws lay concealed under the silken glove, he certainly saw no evidence
+of it in the manners of his unbidden guests.
+
+Return was now the vital question before General Stuart and his band.
+Every hour of delay added to the dangers surrounding them. Troops were
+hastily marching to cut off their retreat; cavalry was gathering to
+intercept them; scouts were watching every road and every movement.
+Worst of all was the rain, which had grown heavy in the night and was
+now falling steadily, with a threat of swelling the Potomac and making
+its fords impassable. The ride northward had been like a holiday
+excursion; what would the ride southward prove?
+
+With the dawn of day the head of the column set out on the road towards
+Gettysburg, no damage being done in the town except to railroad property
+and the ordnance store-house, which contained a large quantity of
+ammunition and other army supplies. This was set on fire, and the sound
+of the explosion, after the flames reached the powder, came to the ears
+of the vanguard when already at a considerable distance on the return
+route.
+
+At Cashtown the line turned from the road to Gettysburg and moved
+southward, horses being still diligently collected till the Maryland
+line was crossed, when all gathering of spoil ceased. Emmittsburg was
+reached about sunset, the hungry cavaliers there receiving a warm
+welcome and being supplied with food as bountifully as the means of the
+inhabitants permitted.
+
+Meanwhile, the Federal military authorities were busy with efforts to
+cut off the ventursome band. The difficulty was to know at what point on
+the Potomac a crossing would be sought, and the troops were held in
+suspense until Stuart's movements should unmask his purpose. General
+Pleasanton and his cavalry force were kept in uncertain movement, now
+riding to Hagerstown, then, on false information, going four miles
+westward, then, halted by fresh orders, turning east and riding to
+Mechanicstown, twenty miles from Hagerstown. They had marched fifty
+miles that day, eight of which were wasted, and when they halted, Stuart
+was passing within four miles of them without their knowledge. Midnight
+brought Pleasanton word of Stuart's movements, and the weary men and
+horses were put on the road again, reaching the mouth of the Monocacy
+about eight o'clock the next morning. But most of his command had
+dropped behind in that exhausting ride of seventy-eight miles within
+twenty-eight hours, only some four hundred of them being still with him.
+
+While the Federals were thus making every effort to cut off the bold
+raiders and to garrison the fords through a long stretch of the Potomac,
+Stuart was riding south from Emmittsburg, after a brief stop at that
+place, seeking to convey the impression by his movements that he
+proposed to try some of the upper and nearer fords. His real purpose was
+to seek a crossing lower down, so near to the main body of the Federals
+that they would not look for him there. Yet the dangers were growing
+with every moment, three brigades of infantry guarded the lower fords,
+Pleasanton was approaching the Monocacy, and it looked as if the bold
+raider was in a net from which there could be no escape.
+
+Stuart reached Hyattstown at daylight on the 12th, having marched
+sixty-five miles in twenty hours. The abundance of captured horses
+enabled him to make rapid changes for the guns and caissons and to
+continue the march without delay. Two miles from Hyattstown the road
+entered a large piece of woodland, which served to conceal his movements
+from observation from any signal-tower. Here a disused road was found,
+and, turning abruptly to the west, a rapid ride was made under cover.
+
+Soon after the open country was reached again a Federal squadron was
+encountered; but it was dispersed by a charge, and from this point a
+rapid ride was made for White's Ford, the nearest available crossing.
+All now seemed to depend upon whether this ford was occupied in force
+by the enemy. As Colonel Lee approached it this question was settled;
+what appeared a large body of Federal infantry was in possession, posted
+on a steep bluff quite close to the ford. It seemed impossible to
+dislodge it, but foes were closing up rapidly from behind, and if all
+was not to be lost something must be done, and done at once.
+
+To attack the men on the bluff seemed hopeless, and before doing so Lee
+tried the effect of putting a bold face on the matter. He sent a
+messenger under a flag of truce, telling the Federal commander that
+Stuart's whole force was before him, that resistance was useless, and
+calling on him to surrender. If this was not done in fifteen minutes a
+charge in force would be made. The fifteen minutes passed. No sign of
+yielding appeared. Lee, with less than a forlorn hope of success, opened
+fire with his guns and ordered his men to advance. He listened for the
+roar of the Federal guns in reply, when a wild shout rang along the
+line.
+
+"They are retreating! Hurrah! they are retreating!"
+
+Such was indeed the case. The infantry on the bluff were marching away
+with flying flags and beating drums, abandoning their strong position
+without a shot. A loud Confederate cheer followed them as they marched.
+No shot was fired to hinder them. Their movement was the salvation of
+Stuart's corps, for it left an open passage to the ford, and safety was
+now assured.
+
+But there was no time to lose. Pleasanton and his men might be on them
+at any minute. Other forces of the enemy were rapidly closing in. Haste
+was the key to success. One piece of artillery was hurried over the dry
+bed of the canal, across the river ford, and up the Virginia bluff,
+where it was posted to command the passage. Another gun was placed so as
+to sweep the approaches on the Maryland side, and soon a stream of
+horsemen were rapidly riding through the shallow water to Virginia and
+safety. With them went a long train of horses captured from Pennsylvania
+farms.
+
+Up came the others and took rapidly to the water, Pelham meanwhile
+facing Pleasanton with a single gun, which was served with all possible
+rapidity. But there was one serious complication. Butler with the
+rear-guard had not yet arrived, and no one knew just where he was.
+Stuart, in deep concern for his safety, sent courier after courier to
+hasten his steps, but no tidings came back.
+
+"I fear it is all up with Butler," he said, despondently. "I cannot get
+word of him, and the enemy is fast closing in on his path."
+
+"Let me try to reach him," said Captain Blackford, to whom the general
+had spoken.
+
+After a moment's hesitation Stuart replied,--
+
+"All right! If we don't meet again, good-by, old fellow! You run a
+desperate chance of being raked in."
+
+Away went Blackford at full speed, passing the lagging couriers one by
+one, and at length reaching Butler, whom he found halted and facing the
+enemy, in complete ignorance of what was going on at the front. He had
+his own and a North Carolina regiment and one gun.
+
+"We are crossing the ford, and Stuart orders you up at once," shouted
+Blackford. "Withdraw at a gallop or you will be cut off."
+
+"Very good," said Butler, coolly. "But how about that gun? I fear the
+horses can't get it off in time."
+
+"Let the gun go. Save yourself and your men."
+
+Butler did not see it in that light. Whip and spur were applied to the
+weary artillery horses, and away they went down the road, whirling the
+gun behind them, and followed at a gallop by Butler and his men. As they
+turned towards the ford they were saluted by the fire of a Federal
+battery. Further on the distant fire of infantry from down the river
+reached them with spent balls. Ten minutes later and the rear-guard
+would have been lost. As it was, a wild dash was made across the stream
+and soon the last man stood on Virginia soil. The expedition was at an
+end, and the gallant band was on its native heath once more.
+
+Thus ended Stuart's famous two days' ride. The first crossing of the
+Potomac had been on the morning of the 10th. The final crossing was on
+the morning of the 12th. Within twenty-seven hours he had ridden eighty
+miles, from Chambersburg to White's Ford, with his artillery and
+captured horses, and had crossed the Potomac under the eyes of much
+superior numbers, his only losses being the wounding of one man and the
+capture of two who had dropped out of the line of march--a remarkable
+record of success, considering the great peril of the expedition.
+
+The gains of the enterprise were about twelve hundred horses, but the
+great strain of the ride forced the men to abandon many of their own.
+Stuart lost two of his most valued animals--Suffolk and Lady
+Margrave--through the carelessness of his servant Bob, who, overcome by
+too free indulgence in ardent spirits, fell out of the line to take a
+nap, and ended by finding himself and his horses in hostile hands.
+
+The value of the property destroyed at Chambersburg, public and
+railroad, was estimated at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; a few
+hundred sick and wounded soldiers were paroled, and about thirty
+officials and prominent citizens were brought off as prisoners, to be
+held as hostages for imprisoned citizens of the Confederacy.
+
+On the whole, it was eminently a dare-devil enterprise of the type of
+the knightly forays of old, its results far less in importance than the
+risk of loss to the Confederacy had that fine body of cavalry been
+captured. Yet it was of the kind of ventures calculated to improve the
+morale of an army, and inspire its men to similar deeds of daring and
+success. Doubtless it gave the cue to Morgan's later and much less
+fortunate invasion of the North.
+
+
+
+
+_FORREST'S CHASE OF THE RAIDERS._
+
+
+Foremost in dash and daring among the cavalry leaders of the Confederacy
+was Lieutenant-General Nathan B. Forrest, a hero in the saddle, some of
+whose exploits were like the marvels of romance. There is one of his
+doings in particular which General Lord Wolseley says "reads like a
+romance." This was his relentless pursuit and final capture of the
+expedition under Colonel Abel D. Streight, one of the most brilliant
+deeds in the cavalry history of the war. Accepting Wolseley's opinion,
+we give the story of this exploit.
+
+In General Rosecrans's campaign against General Bragg, it was a matter
+of importance to him to cut the railroad lines and destroy bridges,
+arsenals, etc., in Bragg's rear. He wished particularly to cut the
+railroads leading from Chattanooga to Atlanta and Nashville, and thus
+prevent the free movement of troops. The celebrated Andrews expedition
+of scouts, described in a previous volume of this series, failed in an
+effort to do this work. Colonel Streight, a stalwart, daring cavalry
+leader, made a second effort to accomplish it, and would doubtless have
+succeeded but for the bulldog-like persistence with which "that devil,
+Forrest" clung to his heels.
+
+Colonel Streight's expedition was made up of four regiments of mounted
+infantry and two companies of cavalry, about two thousand men in all.
+Rome, Georgia, an important point on the railroad from Chattanooga to
+Atlanta, was its objective point. The route to be traversed included a
+barren, mountainous track of country, chosen from the fact that its
+sparse population was largely composed of Union sympathizers. But the
+road was likely to be so steep and rocky, and forage so scarce, that
+mules were chosen instead of horses for the mounts, on account of their
+being more surefooted and needing less food.
+
+The expedition was sent by steamboat from Nashville, Tennessee, to
+Eastport, Alabama, which place was reached on the 19th of April, 1863.
+This movement was conducted with all possible secrecy, and was masked by
+an expedition under General Dodge, at the head of a force of some ten
+thousand men. The unfortunate feature about the affair was the mules. On
+their arrival at Eastport these animals, glad to get on solid land
+again, set up a bray that trumpeted the story of their arrival for miles
+around, and warned the cavalry of General Rodney, who had been
+skirmishing with General Dodge, that new foes were in the field.
+
+When night fell some of Rodney's cavalry lads crept into the corral, and
+there, with yells and hoots and firing of guns and pistols, they
+stampeded nearly four hundred of the mules. This caused a serious delay,
+only two hundred of the mules being found after two day's search, while
+more time was lost in getting others. From Eastport the expedition
+proceeded to Tuscumbia, General Rodney stubbornly resisting the advance.
+Here a careful inspection was made, and all unfit men left out, so that
+about fifteen hundred picked men, splendidly armed and equipped,
+constituted the final raiding force.
+
+But the delay gave time for the news that some mysterious movement was
+afoot to spread far and wide, and Forrest led his corps of hard riders
+at top-speed from Tennessee to the aid of Rodney in checking it. On the
+27th he was in Dodge's front, helping Rodney to give him what trouble he
+could, though obliged to fall back before his much greater force.
+
+Streight was already on his way. He had set out at midnight of the 26th,
+in pouring rain and over muddy roads. At sunset of the next day he was
+thirty-eight miles from the starting-point. On the afternoon of the 28th
+the village of Moulton was reached without trace of an enemy in front or
+rear. The affair began to look promising. Next morning the mule brigade
+resumed its march, heading east towards Blountsville.
+
+Not until the evening of the 28th did Forrest hear of this movement.
+Then word was brought him that a large body of Union troops had passed
+Mount Hope, riding eastward towards Moulton. The quick-witted leader
+guessed in a moment what all this meant, and with his native energy
+prepared for a sharp pursuit. In all haste he picked out a suitable
+force, had several days' rations cooked for the men and corn gathered
+for the horses, and shortly after midnight was on the road, leaving what
+men he could spare to keep Dodge busy and prevent pursuit. His command
+was twelve hundred strong, the most of them veterans whose metal had
+been tried on many a hard-fought field, and who were ready to follow
+their daring leader to the death, reckless and hardy "irregulars,"
+brought up from childhood to the use of horses and arms, the sturdy sons
+of the back country.
+
+Streight was now in the ugly mountain country through which his route
+lay, and was advancing up Sand Mountain by a narrow, stony, winding
+road. He had two days the start of his pursuer, but with such headlong
+speed did Forrest ride, that at dawn on the 30th, when the Federals were
+well up the mountain, the boom of a cannon gave them the startling
+notice that an enemy was in pursuit. Forrest had pushed onward at his
+usual killing pace, barely drawing rein until Streight's camp-fires came
+in sight, when his men lay down by their horses for a night's rest.
+
+Captain William Forrest, a brother of the general, had been sent ahead
+to reconnoitre, and in the early morning was advised of the near
+presence of the enemy by as awful a noise as human ears could well bear,
+the concentrated breakfast bray of fifteen hundred hungry mules.
+
+The cannon-shot which had warned Colonel Streight that an enemy was
+near, was followed by the yell of Captain Forrest's wild troopers, as
+they charged hotly up the road. Their recklessness was to be severely
+punished, for as they came headlong onward a volley was poured into them
+from a ridge beside the road. Their shrewd opponent had formed an
+ambuscade, into which they blindly rode, with the result that Captain
+Forrest fell from his horse with a crushed thigh-bone, and many of his
+men and horses were killed and wounded before they could get out of the
+trap into which they had ridden.
+
+The attack was followed up by Forrest's whole force. Edmonson's men,
+dismounted, advanced within a hundred yards of the Federal line, Roddy
+and Julian rode recklessly forward in advance, and Forrest's escort and
+scouts occupied the left. It was a precipitous movement, which
+encountered a sudden and sharp reverse, nearly the whole line being met
+with a murderous fire and driven back. Then the Federals sprang forward
+in a fierce charge, driving the Confederates back in confusion over
+their own guns, two of which were captured with their caissons and
+ammunition.
+
+The loss of his guns threw Forrest into a violent rage, in which he made
+the air blue with his forcible opinions. Those guns must be taken back,
+he swore, at the risk of all their lives. He bade every man to dismount
+and tie their horses to saplings--there were to be no horse-holders in
+this emergency. Onward swept the avengers, but to their surprise and
+chagrin only a small rear-guard was found, who fled on their mules after
+a few shots. Streight, with the captured guns, was well on the road
+again, and Forrest's men were obliged to go back, untie their horses,
+and get in marching order, losing nearly an hour of precious time.
+
+From this period onward the chase was largely a running fight. Forrest's
+orders to his men were to "shoot at everything blue and keep up the
+scare." Streight's purpose was to make all haste forward to Rome,
+outriding his pursuers, and do what damage he could. But he had to deal
+with the "Rough Riders" of the Confederate army, men sure to keep on his
+track day and night, and give him no rest while a man on mule-back
+remained.
+
+Forrest's persistence was soon shown. His advance troopers came up with
+the enemy again at Hog's-back ridge an hour before dark and at once
+charged right and left. They had their own guns to face, Streight
+keeping up a hot fire with the captured pieces till the ammunition was
+exhausted, when, being short of horses, he spiked and abandoned the
+guns.
+
+The fight thus begun was kept up vigorously till ten o'clock at night,
+and was as gallant and stubbornly contested as any of the minor
+engagements of the war, the echoes of that mountain desert repeating
+most unwonted sounds. General Forrest seemed everywhere, and so
+fearlessly exposed himself that one horse was killed and two were
+wounded under him, though he escaped unhurt. In the end Colonel Streight
+was taught that he could not drive off his persistent foe, and took to
+the road again, but twice more during the night he was attacked, each
+time repelling his foes by an ambuscade.
+
+About ten o'clock the next morning Blountsville was reached. The
+Federals were now clear of the mountains and in an open and fertile
+country where food and horses were to be had. Both were needed; many of
+the mules had given out, leaving their riders on foot, while mules and
+men alike were short of food. It was the first of May, and the village
+was well filled with country people, who saw with dismay the Yankee
+troopers riding in and confiscating all the horses on which they could
+lay hands.
+
+Streight now decided to get on with pack-mules, and the wagons were
+bunched and set on fire, the command leaving them burning as it moved
+on. They did not burn long. Forrest's advance came on with a yell, swept
+the Federal rear-guard from the village, and made all haste to
+extinguish the flames, the wagons furnishing them a rich and much-needed
+supply. Few horses or mules, however, were to be had, as Streight's men
+had swept the country as far as they could reach on both sides of the
+road.
+
+On went the raiders and on came their pursuers, heading east, keeping in
+close touch, and skirmishing briskly as they went, for ten miles more.
+This brought them to a branch of the Black Warrior River. The ford
+reached by the Federals was rocky, and they had their foe close in the
+rear, but by an active use of skirmishers and of his two howitzers
+Straight managed to get his command across and to hold the ford until a
+brief rest was taken.
+
+The Yankee troopers were not long on the road again before Forrest was
+over the stream, and the hot chase was on once more. The night that
+followed was the fourth night of the chase, which had been kept up with
+only brief snatches of rest and with an almost incessant contest. On the
+morning of the 2d the skirmishing briskly began again, Forrest with an
+advance troop attacking the Federal rear-guard, and fighting almost
+without intermission during the fifteen miles ride to Black Creek.
+
+Here was a deep and sluggish stream walled in with very high banks. It
+was spanned at the road by a wooden bridge, over which Colonel Streight
+rushed his force at top speed, and at once set the bridge on fire,
+facing about with his howitzers to check pursuit. One man was left on
+the wrong side of the stream, and was captured by Forrest himself as he
+dashed up to the blazing bridge at the head of his men.
+
+Colonel Streight might now reasonably believe that he had baffled his
+foe for a time, and might safely take the repose so greatly needed. The
+stream was said to be too deep to ford, and the nearest bridge, two
+miles away, was a mere wreck, impassable for horses. Forrest was in a
+quandary as to how he should get over that sluggish but deep ditch, and
+stood looking at it in dismay. He was obliged to wait in any event, for
+his artillery and the bulk of his command had been far outridden. In
+this dilemma the problem was solved for him by a country girl who lived
+near by, Emma Sanson by name. Near the burning bridge was a little
+one-storied, four-roomed house, in which dwelt the widow Sanson and her
+two daughters. She had two sons in the service, and the three women,
+like many in similar circumstances in the Confederacy, were living as
+best they could.
+
+The girl Emma watched with deep interest the rapid flight, the burning
+of the bridge, and the headlong pursuit of the Confederate troop. Seeing
+Forrest looking with a dubious countenance at the dark stream, she came
+up and accosted him.
+
+"You are after those Yankees?" she asked.
+
+"I should think so," said Forrest, "and would give my best hat to get
+across this ugly ditch."
+
+"I think you can do it," she replied.
+
+"Aha! my good girl. That is news worth more than my old hat. How is it
+to be done? Let me know at once."
+
+"I know a place near our farm where I have often seen cows wade across
+when the water was low. If you will lend me a horse to put my saddle on,
+I will show you the place."
+
+"There's no time for that; get up behind me," cried Forrest.
+
+In a second's time the alert girl was on the horse behind him. As they
+were about to ride off her mother came out and asked, in a frightened
+tone, where she was going. Forrest explained and promised to bring her
+back safe, and in a moment more was off. The ride was not a long one,
+the place sought being soon reached. Here the general and his guide
+quickly dismounted, the girl leading down a ravine to the water's edge,
+where Forrest examined the depth and satisfied himself that the place
+might prove fordable.
+
+Mounting again, they rode back, now under fire, for a sharp engagement
+was going on across the creek between the Confederates and the Federal
+rear-guard. Forrest was profuse in his thanks as he left the
+quick-witted girl at her home. He gave her as reward a horse and also
+wrote her a note of thanks, and asked her to send him a lock of her
+hair, which he would be glad to have and cherish in memory of her
+service to the cause.
+
+The Lost Ford, as the place has since been called, proved available, the
+horses finding foothold, while the ammunition was taken from the
+caissons and carried across by the horsemen. This done, the guns and
+empty caissons were pulled across by ropes, and soon all was in
+readiness to take up the chase again.
+
+Colonel Streight had reached Gadsden, four miles away, when to his
+surprise and dismay he heard once more the shouts of his indefatigable
+foemen as they rode up at full speed. It seemed as if nothing could stop
+the sleuth-hounds on his track. For the succeeding fifteen miles there
+was a continual skirmish, and, when Streight halted to rest, the fight
+became so sharp that his weary men were forced to take to the road
+again. Rest was not for them, with Forrest in their rear. Streight here
+tried for the last time his plan of ambuscading his enemy, but the
+wide-awake Forrest was not to be taken in as before, and by a flank
+movement compelled the weary Federals to resume their march.
+
+All that night they rode despondently on, crossing the Chattanooga River
+on a bridge which they burned behind them, and by sunrise reaching Cedar
+Bluff, twenty-eight miles from Gadsden. At nine o'clock they stopped to
+feed, and the worn-out men had no sooner touched the ground than they
+were dead asleep. Forrest had taken the opportunity to give his men a
+night's rest, detaching two hundred of them to follow the Federals and
+"devil them all night." Streight had also detached two hundred of his
+best-mounted men, bidding them to march to Rome and hold the bridge at
+that place. But Forrest had shrewdly sent a fast rider to the same
+place, and when Russell got up he found the bridge strongly held and his
+enterprise hopeless.
+
+When May 3 dawned the hot chase was near its end. Forrest had given his
+men ten hours' sleep while Streight's worn-out men were plodding
+desperately on. This all-night's ride was a fatal error for the
+Federals, and was a main cause of their final defeat. The short distance
+they had made was covered by Forrest's men, fresh from their night's
+sleep, in a few hours, and at half-past nine, while the Federals were at
+breakfast, the old teasing rattle of small-arms called them into line
+again. About the same time word came from Russell that he could not
+take the bridge at Rome, and news was received that a flanking movement
+of Confederates had cut in between Rome and the Yankee troopers.
+
+The affair now looked utterly desperate, but the brave Streight rallied
+his men on a ridge in a field and skirmishing began. So utterly
+exhausted, however, were the Federals that many of them went to sleep as
+they lay in line of battle behind the ridge while looking along their
+gun barrels with finger on trigger.
+
+The game was fairly up. Forrest sent in a flag of truce, with a demand
+for surrender. Streight asked for an interview, which was readily
+granted.
+
+"What terms do you offer?" asked Streight.
+
+"Immediate surrender. Your men to be treated as prisoners of war,
+officers to retain their side-arms and personal property."
+
+During the conversation Streight asked, "How many men have you?"
+
+"Enough here to run over you, and a column of fresh troops between you
+and Rome."
+
+In reality Forrest had only five hundred men left him, the remainder
+having been dropped from point to point as their horses gave out and no
+new mounts were to be had. But the five hundred made noise enough for a
+brigade, it being Forrest's purpose to conceal the weakness of his
+force.
+
+As they talked a section of the artillery of the pursuers came in sight
+within a short range. Colonel Streight objected to this, and Forrest
+gave orders that the guns must come no nearer. But the artillerymen
+moved around a neighboring hill as if putting several small batteries
+into position.
+
+"Have you many guns, general?" asked Streight.
+
+"Enough to blow you all to pieces before an hour," was the grandiloquent
+reply.
+
+Colonel Streight looked doubtfully at the situation, not knowing how
+much to believe of what he saw and heard. After some more words he
+said,--
+
+"I cannot decide without consulting my officers."
+
+"As you please," said Forrest, with a sublime air of indifference. "It
+will soon be over, one way or the other."
+
+Streight had not all the fight taken out of him yet, but he found all
+his officers in favor of a surrender and felt obliged to consent. The
+men accordingly were bidden to stack their arms and were marched back
+into a field, Forrest managing as soon as he conveniently could to get
+his men between them and their guns. The officers were started without
+delay and under a strong escort for Rome, twenty miles away. On their
+route thither they met Captain Russell returning and told him of what
+had taken place. With tears in his eyes he surrendered his two hundred
+men.
+
+Thus ended one of the most striking achievements of the Civil War.
+Forrest's relentless and indefatigable pursuit, his prompt overcoming of
+the difficulties of the way, and his final capture of Streight's men
+with less than half their force, have been commended by military critics
+as his most brilliant achievement and one of the most remarkable
+exploits in the annals of warfare.
+
+The outcome of Colonel Streight's raid to the South was singularly like
+that of General Morgan's famous raid to the North. Morgan's capture,
+imprisonment, and escape were paralleled in Streight's career. Sent to
+Richmond, and immured in Libby Prison, he and four of his officers took
+part in the memorable escape by a tunnel route in February, 1864. In his
+report, published after his escape, he blames his defeat largely on the
+poor mules, and claims that Forrest's force outnumbered him three to
+one. It is not unlikely that he believed this, judging from the
+incessant trouble they had given him, but the truth seems established
+that at the surrender Forrest had less than half the available force of
+his foe.
+
+
+
+
+_EXPLOITS OF A BLOCKADE-RUNNER._
+
+
+There were no more daring adventures and hair-breadth escapes during the
+Civil War than those encountered in running the blockade, carrying
+sadly-needed supplies into the ports of the Confederacy, and returning
+with cargoes of cotton and other valuable products of the South. There
+was money in it for the successful, much money; but, on the other hand,
+there was danger of loss of vessel and cargo, long imprisonment, perhaps
+death, and only men of unusual boldness and dare-devil recklessness were
+ready to engage in it. The stories told by blockade-runners are full of
+instances of desperate risk and thrilling adventure. As an example of
+their more ordinary experience, we shall give, from Thomas E. Taylor's
+"Running the Blockade," the interesting account of his first run to
+Wilmington harbor.
+
+This town, it must be premised, lies some sixteen miles up Cape Fear
+River, at whose principal entrance the formidable Fort Fisher obliged
+the blockading fleet to lie out of the range of its guns, and thus gave
+some opportunity for alert blockade-runners to slip in. Yet this was far
+from safe and easy. Each entrance to the river was surrounded by an
+in-shore squadron of Federal vessels, anchored in close order during
+the day, and at night weighing anchor and patrolling from shore to
+shore. Farther out was a second cordon of cruisers, similarly alert, and
+beyond these again gunboats were stationed at intervals, far enough out
+to sight by daybreak any vessels that crossed Wilmington bar at high
+tide in the night. Then, again, there were free cruisers patrolling the
+Gulf Stream, so that to enter the river unseen was about as difficult as
+any naval operation could well be. With this preliminary statement of
+the situation, let us permit Mr. Taylor to tell his story.
+
+"The 'Banshee's' engines proved so unsatisfactory that, under ordinary
+conditions, nine or ten knots was all we could get out of her; she was
+therefore not permitted to run any avoidable risks, and to this I
+attribute her extraordinary success where better boats failed. As long
+as daylight lasted a man was never out of the cross-trees, and the
+moment a sail was seen the 'Banshee's' stern was turned to it till it
+was dropped below the horizon. The look-out man, to quicken his eyes,
+had a dollar for every sail he sighted, and if it were seen from the
+deck first he was fined five. This may appear excessive, but the
+importance in blockade-running of seeing before you are seen is too
+great for any chance to be neglected; and it must be remembered that the
+pay of ordinary seamen for each round trip in and out was from L50 to
+L60.
+
+"Following these tactics, we crept noiselessly along the shores of the
+Bahamas, invisible in the darkness, and ran on unmolested for the first
+two days out [from the port of Nassau], though our course was often
+interfered with by the necessity of avoiding hostile vessels; then came
+the anxious moment on the third, when, her position having been taken at
+noon to see if she was near enough to run under the guns of Fort Fisher
+before the following daybreak, it was found there was just time, but
+none to spare for accidents or delay. Still, the danger of lying out
+another day so close to the blockaded port was very great, and rather
+than risk it we resolved to keep straight on our course and chance being
+overtaken by daylight before we were under the fort.
+
+"Now the real excitement began, and nothing I have ever experienced can
+compare with it. Hunting, pig-sticking, steeple-chasing, big-game
+shooting, polo--I have done a little of each--all have their thrilling
+moments, but none can approach 'running a blockade;' and perhaps my
+readers may sympathize with my enthusiasm when they consider the dangers
+to be encountered, after three days of constant anxiety and little
+sleep, in threading our way through a swarm of blockaders, and the
+accuracy required to hit in the nick of time the mouth of a river only
+half a mile wide, without lights and with a coast-line so low and
+featureless that, as a rule, the first intimation we had of its nearness
+was the dim white line of the surf.
+
+"There were, of course, many different plans of getting in, but at this
+time the favorite dodge was to run up some fifteen or twenty miles to
+the north of Cape Fear, so as to round the northernmost of the
+blockaders, instead of dashing right through the inner squadron; then to
+creep down close to the surf till the river was reached; and this was
+the course the 'Banshee' intended to adopt.
+
+"We steamed cautiously on until nightfall; the night proved dark, but
+dangerously clear and calm. No lights were allowed--not even a cigar;
+the engine-room hatch-ways were covered with tarpaulins, at the risk of
+suffocating the unfortunate engineers and stokers in the almost
+insufferable atmosphere below. But it was absolutely imperative that not
+a glimmer of light should appear. Even the binnacle was covered, and the
+steersman had to see as much of the compass as he could through a
+conical aperture carried almost up to his eyes.
+
+"With everything thus in readiness, we steamed on in silence, except for
+the stroke of the engines and the beat of the paddle-floats, which in
+the calm of the night seemed distressingly loud; all hands were on deck,
+crouching behind the bulwarks, and we on the bridge, namely, the
+captain, the pilot, and I, were straining our eyes into the darkness.
+Presently Burroughs made an uneasy movement.
+
+"'Better get a cast of the lead, captain,' I heard him whisper.
+
+"A muttered order down the engine-room tube was Steele's reply, and the
+'Banshee' slowed, and then stopped. It was an anxious moment while a dim
+figure stole into the fore-chains,--for there is always a danger of
+steam blowing off when engines are unexpectedly stopped, and that would
+have been enough to betray our presence for miles around. In a minute or
+two came back the report, 'Sixteen fathoms--sandy bottom with black
+specks.'
+
+"'We are not in as far as I thought, captain,' said Burroughs, 'and we
+are too far to the southward. Port two points and go a little faster.'
+
+"As he explained, we must be well to the north of the speckled bottom
+before it was safe to head for the shore, and away we went again. In
+about an hour Burroughs quietly asked for another sounding. Again she
+was gently stopped, and this time he was satisfied.
+
+"'Starboard, and go ahead easy,' was the order now, and as we crept in
+not a sound was heard but that of the regular beat of the paddle-floats,
+still dangerously loud in spite of our snail's pace. Suddenly Burroughs
+gripped my arm,--
+
+"'There's one of them, Mr. Taylor,' he whispered, 'on the starboard
+bow.'
+
+"In vain I strained my eyes to where he pointed, not a thing could I
+see; but presently I heard Steele say, beneath his breath, 'All right,
+Burroughs, I see her. Starboard a little, steady!' was the order passed
+aft.
+
+"A moment afterward I could make out a long, low black object on our
+starboard side, lying perfectly still. Would she see us? that was the
+question; but no, though we passed within a hundred yards of her we were
+not discovered, and I breathed again. Not very long after we had
+dropped her, Burroughs whispered,--
+
+"'Steamer on the port bow.'
+
+"And another cruiser was made out close to us.
+
+"'Hard-a-port,' said Steele, and round she swung, bringing our friend
+upon our beam. Still unobserved, we crept quietly on, when all at once a
+third cruiser shaped itself out of the gloom right ahead, and steaming
+slowly across our bows.
+
+"'Stop her,' said Steele, in a moment; and as we lay like dead our enemy
+went on and disappeared in the darkness. It was clear there was a false
+reckoning somewhere, and that instead of rounding the head of the
+blockading line we were passing through the very centre of it. However,
+Burroughs was now of opinion that we must be inside the squadron, and
+advocated making the land. So 'slow ahead' we went again, until the
+low-lying coast and the surf-line became dimly visible. Still we could
+not tell where we were, and, as time was getting on alarmingly near
+dawn, the only thing to do was to creep down along the surf as close in
+and as fast as we dared. It was a great relief when we suddenly heard
+Burroughs say, 'It's all right. I see the Big Hill.'
+
+"The 'Big Hill' was a hillock about as high as a full-grown oak, but it
+was the most prominent feature for miles on that dreary coast, and
+served to tell us exactly how far we were from Fort Fisher. And
+fortunate it was for us we were so near. Daylight was already breaking,
+and before we were opposite the fort we could make out six or seven
+gunboats, which steamed rapidly towards us and angrily opened fire.
+Their shots were soon dropping close around us, an unpleasant sensation
+when you know you have several tons of gunpowder under your feet.
+
+"To make matters worse, the North Breaker Shoal now compelled us to haul
+off the shore and steam farther out. It began to look ugly for us, when
+all at once there was a flash from the shore followed by a sound that
+came like music to our ears,--that of a shell whirring over our heads.
+It was Fort Fisher, wide awake and warning the gunboats to keep their
+distance. With a parting broadside they steamed sulkily out of range,
+and in half an hour we were safely over the bar.
+
+"A boat put off from the fort, and then--well, it was the days of
+champagne cocktails, not whiskeys and sodas, and one did not run a
+blockade every day. For my part I was mightily proud of my first attempt
+and my baptism of fire. Blockade-running seemed the pleasantest and most
+exhilarating of pastimes. I did not know then what a very serious
+business it could be."
+
+On the return trip the "Banshee" was ballasted with tobacco and laden
+with cotton, three tiers of it even on deck. She ran impudently straight
+through the centre of the cordon, close by the flag-ship, and got
+through the second cordon in safety, though chased by a gunboat. When
+Nassau was reached and profits summed up, they proved to amount to L50
+a ton on the war material carried in, while the tobacco carried out
+netted L70 a ton for a hundred tons and the cotton L50 a bale for five
+hundred bales. It may be seen that successful blockade-running paid.
+
+It may be of interest to our readers to give some other adventures in
+which the "Banshee" figured. On one of her trips, when she was creeping
+down the land about twelve miles above Fort Fisher, a cruiser appeared
+moving along about two hundred yards from shore. An effort was made to
+pass her inside, hoping to be hidden by the dark background of the land.
+But there were eyes open on the cruiser, and there came the ominous
+hail, "Stop that steamer or I will sink you!"
+
+"We haven't time to stop," growled Steele, and shouted down the
+engine-room tube to "pile on the coals." There was nothing now but to
+run and hope for luck. The cruiser at once opened fire, and as the
+"Banshee" began to draw ahead a shot carried away her foremast and a
+shell exploded in her bunkers. Grape and canister followed, the crew
+escaping death by flinging themselves flat on the deck. Even the
+steersman, stricken by panic, did the same, and the boat swerved round
+and headed straight for the surf. A close shave it was as Taylor rushed
+aft, clutched the wheel, and just in time got her head off the land.
+Before they got in two other cruisers brought them under fire, but they
+ran under Fort Fisher in safety.
+
+One more adventure of the "Banshee" and we shall close. It was on her
+sixth trip out. She had got safely through the fleet and day had dawned.
+All was joy and relaxation when Erskine, the engineer, suddenly
+exclaimed: "Mr. Taylor, look astern!" and there, not four miles away,
+and coming down under sail and steam, was a large side-wheel steamer,
+left unseen by gross carelessness on the part of the look-out.
+
+Erskine rushed below, and soon volumes of smoke were pouring from the
+funnels, but it was almost too late, for the chaser was coming up so
+fast that the uniformed officers on her bridge could be distinctly seen.
+
+"This will never do," said Steele, and ordered the helm to be altered so
+as to bring the ship up to the wind. It took them off the course to
+Nassau, but it forced their pursuer to take in her sails, and an
+exciting chase under steam right into the wind's eye began. Matters at
+length became so critical that no hope remained but to lighten the boat
+by throwing overboard her deck-load of cotton--a sore necessity in view
+of the fact that the bales which went bobbing about on the waves were
+worth to them L50 or L60 apiece.
+
+In clearing out the bales they cleared out something more, a runaway
+slave, who had been standing wedged between two bales for at least
+forty-eight hours. He received an ovation on landing at Nassau, but they
+were obliged to pay four thousand dollars to his owner on their return
+to Wilmington.
+
+The loss of the cotton lightened the boat and it began to gain in the
+race, both craft plunging into the great seas that had arisen, yet
+neither slackening speed. A fresh danger arose when the bearings of the
+engine became overheated from the enormous strain put upon them. It was
+necessary to stop, despite the imminence of the chase, and to loosen the
+bearings and feed them liberally with salad oil mixed with gunpowder
+before they were in working order again. Thus, fifteen weary hours
+passed away, and nightfall was at hand when the chaser, then only five
+miles astern, turned and gave up the pursuit. It was learned afterward
+that her stokers were dead beat.
+
+But port was still far away, they having been chased one hundred and
+fifty miles out of their course, and fuel was getting perilously low. At
+the end of the third day the last coal was used, and then everything
+that would burn was shoved into the furnaces,--main-mast, bulwarks, deck
+cabin, with cotton and turpentine to aid,--and these only sufficed to
+carry them into a Bahama Island, still sixty miles from Nassau. They
+were not there two hours before they saw a Federal steamer glide slowly
+past, eying them as the fox eyed the grapes.
+
+The adventure was still not at its end. Mr. Taylor hired a schooner in
+the harbor to go to Nassau and bring back a cargo of coal, he and Murray
+Aynsely, a passenger, going in it. But the night proved a terrible one,
+a hurricane rising, and the crew growing so terrified by the fury of the
+gale and the vividness of the lightning that they nearly wrecked the
+schooner on the rocks. When the weather moderated the men refused to
+proceed, and it was only by dint of a show of revolvers and promise of
+reward that Taylor and his passenger induced them to go on. On reaching
+Nassau they were utterly worn out, having been almost without sleep for
+a week, while Taylor's feet were so swollen that his boots had to be cut
+off.
+
+Thus ended one of the most notable chases in the history of
+blockade-running, it having lasted fifteen hours and covered nearly two
+hundred miles. Fortunate was it for the "Banshee" that the "James
+Adger," her pursuer, had no bow-chasers, and that the weather was too
+ugly for her to venture to yaw and use her broadside guns, or the
+"Banshee" might have there and then ended her career.
+
+
+
+
+_FONTAIN, THE SCOUT, AND THE BESIEGERS OF VICKSBURG._
+
+
+The Civil War was not lacking in its daring and interesting adventures
+of scouts, spies, despatch-bearers, and others of that interesting tribe
+whose field of operations lies between the armies in the field, and
+whose game is played with life as the stake, this being fair prey for
+the bullet if pursued, and often for the rope if captured. We have the
+story of one these heroes of hazard to tell, a story the more
+interesting from the fact that he was a cripple who seemed fit only to
+hobble about his home. It is the remarkable feat of Lamar Fontain, a
+Confederate despatch-bearer, which the record of the war has nothing to
+surpass.
+
+Fontain's disability came from a broken leg, which had left him so
+disabled that he could not take a step without a crutch, and in mounting
+a horse was obliged to lift the useless leg over the saddle with his
+right hand. But once in the saddle he was as good a man as his fellow,
+and his dexterity with the pistol rendered him a dangerous fellow to
+face when it became a question of life or death.
+
+We must seek him at that period in 1863 when the stronghold of
+Vicksburg, on which depended the Confederacy's control of the
+Mississippi, was closely invested by the army of General Grant, the
+siege lines so continuous, alike in the rear of the town and on the
+Mississippi and its opposite shore, that it seemed as if hardly a bird
+could enter or leave its streets. General Johnston kept the field in the
+rear, but Grant was much too strong for him, and he was obliged to trust
+to the chapter of chances for the hope of setting Pemberton free from
+the net by which he was surrounded.
+
+Knowing the daring and usual success of Lamar Fontain in very hazardous
+enterprises, Johnston engaged him to endeavor to carry a verbal message
+to General Pemberton, sending him out on the perilous and seemingly
+impossible venture of making his way into the closely beleaguered city.
+In addition to his message, he took with him a supply of some forty
+pounds of percussion caps for the use of the besieged garrison.
+
+On the 24th of May, 1863, Fontain set out from his father's home, at a
+considerable distance in the rear of the Federal lines. He was well
+mounted, and armed with an excellent revolver and a good sabre, which he
+carried in a wooden scabbard to prevent its rattling. His other burdens
+were his packet of percussion caps, his blanket, and his crutches.
+
+That night he crossed Big Black River, and before dawn of the next day
+was well within the lines of the enemy. Travel by day was now out of the
+question, so he hid his horse in a ravine, and found a place of shelter
+for himself in a fallen tree that overlooked the road. From his
+hiding-place he saw a confused and hasty movement of the enemy,
+seemingly in retreat from too hot a brush with the garrison. Waiting
+till their columns had passed and the nightfall made it safe for him to
+move, he mounted again and continued his journey in the direction of
+Snyder's Bluff on the Yazoo.
+
+Entering the telegraphic road from Yazoo City to Vicksburg, he had not
+gone far before he was confronted and hailed by a picket of the enemy.
+Spurring his spirited steed, he dashed past at full speed. A volley
+followed him, one of the balls striking his horse, though none of them
+touched him. The good steed had received a mortal wound, but by a final
+and desperate effort it carried its rider to the banks of the Yazoo
+River. Here it fell dead, leaving its late rider afoot, and lacking one
+of his crutches, which had been caught and jerked away by the limb of a
+tree as he dashed headlong past.
+
+With the aid of his remaining crutch, and carrying his baggage, Fontain
+groped his way along the river side, keenly looking for some means of
+conveyance on its waters. He soon found what he wanted in the shape of a
+small log canoe, tied to a tree on the river bank. Pressing this into
+his service, and disposing himself and his burden safely within, he
+paddled down the stream, hoping to reach the Mississippi and drift down
+to the city front before break of day.
+
+Success was not to come so easily. A sound of puffing steam came from
+down the river, and soon a trio of gunboats loomed through the gloom,
+heading towards Yazoo City. These were avoided by taking shelter among
+a bunch of willows that overhung the bank and served to hide the boat
+from view. The gunboats well past, Fontain took to the current again,
+soon reaching Snyder's Bluff, which was lighted up and a scene of
+animation. Whites and blacks mingled on the bank, and it looked like a
+midnight ball between the Yankee soldiers and belles of sable hue.
+Gunboats and barges lined the shore and the light was thrown far out
+over the stream. But those present were too hilarious to be watchful,
+and, lying flat in his canoe, the scout glided safely past, the dug-out
+not distinguishable from a piece of driftwood. Before the new day dawned
+he reached the backwater of the Mississippi, but in the darkness he
+missed the outlet of the Yazoo and paddled into what is called "Old
+River."
+
+The new day reddened in the east while he was still vainly searching for
+an opening into the broad parent stream. Then his familiarity with the
+locality showed him his mistake, and he was forced to seek a
+hiding-place for himself and his boat. He had now been out two days and
+nights. The little food he brought had long been devoured, and hunger
+was assailing him. Sleep had also scarcely visited his eyes, and the
+strain was growing severe.
+
+Getting some slumber that day in his covert, he set out again as soon as
+night fell, paddling back into the Yazoo, from which he soon reached the
+Mississippi. He was here on a well-peopled stream, boats and lights
+being abundant. As he glided on through the gloom he passed forty or
+fifty transports, but had the good fortune to be seen by only one man,
+who hailed him from the stern of a steamer and asked him where he was
+going.
+
+"To look after my fishing-lines," he replied.
+
+"All right; hope you'll have a good catch." And he floated on.
+
+Farther down in the bend of the stream above Vicksburg he came upon a
+more animated scene. Here were the mortar-boats in full blast,
+bombarding the city, every shot lighting up the stream for a wide space
+around. But the gun crews were too busy to pay any attention to the
+seeming drift-log that glided silently by the fleet or to notice the man
+that lay at full length within it. On he went, trusting to the current
+and keeping his recumbent position. The next day's dawn found him in the
+midst of the Confederate picket-boats in front of the city. Here, tying
+a white handkerchief to his paddle, he lifted it as a flag of truce, and
+sat upright with a loud hurrah for Jeff Davis and the Southern
+Confederacy. As may well be imagined, his cheers were echoed by the
+boatmen when they learned his mission, and he was borne in triumph
+ashore and taken to General Pemberton's head-quarters. He received a
+warm welcome from the general, alike for the message he brought and the
+very desirable supply of percussion caps. It was with no little
+admiration that Pemberton heard the story of a daring feat that seemed
+utterly impossible for a cripple on crutches.
+
+During the next day the scout wandered about the beleaguered city,
+viewing the animated and in many respects terrible scene of warfare
+which it presented,--the fierce bombardment from the Federal works,
+extending in a long curve from the river above to the river below the
+city; the hot return fire of the defendants; the equally fierce exchange
+of fire between the gunboats and mortars and the intrenchments on the
+bluffs; the bursting of shells in the city streets; the ruined
+habitations, and the cave-like refuges in which the citizens sought
+safety from the death-dealing missiles. It was a scene never to be
+forgotten, a spectacle of ruin, suffering, and death. And the suffering
+was not alone from the terrible enginery of war, but from lack of food
+as well, for that dread spectre of famine, that in a few weeks more was
+to force the surrender of the valiantly defended city, was already
+showing its gaunt form in the desolated streets and the foodless homes.
+
+Fontain was glad enough after his day and night among the besieged to
+seek again the more open field of operations outside. Receiving a
+despatch from General Pemberton to his colleague in the field, and a
+suitable reward for his service, he betook himself again to the canoe
+which had stood him in such good stead and resumed his task of danger.
+He was on a well-guarded river and had to pass through a country full of
+foes, and the peril of his enterprise was by no means at an end.
+
+The gloom of evening lay on the stream when he once more trusted
+himself to its swift current, which quickly brought him among the craft
+of the enemy below the city. Avoiding their picket-boats on both sides
+of the river, he floated near the gunboats as safer, passing so near one
+of them that through an open port-hole he could see a group of men
+playing cards and hear their conversation. He made a landing at length
+at Diamond Place, bidding adieu to his faithful dug-out and gladly
+setting foot on land again.
+
+Hobbling with the aid of his crutch through the bottom-lands, the scout
+soon reached higher ground, and here made his way to the house of an
+acquaintance, hoping to find a mount. But all the useful horses and
+mules on the place had been confiscated by the foe, there remaining only
+a worthless old gelding and a half-broken colt, of which he was offered
+the choice. He took the colt, but found it to travel so badly that he
+wished he had chosen the gelding.
+
+In this dilemma fortune favored him, for in the bottom he came upon a
+fine horse, tied by a blind bridle and without a saddle. A basket and an
+old bag were lying close by, and he inferred from this that a negro had
+left the horse and that a camp of the enemy was near at hand. Here was
+an opportunity for confiscation of which he did not hesitate to avail
+himself, and in all haste he exchanged bridles, saddled the horse,
+turned loose the colt, mounted, and was off.
+
+He took a course so as to avoid the supposed camp, but had not gone far
+before he came face to face with a Federal soldier who was evidently
+returning from a successful foray for plunder, for he was well laden
+with chickens and carried a bucket of honey. He began questioning
+Fontain with a curiosity that threatened unpleasant consequences, and
+the alert scout ended the colloquy with a pistol bullet which struck the
+plunderer squarely in the forehead. Leaving him stretched on the path,
+with his poultry and honey beside him, Fontain made all haste from that
+dangerous locality.
+
+Reaching a settlement at a distance from the stream, he hired a guide to
+lead him to Hankerson's Ferry, on the Big Black River, promising him
+fifty dollars if he would take him there without following any road.
+They proceeded till near the ferry, when Fontain sent his guide ahead to
+learn if any of the enemy were in that vicinity. But there was something
+about the manner and talk of the man that excited his suspicion, and as
+soon as the fellow was gone he sought a hiding-place from which he could
+watch his return. The man was gone much longer than appeared necessary.
+At length he came back alone and reported that the track was clear,
+there being no Yankees near the ferry.
+
+Paying and dismissing the guide, without showing his suspicions, Fontain
+took good care not to obey his directions, but selected his course so as
+to approach the river at a point above the ferry. By doing so he escaped
+a squad of soldiers that seemed posted to intercept him, for as he
+entered the road near the river bank a sentinel rose not more than ten
+feet away and bade him to halt. He seemed to form the right flank of a
+line of sentinels posted to command the ferry.
+
+It was a time for quick and decisive action. Fontain had approached,
+pistol in hand, and as the man hailed he felled him with a bullet, then
+wheeled his horse and set out at full gallop up the stream. A shower of
+balls followed him, one of them striking his right hand and wounding all
+four of its fingers. Another grazed his right leg and a third cut a hole
+through his sword scabbard. The horse fared worse, for no fewer than
+seven bullets struck it. Keeling from its wounds it still had strength
+to bear up for a mile, when it fell and died.
+
+He had outridden his foes, who were all on foot, and, dividing his arms
+and clothes into two packages, he trusted himself to the waters of the
+Big Black, which he swam in safety. On the other side he was in friendly
+territory, and did not walk far before he came to the house of a
+patriotic Southern woman, who loaned him the only horse she had. It was
+a stray one which had come to her place after the Yankee foragers had
+carried off all the horses she owned.
+
+Fontain was now in a safe region. His borrowed horse carried him to
+Raymond by two o'clock the next morning, and was here changed for a
+fresh one, which enabled him to reach Jackson during the forenoon. Here
+he delivered his despatch to General Johnston, having successfully
+performed a feat which, in view of its difficulties and his physical
+disability, may well be classed as phenomenal.
+
+
+
+
+_GORDON AND THE BAYONET CHARGE AT ANTIETAM._
+
+
+In the opening chapter of General John B. Gordon's interesting
+"Reminiscences of the Civil War" he tells us that the bayonet, so far as
+he knew, was very rarely used in that war, and never effectively. The
+bayonet, the lineal descendant of the lance and spear of far-past
+warfare, had done remarkable service in its day, but with the advent of
+the modern rifle its day ended, except as a weapon useful in repelling
+cavalry charges or defending hollow squares. Fearful as their glittering
+and bristling points appeared when levelled in front of a charging line,
+bayonets were rarely reddened with the blood of an enemy in the Civil
+War, and the soldiers of that desperate conflict found them more useful
+as tools in the rapid throwing up of light earthworks than as weapons
+for use against their foes.
+
+Later in his work Gordon gives a case in point, in his vivid description
+of a bayonet charge upon the line under his command on the bloody field
+of Antietam. This is well worth repeating as an illustration of the
+modern ineffectiveness of the bayonet, and also as a story of thrilling
+interest in itself. As related by Gordon, there are few incidents in
+the war which surpass it in picturesqueness and vitality.
+
+The battle of Antietam was a struggle unsurpassed for its desperate and
+deadly fierceness in the whole war, the losses, in comparison with the
+numbers engaged, being the greatest of any battle-field of the conflict.
+The plain in which it was fought was literally bathed in blood.
+
+It is not our purpose to describe this battle, but simply that portion
+of it in which General Gordon's troops were engaged. For hour after hour
+a desperate struggle continued on the left of Lee's lines, in which
+charge and counter-charge succeeded each other, until the green corn
+which had waved there looked as if had been showered upon by a rain of
+blood. But during those hours of death not a shot had been fired upon
+the centre. Here General Gordon's men held the most advanced position,
+and were without a supporting line, their post being one of imminent
+danger in case of an assault in force.
+
+As the day passed onward the battle on the left at length lulled, both
+sides glad of an interval of rest. That McClellan's next attempt would
+be made upon the centre General Lee felt confident, and he rode thither
+to caution the leaders and bid them to hold their ground at any
+sacrifice. A break at that point, he told them, might prove ruinous to
+the army. He especially charged Gordon to stand stiffly with his men, as
+his small force would feel the first brunt of the expected assault.
+Gordon, alike to give hope to Lee and to inspire his own men, said in
+reply,--
+
+"These men are going to stay here, general, till the sun goes down or
+victory is won."
+
+Lee's military judgment, as usual, was correct. He had hardly got back
+to the left of his line when the assault predicted by him came. It was a
+beautiful and brilliant day, scarcely a cloud mantling the sky. Down the
+slope opposite marched through the clear sunlight a powerful column of
+Federal troops. Crossing the little Antietam Creek they formed in column
+of assault, four lines deep. Their commander, nobly mounted, placed
+himself at their right, while the front line came to a "charge bayonets"
+and the other lines to a "right shoulder shift." In the rear front the
+band blared out martial music to give inspiration to the men. To the
+Confederates, looking silently and expectantly on the coming corps, the
+scene was one of thrilling interest. It might have been one of terror
+but for their long training in such sights.
+
+Who were these men so spick and span in their fresh blue uniforms, in
+strange contrast to the ragged and soiled Confederate gray? Every man of
+them wore white gaiters and neat attire, while the dust and smoke of
+battle had surely never touched the banners that floated above their
+heads. Were they new recruits from some military camp, now first to test
+their training in actual war? In the sunlight the long line of bayonets
+gleamed like burnished silver. As if fresh from the parade-ground they
+advanced with perfect alignment, their steps keeping martial time to the
+steady beat of the drum. It was a magnificent spectacle as the line
+advanced, a show of martial beauty which it seemed a shame to destroy by
+the rude hand of war.
+
+One thing was evident to General Gordon. His opponent proposed to trust
+to the bayonet and attempt to break through Lee's centre by the sheer
+weight of his deep charging column. It might be done. Here were four
+lines of blue marching on the one in gray. How should the charge be met?
+By immediate and steady fire, or by withholding his fire till the lines
+were face to face, and then pouring upon the Federals a blighting storm
+of lead? Gordon decided on the latter, believing that a sudden and
+withering burst of deadly hail in the faces of men with empty guns would
+be more than any troops could stand.
+
+All the horses were sent to the rear and the men were ordered to lie
+down in the grass, they being told by their officers that the Federals
+were coming with unloaded guns, trusting to the bayonet, and that not a
+shot must be heard until the word "Fire!" was given. This would not be
+until the Federals were close at hand. In the old Revolutionary phrase,
+they must wait "till they saw the whites of their eyes."
+
+On came the long lines, still as steady and precise in movement as if
+upon holiday drill. Not a rifle-shot was heard. Neither side had
+artillery at this point, and no roar of cannon broke the strange
+silence. The awaiting boys in gray grew eager and impatient and had to
+be kept in restraint by their officers. "Wait! wait for the word!" was
+the admonition. Yet it was hard to lie there while that line of bayonets
+came closer and closer, until the eagles on the buttons of the blue
+coats could be seen, and at length the front rank was not twenty yards
+away.
+
+The time had come. With all the power of his lungs Gordon shouted out
+the word "Fire!" In an instant there burst from the prostrate line a
+blinding blaze of light, and a frightful hail of bullets rent through
+the Federal ranks. Terrible was the effect of that consuming volley.
+Almost the whole front rank of the foe seemed to go down in a mass. The
+brave commander and his horse fell in a heap together. In a moment he
+was on his feet; it was the horse, not the man, that the deadly bullet
+had found.
+
+In an instant more the recumbent Confederates were on their feet, an
+appalling yell bursting from their throats as they poured new volleys
+upon the Federal lines. No troops on earth could have faced that fire
+without a chance to reply. Their foes bore unloaded guns. Not a bayonet
+had reached the breast for which it was aimed. The lines recoiled,
+though in good order for men swept by such a blast of death. Large
+numbers of them had fallen, yet not a drop of blood had been lost by one
+of Gordon's men.
+
+The gallant man who led the Federals was not yet satisfied that the
+bayonet could not break the ranks of his foes. Reforming his men, now in
+three lines, he led them again with empty guns to the charge. Again they
+were driven back with heavy loss. With extraordinary persistence he
+clung to his plan of winning with the bayonet, coming on again and again
+until four fruitless charges had been made on Gordon's lines, not a man
+in which had fallen, while the Federal loss had been very heavy. Not
+until convinced by this sanguinary evidence that the day of the bayonet
+was past did he order his men to load and open fire on the hostile
+lines. It was an experiment in an obsolete method of warfare which had
+proved disastrous to those engaged in it.
+
+[Illustration: GORDON HOUSE.]
+
+In the remaining hours of that desperate conflict Gordon and his men had
+another experience to face. The fire from both sides grew furious and
+deadly, and at nightfall, when the carnage ceased, so many of the
+soldiers in gray had fallen that, as one of the officers afterward said,
+he could have walked on the dead bodies of the men from end to end of
+the line. How true this was Gordon was unable to say, for by this time
+he was himself a wreck, fairly riddled with bullets.
+
+As he tells us, his previous record was remarkably reversed in this
+fight, and we cannot better close our story than with a description of
+his new experience. He had hitherto seemed almost to bear a charmed
+life. While numbers had fallen by his side in battle, and his own
+clothing had been often pierced and torn by balls and fragments of
+shells, he had not lost a drop of blood, and his men looked upon him as
+one destined by fate not to be killed in battle. "They can't hit him;"
+"He's as safe in one place as another," form a type of the expressions
+used by them, and Gordon grew to have much the same faith in his
+destiny, as he passed through battle after battle unharmed.
+
+At Antietam the record was decidedly broken. The first volley from the
+Federal troops sent a bullet whirling through the calf of his right leg.
+Soon after another ball went through the same leg, at a higher point. As
+no bone was broken, he was still able to walk along the line and
+encourage his men to bear the deadly fire which was sweeping their
+lines. Later in the day a third ball came, this passing through his arm,
+rending flesh and tendons, but still breaking no bone. Through his
+shoulder soon came a fourth ball, carrying a wad of clothing into the
+wound. The men begged their bleeding commander to leave the field, but
+he would not flinch, though fast growing faint from loss of blood.
+
+Finally came the fifth ball, this time striking him in the face, and
+passing out, just missing the jugular vein. Falling, he lay unconscious
+with his face in his cap, into which poured the blood from his wound
+until it threatened to smother him. It might have done so but for still
+another ball, which pierced the cap and let out the blood.
+
+When Gordon was borne to the rear he had been so seriously wounded and
+lost so much blood that his case seemed hopeless. Fortunately for him,
+his faithful wife had followed him to the war and now became his nurse.
+As she entered the room, with a look of dismay on seeing him, Gordon,
+who could scarcely speak from the condition of his face, sought to
+reassure her with, the faintly articulated words, "Here's your handsome
+husband; been to an Irish wedding."
+
+It was providential for him that he had this faithful and devoted nurse
+by his side. Only her earnest and incessant care saved him to join the
+war again. Day and night she was beside him, and when erysipelas
+attacked his wounded arm and the doctors told her to paint the arm above
+the wound three or four times a day with iodine, she obeyed by painting
+it, as he thought, three or four hundred times a day. "Under God's
+providence," he says, "I owe my life to her incessant watchfulness night
+and day, and to her tender nursing through weary weeks and anxious
+months."
+
+
+
+
+_THE LAST TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON._
+
+
+The story of the battle of Chancellorsville and of Jackson's famous
+flank movement, with its disastrous result to Hooker's army, and to the
+Confederates in the loss of their beloved leader, has been often told.
+But these narratives are from the outside; we propose to give one here
+from the inside, in the graphic description of Heros Von Borcke, General
+J. E. B. Stuart's chief of staff, who took an active part in the
+stirring events of that critical 2d of May, 1863.
+
+It is a matter of general history how General Hooker led his army across
+the Rappahannock into that ugly region at Chancellorsville, with its
+morasses, hills, and ravines, its dense forest of scrub-oaks and pines,
+and its square miles of tangled undergrowth, which was justly known as
+The Wilderness; and how he strongly intrenched himself against an attack
+in front, with breastworks of logs and an abattis of felled trees. It is
+equally familiar how Lee, well aware of the peril of attacking these
+formidable works, accepted the bold plan of Stonewall Jackson, who
+proposed to make a secret flank movement and fall with his entire corps
+on Hooker's undefended rear. This was a division of Lee's army which
+might have led to disaster and destruction; but he had learned to trust
+in Jackson's star. He accordingly made vigorous demonstrations in
+Hooker's front, in order to attract his attention and keep him employed,
+while Jackson was marching swiftly and stealthily through the thick
+woods, with Stuart's cavalry between him and the foe, to the Orange
+plank-road, four miles westward from Chancellorsville. With this
+introductory sketch of the situation we leave the details of the march
+to Von Borcke.
+
+"All was bustle and confusion as I galloped along the lines on the
+morning of the 2d, to obtain, according to Stuart's orders, the latest
+instructions for our cavalry from General Lee, who was located at a
+distance of some miles to our right. Anderson's and McLaws's
+sharp-shooters were advancing and already exchanging shots with the
+enemy's skirmishers--the line of battle of these two divisions having
+been partially extended over the space previously occupied by Jackson's
+corps, that they might cover its movements.
+
+"This splendid corps meanwhile was marching in close columns in a
+direction which set us all wondering what could be the intentions of old
+Stonewall; but as we beheld him riding along, heading the troops
+himself, we should as soon have thought of questioning the sagacity of
+our admired chief as of hesitating to follow him blindly wherever he
+should lead. The orders of the cavalry were to report to Jackson and to
+form his advanced-guard; and in that capacity we marched silently along
+through the forest, taking a small by-road, which brought us several
+times so near the enemy's lines that the stroke of axes, mingled with
+the hum of voices from their camp, was distinctly audible.
+
+"Thus commenced the famous flank march which, more than any other
+operation of the war, proved the brilliant strategical talents of
+General Lee and the consummate ability of his lieutenant. About two
+o'clock a body of Federal cavalry came in sight, making, however, but
+slight show of resistance, and falling back slowly before us. By about
+four o'clock we had completed our movement without encountering any
+material obstacle, and reached a patch of woods in rear of the enemy's
+right wing, formed by the Eleventh Corps, Howard's, which was encamped
+in a large open field not more than half a mile distant.
+
+"Halting here, the cavalry threw forward a body of skirmishers to occupy
+the enemy's attention, while the divisions of Jackson's corps--A. P.
+Hill's, Colston's, and Rode's, numbering in all about twenty-eight
+thousand men--moved into line of battle as fast as they arrived. Ordered
+to reconnoitre the position of the Federals, I rode cautiously forward
+through the forest, and reached a point whence I obtained a capital view
+of the greater part of the troops, whose attitude betokened how totally
+remote was any suspicion that a numerous host was so near at hand.
+
+"It was evident that the whole movement we had thus so successfully
+executed was regarded as merely an unimportant cavalry raid, for only a
+few squadrons were drawn up in line to oppose us, and a battery of four
+guns were placed in a position to command the plank-road from Germana,
+over which we had been marching for the last two hours. The main body of
+the troops were listlessly reposing, while some regiments were looking
+on, drawn up on dress parade; artillery horses were quietly grazing at
+some distance from their guns, and the whole scene presented a picture
+of the most perfect heedlessness and nonchalance, compatible only with
+utter unconsciousness of impending danger.
+
+"While complacently gazing on this extraordinary spectacle, somewhat
+touched myself apparently with the spell of listless incaution in which
+our antagonists were locked, I was startled with the sound of closely
+approaching footsteps, and, turning in their direction, beheld a patrol
+of six or eight of the enemy's infantry just breaking through the bushes
+and gazing at me with most unmistakable astonishment. I had no time to
+lose here, that was certain; so quickly tugging my horse's head round in
+the direction of my line of retreat, and digging my spurs into his
+sides, I dashed off from before the bewildered Yankees, and was out of
+sight ere they had time to take steady aim, the bullets that came
+whizzing after me flying far wide of the mark.
+
+"On my return to the spot where I had left Stuart, I found him, with
+Jackson and the officers of their respective staffs, stretched out along
+the grass beneath a gigantic oak, and tranquilly discussing their plans
+for the impending battle which both seemed confidently to regard as
+likely to end in a great and important victory for our arms. Towards
+five o'clock Jackson's adjutant, Major Pendleton, galloped up to us and
+reported that the line of battle was formed and all was in readiness for
+immediate attack. Accordingly the order was at once given for the whole
+corps to advance. All hastened forthwith to their appointed posts,
+General Stuart and his staff joining the cavalry, which was to operate
+on the left of our infantry.
+
+"Scarcely had we got up to our men when the Confederate yell, which
+always preceded a charge, burst forth along our lines, and Jackson's
+veterans, who had been with difficulty held back till that moment,
+bounded forward towards the astounded and perfectly paralyzed enemy,
+while the thunder of our horse-artillery, on whom devolved the honor of
+opening the ball, reached us from the other extremity of the line. The
+more hotly we sought to hasten to the front, the more obstinately did we
+get entangled in the undergrowth, while our infantry moved on so rapidly
+that the Federals were already completely routed by the time we had got
+thoroughly quit of the forest.
+
+[Illustration: TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON.]
+
+"It was a strange spectacle that now greeted us. The whole of the
+Eleventh Corps had broken at the first shock of the attack; entire
+regiments had thrown down their arms, which were lying in regular lines
+on the ground, as if for inspection; suppers just prepared had been
+abandoned; tents, baggage, wagons, cannons, half-slaughtered oxen,
+covered the foreground in chaotic confusion, while in the background a
+host of many thousand Yankees were discerned scampering for their lives
+as fast as their limbs could carry them, closely followed by our men,
+who were taking prisoners by the hundreds, and scarcely firing a shot."
+
+That the story of panic here told is not too much colored by the
+writer's sympathy for his cause, may be seen by the following extract
+from Lossing's "Civil War in America," a work whose sympathies are
+distinctly on the other side. After saying that Jackson's march had not
+passed unobserved by the Federals, who looked on it as a retreat towards
+Richmond, and were preparing for a vigorous pursuit of the supposed
+fugitives, Lossing thus describes the Confederate onset and the Federal
+rout:
+
+"He (Jackson) had crossed the Orange plank-road, and, under cover of the
+dense jungle of the wilderness, had pushed swiftly northward to the old
+turnpike and beyond, feeling his enemy at every step. Then he turned his
+face towards Chancellorsville, and, just before six o'clock in the
+evening, he burst from the thickets with twenty-five thousand men, and,
+like a sudden, unexpected, and terrible tornado, swept on towards the
+flank and rear of Howard's corps, which occupied the National right; the
+game of the forest--deers, wild turkeys, and hares--flying wildly before
+him, and becoming to the startled Unionists the heralds of the
+approaching tempest of war. These mute messengers were followed by the
+sound of bugles; then by a few shots from approaching skirmishers; then
+by a tremendous yell from a thousand throats and a murderous fire from a
+strong battle line. Jackson, in heavy force, was upon the Eleventh Corps
+at the moment when the men were preparing for supper and repose, without
+a suspicion of danger near. Deven's division, on the extreme right,
+received the first blow, and almost instantly the surprised troops,
+panic-stricken, fled towards the rear, along the line of the corps,
+communicating their emotions of alarm to the other divisions.... In the
+wildest confusion the fugitives rushed along the road towards
+Chancellorsville, upon the position of General Carl Schurz, whose
+division had already retreated, in anticipation of the onset, and the
+turbulent tide of frightened men rolled back upon General A. Von
+Steinwehr, utterly regardless of the exertions of the commander of the
+corps and his subordinate officers to check their flight. Only a few
+regiments, less demoralized than the others, made resistance, and these
+were instantly scattered like chaff, leaving half their number dead or
+dying on the field."
+
+With this vivid picture of an army in a panic, we shall again take up
+Von Borcke's personal narrative at the point where we left it:
+
+"The broken nature of the ground was against all cavalry operations, and
+though we pushed forward with all our will, it was with difficulty we
+could keep up with Jackson's 'Foot-cavalry,' as this famous infantry was
+often called. Meanwhile, a large part of the Federal army, roused by the
+firing and the alarming reports from the rear, hastened to the field of
+action, and exerted themselves in vain to arrest the disgraceful rout of
+their comrades of the Eleventh Corps. Numerous batteries having now
+joined the conflict, a terrific cannonade roared along the lines, and
+the fury of the battle was soon at its full height. Towards dark a
+sudden pause ensued in the conflict, occasioned by Jackson giving orders
+for his lines to reform for the continuation of the combat, the rapid
+and prolonged pursuit of the enemy having thrown them into considerable
+confusion. Old Stonewall being thoroughly impressed with the conviction
+that in a few hours the enemy's whole forces would be defeated, and that
+their principal line of retreat would be in the direction of Ely's Ford,
+Stuart was ordered to proceed at once towards that point with a portion
+of his cavalry, in order to barricade the road and as much as possible
+impede the retrograde movement of the enemy.
+
+"In this operation we were joined by a North Carolina infantry regiment,
+which was already on its way towards the river. Leaving the greater part
+of the brigade behind us under Fitz Lee's command, we took only the
+First Virginia Cavalry with us, and, trotting rapidly along a small
+bypath, overtook the infantry about two miles from the ford. Riding with
+Stuart a little ahead of our men, I suddenly discovered, on reaching
+the summit of a slight rise in the road, a large encampment in the
+valley to our right, not more than a quarter of a mile from where we
+stood; and, farther still, on the opposite side of the river, more
+camp-fires were visible, indicating the presence of a large body of
+troops.
+
+"Calling a halt, the general and I rode cautiously forward to
+reconnoitre the enemy a little more closely, and we managed to approach
+near enough to hear distinctly the voices and distinguish the figures of
+the men sitting around their fires or strolling through the camp. The
+unexpected presence of so large a body of the enemy immediately in our
+path entirely disconcerted our previous arrangements. Nevertheless
+Stuart determined on giving them a slight surprise and disturbing their
+comfort by a few volleys from our infantry. Just as the regiment,
+mustering about a thousand, had formed into line according to orders,
+and was prepared to advance on the enemy, two officers of General A. P.
+Hill's staff rode up in great haste and excitement, and communicated
+something in a low tone to General Stuart, by which he seemed greatly
+startled and affected.
+
+"'Take the command of that regiment, and act on your own
+responsibility,' were his whispered injunctions to me, as he immediately
+rode off, followed by the other officers and the cavalry at their
+topmost speed.
+
+"The thunder of the cannon, which for the last hour had increased in
+loudness, announced that Jackson had recommenced the battle, but as to
+the course or actual position of affairs I had not an iota of
+information, and my anxiety being moreover increased by the suddenness
+of Stuart's departure on some unknown emergency, I felt rather awkwardly
+situated. Here was I in the darkness of the night, in an unknown and
+thickly wooded country, some six miles from our main army, and opposite
+to a far superior force, whom I was expected to attack with troops whom
+I had never before commanded, and to whom I was scarcely known. I felt,
+however, that there was no alternative but blind obedience, so I
+advanced with the regiment to within about fifty yards of the enemy's
+encampment and gave the command to fire.
+
+"A hail of bullets rattled through the forest, and as volley after
+volley was fired, the confusion and dismay occasioned in the camp were
+indescribable. Soldiers and officers could be plainly seen by the light
+of the fires walking helplessly about, horses were galloping wildly in
+all directions, and the sound of bugles and drums mingled with the cries
+of the wounded and flying, who sought in the distant woods a shelter
+against the murderous fire of their unseen enemy. The troops whom we
+thus dispersed and put to flight consisted, as I was afterward informed,
+of the greater part of Averil's cavalry division, and a great number of
+the men of this command were so panic-stricken that they did mot
+consider themselves safe until they had reached the opposite side of
+the Rapidan, when they straggled off for miles all through Culpeper
+County.
+
+"Our firing had been kept up for about half an hour, and had by this
+time stirred up alarm in the camps on the other side of the river, the
+troops of which were marching on us from various directions.
+Accordingly, I gave orders to my North Carolinians to retire, leaving
+the task of bringing his command back to the colonel; while, anxious to
+rejoin Stuart as soon as I could, I galloped on ahead through the dark
+forest, whose solemn silence was only broken by the melancholy cry of
+hosts of whippoorwills. The firing had now ceased altogether, and all
+fighting seemed to have been entirely given up, which greatly increased
+my misgivings. After a tedious ride of nearly an hour over the field of
+battle, still covered with hundreds of wounded groaning in their agony,
+I at last discovered Stuart seated under a solitary plum-tree, busily
+writing despatches by the dim light of a lantern.
+
+"From General Stuart I now received the first intimation of the heavy
+calamity which had befallen us by the wounding of Jackson. After having
+instructed his men to fire at everything approaching from the direction
+of the enemy, in his eagerness to reconnoitre the position of the
+Federals, and entirely forgetting his own orders, he had been riding
+with his staff-officers outside our pickets, when, on their return,
+being mistaken for the enemy, the little party were received by a South
+Carolina regiment with a volley that killed or wounded nearly every man
+of them and laid low our beloved Stonewall himself. The Federals
+advancing at the same time, a severe skirmish ensued, in the course of
+which one of the bearers of the litter on which the general was being
+carried was killed, and Jackson fell heavily to the ground, receiving
+soon afterward a second wound. For a few minutes, in fact, the general
+was in the hands of the enemy, but his men, becoming aware of his
+perilous position, rushed forward, and, speedily driving back the
+advancing foe, carried their wounded commander to the rear."
+
+Jackson received three balls, one in the right hand and two in the left
+arm, one of these shattering the bone just below the shoulder and
+severing an artery. He was borne to the Wilderness tavern, where a
+Confederate hospital had been established, and there his arm was
+amputated. Eight days after receiving his wounds, on the 10th of May, he
+died, an attack of pneumonia being the chief cause of his death. His
+last words were, as a smile of ineffable sweetness passed over his pale
+face, "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the
+trees."
+
+Thus died the man who was justly named the "right hand" of General Lee,
+and whose death converted his last great victory into a serious disaster
+for the Confederate cause, the loss of a leader like Stonewall Jackson
+being equivalent to the destruction of an army.
+
+
+
+
+_JOHN MORGAN'S FAMOUS RAID._
+
+
+The romance of war dwells largely upon the exploits of partisan leaders,
+men with a roving commission to do business on their own account, and in
+whose ranks are likely to gather the dare-devils of the army, those who
+love to come and go as they please, and leave a track of adventure and
+dismay behind them. There were such leaders in both armies during the
+Civil War, and especially in that of the South; and among the most
+daring and successful of them was General John H. Morgan, whose famous
+raid through Indiana and Ohio it is our purpose here to describe.
+
+Morgan was a son of the people, not of the aristocratic cavalier class,
+but was just the man to make his mark in a conflict of this character,
+being richly supplied by nature with courage, daring, and
+self-possession in times of peril. He became a cavalry leader in the
+regular service, but was given a free foot to control his own movements,
+and had gathered about him a body of men of his own type, with whom he
+roamed about with a daring and audacity that made him a terror to the
+enemy.
+
+Morgan's most famous early exploit was his invasion of Kentucky in 1862,
+in which he kept the State in a fever of apprehension during most of
+the summer, defeating all who faced him and venturing so near to
+Cincinnati that the people of that city grew wild with apprehension.
+Only the sharp pursuit of General G. C. Smith, with a superior cavalry
+force, saved that rich city from being made an easy prey to Morgan and
+his men.
+
+As preliminary to our main story, we may give in brief one of Morgan's
+characteristic exploits. The town of Gallatin, twenty miles north of
+Nashville, was occupied by a small Federal force and seemed to Morgan to
+offer a fair field for one of his characteristic raids. His men were
+ready,--they always were for an enterprise promising danger and
+loot,--and they fell on the town with a swoop that quickly made them its
+masters and its garrison their captives.
+
+While the victors were paying themselves for their risk by spoiling the
+enemy, Morgan proceeded to the telegraph office, with the hope that he
+might find important despatches. So sudden had been the assault that the
+operator did not know that anything out of the usual had taken place,
+and took Morgan for a Northern officer. When asked what was going on, he
+replied,--
+
+"Nothing particular, except that we hear a good deal about the doings of
+that rebel bandit, Morgan. If he should happen to come across my path, I
+have pills enough here to satisfy him." He drew his revolver and
+flourished it bravely in the air.
+
+Morgan turned on the braggart with a look and tone that quite robbed him
+of his courage, saying, "I am Morgan! You are speaking to Morgan, you
+miserable wretch. Do you think you have any pills to spare for me?"
+
+The operator almost sank on his knees with terror, while the weapon fell
+from his nerveless hand.
+
+"Don't be scared," said the general. "I will not hurt you. But I want
+you to send off this despatch at once to Prentiss."
+
+The much-scared operator quickly ticked off the following message,--
+
+     "MR. PRENTISS,--As I learn at this telegraph office that you intend
+     to proceed to Nashville, perhaps you will allow me to escort you
+     there at the head of my troop."
+
+          "JOHN MORGAN."
+
+What effect this despatch had on Prentiss history sayeth not.
+
+With this preliminary account of Morgan and the character of his
+exploits, we proceed to the most famous incident of his career, his
+daring invasion of the North, one of the most stirring and exciting
+incidents of the war.
+
+The main purpose of this invasion is said to have been to contrive a
+diversion in favor of General Buckner, who proposed to make a dash
+across Kentucky and seize Louisville, and afterward, with Morgan's aid,
+to capture Cincinnati. It was also intended to form a nucleus for an
+armed counter-revolution in the Northwest, where the "Knights of the
+Golden Circle" and the "Sons of Liberty," associations in sympathy with
+the South, were strong. But with these ulterior purposes we have
+nothing here to do, our text being the incidents of the raid itself.
+
+General Morgan started on this bold adventure on June 27, 1863, with a
+force of several thousand mounted men, and with four pieces of
+artillery. The start was made from Sparta, Tennessee, where the swollen
+Cumberland was crossed in boats and canoes on the 1st and 2d of July,
+the horses, with some difficulty, being made to swim.
+
+After successful encounters with Jacob's cavalry and a troop of
+Wolford's cavalry, the adventurers pushed on, reaching the stockade at
+Green River Bridge on July 4. Here Colonel Moore was strongly intrenched
+with a small body of Michigan troops, and sent the following reply to
+Morgan's demand for a surrender: "If it was any other day I might
+consider the demand, but the 4th of July is a bad day to talk about
+surrender, and I must therefore decline."
+
+Moore proved quite capable, with the aid of his intrenchments, of making
+good his refusal, Morgan being repulsed, after a brisk engagement, with
+a loss of about sixty men, as estimated by Captain Cunningham, an
+officer of his staff. Lebanon was taken, after a severe engagement, on
+the 5th, yielding the Confederates a good supply of guns and ammunition,
+and the Ohio was reached, at Brandenburg, in a drenching rain, on the
+evening of the 7th. Here two steamers were seized and the whole force
+crossed on the next day to the Indiana shore.
+
+General Morgan's force had been swelled, by recruits gained in
+Kentucky, until it now numbered four thousand six hundred men, and its
+four guns had become ten. But he was being hotly pursued by General
+Hobson, who had hastily got on his track with a cavalry force stronger
+than his own. This reached the river to see the last of Morgan's men
+safe on the Indiana shore, and one of the steamers they had used
+floating, a mass of flames, down the stream.
+
+Hobson's loss of time in crossing the stream gave Morgan twenty-four
+hours' advance, which he diligently improved. The advance of Rosecrans
+against Bragg had prevented the proposed movement of Buckner to the
+north, and there remained for Morgan only an indefinite movement through
+the Northern States with the secondary hope of finding aid and sympathy
+there. It was likely to be an enterprise of the utmost peril, with
+Hobson hotly on his track, and the home-guards rising in his front, but
+the dauntless Morgan did not hesitate in his desperate adventure.
+
+The first check was at Corydon, where a force of militia had gathered.
+But these were quickly overpowered, the town was forced to yield its
+quota of spoil, three hundred fresh horses were seized, and Morgan
+adopted a shrewd system of collecting cash contributions from the
+well-to-do, demanding one thousand dollars from the owner of each mill
+and factory as a condition of saving their property from the flames. It
+may be said here that Corydon was the principal place in which any
+strong opposition was made by the people, the militia being concentrated
+at the large towns, which Morgan took care to avoid, pursuing his way
+through the panic-stricken villages and rural districts. There were
+other brushes with the home-guards, but none of much importance.
+
+The failure of the original purpose of the movement, and the brisk
+pursuit of the Federal cavalry, left Morgan little to hope for but to
+get in safety across the Ohio again. In addition to Hobson's cavalry
+force, General Judah's division was in active motion to intercept him,
+and the whole line of the Ohio swarmed with foes. The position of the
+raiders grew daily more desperate, but they rode gallantly on, trusting
+the result to destiny and the edge of their good swords.
+
+On swept Morgan and his men; on rushed Hobson and his troopers. But the
+former rode on fresh horses; the latter followed on jaded steeds. For
+five miles on each side of his line of march Morgan swept the country
+clear of horses, leaving his own weary beasts in their stead, while
+Hobson's force, finding no remounts, grew steadily less in number from
+the exhaustion of his horses. The people, through fear, even fed and
+watered the horses of Morgan's men with the greatest promptness, thus
+adding to the celerity of his movements.
+
+Some anecdotes of the famous ride may here be fitly given. At one point
+on his ride through Indiana Morgan left the line of march with three
+hundred and fifty of his men to visit a small town, the main body
+marching on. Dashing into the place, he found a body of some three
+hundred home-guards, each with a good horse. They were dismounted and
+their horses tied to the fences. Their captain, a confiding individual,
+on the wrong side of sixty, looked with surprise at this irruption, and
+asked,--
+
+"Whose company is this?"
+
+"Wolford's cavalry," was the reply.
+
+"What? Kentucky boys? Glad to see you. Where's Wolford?"
+
+"There he sits," answered the man, pointing to Morgan, who was
+carelessly seated sideways on his horse. Walking up to Wolford,--as he
+thought him,--the Indiana captain saluted him,--
+
+"Captain, how are you?"
+
+"Bully; how are you? What are you going to do with all these men and
+horses?"
+
+"Why, you see that horse-thieving John Morgan is in this part of the
+country, cutting up the deuce. Between you and me, captain, if he comes
+this way, we'll try and give him the best we've got in the shop."
+
+"You'll find him hard to catch. We've been after him for fourteen days
+and can't see him at all," said Morgan.
+
+"If our hosses would only stand fire we'd be all right."
+
+"They won't stand, eh?"
+
+"Not for shucks. I say, captain, I'd think it a favor if you and your
+men would put your saddles on our hosses, and give our lads a little
+idea of a cavalry drill. They say you're prime at that."
+
+"Why, certainly; anything to accommodate. I think we can show you some
+useful evolutions."
+
+Little time was lost in changing the saddles from the tired to the fresh
+horses, the hoosier boys aiding in the work, and soon the Confederates,
+delighted with the exchange, were in their saddles and ready for the
+word. Morgan rode up and down the column, then moved to the front, took
+off his hat, and said,--
+
+"All right now, captain. If you and your men will form a double line
+along the road and watch us, we will try to show you a movement you have
+never seen."
+
+The captain gave the necessary order to his men, who drew up in line.
+
+"Are you ready?" asked Morgan.
+
+"All right, Wolford."
+
+"Forward!" shouted Morgan, and the column shot ahead at a rattling pace,
+soon leaving nothing in sight but a cloud of dust. When the news became
+whispered among the astonished hoosiers that the polite visitor was
+Morgan instead of Wolford, there was gnashing of teeth in that town,
+despite the fact that each man had been left a horse in exchange for his
+own.
+
+As Morgan rode on he continued his polite method of levying a tax from
+the mill-owners instead of burning their property. At Salem, the next
+place after leaving Corydon, he collected three thousand dollars from
+three mill-owners. Capturing, at another time, Washington De Pauw, a man
+of large wealth, he said to him,--
+
+"Sir, do you consider your flour-mill worth two thousand dollars?"
+
+De Pauw thought it was worth that.
+
+"Very well; you can save it for that much money."
+
+De Pauw promptly paid the cash.
+
+"Now," said Morgan, "do you think your woollen-mill worth three thousand
+dollars?"
+
+"Yes," said De Pauw, with more hesitation.
+
+"You can buy it from us for that sum."
+
+The three thousand dollars was paid over less willingly, and the
+mill-owner was heartily glad that he had no other mills to redeem.
+
+Another threat to burn did not meet with as much success. Colonel
+Craven, of Ripley, who was taken prisoner, talked in so caustic a tone
+that Morgan asked where the colonel lived.
+
+"At Osgood," was the answer.
+
+"That little town on the railroad?"
+
+"Yes," said the colonel.
+
+"All right; I shall send a detachment there to burn the town."
+
+"Burn and be hanged!" said the colonel; "it isn't much of a town,
+anyhow."
+
+Morgan laughed heartily at the answer.
+
+"I like the way you talk, old fellow," he said, "and I guess your town
+can stand."
+
+As the ride went on Morgan had more and more cause for alarm. Hobson
+was hanging like a burr on his rear, rarely more than half a day's march
+behind--the lack of fresh horses kept him from getting nearer. Judah was
+on his flank, and had many of his men patrolling the Ohio. The governors
+had called for troops, and the country was rising on all sides. The Ohio
+was now the barrier between him and safety, and Morgan rode thither at
+top speed, striking the river on the 19th at Buffington Ford, above
+Pomeroy, in Ohio. For the past week, as Cunningham says, "every
+hill-side contained an enemy and every ravine a blockade, and we reached
+the river dispirited and worn down."
+
+At the river, instead of safety, imminent peril was found. Hundreds of
+Judah's men were on the stream in gunboats to head him off. Hobson,
+Wolford, and other cavalry leaders were closing in from behind. The
+raiders seemed environed by enemies, and sharp encounters began. Judah
+struck them heavily in flank. Hobson assailed them in the rear, and,
+hemmed in on three sides and unable to break through the environing
+lines, five hundred of the raiders, under Dick Morgan and Ward, were
+forced to surrender.
+
+"Seeing that the enemy had every advantage of position," says
+Cunningham, "an overwhelming force of infantry and cavalry, and that we
+were becoming completely environed in the meshes of the net set for us,
+the command was ordered to move up the river at double-quick, ... and
+we moved rapidly off the field, leaving three companies of dismounted
+men, and perhaps two hundred sick and wounded, in the enemy's
+possession. Our cannon were undoubtedly captured at the river."
+
+Morgan now followed the line of the stream, keeping behind the hills out
+of reach of the gunboat fire, till Bealville, fourteen miles above, was
+reached. Here he rode to the stream, having distanced the gunboats, and
+with threats demanded aid from the people in crossing. Flats and scows
+were furnished for only about three hundred of the men, who managed to
+cross before the gunboats appeared in sight. Others sought to cross by
+swimming. In this effort Cunningham had the following experience:
+
+"My poor mare being too weak to carry me, turned over and commenced
+going down; encumbered by clothes, sabre, and pistols, I made but poor
+progress in the turbid stream. But the recollections of home, of a
+bright-eyed maiden in the sunny South, and an inherent love of life,
+actuated me to continue swimming.... But I hear something behind me
+snorting! I feel it passing! Thank God, I am saved! A riderless horse
+dashes by; I grasp his tail; onward he bears me, and the shore is
+reached!" And thus Cunningham passes out of the story.
+
+The remainder of the force fled inland, hotly pursued, fighting a
+little, burning bridges, and being at length brought to bay, surrounded
+by foes, and forced to surrender, except a small party with Morgan
+still at their head. Escape for these seemed hopeless. For six days more
+they rode onward, in a desperate effort to reach the Ohio at some
+unguarded point. They were sharply pursued, and, at length, on Sunday,
+July 26, found themselves very hotly pressed. Along one road dashed
+Morgan, at the full speed of his mounts. Over a road at right angles
+rushed Major Rue, thundering along. It was a sharp burst for the
+intersection. Morgan reached it first, and Rue thought he had escaped.
+But the major knew the country like a book. His horses were fresh and
+Morgan's were jaded. Another tremendous dash was made for the Beaver
+Creek road, and this the major reached a little ahead.
+
+It was all up now with the famous raid. Morgan's men were too few to
+break through the intercepting force. He made the bluff of sending a
+flag with a demand to surrender; but Rue couldn't see it in that light,
+and a few minutes afterward Morgan rode up to him, saying, "You have
+beat me this time," and expressing himself as gratified that a
+Kentuckian was his captor.
+
+A mere fragment of the command remained, the others having been
+scattered and picked up at various points, and thus ended the career, in
+capture or death, of nearly all the more than four thousand bold raiders
+who had crossed the Ohio three weeks before. They had gained fame, but
+with captivity as its goal.
+
+Morgan and several of his officers were taken to Columbus, the capital
+of Ohio, and were there confined in felon cells in the penitentiary.
+Four months afterward the leader and six of his captains escaped and
+made their way in safety to the Confederate lines. Here is the story in
+outline of how they got free from durance vile.
+
+Two small knives served them for tools, with which they dug through the
+floors of their cells, composed of cement and nine inches of brickwork,
+and in this way reached an air-chamber below. They had now only to dig
+through the soft earth under the foundation walls of the penitentiary
+and open a passage into the yard. They had furnished themselves with a
+strong rope, made of their bed-clothes, and with this they scaled the
+walls. In some way they had procured citizen's clothes, so that those
+who afterward saw them had no suspicion.
+
+In the cell Morgan left the following note: "Cell No. 20. November 20,
+1863. Commencement, November 4, 1863. Conclusion, November 20, 1863.
+Number of hours of labor per day, three. Tools, two small knives. _La
+patience est amere, mais son fruit est doux_ [Patience is bitter, but
+its fruit is sweet]. By order of my six honorable confederates."
+
+Morgan and Captain Hines went immediately to the railroad station (at
+one o'clock in the morning) and boarded a train going towards
+Cincinnati. When near this city, they went to the rear car, slackened
+the speed by putting on the brake, and jumped off, making their way to
+the Ohio. Here they induced a boy to row them across, and soon found
+shelter with friends in Kentucky.
+
+A reward of one thousand dollars was offered for Morgan, "alive or
+dead," but the news of the ovation with which he was soon after received
+in Richmond proved to his careless jailers that he was safely beyond
+their reach.
+
+A few words will finish the story of Morgan's career. He was soon at the
+head of a troop again, annoying the enemy immensely in Kentucky. One of
+his raiding parties, three hundred strong, actually pushed General
+Hobson, his former pursuer, into a bend of the Licking River, and
+captured him with twelve hundred well-armed men. This was Morgan's last
+exploit. Soon afterward he, with a portion of his staff, were surrounded
+when in a house at Greenville by Union troops, and the famous
+Confederate leader was shot dead while seeking to escape.
+
+
+
+
+_HOME-COMING OF GENERAL LEE AND HIS VETERANS._
+
+
+Sad is defeat, and more than sad was the last march of General Lee's
+gallant army after its four years of heroic struggle, as it despondently
+made its way along the Virginian roads westward from the capital city
+which it had defended so long and valiantly. It was the verdant
+spring-tide, but the fresh green foliage had no charms for the
+heart-broken and starving men, whose food supplies had grown so low that
+they were forced to gnaw the young shoots of the trees for sustenance.
+It is not our purpose here to tell what followed the surrounding of the
+fragment of an army by an overwhelming force of foes, the surrender and
+parole, and the dispersion of the veteran troops to the four winds, but
+to confine ourselves to the homeward journey of General Lee and a few of
+his veterans.
+
+Shortly after the surrender, General Lee returned to Richmond, riding
+slowly from the scene on his iron-gray war-horse, "Traveller," which had
+borne him so nobly through years of battle and siege. His parting with
+his soldiers was pathetic, and everywhere on his road to Richmond he
+received tokens of admiration and respect from friend and foe. Reaching
+Richmond, he and his companions passed sadly through a portion of the
+city which exhibited a distressing scene of blackened ruins from the
+recent conflagration. As he passed onward he was recognized, and the
+people flocked to meet him, cheering and waving hats and handkerchiefs.
+The general, to whom this ovation could not have been agreeable, simply
+raised his hat in response to the greetings of the citizens, and rode on
+to his residence in Franklin Street. The closing of its doors upon his
+retiring form was the final scene in that long drama of war of which for
+years he had been the central figure. He had returned to that private
+family life for which his soul had yearned even in the most active
+scenes of the war.
+
+It is our purpose here to reproduce a vivid personal account of the
+adventures of some of the retiring soldiers, especially as General Lee
+bore a part in their experiences. The narrative given is the final one
+of a series of incidents in the life of the private soldier, related by
+Private Carlton McCarthy. These papers, in their day, were widely read
+and much admired, and an extract from them cannot fail still to be of
+interest. We take up the story of the "Brave Survivors, homeward bound:"
+
+"Early in the morning of Wednesday, the 12th of April, without the
+stirring drum or the bugle call of old, the camp awoke to the new life.
+Whether or not they had a country, these soldiers did not know. Home to
+many, when they reached it, was graves and ashes. At any rate, there
+must be, somewhere on earth, a better place than a muddy, smoky camp in
+a piece of scrubby pines; better company than gloomy, hungry comrades
+and inquisitive enemies, and something in the future more exciting, if
+not more hopeful, than nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep, nothing to do,
+and nowhere to go. The disposition to start was apparent, and the
+preparations were promptly begun.
+
+"To roll up the old blanket and oil-cloth, gather up the haversack,
+canteen, axe, perhaps, and a few trifles,--in time of peace of no
+value,--eat the fragments that remained, and light a pipe, was the work
+of a few moments. This slight employment, coupled with pleasant
+anticipations of the unknown, and therefore possibly enjoyable future,
+served to restore somewhat the usual light-hearted manner of soldiers
+and relieve the final farewells of much of their sadness. There was even
+a smack of hope and cheerfulness as the little groups sallied out into
+the world to combat they scarcely knew what. As we cannot follow all
+these groups, we will join ourselves to one and see them home.
+
+"Two 'brothers-in-arms,' whose objective-point is Richmond, take the
+road on foot. They have nothing to eat and no money. They are bound for
+their home in a city which, when they last heard from it, was in flames.
+What they will see when they arrive there they cannot imagine, but the
+instinctive love of home urges them. They walk on steadily and rapidly,
+and are not diverted by surroundings. It does not even occur to them
+that their situation, surrounded on all sides by armed enemies and
+walking a road crowded by them, is at all novel. They are suddenly
+aroused to a sense of their situation by a sharp 'Halt! Show your
+parole.' They had struck the cordon of picket-posts which surrounded the
+surrendered army. It was the first exercise of authority by the Federal
+army. A sergeant, accompanied by a couple of muskets, stepped into the
+road, with a modest air examined the paroles, and said, quietly, 'Pass
+on.'
+
+[Illustration: LEE'S HOUSE AT RICHMOND.]
+
+"This strictly military part of the operation being over, the social
+commenced. As the two 'survivors' passed on they were followed by
+numerous remarks, such as, 'Hello, Johnny! I say--going home?' 'Ain't
+you glad?' They made no reply, these wayfarers, but they _thought_ some
+very emphatic remarks.
+
+"From this point 'on to Richmond' was the grand thought. Steady work it
+was. The road, strangely enough, considering the proximity of two
+armies, was quite lonesome, and not an incident of interest occurred
+during the day. Darkness found the two comrades still pushing on.
+
+"Some time after dark a light was seen a short distance ahead, and there
+was a 'sound of revelry.' On approaching, the light was seen to proceed
+from a large fire, built on the floor of an old and dilapidated
+outhouse, and surrounded by a ragged, hungry, singing, and jolly crowd
+of paroled prisoners of the Army of Northern Virginia, who had gotten
+possession of a quantity of cornmeal and were waiting for the ash-cakes
+then in the ashes. Being liberal, they offered the new-comers some of
+their bread. Being hungry, they accepted and ate their first meal that
+day. Finding the party noisy and riotous, the comrades pushed on in the
+darkness after a short rest and spent the night on the road.
+
+"Thursday morning they entered the village of Buckingham Court-House,
+and traded a small pocket-mirror for a substantial breakfast. There was
+quite a crowd of soldiers gathered around a cellar-door, trying to
+persuade an ex-Confederate A. A. A. Commissary of Subsistence that he
+might as well, in view of the fact that the army had surrendered, let
+them have some of the stores; and, after considerable persuasion and
+some threats, he decided to forego the hope of keeping them for himself
+and told the men to help themselves. They did so.
+
+"As the two tramps were about to leave the village and were hurrying
+along the high-road which led through it, they saw a solitary horseman
+approaching from the rear. It was easy to recognize at once General Lee.
+He rode slowly, calmly along. As he passed an old tavern on the roadside
+some ladies and children waved their handkerchiefs, smiled, and wept.
+The general raised his eyes to the porch on which they stood, and,
+slowly raising his hand to his hat, lifted it slightly and as slowly
+again dropped his hand to his side. The 'survivors' did not weep, but
+they had strange sensations. They passed on, steering, so to speak, for
+Cartersville and the ferry.
+
+"Before leaving the village it was the sad duty of the 'survivors' to
+stop at the humble abode of Mrs. P. and tell her of the death of her
+husband, who fell mortally wounded, pierced by a musket-ball, near
+Sailor's Creek. She was also told that a companion who was by his side
+when he fell, but who was not able to stay with him, would come along
+soon and give her the particulars. That comrade came and repeated the
+story. In a few days the dead man reached home alive and scarcely hurt.
+He was originally an infantryman, recently transferred to artillery, and
+therefore wore a small knapsack, as infantry did. The ball struck the
+knapsack with a 'whack!' and knocked the man down. That was all."
+
+The night was spent in an old building near the ferry, and in the
+morning the ferryman cheerfully put them across the river without
+charge.
+
+"Soon after crossing, a good, silver-plated tablespoon, bearing the
+monogram of one of the travellers, purchased from an aged colored woman
+a large chunk of ash-cake and about half a gallon of buttermilk. This
+old darky had lived in Richmond in her younger days. She spoke of grown
+men and women there as 'chillun what I raised.' 'Lord! boss--does you
+know Miss Sadie? Well, I nussed her and I nussed all uv their chillun;
+that I did, sah. You chillun does look hawngry, that you does. Well,
+you's welcome to these vittles, and I'm pow'ful glad to git dis spoon.
+God bless you, honey!' A big log on the roadside furnished a comfortable
+seat for the consumption of the before-mentioned ash-cake and milk.
+
+"The feast was hardly begun when the tramp of a horse's hoofs were
+heard. Looking up, the 'survivors' saw with surprise General Lee
+approaching. He was entirely alone and rode slowly along. Unconscious
+that any one saw him, he was yet erect, dignified, and apparently as
+calm and peaceful as the fields and woods around him. Having caught
+sight of the occupants of the log, he kept his eyes fixed on them, and
+as he passed turned slightly, saluted, and said, in the most gentle
+manner, 'Good-morning, gentlemen; taking your breakfast?' The soldiers
+had only time to rise, salute, and say, 'Yes, sir,' and he was gone.
+
+"It seems that General Lee pursued the road which the 'survivors' chose,
+and, starting later than they, overtook them, he being mounted and they
+on foot. At any rate, it was their good fortune to see him three times
+on the road from Appomattox to Richmond. The incidents introducing
+General Lee are peculiarly interesting, and the reader may rest assured
+of the truthfulness of the narration as to what occurred and what was
+said and done.
+
+"After the feast of bread and milk, the no longer hungry men passed on.
+About the time when men who have eaten a hearty breakfast become again
+hungry,--as good fortune would have it happen,--they reached a house
+pleasantly situated, and a comfortable place withal. Approaching the
+house, they were met by an exceedingly kind, energetic, and hospitable
+woman. She promptly asked, 'You are not deserters?' 'No,' said the
+soldiers; 'we have our paroles; we are from Richmond; we are homeward
+bound, and called to ask if you could spare us a dinner.' 'Spare you a
+dinner? Certainly I can. My husband is a miller; his mill is right
+across the road there, down the hill, and I have been cooking all day
+for the poor, starving men. Take a seat on the porch there, and I will
+get you something to eat.'
+
+"By the time the travellers were seated, this admirable woman was in the
+kitchen at work. The 'pat-a-pat, pat, pat, pat, pat-a-pat, pat' of the
+sifter, and the cracking and 'fizzing' of the fat bacon as it fried,
+saluted their hungry ears, and the delicious smell tickled their
+olfactory nerves most delightfully. Sitting thus, entertained by
+delightful sounds, breathing the air and wrapped in meditation, or
+anticipation, rather, the soldiers saw the dust rise in the air and
+heard the sound of an approaching party.
+
+"Several horsemen rode up to the road-gate, threw their bridles over the
+posts or tied them to the overhanging boughs, and dismounted. They were
+evidently officers, well-dressed, fine-looking men, and about to enter
+the gate. Almost at once the men on the porch recognized General Lee and
+his son. They were accompanied by other officers. An ambulance had
+arrived at the gate also. Without delay they entered and approached the
+house, General Lee preceding the others. Satisfied that it was the
+general's intention to enter the house, the two 'brave survivors,'
+instinctively and respectfully venerating the approaching man,
+determined to give him and his companions the porch. As they were
+executing a rather rapid and undignified flank movement to gain the
+right and rear of the house, the voice of General Lee overhauled them
+thus, 'Where are you men going?' 'This lady has offered to give us a
+dinner, and we are waiting for it,' replied the soldiers. 'Well, you had
+better move on now--this gentleman will have quite a large party on him
+to-day,' said the general. The soldiers touched their caps, said, 'Yes,
+sir,' and retired, somewhat hurt, to a strong position on a hen-coop in
+the rear of the house. The party then settled on the porch.
+
+"The general had, of course, no authority, and the surrender of the
+porch was purely respectful. Knowing this, the soldiers were at first
+hurt, but a moment's reflection satisfied them that the general was
+right. He, no doubt, had suspicions of plunder, and these were increased
+by the movement of the men to the rear as he approached. He
+misinterpreted their conduct.
+
+"The lady of the house--_a reward for her name_--hearing the dialogue in
+the yard, pushed her head through the crack of the kitchen door and, as
+she tossed a lump of dough from hand to hand and gazed eagerly out,
+addressed the soldiers: 'Ain't that old General Lee?' 'Yes, General Lee
+and his son and other officers come to dine with you,' they replied.
+'Well,' she said, 'he ain't no better than the men that fought for him,
+and I don't reckon he is as hungry; so you just come in here. I am going
+to give you yours first, and then I'll get something for him.'
+
+"What a meal it was! Seated at the kitchen table, the large-hearted
+woman bustling about and talking away, the ravenous tramps attacked a
+pile of old Virginia hoecake and corn-dodger, a frying-pan with an inch
+of gravy and slices of bacon, streak of lean and streak of fat, very
+numerous. To finish--as much rich buttermilk as the drinkers could
+contain. With many heartfelt thanks the 'survivors' bade farewell to
+this immortal woman, and leaving the general and his party in the quiet
+possession of the front porch, pursued their way.
+
+"Night found the 'survivors' at the gate of a quiet, handsome, framed
+country residence. The weather was threatening, and it was desirable to
+have shelter as well as rest. Entering and knocking at the door, they
+were met by a servant girl. She was sent to her mistress with a request
+for permission to sleep on her premises. The servant returned, saying,
+'Mistis says she is a widder, and there ain't no gentleman in the house,
+and she can't let you come in.' She was sent with a second message,
+which informed the lady that the visitors were from Richmond, members of
+a certain company from there, and would be content with permission to
+sleep on the porch, in the stable, or in the barn. They would protect
+her property, etc., etc., etc.
+
+"This message brought the lady of the house to the door. She said, 'If
+you are members of the ---- ----, you must know my nephew, he was in that
+company. Of course they knew him, 'old chum,' 'comrade,' 'particular
+friend,' 'splendid fellow,' 'hope he was well when you heard from him;
+glad to meet you, madam.' These and similar hearty expressions brought
+the longed-for 'Come in, gentlemen. You are welcome. I will see that
+supper is prepared for you at once.' (Invitation accepted.)
+
+"The old haversacks were deposited in a corner under the steps and their
+owners conducted downstairs to a spacious dining-room, quite prettily
+furnished. A large table occupied the centre of the room, and at one
+side there was a handsome display of silver in a glass-front case. A
+good big fire lighted the room. The lady sat quietly working at some
+woman's work, and from time to time questioning, in a rather suspicious
+manner, her guests. Their direct answers satisfied her, and their
+respectful manner reassured her, so that by the time supper was brought
+in she was chatting and laughing with her 'defenders.'
+
+"The supper came in steaming hot. It was abundant, well prepared, and
+served elegantly. Splendid coffee, hot biscuit, luscious butter, fried
+ham, eggs, fresh milk! The writer could not expect to be believed if he
+should tell the quantity eaten at that meal. The good lady of the house
+enjoyed the sight. She relished every mouthful, and no doubt realized
+then and there the blessing which is conferred on hospitality, and the
+truth of that saying of old, 'It is more blessed to give than to
+receive.'
+
+"The wayfarers were finally shown to a neat little chamber. The bed was
+soft and glistening white; too white and clean to be soiled by the
+occupancy of two Confederate soldiers who had not had a change of
+underclothing for many weeks. They looked at it, felt of it, and then
+spread their old blankets on the neat carpet and slept there till near
+the break of day.
+
+"While it was yet dark the travellers, unwilling to lose time waiting
+for breakfast, crept out of the house, leaving their thanks for their
+kind hostess, and passed rapidly on to Manikin Town, on the James River
+and Kanawha Canal, half a day's march from Richmond, where they arrived
+while it was yet early morning. The greensward between the canal and
+river was inviting, and the 'survivors' laid there awhile to rest and
+determine whether or not they would push on to the city. They desired to
+do so as soon as they could find a breakfast to fit them for the day's
+march."
+
+In this venture they met with a new experience, the party applied to, a
+well-fed, hearty man, gruffly repulsing them, and complaining that some
+scoundrels had stolen his best horse the night before. He finally
+invited them in and set before them the bony remnants of some fish he
+had had for breakfast. Rising indignantly from the table, the veterans
+told their inhospitable host that they were not dogs, and would
+consider it an insult to the canine race to call him one. Apparently
+fearing that the story of his behavior to old soldiers would be spread
+to his discredit, he now apologized for the "mistake," and offered to
+have a breakfast cooked for them, but they were past being mollified,
+and left him with the most uncomplimentary epithets at the command of
+two old soldiers of four years' service.
+
+"At eleven A.M. of the same day two footsore, despondent, and penniless
+men stood facing the ruins of the home of a comrade who had sent a
+message to his mother. 'Tell mother I am coming.' The ruins yet smoked.
+A relative of the lady whose home was in ashes, and whose son said, 'I
+am coming,' stood by the 'survivors.' 'Well, then,' he said, 'it must
+be true that General Lee has surrendered.' The solemnity of the remark,
+coupled with the certainty in the minds of the 'survivors,' was almost
+amusing. The relative pointed out the temporary residence of the mother,
+and thither the 'survivors' wended their way.
+
+"A knock at the door startled the mother, and with agony in her eyes she
+appeared at the opened door, exclaiming, 'My poor boys!' 'Are safe and
+coming home,' said the 'survivors.' 'Thank God!' said the mother, and
+the tears flowed down her cheeks.
+
+"A rapid walk through ruined and smoking streets, some narrow escapes
+from negro soldiers on police duty, the satisfaction of seeing two of
+the 'boys in blue' hung up by their thumbs for pillaging, a few
+handshakings, and the 'survivors' found their way to the house of a
+relative, where they did eat bread with thanks.
+
+"A friend informed the 'survivors' that day that farm hands were needed
+all around the city. They made a note of that and the name of one
+farmer. Saturday night the old blankets were spread on the parlor floor.
+Sunday morning, the 16th of April, they bade farewell to the household
+and started for the farmer's house.
+
+"As they were about to start away, the head of the family took from his
+pocket a handful of odd silver pieces, and extending them to the guests,
+told them it was all he had, _but they were welcome to half of it_.
+Remembering that he had a wife and three or four children to feed, the
+soldiers smiled through _their_ tears at _his_, bade him keep it all,
+and 'weep for himself rather than for them.' So saying, they departed,
+and at sundown were at the farmer's house, fourteen miles away.
+
+"Monday morning, the 17th, they 'beat their swords (muskets in this
+case) into ploughshares' and did the first day's work of the sixty which
+the _simple_ farmer secured at a cost to himself of about half rations
+for two men. Behold the gratitude of a people! Where grow now the shrubs
+which of old bore leaves and twigs for garlands? The brave live! are the
+fair dead? Shall time of calamity, downfall or ruin, annihilate
+sacrifice or hatch an ingrate brood?"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Historical Tales, Vol. 2 (of 15), by Charles Morris
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORICAL TALES, VOL. 2 (OF 15) ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25103.txt or 25103.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/1/0/25103/
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