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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30893-0.txt b/30893-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e85c10 --- /dev/null +++ b/30893-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3768 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Little Book of the Flag, by Eva March Tappan + +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: The Little Book of the Flag + +Author: Eva March Tappan + +Release Date: January 8, 2010 [EBook #30893] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG *** + + + + +Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE LITTLE BOOK + OF THE FLAG + + BY + EVA MARCH TAPPAN + + HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY + + BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO DALLAS + SAN FRANCISCO + + The Riverside Press Cambridge + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + The Riverside Press + CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS + PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. THE FLAGS THAT BROUGHT THE COLONISTS 1 + + Flags under which the early colonists sailed--The English + "ancient flag"--The "meteor flag," "Union Jack," or "King's + Flag"--Endicott cuts the cross from the English flag--The + militia object to the cross on the flag--A flagless fort--Dr. + Cotton's decision. + + + II. THE PINE-TREE FLAG AND OTHERS 8 + + Flags common among the colonists--The New England + Alliance--The pine-tree flag and coins--Flags of the + militia--The red coat flag. + + + III. LIBERTY AND LIBERTY POLES 14 + + The demand for liberty--Opposition to the Stamp Act--Oliver + hanged in effigy--The Liberty Tree in Boston--The liberty + pole in New York--The Albany plan--The snake design. + + + IV. THE LAND OF MANY FLAGS 20 + + The Bedford flag--Flags at the beginning of the + Revolution--Sergeant Jasper saves the flag--The + rattlesnake on the flag. + + + V. WHEN WASHINGTON WENT TO CAMBRIDGE 27 + + The Philadelphia Light Horse Troop--The army at + Cambridge--The backwoodsmen--Indians offer their + services--General Putnam unfurls a scarlet flag--The + Liberty Tree. + + + VI. THE "GRAND UNION FLAG" 32 + + The "Grand Union Flag"--Possible sources of the design--First + raised in Somerville--Flags on sea and land--Flag hoisted over + the Alfred by John Paul Jones--Franklin's letters of marque. + + + VII. THE FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG 39 + + The flag of the United States as decreed by Congress--The + Betsy Ross flag--Significance of the Colors--Captain Jones + put in command of the Ranger--The "quilting party"--The + Drake strikes her colors to the Ranger--The United States + flag is saluted by the French--The flag goes down with the + Bon Homme Richard. + + + VIII. FLAGS ONE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE 48 + + The Fort Stanwix flag--Pulaski's banner--The first Fourth + of July celebration--General use of "thirteen"--Copley's + delay to paint in the flag--A Nantucket skipper carries the + flag to London--The last battle of the Revolution--The New + Haven peace rejoicing. + + + IX. THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STRIPES AND FIFTEEN STARS 56 + + The flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars decreed by + Congress--Worn by "Old Ironsides"--Leads against + Tripoli--Seen at Constantinople--Among the Indians of the + Louisiana Territory--"The Star-Spangled Banner"--Marking + the birthplace of Washington. + + + X. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 63 + + Congress decrees the present flag--No law for the + arrangement of the stars--The manufacture of bunting--Flags + for the navy--Flags for the War Department--"Old Glory." + + + XI. THE FLAG IN WAR 70 + + The flag at Chapultepec--The surrender of Fort Sumter--The + flag raised again at Fort Sumter--The Arizona flag of the + Rough Riders. + + + XII. THE FLAG IN PEACE 77 + + Perry opens Japan to the world--Raising the flag over the + legation in Sweden--Hauling down the flag in Cuba--The flag + at the North Pole--The flag on Westminster Palace. + + + XIII. HOW TO BEHAVE TOWARD THE FLAG 85 + + FLAG ANNIVERSARIES 90 + + SELECTIONS + The Star-Spangled Banner _Francis Scott Key_ 93 + The Flag in the Darkness _Benjamin Harrison_ 95 + A Song for Flag Day _Wilbur D. Nesbit_ 96 + The Flag goes by _Henry Holcomb Bennett_ 98 + What the Flag stands for _Henry Cabot Lodge_ 100 + Union and Liberty _Oliver Wendell Holmes_ 101 + Your Country and your Flag _Edward Everett Hale_ 103 + The Home Flag _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ 104 + Old Flag _Hubbard Parker_ 105 + Britannia to Columbia _Alfred Austin_ 107 + Makers of the Flag _Franklin K. Lane_ 109 + Our Flag _Margaret Sangster_ 112 + Our History and our Flag _William Backus Guitteau_ 113 + The American Flag _Joseph Rodman Drake_ 115 + The Flag of our Country _Robert C. Winthrop_ 116 + America _Samuel Francis Smith_ 117 + + INDEX 119 + + + + +THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE FLAGS THAT BROUGHT THE COLONISTS + + +More than three hundred years ago a little sailing vessel set out from +Holland, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and followed down our coast from +Greenland. Its captain, Henry Hudson, was in search of a quick and easy +route to Asia, and when he entered the mouth of the river that is named +for him, he hoped that he had found a strait leading to the Asiatic +coast. He was disappointed in this, but the Indians welcomed him, the +mountains were rich in forests, and the ground was fertile. "It is the +most beautiful land in all the world," declared the enthusiastic navigator. + +Henry Hudson was an Englishman, but he sailed in the employ of the Dutch +East India Company, and soon the flag of this Company was well known +along the Hudson River. It was the old flag of Holland, three horizontal +stripes, of orange, white, and blue, with the initials of the Company on +the white stripe. Hudson had not found a new route to Asia, but he had +opened the way for the fur-trade. In a few years the Dutch had +established trading-posts as far north as Albany. They had also founded +a city which we call "New York," but which they named "New Amsterdam." +So it was that in 1609 the Dutch flag first came to the New World. + +Nearly thirty years after the voyage of Henry Hudson, a company of +Swedes made a settlement on the Delaware River. This had been planned +by the great Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. "That colony will be +the jewel of my kingdom," he said; but the "Lion of the North" was +slain in battle, and his twelve-year-old daughter Christina had become +queen. That is why the loyal Swedes named their little fortification +Fort Christiana, and over it they raised the flag of their country, a +blue banner with a yellow cross. + +In course of time the Swedes were overpowered by the Dutch, and then +the Dutch by the English; so that before many years had passed, the +only flag that floated over the "Old Thirteen" colonies was that of +England. This was brought across the sea by the settlers of our first +English colony, Jamestown, in Virginia. Moreover, they had the honor +of sailing away from England in all the glories of a brand-new flag +made in a brand-new design. The flag of England had been white with a +red upright cross known as "St. George's Cross"; but a new king, James +I, had come to the throne, and the flag as well as many other things +had met with a change. James was King of Scotland by birth, and the +Scotch flag was blue with the white diagonal cross of St. Andrew. When +James became King of England, he united the two flags by placing on a +blue background the upright cross of St. George over the diagonal +cross of St. Andrew; and he was so well pleased with the result that +he commanded every English vessel to bear in its maintop this flag, +"joined together according to the form made by our own heralds," the +King declared with satisfaction. It was the custom at that time to +call "ancient" whatever was not perfectly new, and therefore the flag +used before James became king was spoken of as the "ancient flag," +while the new one became the "King's Flag" or the "Union Jack." This +change was made in the very year when the grant for Virginia was +obtained, and therefore the little company of settlers probably sailed +for America with the "King's Flag" in the maintop and the "ancient +flag" in the foretop. + +On land, among the colonists, sometimes one flag was floated and +sometimes the other. In Massachusetts the red cross of St. George seems +to have been much in use; but before long that red cross began to hurt +the consciences of the Puritans most grievously. To them the cross was +the badge of the Roman Catholic Church. Still, it was on the flag of +their mother country, the flag that floated over their forts and their +ships. The Puritan conscience was a stern master, however, and when one +day John Endicott led the little company of Salem militia out for a drill, +and saw that cross hanging over the governor's gate, the sight was more +than he could bear, and he--but Hawthorne has already told the story:-- + + Endicott gazed around at the excited countenances of the people, + now full of his own spirit, and then turned suddenly to the + standard-bearer, who stood close behind him. + + "Officer, lower your banner!" said he. + + The officer obeyed; and brandishing his sword, Endicott thrust it + through the cloth, and, with his left hand, rent the red cross + completely out of the banner. He then waved the tattered ensign + above his head. + + "Sacrilegious wretch!" cried the High Churchman in the pillory, + unable longer to restrain himself, "thou hast rejected the symbol + of our holy religion!" + + "Treason, treason!" roared the Royalist in the stocks. "He hath + defaced the King's banner!" + + "Before God and man, I will avouch the deed," answered Endicott. + "Beat a flourish, drummer!--shout, soldiers and people!--in honor + of the ensign of New England. Neither Pope nor Tyrant hath part in + it now!" + + With a cry of triumph the people gave their sanction to one of the + boldest exploits which our history records. + +Endicott was one of the court assistants, but he was now removed from +his position and forbidden to hold any public office for one year. He +was fortunate in being permitted to retain his head. + +Endicott had been punished, but the Puritan conscience was not yet at +rest, and now many of the militia declared that they did not think it +right to march under the cross. The whole militia could not well be +punished, and the commissioners for military affairs were as doubtful +as the honest militia men about what should be done. "We will leave it +to the next General Court to decide," they said, "and in the meantime +no flags shall be used anywhere." + +This seemed a comfortable way to settle the question, but unluckily +there was a fort on Castle Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor, +and when an English vessel came sailing in, its captain refused to pay +any attention to a fort without a flag. Then the officer in command +rose to his dignity and made the ship--maybe with the aid of a ball +across her bows--strike her colors. The captain complained to the +authorities that the commandant of this flagless fort had insulted his +flag and his country. The authorities were just a bit alarmed. To +insult a flag and a country was a serious matter. "What shall we do to +make amends?" they queried. "Let the officer who proffered the insult +come on board of my vessel and say in the presence of the ship's +company that he was in fault," replied the captain. This was done, and +the sky cleared. + +But the troubles of the colonists were by no means over. The mate of +another vessel declared with considerable emphasis that these people +were all rebels and traitors to the King. Surely the thought of such a +report as this going back to England from a tiny colony clinging to +the edge of the continent was enough to alarm the boldest. Discussions +were held, and Dr. John Cotton was appealed to. + +A canny man was this Dr. John Cotton, and he decided that inasmuch as +the fort belonged to the King, it was proper that it should display +the King's Flag, whatever it might be,--"while vessels are passing," +he added shrewdly; but that, as for the militia, each company might +have its own colors, and not one of them need bear a cross. So the +great tempest passed by. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE PINE-TREE FLAG AND OTHERS + + +In some of the colonies at least, the people must have led a rather +somber life, with little pleasure, much hard work, and much +discomfort; but they fairly reveled in flags. The Indians in their +warfare preferred to hide behind trees rather than to flourish +banners, and the white men soon learned to follow their example. +Nevertheless, it always seemed to the minds of the colonists a little +irregular and out of place not to carry a flag of some sort when they +were setting out on an expedition. + +Probably we do not know one in twenty of all the designs for banners +that entered the fertile minds of these colonists, but they were so +numerous that if they had all been displayed at the same time, they +would have almost hidden the settlements. Not all colonists were as +afraid of a cross as were the good folk of Salem. In Newbury, +Massachusetts, a certain company of foot rejoiced in a flag of vivid +green. In the upper corner next the staff was a square of white +containing a red cross. The kindly councilor, who had ordered the flag +to be made in England "with all convenient speed," evidently had some +sense of humor, for he wrote at the end of his letter to the company, +"The number of bullets to be put into your colors for distinction may +be left out at present without damage in the making of them." Another +flag, belonging to a company of Massachusetts cavalry, seems to have +been something quite out of the common, for it was of damask and silk +and adorned with silver fringe. A real artist must have used his brush +upon it, for the bill read, "For painting in oyle on both sides a +Cornett on rich crimson damask, with a hand and sword and invelloped +with a scarfe about the arms of gold, black and silver"; and for all +that gorgeousness, generously painted "on both sides," the charge was +the moderate one of £5 2_s._ 6_d._ This was made for what was known as +the "Three County Troop," composed of cavalry from Essex, Middlesex, +and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts, and was probably used in King +Philip's War. + +Now, wherever a discoverer planted the sole of his foot, he took +possession for his sovereign of all the land in sight and all the land +which joined that land. Naturally, the claims of the colonies soon +conflicted. The good folk of New England made an alliance to defend +themselves against the Dutch, Swedes, and French. They managed to be +good allies for forty years without a flag. Then came one brilliant +enough to make up for the delay, and sent to them across the sea by no +less a man than King James II himself. This was of white with a St. +George's cross of red. In the center of the cross was a golden crown and +under it the King's monogram in black. A few years later matters in +England had changed. King James II had proved to be a very poor sort of +sovereign, and it was made clear to him that for his health and +comfort--possibly for his head--it would be wise for him to leave the +country. This he did in alarm and at full speed, tossing the royal seal +into the Thames on his way. It is small wonder that New Englanders +preferred a new flag. The only marvel is that they waited so long a time +before getting it. When it was finally chosen, it proved to be red with +a white canton or union cut by a red St. George's cross into four +squares. In one of these squares was the representation of a pine tree. +This representation can hardly have been a work of art, for one +historian says unkindly of it that it "no more resembled a pine tree +than a cabbage." Evidently the brave colonists were not artists. +Nevertheless, even if the good folk of Massachusetts could not draw a +pine tree, they were fond of it, and their General Court decreed that it +should be stamped upon the coins minted in that colony. Now it was the +right of the King to coin money, and when Charles II heard that the +ambitious colonists were making it for themselves, he was not pleased. +"But it is only for their own use," said a courtier who favored the +colonies, and taking a New England coin from his pocket, he showed it to +the King. "What tree is that?" demanded the aggrieved monarch. "That," +said the quick-witted courtier, "is the royal oak which saved Your +Majesty's life." "Well, well," said the King, "those colonists are not +so bad after all. They're a parcel of honest dogs!" Perhaps they were, +even if their likenesses of pine trees could not be distinguished from +cabbages and oaks. Hawthorne's story, "The Pine-Tree Shillings," is +written about this inartistic coinage. + +So the story of the flags went on. Besides the English flag every +little company of militia had its standard. One flag bore a hemisphere +in the corner in place of a pine tree, and another bore nothing but a +tree. The colonists did not trouble themselves about being artistic or +choosing colors of any special significance; if the ground of the flag +was of one color and the cross or whatever other figure was chosen was +of another, they were satisfied. Charleston, South Carolina, had a +specially elegant flag--blue with a silver crescent--to use on +"dress-up" days. After a time even the Indians were sometimes +furnished with flags, for one kindly governor gave them a Union Jack +as a protection. He presented them also with a red flag to indicate +war and a white one as a sign of peace; and probably the fortunate +Indians felt with all this magnificence quite like white folk. + +In 1745, when that remarkable expedition of New Englanders--which had +"a lawyer for contriver, a merchant for general, and farmers, +fishermen, and mechanics for soldiers"--set off to capture Louisburg +from the French, they sailed proudly away under a flag whereon was +written in Latin, "Never despair, for Christ is our leader." It was on +this same expedition that a new flag was hoisted, the like of which +was never seen before. An officer discovered that a battery on the +shore of the harbor was apparently vacant. There was no flag flying +from the staff and no smoke rising from the chimney. It looked as if +that battery might be taken easily. On the other hand it was also +quite possible that this was a ruse and was meant to decoy the +colonists within. The officer concluded to run the risk--of losing the +life of some one else. Holding up a bottle of brandy before the +thirsty gaze of an Indian, he said, "If I give you this, will you +creep in at that embrasure and open the gate?" The red man grunted +assent, crept in, and opened the gate. Then the officer and twelve men +took possession. Soon a message went from the officer to his general +as follows: "May it please your honor to be informed that by the grace +of God and the courage of thirteen men, I entered the royal battery +about nine o'clock, and am awaiting for a reinforcement and a flag." +Sometimes the colonists were wanting in the grace of patience, and +this was one of the occasions. A soldier, tired of delay, decided +that, although he could not provide reinforcements, he could provide a +flag; so up the staff he clambered with a red coat in his teeth. He +nailed it to the top of the staff, and it swung out in the wind, much +to the alarm of the citizens, who sent one hundred men in boats to +recapture the battery. The hundred men fired, but the brave little +company kept them from landing and held their position till the +general could send help. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +LIBERTY AND LIBERTY POLES + + +After the middle of the eighteenth century there was much talk among +the colonies of liberty. It is possible that not all the people were +quite clear in their minds what that "liberty" might mean; but +whatever it was, they wanted it. England required nothing more of her +colonies than other nations required of theirs. The colonies asked +nothing of England that would not be granted to-day as a matter of +course. The difficulty was that the mother country was living in the +eighteenth century, while the colonists were looking forward into the +nineteenth. A demand for liberty was in the air. The pole on which a +flag was hung was not called a flag pole, but a liberty pole. + +Most of the flags on these liberty poles bore mottoes, many of them +decidedly bold and defiant. When the Stamp Act was passed, the wrath of +the people rose, and now they knew exactly what they wanted--"No +taxation without representation." The stamped paper brought to South +Carolina was carefully stowed away in a fort. Thereupon three volunteer +companies from Charleston took possession of the fort, ran up a blue +flag marked with three white crescents, and destroyed the paper. New +York's flag had one word only, but that one word was "Liberty." +Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had a banner inscribed "Liberty, Property, +and no Stamps." In Newburyport, Massachusetts, there was a regular +patrol of men armed with stout sticks. "What do you say, stamps or no +stamps?" they demanded of every stranger, and if he had a liking for a +whole skin, he replied emphatically, "No stamps." One wary newcomer +replied courteously, "I am what you are," and was uproariously cheered. + +In going from one colony to another, it was not uncommon for a man to +get a passport from the sons of Liberty to attest to his standing as a +"Liberty man." When the stamps made their first appearance, Boston +tolled her church bells and put her flags at half-mast. Indeed, a new +sort of flag appeared in the shape of an effigy of Oliver, the stamp +distributor, swinging from the bough of a great elm which stood by the +main entrance to town. The Chief Justice ordered this image to be +removed. "Certainly," replied the people politely, "we will take it down +ourselves this very evening." So they did, but they laid it upon a bier +and marched in a long procession through the old State House. Here, in +the Council Chamber, the Governor and his Council were deliberating. +Shouts came up from below, "Liberty, Property, and no Stamps!" and +"Death to the man who offers a piece of stamped paper to sell!" "Beat an +alarm," the Chief Justice commanded the colonel of the militia. "But I +cannot," replied the colonel, "my drummers are in the mob." The +procession marched on, burned the effigy in front of the distributor's +house, gave three rousing cheers, and went home. In New York, when the +rumor spread that a ship laden with stamps was approaching, all the +vessels in the harbor put their colors at half-mast. + +When every distributor of stamps had resigned his office, there was +another outburst of banners. Charleston, South Carolina, hoisted a +liberty flag, surmounted by a branch of laurel. The tree in Boston on +which the effigy of the stamp distributor had been hung had become an +important member of colonial society. It had been formally named the +"Liberty Tree," and the ground under it was called "Liberty Hall." +Banners were often swung from its branches, and notices were nailed to +its trunk. Fastened firmly to the trunk was a tall liberty pole, and +whenever any one caught a glimpse of a red flag waving from the top of +the pole, he knew that the Sons of Liberty were to hold a meeting. +When the Stamp Act was repealed, the Liberty Tree was the very center +of rejoicing. At one o'clock in the morning, the church bell nearest +it was rung joyfully. At the first rays of dawn, the houses about it, +even the steeple of the church, all blossomed out with banners, and at +night the tree itself was aglow with lanterns. In New York a liberty +pole was set up with a splendid new flag on which was inscribed, "The +King, Pitt, and Liberty." It almost seemed as if "liberty" meant +having whatever sort of flag might suit one's whim. + +This New York pole had rather a hard time. British soldiers cut it down +twice, and when a third pole was raised, sheathed with iron around its +base, they managed to cut that down also, although it bore the legend, +"To His Most Gracious Majesty George III, Mr. Pitt, and Liberty." The +city authorities would not risk planting another pole on city land, and +thereupon the Sons of Liberty bought a piece of land for themselves, and +marched up in brilliant procession; first a full band, playing with all +its might, then six horses, made gorgeous with bright ribbons, drawing +from the shipyard a fine new pole, sheathed in iron two thirds of its +length. It was escorted by the Sons of Liberty in full numbers. Three +flags floated over the little procession, but their mottoes were not so +impressively loyal as the earlier ones. These read, "Liberty and +Property." Nevertheless, "liberty" did not yet mean separation from the +mother country; it meant only freedom in making some of their own laws; +and what was known as the "Union Flag" did not refer to any union of the +colonies, but rather to the union of Scotland and England. This flag, +the regular flag of England, was red, with the crosses of St. George and +St. Andrew on a blue field forming the Jack. + +Once, however, more than twenty years before the Revolutionary War, +there had been some talk of a union of colonies, beginning with the +suggestions of the most far-sighted man in America, Benjamin Franklin. +In 1754, when war between France and England was on the point of +breaking out, there was a meeting at Albany of delegates from several +colonies. They had come to see if they could make sure of the aid of +the Six Nations of Indian tribes; and here the sagacious Franklin +brought forward his plan for a union. His scheme was for the colonies +to elect a Grand Council, which should meet every year in +Philadelphia, to levy taxes, enlist soldiers, plan for defense, and, +in short, to attend to whatever concerned all the colonies. Whatever +affected them separately was to be managed by the colony interested. +This Council was to have much the same powers as our Congress of +to-day; but there must be a place in the scheme for the King, of +course; so Franklin proposed that the King should appoint a president +who should have the right to veto the acts of the Grand Council. This +was the "Albany Plan." Franklin was much in earnest about the matter, +and had a cut made for the _Pennsylvania Gazette_ picturing a rather +unpleasant device, a snake sliced uncomfortably into ten parts, the +head marked "NE," for New England, and each of the other pieces with +the initials of some one of the other nine colonies. With the motto, +"Unite or die," this work of art appeared for a number of issues at +the head of the _Gazette_; but many years passed before the colonies +began to make any practical use of the wisdom of Franklin in 1754. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE LAND OF MANY FLAGS + + +When Paul Revere galloped through the villages of Middlesex, calling +"for the country folk to be up and to arm," there was not much spare +time for collecting flags, and probably when + + "The farmers gave them ball for ball, + From behind each fence and farmyard wall,"-- + +they did not trouble themselves to flourish a flag before they shot. +Yet, if we may trust a family tradition, at least one flag waved over +the plucky farmers. It seems that for a long while one member or another +of the Page family of Bedford had been accustomed to carrying the colors +of the militia, and therefore when the alarm was given and Nathaniel +Page started for Concord, it was as natural for him to seize his flag as +his gun. Moreover, this story has the bunting to back it up, for the +Bedford flag remained in the Page family until presented to the town a +century after the close of the war. It is rather a pity that it did not +come a little sooner, for an old lady of Page descent confessed that in +her giddy girlhood she had irreverently ripped off the silver fringe to +make trimming for her ball dress. + +The Revolution was fairly on, and two months later, the battle of +Bunker Hill was fought. Possibly the colonists thought of spades +rather than standards when they were throwing up the fortifications, +and yet I fancy that to these flag-loving fighters a battle without a +banner would have seemed like an undignified riot. Some writers say +positively that no flag was to be seen--rather a difficult statement +to prove. The daughter of one of the soldiers declared that her father +helped hoist the standard known as the "New England Flag." "He called +it a 'noble flag,'" she said. "It was blue with the red cross of St. +George in a white corner, and in one section was a pine tree." The +artist Trumbull, who painted the picture of this battle now in the +Capitol at Washington, made the flag red instead of blue, but both +were familiar colonial flags, and there is no reason why both should +not have waved over the famous hill. Tradition says that one flag bore +the motto, "Come if you dare." General Gage is said to have had +difficulty in reading it, but maybe that was because of its audacity. +Some verses written soon after the battle say that + + "Columbia's troops are seen in dread array, + And waving streamers in the air display";-- + +but, unluckily, the poet forgot to mention the color of those "waving +streamers." In Savannah, after the battle, but before any news of it +could have arrived, the independent Georgians hoisted a Union flag and +suggestively placed two pieces of artillery directly under it. New York +chose a white flag with a black beaver thereon. Rhode Island had also a +white flag, but with a blue anchor instead of a beaver, and a blue +canton with thirteen white stars. Her motto was "Hope." Connecticut +meant that there should be no mistake in the whereabouts of her +regiments, for she gave them flags of solid color: to the first, yellow; +the second, blue; the third, scarlet; and so on with crimson, white, +azure, another shade of blue, and orange. For a motto Connecticut chose +"Qui transtulit sustinet"; that is, "He who brought us here sustains +us." Massachusetts chose for her motto "An Appeal to Heaven." Charleston +had a blue flag with a white crescent in the upper corner next to the +staff and inscribed upon her banner the daring words, "Liberty or +Death." Later she adopted a rattlesnake flag. Her troops wore blue and +had silver crescents on the front of their caps, inscribed with the same +motto. It is small wonder that timid folk were alarmed and whispered to +one another, "That is going too far; it looks like a declaration of +war." This blue and silver flag was planned by Colonel Moultrie. When +Fort Moultrie--which received this name because of his brave +defense--was shelled the following year, the anxious folk in the town +watched with troubled faces, for it was doubtful whether the little fort +with its scant supply of ammunition could sustain the attack. Suddenly +the crescent flag fell from its staff. A groan ran through the +crowd--Colonel Moultrie had struck his flag! "Forward!" cried one among +them, and they marched to the water's edge to fight for their homes. +Within the little fort one William Jasper, a sergeant, saw that a ball +had cut down the flag and it had fallen over the rampart. "Colonel," he +said to his commander, "don't let us fight without a flag." "What can +you do?" demanded Colonel Moultrie, "the staff is broken." Sergeant +Jasper was a man of few words and many deeds. He leaped through an +embrasure, walked the whole length of the fort in a heavy fire from the +ships, caught up the flag, brought it safely back, and fastened it to a +sponge-staff. Then, in the midst of cheers,--in which I fancy the +British also joined,--he fastened the rescued banner upon the bastion. +The following day the Governor came to the fort, asked for Sergeant +Jasper, presented him with his own sword, and gave him hearty thanks in +behalf of his country. Then he said, "I will gladly give you a +lieutenant's commission," but the honest man refused. "I am only a +sergeant," he said. "I don't know how to read or write, and I am not fit +to keep company with officers." Colonel Moultrie then gave him a roving +commission, and he often made some little trip with half a dozen men and +returned with a band of prisoners before any one realized that he had +gone. The wife of Major Elliot presented the regiment with a pair of +beautiful silken colors, which were afterwards carried in the assault +upon Savannah. The standard-bearers were shot down; another man seized +them, but he was also shot; then Sergeant Jasper caught them and +fastened them on the parapet, when he too was fatally wounded by a ball. +"Tell Mrs. Elliot," he said, "that I lost my life supporting the colors +she gave to our regiment." A tablet in honor of the brave sergeant was +long ago placed in Savannah. + +The rattlesnake as an emblem seems to have been somewhat of a favorite +among the colonists. Besides Franklin's snake of the many +initials--which, indeed, might have stood, or coiled, for any sort of +serpent--there was the one borne by Patrick Henry's men when they +forced the Governor of Virginia to pay for the powder which he had +carried away from the colonial magazine. Then, too, there was a third +variety of snake, the one that stretched itself across a colonial +naval flag and proclaimed--from the top of the mast--"Don't tread on +me." On another flag the rattlesnake appeared coiled in the roots of a +pine tree and ready to strike. The Culpeper Minute Men of Virginia had +a coiled snake on their flag. In the winter of 1775 there appeared in +the _Pennsylvania Journal_ an article setting forth the propriety of +choosing the rattlesnake to represent America. The style of the +article and its keenness are like Franklin, but there is no proof that +he was its author. Whoever did write it notes that the "rattler" is +peculiar to America; that the brightness of its eyes and their lack of +lids fit it to be an emblem of vigilance. It never begins an attack +and never surrenders, never wounds till it has given warning. The +writer had counted the rattles on the naval flag, and found them to be +exactly thirteen, the number of the colonies. He had also noted that +the rattles were independent of one another, and yet most firmly +united; and that while one rattle alone is incapable of producing any +sound, the ringing of the thirteen together is sufficient to alarm the +boldest man living. Whether Franklin wrote this or not, let us at +least be thankful that these arguments did not prevail, and that on +the flag of the United States there are stars and not serpents. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WHEN WASHINGTON WENT TO CAMBRIDGE + + +Washington, chosen commander-in-chief, set out on June 21, 1775, on +his eleven-days' ride to Boston. From Philadelphia to New York he was +escorted by the Philadelphia Light Horse Troop. It was an escort worth +having. Their uniform was "a dark brown short coat, faced and lined +with white; high-topped boots; round black hat, bound with silver +cord; a buck's tail, saddlecloths brown edged with white, and the +letters 'L.H.' worked on them. Their arms were a carbine, a pair of +pistols and holsters; a horseman's sword; white belts for the sword +and carbine." Officers of the militia, the Massachusetts members of +the Continental Congress, and many others were also of the company. +The horses pranced, the music played, and the cavalcade started from +the Quaker City for the war that was to make the country free. The +flag that was borne before them is now carefully preserved between two +heavy plates of glass, and is kept in the Troop's armory, in a +fireproof safe made expressly for that purpose. The banner is only +forty inches long, but its richness makes up for its lack of size. It +is of yellow silk with heavy silver fringe. Around the flag is a +graceful running vine. The crest is a horse's head. In the center are +figures representing Fame and Liberty. Under them is the motto, "For +these we strive." Some verses written many years ago say of this flag:-- + + "For these we strive; what brighter name + Can man achieve or beauty see, + Than worth to share his country's FAME, + Or perish for her LIBERTY?" + +It is a precious relic for its associations, and still more precious +because the canton is made of thirteen stripes, blue and silver +alternating. Apparently these stand for the thirteen colonies, and so +far as is known, this was the first time that the colonies were +represented, as on our flag of to-day, by thirteen stripes. + +Before Washington and his escort reached New York, couriers reported +the battle of Bunker Hill. Washington pushed on, and July 2, he had +his first glimpse of his forces. It must have been a discouraging +glimpse. A few wore uniforms, but most of the men had come in "what +they had." The men of a few companies were provided with tents, others +slept in the halls of Harvard College, in the pews of the Episcopal +Church, or in private houses. Still others had built their own huts, +of boards, turf, sailcloth, stones, or brush. Powder and artillery +were scanty, and the commander-in-chief had been furnished with no +money. Perhaps this was not so remarkable, however, for the members of +the Continental Congress had no power to collect taxes, and in reality +had no control over any money except what was in their own pockets. +Officers and men chatted together as freely as if in their own homes; +and if an order did not impress a man as being wise, he sometimes +stopped and patiently explained to the officer why he thought another +course was better. + +Twelve of the most independent companies, and yet the most vigilant +and best disciplined of all, were composed of backwoodsmen who had +come on foot from four to eight hundred miles. A little later, five +Indians came to Cambridge to help fight for liberty. They were +welcomed cordially and entered the service. It is probable that every +little company marched to Cambridge under its own colors, but of +course there was no flag representing the colonies as a whole. + +Immediately after the battle of Bunker Hill, Major-General Israel +Putnam took up his stand on Prospect Hill. One month later he called +together all the troops under his command, and read them the statement +issued by the Continental Congress which declared just why the +colonies had had recourse to arms. The chaplain made an address and a +prayer, at the end of which the troops responded, "Amen." Then there +was unfurled a scarlet standard, which it is said John Hancock had +just presented to General Putnam and his men in recognition of their +bravery at Bunker Hill. Tradition says this standard bore on one side +the motto of Connecticut, "Qui transtulit sustinet," and on the other +a pine tree and the motto of Massachusetts, "An Appeal to Heaven." + +It is a little strange that the Massachusetts colonists did not put +the likeness of an elm on any of their banners, for so much of their +history was associated with the "Liberty Elm." A few flags on both +land and sea were inscribed "Liberty Tree," but no exercise of the +imagination can make the pictured tree look in the least like an elm. +Under the Liberty Elm of Boston the meetings of the Sons of Liberty +were held, as has been said, and here it was that the resolutions were +adopted which resulted in dropping three hundred and forty chests of +tea into Boston Harbor. The Liberty Tree of Charleston, South +Carolina, was a beautiful live-oak. It is said that under this tree +Christopher Gadsden, even before the Stamp Act, ventured to speak of +the possible independence of the colonies. Here, as in Boston, the +patriots came together to discuss the way to liberty, and with hand +clasped in hand solemnly promised that when the hour for resistence +should come, they would not be found unready. There is something +refreshing in the thought of all the free, open-air discussion that +went on under the Liberty Trees. There was no stifling of thought in +closed rooms with bolted doors. Every new idea, daring as it might be, +was blown upon by the free winds of heaven. Naturally, the British +commanders hated these trees and thoroughly enjoyed destroying them +whenever they had opportunity. The Boston tree was cut down even +before the battle of Lexington. In 1780 Sir Henry Clinton cut down the +live-oak in Charleston, piled its severed branches over the stump, and +set fire to them. Even the iron-girt Liberty Pole of New York was cut +down by the red coats in 1776. It is little wonder that Thomas Paine's +poem on the "Liberty Tree" was so roundly applauded. This closes:-- + + "But hear, O ye swains,--'tis a tale most profane, + How all the tyrannical powers, + Kings, Commons, and Lords, are uniting amain, + To cut down this guardian of ours. + From the East to the West, blow the trumpet to arms, + Through the land let the sound of it flee, + Let the far and the near all unite with a cheer, + In defense of our Liberty Tree." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE "GRAND UNION FLAG" + + +During the summer following the battle of Bunker Hill, the colonies +had a congress without authority, a commander-in-chief without money, +and an army without discipline, equipments, or flag--or rather, with +so many flags that they must have had little significance except to +the respective groups of men who had marched under each. Before +Christmas a flag was designed and made, but how, where, and by whom is +not known. Neither Washington nor Franklin gives any information, and +the _Journal_ of Congress says nothing about its designer or maker. It +is true that a committee of three,--all signers of the Declaration of +Independence a few months later,--Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, +Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, whose son Benjamin was afterwards to +become President of the United States, and Thomas Lynch, of South +Carolina, were sent by Congress to Cambridge, to discuss with +Washington and others many necessary questions, but there is no proof +that the design of a flag was among them. The flag, however, was made. +This was what is known as the "Grand Union Flag." The British flag, +red with a blue union, marked by the upright cross of St. George and +the diagonal cross of St. Andrew, was known as the "Union Flag," +because it typified, as has been said before, the union of England and +Scotland. The new flag retained the blue union with its two crosses, +but instead of a red field it had red and white stripes. These +thirteen stripes represented the thirteen colonies; the blue union +suggested that the colonies still clung to the mother country. + +Where the idea of using stripes came from is a question that has never +been solved. The Philadelphia Troop had thirteen stripes on their +banner, but they were blue and white. Washington's coat of arms +contained red and white stripes; but Washington was too modest a man +to suggest using his own family arms, and as to any one's suggesting +it for him, it must be remembered that he was not yet the revered +"Father of his Country," but simply a Virginia planter of forty-three +years who had been successful in fighting the Indians, and who, +because of his good judgment and uprightness of character, had been +made a member of the Virginia Legislature and then of the Continental +Congress. The flag of the Netherlands--but chosen thirty years after +the Pilgrims left that country for America--was red, white, and blue, +in three horizontal stripes. The ensign of the English East India +Company was a flag of thirteen horizontal red and white stripes with a +white canton containing a red St. George's Cross; but there is no +reason to suppose that this inspired the flag of the colonies. Bunting +was scarce and Franklin was always a thrifty soul. If that committee +of three did design the flag, it is not at all unlikely that Franklin +suggested utilizing the standards they already had, and changing their +character by stitching on white stripes. To deface the flag of Britain +was a serious offense, and maybe it was thought just as well that the +name of the originator of this "Grand Union" should not be on record. +The flag was first raised on the 1st of January, 1776, in what is now +Somerville, on Prospect Hill, and was saluted with thirteen guns and +thirteen rousing cheers. It was seen by the British troops in Boston, +and for some reason they took it as a sign of submission brought about +by the King's hostile proclamation, which they supposed had been read +in Cambridge. Washington wrote:-- + + Before the proclamation came to hand, we had hoisted the Union + Flag in compliment to the United Colonies. But, behold, it was + received in Boston as a token of the deep impression the speech + had made upon us, and as a signal of submission. By this time, I + presume, they begin to think it strange that we have not made a + formal surrender of our lines. + +The colonists had adopted a flag, but all sorts of colors continued to +be borne on both sea and land. On the sea the favorite seems to have +been a white flag displaying a green pine tree. One year after the +battle of Lexington, Massachusetts formally decreed that this flag +should be used on her vessels, and that their officers should wear a +green and white uniform. Even two years later than this, the Pine-Tree +Flag was borne by floating batteries on the Delaware River. Sometimes +the British ran up an American flag to deceive the colonial vessels, +and sometimes the colonists ran up a flag made of horizontal red and +white stripes to persuade the British that it was one of their own +signal flags. Sometimes rattlesnake flags were used. + +Congress ordered the building of war vessels as promptly as possible, +five cruisers first of all. The Alfred, on which John Paul Jones was +lieutenant, became the flagship of Commander-in-Chief Esek Hopkins. +This vessel was of English build and had been employed in commerce for +nine or ten years, making two voyages to the Indian Ocean during that +time. She had space for two hundred and twenty men, and had sixteen +guns, carried for the benefit of pirates. She had been put in full +repair and had now become a frigate of twenty-eight guns. Such was the +first vessel of the Continental Navy. An old account of the +embarkation of Commodore Hopkins at Philadelphia says:-- + + The Alfred was anchored at the foot of Walnut Street. On a + brilliant morning early in February, 1776, gay streamers were + seen floating from every masthead and spar on the river. At nine + o'clock a full-manned barge threaded its way among the floating + ice to the Alfred, bearing the commodore, who had chosen that + vessel for his flagship. He was greeted with thunders of + artillery and the shouts of the multitude. + +When he stepped on board the deck of the Alfred, Captain Saltonstall +gave a signal, and Lieutenant Jones hoisted a new flag prepared for +the occasion. It is believed to have displayed a union with thirteen +stripes crossed by a rattlesnake in some position, with the ominous +motto, "Don't tread on me." When the flag reached the mast-head, the +crowds cheered and the guns fired a salute,--as well they might, for +this was the first ensign ever flung to the breeze on an American +man-of-war. Paul Jones appreciated the honor of raising it, but he was +no admirer of the rattlesnake flag. In his journal he wrote:-- + + I was always at loss to know by what queer fancy or by whose + notion that device was first adopted. For my own part, I never + could see how or why a venomous serpent could be the combatant + emblem of a brave and honest folk fighting to be free. Of course + I had no choice but to break the pennant as it was given to me. + But I always abhorred the device. + +Three weeks after the Alfred was put in commission, the little fleet +sailed away from Philadelphia amid the cheers of thousands of people. +One of the eye-witnesses said that the ships wore the Union Flag with +thirteen stripes in the field. Of the admiral's flag an English writer +said, "We learn that the vessels bearing this flag have a sort of +commission from a society of people at Philadelphia, calling +themselves the continental congress." Scornfully as he spoke of +Congress, there is at least one record of which it may be proud. +Franklin, under its authority, issued letters of marque with a lavish +hand, but, hard-pressed as the colonists were, he bade John Paul Jones +"not to burn defenseless towns on the British coast except in case of +military necessity; and in such cases he was to give notice, so that +the women and children with the sick and aged inhabitants might be +removed betimes." Moreover, he bade all American cruisers if they +chanced to meet Captain Cook, the great English explorer of that day, +to "forget the temporary quarrel in which they were fighting and not +merely suffer him to pass unmolested, but offer him every aid and +service in their power." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG + + +The "society of people at Philadelphia calling themselves the +continental congress" had had, so far as records go, nothing to do with +choosing any flag. The "Grand Union" unfurled at Cambridge was regarded +as symbolizing the union of colonies, but no one knows who designed it +or chose it. To alter the design of our flag to-day would be a very +serious matter, but the colonies were so accustomed to the making of +flags according to the whim of some militia company or some sea captain +that the appearance of a new design, especially one so slightly changed +from the familiar flag of the mother country, cannot have created any +great sensation. Moreover, flags were not for sale at department stores; +they had to be ordered, and in this time of war, bunting was not easy to +procure. Flag-makers were few, and many a captain sailed away with a +flag manufactured by his wife's own unaccustomed hands. + +July 4, 1776, less than fifteen months after the battle of Lexington, +it was declared in Congress "That these united colonies are, and of +right ought to be, free and independent states." June 14, 1777, the +following resolution was adopted:-- + + _Resolved_, That the flag of the thirteen United States be + thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be + thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new + constellation. + +So much for the share that Congress had in the flag. The story of the +making of the first flag with stars and stripes is as follows. Betsy +Ross, or, to speak more respectfully, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom Ross, +lived on Arch Street, Philadelphia, in a tiny house of two stories and +an attic. She was called the most skillful needlewoman in the +city, and there is a tradition that before Washington became +commander-in-chief, she embroidered ruffles for his shirts--quite an +important branch of fine sewing in those days. Whether she ever +embroidered the great man's ruffles or not, it is said that, whenever +folk wanted any especially fine work done, they always went to "Betsy +Ross." She could do more than sew, for she could draw freehand the +complicated patterns that were used in quilting, the supreme proof of +artistic ability in the household. One day three gentlemen entered her +house through its humble doorway. One was her uncle by marriage, +Colonel Ross; one is thought to have been Robert Morris; one was +General Washington. The commander-in-chief told her that they had come +from Congress to ask her if she could make a flag. "I don't know," she +replied, "but I can try." Then they showed her a rough sketch of a +flag and asked what she thought of it. She replied that she thought it +ought to be longer, that a flag looked better if the length was one +third greater than the width. She ventured to make two more +suggestions. One was that the stars which they had scattered +irregularly over the blue canton would look better if they were +arranged in some regular form, such as a circle or a star or in +parallel rows. The second suggestion was that a star with five points +was prettier than one with six. Some one seems to have remarked that +it would be more difficult to make; and thereupon the skillful little +lady folded a bit of paper and with one clip of her scissors produced +a star with five points. The three gentlemen saw that her suggestions +were good, and General Washington drew up his chair to a table and +made another sketch according to her ideas. + +Mrs. Ross could make wise suggestions about flags, but how to sew them +she did not know; so it was arranged that she should call on a shipping +merchant and borrow a flag from him. This she soon did. He opened a +chest and took out a ship's flag to show her how the sewing was done. +She carried it home to use as a guide, and when she reached the little +house on Arch Street, she set to work to make the first flag bearing the +stars and stripes. To try the effect, it was run up to the peak of one +of the vessels in the Delaware, and the result was so pleasing that it +was carried into Congress on the day that it was completed. Congress +approved of the work of the little lady. Colonel Ross told her to buy +all the material she could and make as many flags as possible. And for +more than fifty years she continued to make flags for the Government. + +This is the account that has come down to us, not by tradition merely, +but by written statements of Mrs. Ross's daughters, grandchildren, and +others, to whom she often told the story. Mrs. Ross says that this +sample flag was made just before the Declaration of Independence, +although the Resolution endorsing it was not passed until June 14, +1777. This, however, would not argue to the incorrectness of the +account, for Congress had a fashion of writing with the utmost brevity +the results of its deliberations, and not putting in a word about the +discussions that must have taken place before the passing of a +resolution. Affairs of the utmost importance were on hand, and after +all it was the usefulness and convenience of the flag, rather than its +sentiment or the fact of its having congressional authority, that was +most in the minds of men, and it is not impossible that this design +was in use long before the date of its official recognition by +Congress. The one real weakness in the story is its lack of +contemporary evidence. + +The significance of the new flag no one has expressed better than +Washington. "We take the star from Heaven," he said, "red from our +mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we +have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to +posterity representing liberty." + +On the day of the passing of the resolution about the Stars and +Stripes, another one was passed, which read as follows:-- + + _Resolved_, That Captain John Paul Jones be appointed to command + the ship Ranger. + +"The flag and I are twins, born the same hour," said Captain Jones. +The Ranger was launched in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and there her +captain went to take command. She had no flag, but the captain was a +favorite whereever he went, and a group of Portsmouth girls soon held +a "quilting party," but made a flag instead of a quilt. Moreover, as +silk enough of the proper colors could not be found in the stores of +Portsmouth, they made it from breadths of their best silken gowns, +red, white, and blue, the story declares. Then Jones sailed away to +see how his little Ranger would behave when she met a British +man-of-war. He soon found out, for the Ranger and the Drake met in +combat, and for the first time a British man-of-war struck her colors +to the new flag. This same little silken flag was the first to receive +a genuine foreign salute. Early in 1778 the Ranger spoke the French +fleet, off Brest Roads. Captain Jones was willing to take chances in a +sea fight, but not in the matter of a salute, and he sent a courteous +note to the French commander, informing him that the flag worn by the +Ranger was the new American standard, which had never yet received a +salute from any foreign power. "If I offer a salute, will it be +returned gun for gun?" he queried. The reply was that the same salute +would be given as to an admiral of Holland, or any other republic; +that is, four guns less than the salute given. Captain Jones anchored +in the entrance of the bay and sought for further information. He +found that the reply of the admiral was correct and according to +custom. Therefore, on the following day, he sailed through the French +fleet, saluting with thirteen guns, and receiving nine. This was an +acknowledgment of American independence, and the first salute ever +paid by a foreign naval power to the Stars and Stripes. It is true +that a salute had been given to the American brig, the Andrea Doria, +before this, by the Governor of one of the West Indian Islands; but a +salute which his Government immediately disowned and for which he was +called home is rather an individual than a national salute. Then, too, +there is no proof that the flag flown by the Andrea Doria was the +Stars and Stripes. + +After a while Jones was put in command of the Bon Homme Richard, a +larger vessel than the Ranger, but she flew the same little silken +flag. Off Flamborough Head he came up with the British Serapis. After +two hours of fighting, Captain Pearson of the Serapis shouted, in a +moment's lull, "Have you struck your colors yet?" "I haven't yet begun +to fight," was Jones's reply. The two ships were lashed together, guns +burst, cartridges exploded, wide gaps were torn out of the sides of +both vessels. "Have you struck?" cried the British captain. "No!" +thundered Paul Jones. At last the Serapis yielded; but the Bon Homme +Richard was fast sinking. Captain Jones left her and took possession +of the Serapis. The American vessel rolled and lurched and pitched and +plunged. The little silken flag that had never been conquered waved in +the morning breeze for the last time, and then went down, "flying on +the ship that conquered and captured the ship that sank her." + +When Paul Jones returned to America he met one of the young girls who +had given him the flag. He told her how eagerly he had longed to give it +back into the hands of those who had given it to him four years earlier. +"But, Miss Mary," he said, "I couldn't bear to strip it from the poor +old ship in her last agony, nor could I deny to my dead on her decks, +who had given their lives to keep it flying, the glory of taking it with +them." In his journal he wrote eloquently and almost as simply:-- + + No one was now left aboard the Richard but her dead. To them I gave + the good old ship for their coffin, and in her they found a sublime + sepulcher. She rolled heavily in the long swell, her gun-deck awash + to the port-sills, settled slowly by the head, and sank peacefully + in about forty fathoms. The ensign-gaff, shot away in action, had + been fished and put in place, soon after firing ceased, and our + torn and tattered flag was left flying when we abandoned her. As + she plunged down by the head at the last, her taffrail momentarily + rose in the air; so the very last vestige mortal eyes ever saw of + the Bon Homme Richard was the defiant waving of her unconquered and + unstricken flag as she went down. And as I had given them the good + old ship for their sepulcher, I now bequeathed to my immortal dead + the flag they had so desperately defended, for their winding sheet! + +This is the story of the Portsmouth flag. At first its truth was +accepted without a doubt; then it was seriously questioned. Within the +last few years, new evidence in the shape of family tradition has +strengthened its position. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +FLAGS ONE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE + + +Probably the flag made by the skillful fingers of Mrs. Elizabeth +Griscom Ross was sewed with the tiniest of stitches imaginable; but it +is absolutely certain that the flag which made its appearance August +3, 1777, at Fort Schuyler, afterwards Fort Stanwix, was not put +together with any such daintiness of workmanship. For twenty days the +little fort in the New York wilderness, where Rome now stands, was +besieged by British and Indians. Reinforcements brought the news of +the adoption of the new flag. The troops within the fort had no flag, +and therefore, in true American fashion, they set to work to make one. +There was not even a country store to draw upon for materials, so they +made the best of what they had. As the story has been handed down, a +white shirt provided the white stripes and the stars, and the +petticoat of a soldier's wife the red stripes. As for the blue ground +for the stars, it was cut from the cloak of Captain Abram Swartwout. +The result was not very elegant, but it was a flag, and it was _the_ +flag, and the besieged men were as proud of it and stood for it as +bravely as if it had been made of damask with the daintiest of +needlework. August 22, 1777, the fort was relieved, and after a few +days Captain Swartwout began to be anxious about his blue cloak. +Colonel Peter Gansevoort, who commanded the fort, had promised him a +new one to take the place of the one which he had sacrificed for the +flag, but it had not arrived. Seven days he waited. At the end of the +seventh day he sent a note from Poughkeepsie, where he then was, back +to the fort, saying: "You may Remember Agreeable to Your promise, I +was to have an Order for Eight Yards of Broad-Cloath, on the +Commissary for Cloathing of this State In Lieu of my Blue Cloak, which +we Used for Coulours at Fort Schuyler. An opportunity Now presenting +itself, I beg You to send me an Order." Broadcloth was broadcloth in +those days, and a "Blue Cloak" was not so easily obtained. It is no +wonder he wrote it with capitals. It is to be hoped that the good +captain received his order; but it must have been a very large cloak +to require eight yards of "Broad-Cloath." + +Another interesting banner was that borne by Count Pulaski, a gallant +Pole, who came to help in the struggle for freedom. He visited +Lafayette when the Frenchman was wounded and in the care of the +Moravian Sisterhood in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The embroidery of +these Sisters was very beautiful, and Pulaski engaged them to make him +a banner, which they did. On one side were the letters "U.S.," and on +the other the thirteen stars in a circle, surrounding an eye which is +rather uncomfortably set in a triangle. They made a mistake in +spelling their Latin motto, but the crimson banner, with its silver +fringe and its exquisite embroidery, was very handsome. Longfellow's +poem about this banner, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," is +excellent poetry, but hardly accurate history. It is quite probable +that the good women sent the banner forth with their blessing, but it +is rather doubtful whether they said anything like the following:-- + + "Take thy banner, and if e'er + Thou shouldst press the soldier's bier, + And the muffled drums should beat + To the tread of mournful feet, + Then this crimson flag shall be + Martial cloak and shroud for thee";-- + +for the beautiful little banner was only twenty inches square! When +Lafayette visited this country in 1824, this little flag was borne in +the procession which welcomed him to Baltimore. + +In the midst of the grief and horrors of war, there was one day when all +the armed ships in the Delaware River were ablaze with the colors of the +United States in token of rejoicing. It was July 4, 1777, the first +anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Thirteen cannon were +fired, a great dinner was served to the members of Congress and the +officials of the army and of the State. The Hessian band, which had been +captured at Trenton six months previously, performed some of their +merriest music. Toasts followed the dinner, each one honored by a +discharge of artillery and small arms and a piece of music by the +Hessians. At night the city was illuminated and the streets resounded +with hurrahs and the ringing of bells. Then came fireworks, which began +and ended with thirteen rockets in honor of the thirteen United States. + +"Thirteen" appeared not only as the number of stars on the flag, but +everywhere else, and at Valley Forge, in the rejoicing over the new +alliance with France, the officers marched up to the place of +entertainment thirteen abreast and with arm linked in arm. A +disrespectful English paper declared that the "rebels" ate thirteen +dried clams a day, that it took thirteen "Congress paper dollars" to +equal one English shilling, that "every well-organized rebel household +has thirteen children, all of whom expect to be major-generals or +members of the high and mighty congress of the thirteen United States +when they attain the age of thirteen years." + +When the war had come to an end, the artist Copley was in London working +on the portrait of an American, Elkanah Watson. In the background of the +portrait was a ship supposed to be bearing to America the news of the +acknowledgment of Independence. The rising sun was shining upon the +place where the flag should have been, but no flag was there. Copley's +studio was often visited by the royal family, so he waited. But a day +came when the artist heard the speech of the King acknowledging the +Independence of America. He went straightway to his studio and painted +in the flag floating in the rays of the rising sun. + +Soon after the close of the war, a wide-awake skipper of Nantucket, who +had some whale oil to sell, appeared at London. Nantucket was so +helpless for both offense and defense that it had remained neutral, and +the captain had received from Admiral Digby a license to go to London. A +London magazine of the time said, "This is the first vessel which has +displayed the thirteen rebellious stripes of America in any British +port." Nobody knew exactly what to do, but apparently the whale oil was +soon sold, for the enterprising whaler returned directly to Nantucket. + +In October, 1783, most of the British troops had sailed away from the +United States, but Sir Guy Carleton was delayed in New York waiting +for vessels. When the day came for him to leave the city, a strong, +determined woman who kept a boarding-house brought out a United States +flag and ran it up on a pole in front of her house. Down the street +came a British officer with headlong speed. "We do not evacuate this +city until noon. Haul down that flag!" he shouted angrily. "That flag +went up to stay, and it will not be hauled down!" declared the +indignant housekeeper, and went on sweeping in front of her door. +"Then I will pull it down myself," thundered the irate officer, and +set to work. But the halyards were entangled, and all the officer's +swearing and scolding did not help matters. The militant lady of the +broom then applied her weapon to the officer. The powder flew from his +wig in a cloud, and at last he himself had to fly, leaving the flag to +float serenely on the morning breeze. This encounter has been called +the last battle of the Revolution. + +Before leaving Fort George, at the foot of Broadway, in New York, the +British soldiers mischievously nailed their flag to the top of the +pole, took down the halyards, greased the pole from top to bottom, and +knocked off the cleats. They did not know how well the American boys +could climb; in a very short time new cleats were nailed on, the +English flag was pulled down, and the Stars and Stripes floated from +the top of the pole. + +News of King George's proclamation did not reach the United States +till the middle of April, and then there was rejoicing, indeed. It is +no wonder that the joy of the country at the closing of the war burst +out in celebrations and silken flags. The diary of President Stiles, +of Yale, tells what took place in New Haven. It reads as follows:-- + + _April 24, 1783._ Public rejoicing for the Peace in New Haven. + At sunrise thirteen cannon discharged in the Green, and the + continental flag displayed, being a grand silk flag presented by + the ladies, cost 120 dollars. The stripes red and white, with an + azure field in the upper part charged with thirteen stars. On + the same field and among the stars was the arms of the United + States, the field of which contained a ship, a plough, and three + sheaves of wheat; the crest an eagle volant; the supporters two + white horses. The arms were put on with paint and gilding. It + took ---- yards. When displayed it appeared well. + +The patriotic ladies who presented the flag had taken the arms and +motto, "Virtue, Liberty, Independence," from the title-page of a +family Bible; but unluckily, this Bible, having been published in +Philadelphia, displayed the arms and motto, not of the United States, +but of Pennsylvania. The moral is, learn the arms of your country. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STRIPES AND FIFTEEN STARS + + +The worthy fathers of our country were long-sighted men. In many +respects they peered far into the future and they laid well the +foundations for a great republic. One thing, however, they forgot; +when they chose a design for a flag with thirteen stripes and a circle +of thirteen stars, they did not realize that the number of States +would probably increase, and that these States would wish to be +represented on the flag. In 1791 Vermont was admitted as a State, and +in 1792 Kentucky also came into the Union. In 1794 the Senate passed a +bill increasing to fifteen the number of both stripes and stars. This +bill was sent to the House, and then came exciting times. Some members +thought it of great importance not to offend new States by giving them +no recognition on the flag. Others called it dishonorable to waste +time over what one man called "a consummate piece of frivolity," when +matters "of infinitely greater consequence" ought to be discussed. +Another declared that the Senate sent the bill for the want of +something better to do. Yet another honorable member did not think it +worth while either to adopt or reject the proposed law, but supposed +"the shortest way to get rid of it was to agree to it." Whether to +"get rid of it" or not, the bill was passed, and went into effect May +1, 1795. + +This flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars was the one worn by the +frigate Constitution, "Old Ironsides." When, in 1830, it was reported +that this vessel, with its magnificent record, was to be broken up, +Holmes wrote his stirring poem, "Old Ironsides," which ends:-- + + "Oh, better that her shattered hulk + Should sink beneath the wave; + Her thunders shook the mighty deep, + And there should be her grave; + Nail to the mast her holy flag, + Set every threadbare sail, + And give her to the god of storms, + The lightning and the gale!" + +It was this flag under which we went forth to three wars, each one +fought to uphold the rights of American citizens. The first was with +France, the second with Tripoli, and the third with Great Britain. It +had long been the custom for nations using the Mediterranean Sea to pay +tribute to the pirates of Tripoli. In 1800 Captain Bainbridge carried +the annual tribute to Algiers. It seemed that the Dey wished to send an +ambassador to Constantinople, and under threat of capture Captain +Bainbridge was ordered to carry him there. The captain obeyed, but very +unwillingly. When the new flag appeared at Constantinople, it was +reported to the Sultan that a ship from the United States of America was +in the harbor. "What's that?" he demanded. "I never heard of that +nation." "They live in the New World which Columbus discovered," was the +reply. The Sultan had heard of Columbus, and he sent to the frigate a +bouquet of flowers in welcome, and a lamp in token of friendship. + +The Dey of Algiers became dissatisfied with the tribute paid by America, +and declared haughtily that if he did not receive from our country a +handsome present within six months, he should declare war. This he did, +but to his great surprise a small American fleet, under the fifteen +stars and stripes, sailed up to his city and began to bombard it. It was +not long before he became the very picture of meekness. He freed all his +American captives, paid well for all the property that he had destroyed, +and the Mediterranean Sea became safe for commerce. + +In 1803 the United States purchased from France the immense Louisiana +Territory. The French flag was hauled down and the flag of the United +States was raised in token of the change of ownership. This country +had first been in the hands of Spain, and the Spaniards had presented +flags to various Indians. When Lieutenant Z. M. Pike made a journey of +exploration in the new territory, he came to an Indian village where +there was quite a display of Spanish banners. The Lieutenant made a +little speech to the Indians, and said among other things that the +Spanish flag at the chief's door ought to be given up to him and the +flag of the United States put in its place. The Indians listened, but +made no reply. Lieutenant Pike spoke again to the same effect. "Your +nation cannot have two fathers," he said. "You must be the children of +the Spaniards or else of the Americans." The red men sat in silence +awhile, then an old man arose, walked slowly to the door, took the +Spanish flag down, and put the American in its place. Then he gave the +flag of Spain to his followers, bidding them, "Never hoist this +again--while the Americans are here." Surely, the old chief must have +been akin to Dr. John Cotton of Colonial fame. This scene occurred in +what is now Kansas, and is thought to have been the first raising of +the United States flag in that State. + +The banner of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars has a proud record, +for this was the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The +Star-Spangled Banner." Every one knows the story of the poem, how the +author and an agent for the exchange of prisoners went on board a +British vessel in 1814 to try to secure the release of a physician who +had been captured. The English admiral granted their request, but as +he was about to attack Fort McHenry, he told them that they would not +be permitted to return at once, but must remain on their own vessel, +with a British guard, until the fort was reduced. If this order had +been carried out, they would have been on board to-day, for the fort +never was reduced. All day the Americans could see the Stars and +Stripes flying over its ramparts, in spite of attacks by sea and by +land. Night came, and it was only by "the rockets' red glare, the +bombs bursting in air," that they knew whether the fort yet stood. At +length the firing ceased, and all was darkness. They could do nothing +but wait for the first rays of morning in the hope that "by the dawn's +early light" they could catch a glimpse of the flag and know that the +fort had not yielded, that "our flag was still there," and that the +British were retreating. Then it was that Key wrote, on the back of an +old envelope, "The Star-Spangled Banner," and put into it such a +thrill of sincerity that it is just as throbbing with life and +patriotism as it was on that September dawn a century ago. The banner +that inspired the poem is in the National Museum in Washington. + +Francis Scott Key died in Baltimore in 1843, and is buried in +Frederick, Maryland. Over his grave a large national flag flies day +and night, never removed save when wear and tear make a new flag +necessary. In Baltimore a noble monument has been reared in his honor. +It is surmounted by the figure of the poet, who waves his hat with one +hand and with the other points joyfully toward the fort. The figure is +so life-like that one almost expects it to cry,-- + + "And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." + +A few months after "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written, a plan was +formed to rear in the city of Baltimore a monument in honor of George +Washington. It was fitting that the place of his birth should also be +marked, and a few days before the laying of the corner-stone of the +monument, a little company sailed from Alexandria, Virginia, to Pope's +Creek, Westmoreland County, where Washington was born. With them they +carried a simple freestone slab on which was chiseled his name and the +date of his birth. Wrapped in the banner of fifteen stars, it was borne +reverently to its resting-place by the hands of the descendants of four +Revolutionary patriots. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER + + +"Time makes ancient good uncouth," said Lowell, and so it was with the +flag. The flag of fifteen stars and fifteen stripes that was decreed +in 1795 then represented each State; but in less than one year it was +out of date. Tennessee had come into the Union. Then followed Ohio, +Louisiana, and Indiana. Here were four States with no representation +in the colors of the country. Then, too, people began to realize that +in giving up the thirteen stripes they had lost their old significant +"Thirteen," and dropped a valuable historical association. At length +the matter came before Congress, and for nearly sixteen months it +remained there. Occasionally there was some little discussion about +it. One member proposed that the matter be postponed indefinitely. +"Are you willing to neglect the banner of freedom?" demanded another. +Yet another thought it unnecessary to insist upon thirteen stripes, +and thought they might as well fix upon nine or eleven or any other +arbitrary number as thirteen. The committee pleaded for the +significant thirteen, and so it went on. At length Peter H. Wendover, +of New York, through whose efforts Congress was held to its duty, +called the attention of the House to the fact that the Government +itself was paying no respect to its own laws in regard to the flag; +that the law demanded fifteen stripes, but that Congress was at that +moment displaying a banner of thirteen stripes; that the navy yard and +the marine barracks were flying flags of eighteen stripes; and that +during the first session of the preceding Congress the flag floating +over their deliberations had had, from some unknown cause or other, +only nine stripes. + +It is small wonder that after such an arraignment as this the +lawmakers aroused themselves. The following bill was passed, and was +signed by President Monroe, April 4, 1818:-- + + SECTION 1. _Be it enacted, etc._, That from and after the fourth + day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen + horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union have + twenty stars, white in a blue field. + + SECTION 2. _Be it further enacted_, That on the admission of every + new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the + flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth of + July next succeeding such admission. + +So it was that the flag of the United States was finally decided upon. +Captain S. C. Reid designed it, and his wife made a specimen flag, +which was hoisted on the flagstaff of the House of Representatives a +few days after the law legalizing it was passed. Forty-one years +later, in 1859, Congress formally thanked Captain Reid. The one weak +point in this law was that the arrangement of the stars on the blue +field was left to the taste of the owner of the flag. Captain Reid +arranged them in one large star; but it was evident that if this plan +was continued, as new States were admitted, the stars would become too +small to be seen distinctly. The Navy Commissioners issued the order +that in naval flags the stars should be arranged in five rows, four +stars in a row; but for many years merchant vessels paid small +attention to this decree. Indeed, in 1837 the Dutch Government +inquired, with all respect, "What is the American flag?" Twenty years +later an observant man in Jersey City amused himself on the Fourth of +July by noting the numerous fashions in which the stars were arranged. +He said that all flags had the thirteen stripes--though not always in +the proper order--but that he had counted nine different fashions in +which the stars were arranged. They appeared in one large star, in a +lozenge, a diamond, or a circle, and one vessel in the river flaunted +an anchor formed of stars. It was suggested that Congress ought to +order some regular arrangement, but Congress did not take the hint. +The Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy gave orders in +1912, after the admission of New Mexico and Arizona, that the stars, +now forty-eight, should be arranged in six rows of eight stars each. +This was approved by the President, but no decree has been passed by +Congress. + +Until 1866 our country's flag was manufactured in a foreign land. +Bunting in a flag has a hard life. It must meet sun, wind, and storm; +it must be light enough to float at every breeze and strong enough to +endure severe wear. Attempts had been made many years earlier to make +bunting in the United States, and flags of home manufacture had been +tried again and again, but they had never stood the tests. In 1865, +however, Congress put a duty of forty per cent on imported bunting, +and also made it lawful for the Government to purchase its flags in +the United States. With this duty manufacturers could compete with the +lower wages paid in England, and now it became worth while to set to +work in earnest. Within a year the thing had been done. A company in +Lowell, Massachusetts, presented to the Senate a flag manufactured in +the United States. It was hoisted over the Capitol, and for the first +time this country, then ninety years old, floated over its Congress a +banner of bunting woven and made "at home." This banner stood all the +tests, and soon the price of the material was greatly reduced. Since +the manufacture of this flag all bunting used in flags for the navy +has come from Lowell. It must be of a fixed weight and strength and +must be absolutely fast color in sun and rain. These flags are made in +the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and they must be accurate in every detail. +Even the number of stitches to the inch is a matter of rule. After the +stripes have been sewed together and the stars stitched upon the +canton, the hoist, or end of the flag which is to be next to the +staff, is firmly bound with canvas, and the lines, etc., attached. +Then the flag is stamped with the date. Many silken flags are used in +the navy, but these are made entirely by hand. + +A warship must have not only her own flags, but those of foreign +countries, sometimes two hundred and fifty or more. Some of these flags +are of very complicated design, and the flag-makers tried the experiment +of painting the designs on the bunting. This was not a success, because +the flags stuck together, and now the whole design is worked out in +bunting. The navy makes its own flags, but the War Department buys what +are needed. Manufacturers make large numbers for general sale; between +nine and ten million a year even in times of peace. + +The pet name, "Old Glory," is believed to have been given to the flag +by Captain William Driver. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, became +a shipmaster, and at length made his home in Nashville, Tennessee. +When the Civil War broke out, he stood boldly by the Union, even +though his own family were against him. More than thirty years before +this date, just as he was starting on a voyage, some of his friends +made him a present of a handsome American flag. When the breeze first +caught it and spread out its folds, Captain Driver exclaimed, "Old +Glory!" and "Old Glory" it was to him all the years of his life. The +flag went to Tennessee with him, and was hung out on every day of +public rejoicing. When the war broke out, his Confederate neighbors +tried their best to get possession of that flag; but they did not +realize the resources of the old captain. Sailors know how to sew, and +he had carefully quilted his beloved banner into his comforter. No +wonder that he had not the least objection to having his house +searched for it. When the Union troops entered the city, Captain +Driver asked permission to run up his flag over the State Capitol. +This was granted, and with an escort he marched to the building and +ran up the flag. As he stood gazing at it with tears in his eyes, he +said, "I have always said that if I could see it float over that +Capitol, I should have lived long enough; now Old Glory is up there, +gentlemen, and I am ready to die." The captain's own particular "Old +Glory" was full of years and weakened by service, and on the following +day he reverently took it down and ran up a flag that was new and +strong. For a quarter of a century he saw the Union flag float over +the Capitol of his chosen State. Then, at his death in 1886, his own +"Old Glory" was sent to the Essex Institute at his birthplace. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE FLAG IN WAR + + +"Old Glory" has flown over the battle-fields of three wars; the +Mexican, the Civil War, and the war with Spain. In the war with Mexico +victory depended upon taking the City of Mexico, and the path to that +lay in the capture of the strong castle of Chapultepec. Long before +sunrise one bright September morning, the American guns began to roar. +All day long the Americans fired from below and the Mexicans from +above. Fortunately for the attackers, the aim of the Mexicans was +anything but accurate, and in twenty-four hours the American troops +were pushing forward up the hillside, through a grove full of +sharpshooters, over rocks and gullies, even over mines, which the +Mexicans had no chance to set off. Cannon roared and volleys of +musketry were fired at the assailants, but they dashed over the +redoubt, up, still up, to the escarpment, and over it they tumbled. +Meanwhile the Mexicans were standing on the city walls and peering out +from the spires of the cathedral. They saw, as the Americans pushed on +and up, the Stars and Stripes appear, now to the right, now to the +left, as point after point was taken. Now the Americans had reached +the main works. The scaling-ladders were planted and the men scrambled +over the wall. Even then the Mexicans were not without a faint hope, +for their banner still floated over the highest pinnacle. Suddenly it +disappeared, and the Stars and Stripes took its place. The victory had +been won. On the second day after the first gun was fired at +Chapultepec, the American troops were following their flag into the +City of Mexico. + +The Civil War began with the firing upon Fort Sumter. Shot came in a +whirlwind, half a score of balls at a time. The woodwork blazed, the +brick and stone flew in all directions. Red-hot balls from the furnace +in Moultrie dashed down like a pitiless hailstorm. The barracks were +ablaze, streams of fire burst out of the quarters. Ninety barrels of +powder were rolled into the water lest it should explode in the awful +heat. The men were stifled with fumes from the burning buildings. Over +the horrors of this attack the Stars and Stripes floated serenely from +the staff, flashing out, as each gust of wind tossed the clouds of +smoke aside for a moment, the glories of the red, white, and blue, +clear and calm and unscathed. + +Beams fell with a crash, ammunition in one magazine exploded, black +clouds of smoke filled the fort, and for hours the men covered their +faces with wet cloths to keep from suffocating. Nine times the +flagstaff was struck by a shot, and at the ninth the flag fell. +Lieutenant Hall dashed into the storm of balls, caught up the flag, +and brought it away. The halyards were cut and tangled. The flag could +not be raised, but it was nailed to the staff, and in the midst of the +incessant fire, Sergeant Peter Hart fastened it up on the ramparts. +The fort surrendered, but not the flag; for as Major Anderson and his +men left the burning ruins, they saluted "Old Glory" with fifty guns, +then lowered it, and, as the Major stated to the Government, "marched +out of the fort with colors flying and drums beating." + +This was on April 14, 1861. On April 14, 1865, when the war was +virtually over, Major Anderson, now General Anderson, was, by order of +President Lincoln, called to Fort Sumter to raise again the flag which +he had so unwillingly lowered. A special steamer carried from New York +to the fort a number of prominent citizens. Hundreds came from +elsewhere by land to Charleston and were taken to the fort by vessel. +Two hundred officers of the navy were present and many army officers. +After the opening exercises, Sergeant Hart opened a big carpetbag and +drew forth the identical flag that had been hauled down four years +earlier. The banner was unfurled, the assemblage cheered to the echo, +and slowly the beloved banner rose to its old position, every one +trying his best to catch hold of the rope and help raise it. Hats were +waved and the old fort rang with cheers. The band struck up "The +Star-Spangled Banner." A salute was fired by the guns on Fort Sumter, +and this was responded to by every fort and battery that had fired +upon Sumter in April, 1861. Henry Ward Beecher, orator of the day, +made a thrilling address. Of the flag he said:-- + + There flies the same flag that was insulted. In the storm of + that assault this glorious ensign was often struck; but, + memorable fact, not one of its stars was torn out, by shot or + shell. It was a prophecy.... Lifted to the air, to-day it + proclaims, after four years of war, "Not a State is blotted out!" + + Hail to the flag of our fathers, and our flag! Glory to the + banner that has gone through four years black with tempests of + war, to pilot the nation back to peace without dismemberment! + And glory be to God, who, above all hosts and banners, hath + ordained victory, and shall ordain peace!... In the name of God, + we lift up our banner, and dedicate it to Peace, Union and + Liberty, now and forevermore. + +A few years later General Anderson died. He was buried at West Point +and was carried to his grave wrapped in the flag that he had defended +so bravely. On the death of his wife the flag passed by her gift into +the hands of the War Department. + +One of the most interesting flags of the recent war with Spain was +borne by the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry. A +squadron of men for this regiment left PhÅ“nix, Arizona, on their way +to the field of war. It was noticed that they had no flag. The women +of the Relief Corps attached to the Grand Army of the Republic took +the matter in hand, for if this was not a case where relief was +needed, where should one be found? + +Night and day were the same to these energetic women. They bought silk +and they sewed, all day and all night. The stores of PhÅ“nix did not +provide just the right sort of cord, so the staff of the battle-flag +was daintily adorned with a knot of satin ribbon, red, white, and +blue. Then the flag was carried to camp, and presented with all +courtesy and dignity to the two hundred men who were to form a part of +the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, better +known as the "Rough Riders." + +The little silken flag came to glories that it had not dreamed of, for +the regular bunting flags were scarce, and therefore it held the most +prominent place in parades and was even set up as guest of honor +before the tent of Colonel Leonard Wood. In the attack on Santiago, +the little party that first landed at Daiquiri, a small town on the +coast a few miles from the city, carried the flag with them. On a +transport in the harbor an officer from Arizona, observing the troops +climb the hill, had seen the raising of the flag and discovered with a +glass what it was. As the story is told:-- + + He threw his hat to the deck, jumped to the top of the bulwark, + and yelled: "Howl, you Arizona men,--it's our flag up there!" + + And the men howled as only Arizona cowboys could. Some one on + the hurricane deck grabbed the whistle cord and tied it down, + the band of the Second Infantry whisked up instruments and + played "A Hot Time" on the inspiration of the moment, and every + man who had a revolver emptied it over the side. Almost in an + instant every whistle of the fifty transports and supply vessels + in the harbor took up the note of rejoicing. Twenty thousand men + were cheering. A dozen bands increased the din. Then guns of the + warships on the flanks joined in a mighty salute to the flag of + the Nation. And the flag was the flag of the Arizona squadron. + + The Arizona flag led the regiment in the fight of Las Guasimas, + where three thousand intrenched Spaniards were driven back by + nine hundred unmounted cavalry; it was at the front all through + the heat of the battles of Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill; it + waved over the trenches before Santiago, and was later borne + through the captured city to the transport. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FLAG IN PEACE + + +One of the greatest achievements of our flag in peace was the opening +of Japan. In 1852 Commodore M. C. Perry was sent with a letter from +President Fillmore to prepare the way for a treaty of peace and +friendship and commerce with Japan. Its delivery was a matter of much +ceremony. After a long delay a day was set for its reception. When the +time had come, the officers in full uniform, the marines in blue and +white, the sailors in navy blue and tarpaulins, and last of all the +Commodore entered the boats. As the Commodore stepped into his barge, +a salute of thirteen guns was given. Then the two bands struck up +lively tunes and the boats made for the shore. + +Along the beach were ranged nine tall crimson standards, surrounded by +flags of all sorts and colors. Five or six thousand soldiers were +drawn up in line, and the hills behind them were crowded with people. +When the Americans came to land, a procession was formed. First, the +marines and sailors, then the one flag of the procession, the Stars +and Stripes, its brilliant colors flashing in the bright sunshine. It +was borne by the two tallest, broadest-shouldered men among the +sailors of the squadron. After the flag came two of the younger men, +carrying a rosewood box mounted with gold and carefully wrapped in a +scarlet cloth. In this were the credentials of the Commodore and the +letter of the President. These were written on vellum, and the seals +were attached by cords of silk and gold, ending in tassels of gold. +Then came the Commodore, and on either side of him was a tall negro of +fine proportions and armed to the teeth. After the Commodore walked +the officers of the squadron. Commodore and officers were escorted +into the handsomely decorated hall of reception. The court interpreter +asked if the letter was ready. The two pages, guarded by the two +stalwart negroes, were summoned and placed the letter upon a handsome +box of red lacquer, which was ready to receive them. The Commodore +made a formal bow. The bands played our national airs, and all +returned to the vessels as ceremoniously as they had come. + +This was the beginning of intercourse between the United States and +Japan. Two years later a treaty was signed, and in 1860 an embassy +from Japan visited this country. + +So it was that Japan was opened to the world. In 1901 the Japanese +Minister of Justice said: "Commodore Perry's visit was, in a word, the +turn of the key which opened the doors of the Japanese Empire. Japan has +not forgotten--nor will she ever forget--that, next to her reigning and +most beloved sovereign, whose rare virtue and great wisdom is above all +praise, she owes her present state of prosperity to the United States of +America." "Are you coming over here to fight us?" a young Japanese in +this country was playfully asked. "Fight the United States?" he +exclaimed. "The United States is our friend." And drawing himself up to +his full height, he said proudly, "The Japanese do not forget. We know +what your Commodore Perry and your country have done for us." + +The American flag was first seen in China in 1784. The Chinese said it +was "as beautiful as a flower," and for many years they always spoke +of it as the "flower flag." + +A custom of great significance and value, that of raising the home +flag over legations and consulates in foreign lands whenever a home +holiday comes around, is due to the tact and ready wit of one of our +Ministers to Sweden, William W. Thomas, Jr. The following is his own +account of the event:-- + + On taking possession of the archives and property of the United + States at Stockholm, I was surprised to find there was no + American flag there. Talking with my colleagues, the Ministers + of other countries, I was informed that no foreign Minister at + Stockholm ever hoisted his country's flag, and that to do so + would be considered a breach of diplomatic etiquette. + + What was I to do? I did not wish to offend my good friends, the + Swedes; that was the last thing a Minister should be guilty of. + And I certainly did not want to see an American holiday go by + without hoisting the American flag from the American Legation. + The question troubled me a great deal. + + All at once a thought seized me, like an inspiration. I sent to + America for a flag. I procured flagstaff and halyards, and from + my own drawings I had carved an American eagle, which was gilded + and perched on top of the flag pole. Flag, eagle, and staff I + concealed in the Legation, and bided my time. + + Undoubtedly the greatest character Sweden has ever produced is + Gustavus Adolphus. His life and deeds belong not to Sweden + along, but to the world. Well, when the anniversary of the death + and victory of this great captain of the Swedish host came + round,--the 6th of November, 1883,--and when the great choral + societies of Stockholm, bearing banners and followed by vast + multitudes of the Swedish populace, marched through the streets + of Sweden's capital, and gathered about the mausoleum on the + Island of Knights, where lies the mighty dead, sang pæans in his + praise, then it happened, somehow, that, regardless of precedent + or custom, the flag of the free republic--aye! flag, flagstaff, + golden eagle, and all--was run out from the American Legation; + and the starry banner of America waved in unison with the yellow + cross of Sweden, in honor of the mightiest warrior for the + freedom of our faith. + + This act was everywhere approved in Sweden. It was praised by + both the people and the press. After this, it may well be + believed, the flag of America floated unchallenged in the + capital of the Northland. It waved on high on the birthday of + Washington, on that Memorial Day when we decorate the graves of + our brave boys in blue who saved the Union, and on the Fourth of + July, that gave the Republic birth. But I hoisted our flag + impartially, on Swedish holidays as well as our own; and the + Stars and Stripes floated out as proudly on the birthday of King + Oscar as on that of Washington. + +"If any man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the +spot," commanded General Dix; but the United States may well be proud of +having herself hauled down her flag on one occasion not many years ago. +After the Spanish-American War had been fought, the treaty of peace with +Spain put Cuba into the hands of the United States, and the +star-spangled banner was raised and saluted. This was in 1899. The three +years following this act were busy ones with the War Department, for in +its control was left the management of all Cuban affairs. Cuba was +cleaned up, the yellow fever stamped out, schools were established, +peace restored, a constitution adopted by the people, and a president +elected. May 20, 1902, was the date set for the sovereignty of Cuba to +pass into the hands of the Cubans. The island had been made free, and +now she was coming to her own. Havana was in her best. Flags floated +from every house. Ships displayed both the American and the Cuban flags. +When the moment arrived, General Leonard Wood read the transfer, and the +President-elect signed it in the name of the new Republic. To free Cuba +from oppression the United States had entered into war. Our country +sought nothing for itself, and now the freedom of the island was +attained, and the American forces were to be withdrawn. + +After the signing of the transfer Governor-General Wood loosened the +halyards and the star-spangled banner was lowered, having accomplished +nobly that for which it had been raised. As it sank slowly down the +Union salute of forty-five guns was fired. Then, by the hands of +General Wood, the Cuban flag was hoisted to its position and floated +proudly over a free country. A national salute of twenty-one guns was +fired in its honor, and the history of the Cuban Republic had begun. +As the _New York Sun_ said, "No country ever before conquered a +territory at great sacrifice to set up a government other than its own." + +In the hands of Admiral Robert E. Peary our flag has won the honors of +the Northland. Many others had gone _far_ north; for Peary it was +reserved to go _farthest_ north, to the Pole itself. This was no +chance success, brought about by fine equipment and favorable weather; +it was the fair result of careful preparation and hard work. The +Admiral wrote in his journal:-- + + The Pole at last! The prize of three centuries, my dream and goal + for twenty years, mine at last! I cannot bring myself to realize it. + + It all seems so simple and commonplace. As Bartlett said when turning + back, when speaking of his being in these exclusive regions, which + no mortal had ever penetrated before, "It is just like every day!" + +A little later, in acknowledging with gratitude the generous aid which +he had received, the Admiral wrote:-- + + Their assistance has enabled me to tell the last of the great earth + stories, the story the world has been waiting to hear for three + hundred years--the story of the discovery of the North Pole. + +Such is the history of the flag of the United States of America from +the time when a little group of colonies dared to raise their own +standard and oppose their feeble strength and their slender resources +to the trained armies and the ample wealth of England. + +This was a century and a half ago. The Republic has come of age and has +accepted her rightful share of the responsibilities of the world. The +mother country rejoiced to do her honor, and on one brilliant April +morning in 1917 the cities of England flung out her banner beside their +own. In London the Stars and Stripes were everywhere--in the hands of +the people in the streets, on private houses, on public buildings, even +on the "Victory Tower" of Westminster Palace, where before that day no +other flag save the Union Jack or the royal standard had ever been +raised. In the historic cathedral of St. Paul four thousand people had +come together to thank God for the alliance between the mother country +and her eldest child, that in this war of the world "they should go +forth and try the matter in fight by the help of God"--to quote the text +of the Bishop of London. The two flags, of Great Britain and of the +United States of America, hung side by side over the chancel rail. The +thousands of people rose with reverence and sang, first, "The +Star-Spangled Banner," and then, "God Save the King." And so it was that +Great Britain and the United States took their stand shoulder to +shoulder in the world-wide struggle to make sure "that government of the +people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +HOW TO BEHAVE TOWARD THE FLAG + + +Except the cross there is nothing that the American should hold more +sacred than the flag of the United States, because of its record in +peace and in war, and because it stands for the rights and the freedom +of one hundred million citizens. + + "Sign of a nation great and strong, + To ward her people from foreign wrong." + +There are definite rules in regard to the use of the flag. The +following are the most necessary to know:-- + +The flag should be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset. It should +not be left out at night unless under fire. It should not be allowed to +touch the ground. If possible, a pole rather than a staff should be used. + +In raising a flag to half-mast or half-staff, it should be run to the +top of the pole, and then lowered the width of the flag. Before being +retired, it should be run to the top again. On Memorial Day the flag +should be at half-mast until noon, and at the peak from noon until sunset. + +When the flag goes by, rise if you are sitting; halt if you are +walking, and take off your hat. + +In decorating, never drape the flag; always hang it flat. The Union +should be at the observer's left, whether the stripes are perpendicular +or horizontal. If our flag is crossed with the flags of other countries, +or carried in a parade beside them, it should always be at the right. + +In unveiling a monument, the flag should never be allowed to drop to +the ground, but so arranged that it can be drawn up and will then +float over the monument. + +If draped over a casket, the blue field should be at the head. If used +as the covering of an altar, nothing except the Bible should be placed +upon it, and the union should be at the right. + +Distress at sea is indicated by hanging the flag union down. + +Always stand when "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played. + + * * * * * + +For those people who, whether maliciously or ignorantly, show any +disrespect to the flag, strenuous laws have been passed in most of the +States. In Massachusetts, a post of the Grand Army or a camp of Spanish +War veterans may put the name of the organization upon the flag, but no +other lettering is permitted. Any one who mutilates the flag or in any +way treats it with contempt is likely to fare worse than did John +Endicott in colonial days. The same respect is required to be shown to +the flags of all countries with which the United States is at peace. + +The representation of the flag must not be used to advertise +merchandise, but it may be used on any publication designed to give +information about the flag, or to promote patriotism, or to encourage +the study of American history. + +June 14, the anniversary of the day in 1777 on which the flag was +adopted, has been chosen as "Flag Day." + +The length of a flag should be very nearly twice its height, or, to be +exact, in the proportion of 1.9 to 1. The length of the union should +be three fourths the height of the whole flag; the height of the union +should be that of seven stripes. + +Perhaps a little fancifully, a star has been assigned to each State in +the order of its ratification of the Constitution and admission to the +Union. Beginning at the left upper corner and reading each row from +left to right, the stars of the separate States are as follows:-- + + _First row_ + + Delaware December 7, 1787 + Pennsylvania December 12, 1787 + New Jersey December 18, 1787 + Georgia January 2, 1788 + Connecticut January 9, 1788 + Massachusetts February 6, 1788 + Maryland April 28, 1788 + South Carolina May 23, 1788 + + + _Second row_ + + New Hampshire June 21, 1788 + Virginia June 25, 1788 + New York July 26, 1788 + North Carolina November 21, 1789 + Rhode Island May 29, 1790 + Vermont March 4, 1791 + Kentucky June 1, 1792 + Tennessee June 1, 1796 + + + _Third row_ + + Ohio February 19, 1803 + Louisiana April 30, 1812 + Indiana December 11, 1816 + Mississippi December 10, 1817 + Illinois December 3, 1818 + Alabama December 14, 1819 + Maine March 15, 1820 + Missouri August 10, 1821 + + + _Fourth row_ + + Arkansas June 15, 1836 + Michigan January 26, 1837 + Florida March 3, 1845 + Texas December 29, 1845 + Iowa December 28, 1846 + Wisconsin May 29, 1848 + California September 9, 1850 + Minnesota May 11, 1858 + + + _Fifth row_ + + Oregon February 14, 1859 + Kansas January 29, 1861 + West Virginia June 19, 1863 + Nevada October 31, 1864 + Nebraska March 1, 1867 + Colorado August 1, 1876 + North Dakota November 2, 1889 + South Dakota November 2, 1889 + + + _Sixth row_ + + Montana November 8, 1889 + Washington November 11, 1889 + Idaho July 3, 1890 + Wyoming July 10, 1890 + Utah January 4, 1896 + Oklahoma November 16, 1907 + New Mexico January 6, 1912 + Arizona February 14, 1912 + + + + +FLAG ANNIVERSARIES + + + January 1-2, 1776: Grand Union Flag (British Union and thirteen + stripes) hoisted over Washington's headquarters at Cambridge, + Massachusetts. This was the first real flag of the colonies. + + January 13, 1794: American flag changed by act of Congress, owing + to two new States (Kentucky and Vermont) being admitted to the + Union. The flag now had two stars and two stripes added to it, + making fifteen stripes and stars. This was the "Star-Spangled + Banner," and under this flag our country fought and won three + wars--the so-called naval war with France, in 1798-1800; that with + the Barbary States in 1801-1805; and that with England in 1812-1815. + + February 3, 1783: First appearance of the American flag in a + British port by the ship Bedford, of Massachusetts, which arrived + in the river Thames on this date. + + February 8, 1776: Colonial Congressional Committee accepted a naval + flag, consisting of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with + a rattlesnake diagonally across it. + + February 14, 1778: First foreign salute to the Stars and Stripes. + John Paul Jones entered Quiberon Bay, near Brest, France, and + received a salute of nine guns from the French fleet, under Admiral + La Motte Piquet. Jones had previously saluted the French fleet with + thirteen guns. + + March 17, 1776: The first display of the Grand Union Flag in Boston + was on the day that town was evacuated by the British. + + April 4, 1818: Congress by act decreed a return to the original + thirteen stripes and a star for every State in the Union, to be + added to the flag on the July 4 following a State's admission to + the Union. This is the present law in relation to the flag. + + April 24, 1778: John Paul Jones achieved the honor of being the + first officer of the American Navy to compel a regular British + man-of-war to strike her colors to the new flag. + + June 14, 1777: First strictly American flag decreed by Congress. + This flag displaced the British Union by thirteen stars, and the + making of the first flag of this design is accredited to Betsy Ross + of Philadelphia. It contained thirteen stripes, alternate red and + white, and thirteen white stars upon a blue field. + + June 14, 1777: Captain John Paul Jones appointed to the command of + the Ranger. It was Jones who first displayed the Stars and Stripes + on a naval vessel. It was also he who had previously first hoisted + "the flag of America" on board the naval vessel Alfred in 1775. + + June 28, 1778: First appearance on a foreign strong-hold at Nassau, + Bahama Islands. The Americans captured Fort Nassau from the + British, and promptly raised the Stars and Stripes. + + August 3, 1777: First display of the Stars and Stripes on land was + over Fort Stanwix, New York. + + August 10, 1831: The name "Old Glory" given to our national flag by + Captain William Driver, of the brig Charles Doggert. The flag was + presented to the captain and contained one hundred and ten yards of + bunting. It is said to be now in the Essex Institute, at Salem, + Massachusetts. + + September 11, 1777: The American flag first carried in battle at + the Brandywine. This was the first great battle fought after its + adoption by the Continental Congress. + + September 13, 1784: The Stars and Stripes first displayed in China + by Captain John Green, of the ship Empress, in Canton River. The + natives said it was as beautiful as a flower, and the Chinese + continued to call it the "flower flag" for many years. + + September 30, 1787-August 10, 1790: The American flag completed its + first trip around the world, borne by the ship Columbia, sailing + from Boston. + + October 18, 1867: First official display of the American flag in + Alaska. On this day, at Sitka, the capital, the Russian flag was + hauled down and the American flag run up before the barracks and in + the presence of both Russian and American troops. + + + + +SELECTIONS + + +THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER + +FRANCIS SCOTT KEY + + Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, + What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, + Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, + O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? + And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, + Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. + Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? + + On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, + Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, + What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, + As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? + Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, + In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,-- + 'Tis the star-spangled banner; Oh! long may it wave, + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + And where is that band who so vauntingly swore + That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion + A home and a country should leave us no more? + Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution. + No refuge could save the hireling and slave + From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave; + And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand + Between their loved homes and the war's desolation; + Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land + Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! + Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, + And this be our motto--"In God is our trust"; + And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! + + +THE FLAG IN THE DARKNESS + +BENJAMIN HARRISON + +I was never so profoundly touched with the beauty of our flag as at +night time in one of our immense political demonstrations. One of the +features of the occasion was the sending upward of a mighty stream of +electric light which, piercing the darkness of the night, reached a +large flag which had been carried on cords a thousand feet from the +earth. The scene was too impressive for me to describe. I can only say +that it did seem as though the flag of our country was waving from the +very battlements of heaven.... God pity the American citizen who does +not love the flag; who does not see in it the story of our great, free +institutions, and the hope of the home as well as the Nation. + + +A SONG FOR FLAG DAY + +WILBUR D. NESBIT + + Your Flag and my Flag! + And how it flies to-day + In your land and my land + And half a world away! + Rose-red and blood-red + The stripes forever gleam; + Snow-white and soul-white-- + The good forefathers' dream; + Sky-blue and true blue, with stars to gleam aright-- + The gloried guidon of the day; a shelter through the night. + + Your Flag and my Flag! + And, oh, how much it holds-- + Your land and my land-- + Secure within its folds! + Your heart and my heart + Beat quicker at the sight; + Sun-kissed and wind-tossed, + Red and blue and white. + The one Flag,--the great Flag--the Flag for me and you-- + Glorified all else beside--the red and white and blue! + + Your Flag and my Flag! + To every star and stripe + The drums beat as hearts beat + And fifers shrilly pipe! + Your Flag and my Flag-- + A blessing in the sky; + Your hope and my hope-- + It never hid a lie! + Home land and far land and half the world around, + Old Glory hears our glad salute and ripples to the sound. + + +THE FLAG GOES BY + +HENRY HOLCOMB BENNETT + + Hats off! + Along the street there comes + A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, + A flash of color beneath the sky: + Hats off! + The flag is passing by! + + Blue and crimson and white it shines, + Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines. + Hats off! + The colors before us fly; + But more than the flag is passing by. + + Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great, + Fought to make and to save the State: + Weary marches and sinking ships; + Cheers of victory on dying lips; + + Days of plenty and years of peace; + March of a strong land's swift increase; + Equal justice, right and law, + Stately honor and reverent awe; + + Sign of a nation, great and strong + To ward her people from foreign wrong: + Pride and glory and honor,--all + Live in the colors to stand or fall. + + Hats off! + Along the street there comes + A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums; + And loyal hearts are beating high: + Hats off! + The flag is passing by! + + +WHAT THE FLAG STANDS FOR + +HENRY CABOT LODGE + +The flag stands for all that we hold dear--freedom, democracy, +government of the people, by the people, and for the people. These are +the great principles for which the flag stands, and when that +democracy and that freedom and that government of the people are in +danger, then it is our duty to defend the flag which stands for them +all, and in order to defend the flag and keep it soaring as it soars +here to-day, undimmed, unsullied, victorious over the years, we must +be ready to defend it, and like the men of '76 and '61, pledge to it +our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. + + +UNION AND LIBERTY + +OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES + + Flag of the heroes who left us their glory, + Borne through their battle-fields' thunder and flame, + Blazoned in song and illumined in story, + Wave o'er us all who inherit their fame! + Up with our banner bright, + Sprinkled with starry light, + Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, + While through the sounding sky + Loud rings the Nation's cry,-- + UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE! + + Light of our firmament, guide of our Nation, + Pride of her children, and honored afar, + Let the wide beams of thy full constellation + Scatter each cloud that would darken a star! + Up with our banner bright, etc. + + Empire unsceptred! What foe shall assail thee, + Bearing the standard of Liberty's van? + Think not the God of thy fathers shall fail thee, + Striving with men for the birthright of man. + Up with our banner bright, etc. + + Yet if, by madness and treachery blighted, + Dawns the dark hour when the sword thou must draw, + Then with the arms of thy millions united, + Smite the bold traitors to Freedom and Law! + Up with our banner bright, etc. + + Lord of the Universe: shield us and guide us, + Trusting thee always, through shadow and sun! + Thou hast united us, who shall divide us? + Keep us, oh keep us the MANY IN ONE! + Up with =our= banner bright, + Sprinkled with starry light, + Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, + While through the sounding sky + Loud rings the nation's cry,-- + UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE! + + +YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR FLAG + +EDWARD EVERETT HALE + +"If you are ever tempted to say a word or to do a thing that shall put +a bar between you and your country, pray God in His mercy to take you +that instant home to His own heaven. Stick by your family, boy; forget +you have a self, while you do everything for them. Think of your home, +boy; write and send, and talk about it. Let it be nearer and nearer to +your thoughts, the farther you have to travel from it; and rush back +to it when you are free. And for your country, boy,"--and the words +rattled in his throat,--"and for that flag,"--and he pointed to the +ship,--"never dream a dream but of serving her as she bids you, though +the service carry you through a thousand hells. No matter what happens +to you, no matter who flatters you or who abuses you, never look to +another flag, never let a night pass but you pray God to bless that +flag. Remember, boy, that behind all these men you have to do with, +behind officers, and government, and people even, there is the Country +Herself, your Country, and that you belong to Her as you belong to +your own mother. Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother." + + +THE HOME FLAG + +HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW + + And at the masthead, + White, blue, and red, + A flag unrolls the stripes and stars. + Ah! when the wanderer, lonely, friendless, + In foreign harbors shall behold + That flag unrolled, + 'T will be as a friendly hand + Stretched out from his native land, + Filling his heart with memories sweet and endless! + + +OLD FLAG + +HUBBARD PARKER + + What shall I say to you, Old Flag? + You are so grand in every fold, + So linked with mighty deeds of old, + So steeped in blood where heroes fell, + So torn and pierced by shot and shell, + So calm, so still, so firm, so true, + My throat swells at the sight of you, Old Flag. + + What of the men who lifted you, Old Flag, + Upon the top of Bunker's Hill, + Who crushed the Briton's cruel will, + 'Mid shock and roar and crash and scream, + Who crossed the Delaware's frozen stream, + Who starved, who fought, who bled, who died, + That you might float in glorious pride, Old Flag? + + Who of the women brave and true, Old Flag, + Who, while the cannon thundered wild, + Sent forth a husband, lover, child. + Who labored in the field by day, + Who, all the night long, knelt to pray, + And thought that God great mercy gave, + If only freely you might wave, Old Flag? + + What is your mission now, Old Flag? + What but to set all people free, + To rid the world of misery, + To guard the right, avenge the wrong, + And gather in one joyful throng + Beneath your folds in close embrace + All burdened ones of every race, Old Flag? + + Right nobly do you lead the way, Old Flag, + Your stars shine out for liberty. + Your white stripes stand for purity, + Your crimson claims that courage high + For Honor's sake to fight and die. + Lead on against the alien shore! + We'll follow you e'en to Death's door, Old Flag! + + +BRITANNIA TO COLUMBIA + +ALFRED AUSTIN + + What is the voice I hear + On the winds of the western sea? + Sentinel, listen from out Cape Clear + And say what the voice may be. + 'Tis a proud free people calling loud to a people proud and free. + + And it says to them: "Kinsmen, hail; + We severed have been too long. + Now let us have done with a worn-out tale-- + The tale of an ancient wrong-- + And our friendship last long as love doth last and be stronger + than death is strong." + + Answer them, sons of the self-same race, + And blood of the self-same clan; + Let us speak with each other face to face + And answer as man to man, + And loyally love and trust each other as none but free men can. + + Now fling them out to the breeze, + Shamrock, Thistle, and Rose, + And the Star-Spangled Banner unfurl with these-- + A message of friends and foes + Wherever the sails of peace are seen and wherever the war wind + blows-- + + A message to bond and thrall to wake, + For wherever we come, we twain, + The throne of the tyrant shall rock and quake, + And his menace be void and vain, + For you are lords of a strong young land and we are lords of + the main. + + Yes, this is the voice on the bluff March gale; + We severed have been too long, + But now we are done with a worn-out tale-- + The tale of an ancient wrong-- + And our friendship shall last long as love doth last and be + stronger than death is strong. + + +MAKERS OF THE FLAG + +FRANKLIN K. LANE + + [A portion of an address delivered by the Secretary of the Interior + to the employees of the Department of the Interior, on Flag Day, + 1914.] + +This morning as I passed into the Land Office, The Flag dropped me a +most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: +"Good-morning Mr. Flag Maker." + +"I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't you mistaken? I am not +the President of the United States, nor a member of Congress, nor even +a general in the army. I am only a Government clerk." + +"I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker," replied the gay voice; "I know +you well. You are the man who worked in the swelter of yesterday +straightening out the tangle of that farmer's homestead in Idaho, or +perhaps you found the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, or +helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or +pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in +Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. +No matter; whichever one of these beneficient individuals you may +happen to be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker." + +I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me with these words:-- + +"Yesterday the President spoke a word that made happier the future of +ten million peons in Mexico; but that act looms no larger on the flag +than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn +Club prize this summer. + +"Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of +Alaska; but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into +the night, to give her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag. + +"Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and +yesterday, maybe, a school teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to +a boy who will one day write a song that will give cheer to the +millions of our race. We are all making the flag." + +"But," I said impatiently, "these people were only working!" + +Then came a great shout from The Flag:-- + +"The work that we do is the making of the flag. + +"I am not the flag; not at all. I am nothing more than its shadow. + +"I am whatever you make me, nothing more. + +"I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a People may become. + +"I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heart breaks +and tired muscles. + +"Sometimes I am strong with pride, when workmen do an honest piece of +work, fitting the rails together truly. + +"Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I +play the coward. + +"Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego that blasts +judgment. + +"But always, I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try +for. + +"I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope. + +"I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the +most daring. + +"I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute +makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook, +counselor, and clerk. + +"I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of to-morrow. + +"I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why. + +"I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution. + +"I am no more than what you believe me to be, and I am all that you +believe I can be. + +"I am what you make me, nothing more. + +"I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of +yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this +nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They +are bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, +because you have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the +makers of the flag and it is well that you glory in the making." + + +OUR FLAG + +MARGARET SANGSTER + + Flag of the fearless-hearted, + Flag of the broken chain, + Flag in a day-dawn started, + Never to pale or wane. + Dearly we prize its colors, + With the heaven light breaking through, + The clustered stars and the steadfast bars, + The red, the white, and the blue. + + Flag of the sturdy fathers, + Flag of the royal sons, + Beneath its folds it gathers + Earth's best and noblest ones. + Boldly we wave its colors, + Our veins are thrilled anew + By the steadfast bars, the clustered stars, + The red, the white, and the blue. + + +OUR HISTORY AND OUR FLAG[1] + +WILLIAM BACKUS GUITTEAU + +Love of country is a sentiment common to all peoples and ages; but no +land has ever been dearer to its people than our own America. No +nation has a history more inspiring, no country has institutions more +deserving of patriotic love. Turning the pages of our nation's +history, the young citizen sees Columbus, serene in the faith of his +dream; the Mayflower, bearing the lofty soul of the Puritan; +Washington girding on his holy sword; Lincoln, striking the shackles +from the helpless slave; the constitution, organizing the farthest +west with north and south and east into one great Republic; the +tremendous energy of free life trained in free schools, utilizing our +immense natural resources, increasing the nation's wealth with the aid +of advancing science, multiplying fertile fields and noble workshops, +and busy schools and happy homes. + +This is the history for which our flag stands; and when the young +citizen salutes the flag, he should think of the great ideals which it +represents. The flag stands for democracy, for liberty under the law; +it stands for heroic courage and self-reliance, for equality of +opportunity, for self-sacrifice and the cause of humanity; it stands +for free public education, and for peace among all nations. When you +salute the flag, you should resolve that your own life will be +dedicated to these ideals. You should remember that he is the truest +American patriot who understands the meaning of our nation's ideals, +and who pledges his own life to their realization. + +[Footnote 1: From _Preparing for Citizenship_. Houghton Mifflin Company, +1913, 1915.] + + +THE AMERICAN FLAG + +JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE + + Flag of the free heart's hope and home! + By angel hands to valor given; + Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, + And all thy hues were born in heaven. + Forever float that standard sheet! + Where breathes the foe but falls before us, + With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, + And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us? + + +THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY + +ROBERT C. WINTHROP + +There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon its +folds, rippling in the breeze, without pride of country. If he be in a +foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself, with all its +endearments. Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because +it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence. + +It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely, +and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white +proclaim the original union of thirteen States to maintain the +Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue +proclaim that union of States constituting our national constellation, +which receives a new star with every new State. The two together +signify union past and present. + +The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our +fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and +altogether, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors blazing in the sky, +make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be +upheld by all our hands. + + +AMERICA + +SAMUEL FRANCIS SMITH + + My country, 'tis of thee, + Sweet land of liberty, + Of thee I sing; + Land where my fathers died, + Land of the pilgrims' pride, + From every mountain-side + Let freedom ring. + + My native country, thee, + Land of the noble free,-- + Thy name I love; + I love thy rocks and rills, + Thy woods and templed hills; + My heart with rapture thrills + Like that above. + + Let music swell the breeze, + And ring from all the trees + Sweet Freedom's song; + Let mortal tongues awake, + Let all that breathe partake, + Let rocks their silence break,-- + The sound prolong. + + Our fathers' God, to Thee, + Author of liberty, + To Thee we sing; + Long may our land be bright + With freedom's holy light; + Protect us by thy might, + Great God our King. + + + + +INDEX + + + Albany, reached by the Dutch, 2. + + "Albany Plan," 18-19. + + Alexandria, 61. + + Alfred, the, the first American man-of-war, 35-38. + + Algiers, the Dey of, yields to America, 58. + + America, 3, 18, 25, 34, 46, 52; + overpowers the Dey of Algiers, 58. + + "Ancient flag," the, 3. + + Anderson, General, carries the flag from Fort Sumter, raises it again + in 1865, 72-73; + burial of, 74. + + Andrea, Dona, saluted at one of the West Indian Islands, 45. + + Arch Street, home of Betsy Ross, 40, 42. + + Arizona, admitted to the Union, 66; + men from, at Santiago, 75. + + Asia, sought by Henry Hudson, 1-2. + + Atlantic Ocean, crossed by Henry Hudson, 1. + + + Bainbridge, Captain, carries Algerian ambassador to Constantinople, + 57-58. + + Baltimore, 50, 61. + + Bedford, the flag of, 20-21. + + Beecher, Henry Ward, speech of, at Fort Sumter, 73. + + Bethlehem, 50. + + Bon Homme Richard, sinking of the, 45-47. + + Boston, arrival of stamps at, 15-16; + flag seen in, 34; 35. + + Boston Harbor, 5; + tea dropped into, 30. + + Brest Roads, 44. + + Britain, 34. + + British, besiege Fort Stanwix, 48. + + Broadway, 53. + + Brooklyn Navy Yard, flags for the navy made in the, 67. + + Bunker Hill, flags at battle of, 21; 28, 29, 30, 32. + + Bunting, not made in America until 1866, 66-67. + + + Cambridge, Indian volunteers come to, 29; 34, 39. + + Carleton, Sir Guy, delayed in New York, 53. + + Castle Island, ship made to strike her colors at, 5-6. + + Chapultepec, taken by Americans, 70-71. + + Charles II, and the New England coinage, 11. + + Charleston, the flag of, 11-12; + stamped paper in, 15; + liberty flag in, 16; + flag of, after Bunker Hill, 22; + Liberty Tree of, 30; + cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, 31; 72. + + China, the American flag in, 79. + + Christina, becomes queen of Sweden, 2. + + Civil War, the beginning of the, 71. + + Clinton, Sir Henry, cuts down the Liberty Tree in Charleston, 31. + + Columbus, 58. + + Concord, 20. + + Congress, 19; + sends a committee to Cambridge, 32; + orders building of cruisers, 35; + orders a flag, 41; 42; 43; + celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 51; + decrees the star-spangled banner, 63-64. + _See also_ Continental Congress. + + Connecticut, regimental colors of, 22; + motto of, 30. + + Constantinople, Algerian ambassador carried to, 58. + + Constitution, frigate, 57. + + Continental Congress, 27; + weakness of the statement issued by the, 29; + Washington a member of the, 33; 37; + declares the colonies to be independent and decrees a flag, 39-40. + + Cook, Captain, to be aided by all American cruisers, 38. + + Copley, paints in the flag, 52. + + Cotton, Dr. John, advises concerning the King's Flag, 6-7; + Indian chief resembles, 59. + + Cuba, given up to the Cubans, 81-82. + + Culpeper Minute Men, 25. + + + Daiquiri, landing place of the Rough Riders, 75. + + Declaration of Independence, 32, 40; + flag made before the, 42; + first anniversary celebrated on the Delaware River, 51. + + Delaware River, Swedes settle on the, 2; + pine tree flag on the, 35; + stars and stripes on the, 42; + celebration on the, 51. + + Digby, Admiral, licenses a Nantucket skipper to go to London, 52. + + Dix, General, 81. + + Driver, Captain William, originates the name "Old Glory," 68. + + Dutch, establish trading posts on the Hudson River, 2; + overpowered by the English, 2; + opposed by New Englanders, 9-10; + government of, inquires concerning the American flag, 65. + + Dutch East India Company, Hudson sails in the employ of the, 1-2. + + + Elliot, Major, wife of, presents silken colors, 24. + + Endicott, John, cuts the cross from the English flag, 4-5; 87. + + England, flag of, brought to Jamestown, 2-3; 6; 18; 33; + flag of, pulled down in New York, 54; 66; + honors the Stars and Stripes, 84. + + English East India Company, flag of the, 34. + + Essex (county), 9. + + Essex Institute, "Old Glory" sent to the, 69. + + + "Father of his Country," 33. + + Fifteen stripes and fifteen stars, the flag of, 56-62. + + Fillmore, President, sends letter to Japan, 77. + + First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, 74. + _See_ Rough Riders. + + Flag anniversaries, 90-92. + + "Flag Day," 87. + + Flag etiquette, 85-89. + + "Flower flag," the, 79. + + Flamborough Head, 45. + + Fort George, 53. + + Fort McHenry, attacked by the British, 60. + + Fort Moultrie, 23. + + Fort Schuyler. + _See_ Fort Stanwix. + + Fort Stanwix, flag made at, 48-49. + + Fort Sumter, firing upon, begins the Civil War, 71-72; + flag raised upon, 73. + + Fourth of July, Declaration of Independence on the, 39-40; + first anniversary of the, 51; + new stars to be added to the flag on the, 64; + honored in Sweden, 81. + + France, war with, 57; + sells the Louisiana Territory to the United States, 58. + + Franklin, Benjamin, proposes the "Albany Plan," 18-19; 24, 25, 26; + sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32; 34; + issues letters of marque, 37. + + Frederick, burial place of Francis Scott Key, 61. + + French, opposed by the New Englanders, 9-10; + meet the New Englanders at Louisburg, 12-13. + + + Gadsden, Christopher, speaks of possible independence, 30. + + Gage, General, 21. + + Gansevoort, Colonel Peter, commands Fort Stanwix, 49. + + George III, proclamation of, 54. + + "God Save the King," sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, 84. + + Grand Army of the Republic, 74, 86. + + Grand Council, part of the "Albany Plan," 18-19. + + "Grand Union Flag," made in Cambridge, 33; + designer not known, 34; 39. + + Great Britain, second war with, 57, 84. + + Gustavus Adolphus, plans a settlement in America, 2; 80. + + + Hall, Lieutenant, rescues the flag at Fort Sumter, 72. + + Hancock, John, presents a flag to General Putnam, 30. + + Harrison, Benjamin, sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32. + + Hart, Sergeant Peter, fastens the flag up on the ramparts at Fort + Sumter, 72; + presents it to be raised, 73. + + Harvard College, used by troops, 28. + + Havana, 82. + + Hawthorne, tells the story of Endicott and the flag, 4-5; + of "The Pine-Tree Shillings," 11. + + Hemisphere, on a flag, 11. + + Henry, Patrick, 25. + + Hessians, 51. + + Holland, Hudson's vessel sailed from, the flag of, 1; 44. + + Holmes, "Old Ironsides," poem of, 56. + + House of Representatives, hoists the Star-Spangled Banner, 65. + + Hudson, carries the Dutch flag into the Hudson River, 1-2. + + + Indian, enters embrasure at Louisburg, 13. + + Indiana, 63. + + Indians, Hudson welcomed by the, 1; + method of warfare, 8; + given flags, 12; + volunteer at Cambridge, 29; + fought by Washington, 33; + besiege Fort Schuyler, 48; + raise the American flag, 59. + + Island of Knights, 80. + + + James I, changes the flag of England, 3. + + James II, sends a flag to New England, leaves England, 10. + + Jamestown, founded, 2. + + Japan, opened by Perry, 77-79; + embassy from visits the United States, 78; + the friend of the United States, 79. + + Jasper, William, rescues the flag at Fort Moultrie, 23-24. + + Jersey City, 65. + + Jones, John Paul, hoists a flag on the Alfred, 35-37; + forbidden to burn defenseless towns, 37; + put in command of the Ranger, 43; + receives a flag in Portsmouth and a salute in France, 43-45; + in command of the Bon Homme Richard, 45-47. + + Journal, of Congress, 32. + + + Kansas, first raising of the United States flag in, 59. + + Kentucky, admitted as a State, 56. + + Kettle Hill, battle of, 76. + + Key, Francis Scott, writes the "Star-Spangled Banner," 60-61. + + King Philip's War, flag used in, 9. + + "King's Flag," 3; + displayed at Castle Island, 6-7. + + + Lafayette visited by Pulaski, welcomed to Baltimore, 49, 50. + + Las Guasimas, 75. + + "Last battle of the Revolution," 53. + + Lexington, 31; + battle of, 35; 39. + + Liberty, the demand for, 14. + + "Liberty Elm," Massachusetts history associated with the, 30. + + "Liberty Hall," 16. + + Liberty Pole, cut down in New York, 31. + + "Liberty Tree," in Boston, 16, 17; + of South Carolina, 30; + Paine's poem on the, 31. + + Lincoln, President, 72. + + "Lion of the North," 2. + + London, 52; + honors the Stars and Stripes, 84. + + Longfellow, poem of, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," 50. + + Louisburg, the New Englanders at, 12-13. + + Louisiana, admitted to the Union, 63. + + Louisiana Territory, purchased by the United States, 58. + + Lowell, quotation from, 63. + + Lowell (city), bunting made in, 66. + + Lynch, Thomas, sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32. + + + Maryland, 61. + + Massachusetts, troubles concerning the cross in the flag, 4-7; 8, 9; + flag of the "Three County Troop" in, 9; + use of "pine tree" in, 10, 11, 15; + flag of, after Bunker Hill, 22; 27; + motto of, 30; + decrees the use of the pine-tree flag, 35; 66; 68; 86. + + Mediterranean Sea, freed from Pirates, 58. + + Memorial Day, 81. + + Mexico, war with, 70. + + Mexico, the City of, captured by Americans, 70-71. + + Middlesex (county), 9, 20. + + Monroe, President, signs a bill decreeing the use of the Star-Spangled + Banner, 64. + + Moravian Sisters, make banner for Pulaski, 50. + + Morris, Robert, 40. + + Mottoes on flags, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 28, 30, 36, 54. + + Moultrie, 71. + + Moultrie, Colonel, defends Fort Moultrie, 23-24. + + + Nantucket, 52, 53. + + Nashville, 68. + + National Museum, "Star-Spangled Banner" of Francis Scott Key in, 61. + + Netherlands, flag of the, 34. + + New Amsterdam, 2. + + Newbury, flag of the militia in, 8-9. + + Newburyport, patrol, of, 15. + + New England, alliance of the folk of, 9-10; 18. + + New Englanders, 10; + set off to capture Louisburg, 12. + + "New England Flag," the, 21. + + New Hampshire, 15, 43. + + New Haven, peace rejoicing in, 54. + + New Mexico, admitted to the Union, 66. + + New World, 2, 58. + + New York, founded by the Dutch, 2; + flag of, 15; + arrival of stamps at, 16; + liberty pole in, 17-18; + hoists flag with beaver device, 22; 27; 31; + State of, 48; + Sir Guy Carleton delayed in, 53; 64; 72. + + _New York Sun_, 82. + + North Pole, discovered by Admiral Peary, 83. + + + Ohio, admitted to the Union, 63. + + "Old Glory," origin of the name and story of, 68-69; + in three wars, 70. + + "Old Ironsides," frigate, poem by Holmes, 57. + + "Old Thirteen," 2. + + Oliver, hanged in effigy in Boston, 15-16. + + Oscar, king of Sweden, 81. + + + Page family, as color bearers, 20. + + Paine, Thomas, poem of on the "Liberty Tree," 31. + + Pearson, Captain, yields to John Paul Jones, 45. + + Peary, Admiral Robert E., carries the flag to the North Pole, 82-83. + + Pennsylvania, 32, 50, 55. + + _Pennsylvania Gazette_, 19. + + _Pennsylvania Journal_, 25. + + Perry, Commodore M. C., carries the letter of President Fillmore to + Japan, 77-79. + + Philadelphia, 18, 37, 39, 40, 55. + + Philadelphia Light Horse Troop, escorts Washington to New York, 27; + flag of the, 27-28, 33. + + PhÅ“nix, 74. + + Pike, Lieut. Z. M., and the Indians, 59. + + Pilgrims, 34. + + Pine tree, on flag, 10, 11, 21, 35; + used on the Delaware River, 35. + + "Pine-Tree Shillings, The," Hawthorne's story of, 11. + + Pope's Creek, birthplace of Washington, 61. + + Portsmouth, banner in, 15; + the "quilting party" flag, 43-47. + + Poughkeepsie, 49. + + Prospect Hill, 29; + flag raised on, 34. + + Pulaski, Count, the banner of, 49-50. + + Puritans, troubled by the cross in the flag, 4-7. + + Putnam, Major-General Israel, 29; + flag presented to, by John Hancock, 30. + + + Quaker City, the, 27. + + + Ranger, command of, given to Jones, 43; + the flag of, and its salute, 43-45. + + Rattlesnake, on flag of Charleston, 22; + a favorite emblem, 24-26; 35; + on flag of the Alfred, 37. + + Reid, Captain, S. C., designs the flag with stars arranged in one + star, 65. + + Revere, Paul, 20. + + Revolutionary War, 21. + + Rhode Island, hoists a flag with the anchor device, 22. + + Roman Catholic Church, the cross regarded as the badge of the, 4. + + Rome, 48. + + Ross, Betsy, makes the first flag with stars and stripes, 40-42. + + Ross, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom, 40, 48. + _See_ Betsy Ross. + + Ross, Colonel, 40, 42. + + "Rough Riders," 74. + + + St. Andrew, the cross of, 3, 18, 33. + + St. George's Cross, united with the cross of St. Andrew, 3; + cut out of the flag by Endicott, 4-5; + in the flag sent by James II to New England, in the pine-tree + flag, 10; 18; 21; 32; 34. + + St. Paul, Cathedral of, 84. + + Salem, cross cut from the flag in, 4-5, 8, 68. + + San Juan Hill, the battle of, 76. + + Santiago, attacked by the Rough Riders, 75. + + Savannah, flag hoisted at, 22, 24. + + Scotland, the flag of, 3; 33. + + Serapis, taken by Jones, 45-47. + + Six Nations, 18. + + Somerville, flag raised in, 34. + + Sons of Liberty, 15; + put up a liberty pole, 17-18; + meetings of the, 30. + + South Carolina, 11; + treatment of stamped paper in, 14; 30; 32. + + Spain, owner of the Louisiana Territory, 59; + war with, 74, 81. + + Spaniards, repulsed at Las Guasimas, 75. + + Spanish-American War, 81, 87. + + Stamp Act, 14; + repeal of the, 17; 30. + + Stars and Stripes, first salute to, 45; + replace the English flag in New York, 54; + at Fort McHenry, 60; + at Chapultepec, 71; + fired upon at Fort Sumter, 71-72; + raised again at Fort Sumter, 72-73; + in Japan, 78; + in China, 79; + in Sweden, 81; + honored in England, 84; + behavior towards the, 85-87. + + "Star-Spangled Banner, The," written by Francis Scott Key, 60-61; + played at Fort Sumter, 73; + sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, 84. + + Stiles, President, describes the New Haven rejoicing for peace, 54. + + Stockholm, 80. + + Suffolk (county), 9. + + Swartwout, Captain Abram, cloak of, used for flag at Fort Stanwix, 48-49. + + Sweden, American flag raised in, 79-81. + + Swedes, settle on the Delaware River, are overpowered by the Dutch, 2; + opposed by the New Englanders, 9-10. + + + Tennessee, admitted to the Union, 63; 68. + + Thames, the royal seal tossed into the, 10. + + "Thirteen," 51, 63. + + Thirteen stripes, first used, 28. + + Thomas, William W., raises American flag in Sweden, 79-81. + + Trenton, 51. + + Tripoli, war with, 57. + + Trumbull, battle of Bunker Hill painted by, 21. + + + "Union Flag," 18, 22; + made at Cambridge, 33; + worn by the Alfred, 37. + + Union Jack, 3; + given to the Indians, 12; 18; 84. + + United Colonies, 34. + + "Unite or die," motto of the "Albany Plan," 18. + + United States, 26, 51, 52; + left by British troops, 53; 54, 55, 58; + buys the Louisiana Territory, 58-59; + flag of, decided upon, 63-65; + flag manufactured in, 67; + opens intercourse with Japan, 78; 80; + flag of, hauled down in Cuba, 81-82; 83, 84, 87. + + + Vermont, admitted as a State, 56. + + "Victory Tower," Star-Spangled Banner floats from, 84. + + Virginia, 2, 3, 25, 33, 61. + + + Washington, 21; + goes to Boston, 27-29; 32; + coat-of-arms of, 33; 34; 40; + visits Betsy Ross, 41; + significance of the flag expressed by, 43; 61; + monument reared to in Baltimore, birthplace of marked, 61-62; 81. + + Watson, Elkanah, flag painted in portrait of, by Copley, 52. + + Wendover, Peter H., induces Congress to decree the Star-Spangled + Banner, 64. + + Westminster Palace, 84. + + Westmoreland County, 61. + + West Point, burial place of General Anderson, 74. + + Wood, General Leonard, 75; + delivers Cuba to the Cubans, 82. + + + Yale, 54. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + +* Footnote moved to end of article on Pg 114. + +* Moved frontispiece illustration to Pg 1. + +* Otherwise, archaic and inconsistent spelling and hyphenation retained. + +* Pg 16 Corrected spelling of word "processsion" to "procession" located +in the phrase "and marched in a log procession". + +* Pg 43 "whereever" and Pg 107 "wherever" retained as printed. + +* Pg 90 Replaced semi-colon with a colon after "1783" located in +"February 3, 1783". + +* Pg 92 Removed extraneous comma after "1787" located in "September 30, +1787,-August 10, 1790". + +* Pg 119 Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "30" located in the phrase +"cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, 30". + +* Pg 119 Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "19" located in the phrase +"Congress, 19". + +* Pg 120 Added period after "39" located in "designer not known, 34; 39". + +* Pg 121 Replaced period with a comma after "Jones" located in phrase +"Pearson, captain, yields to John Paul Jones". + +* Pg 122 Replaced period with a comma after "51" located in phrase +""Thirteen," 51". + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Little Book of the Flag, by Eva March Tappan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG *** + +***** This file should be named 30893-0.txt or 30893-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/8/9/30893/ + +Produced by Larry B. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/30893-0.zip b/30893-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f580e51 --- /dev/null +++ b/30893-0.zip diff --git a/30893-8.txt b/30893-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a08f3b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/30893-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3768 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Little Book of the Flag, by Eva March Tappan + +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: The Little Book of the Flag + +Author: Eva March Tappan + +Release Date: January 8, 2010 [EBook #30893] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG *** + + + + +Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE LITTLE BOOK + OF THE FLAG + + BY + EVA MARCH TAPPAN + + HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY + + BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO DALLAS + SAN FRANCISCO + + The Riverside Press Cambridge + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + The Riverside Press + CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS + PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. THE FLAGS THAT BROUGHT THE COLONISTS 1 + + Flags under which the early colonists sailed--The English + "ancient flag"--The "meteor flag," "Union Jack," or "King's + Flag"--Endicott cuts the cross from the English flag--The + militia object to the cross on the flag--A flagless fort--Dr. + Cotton's decision. + + + II. THE PINE-TREE FLAG AND OTHERS 8 + + Flags common among the colonists--The New England + Alliance--The pine-tree flag and coins--Flags of the + militia--The red coat flag. + + + III. LIBERTY AND LIBERTY POLES 14 + + The demand for liberty--Opposition to the Stamp Act--Oliver + hanged in effigy--The Liberty Tree in Boston--The liberty + pole in New York--The Albany plan--The snake design. + + + IV. THE LAND OF MANY FLAGS 20 + + The Bedford flag--Flags at the beginning of the + Revolution--Sergeant Jasper saves the flag--The + rattlesnake on the flag. + + + V. WHEN WASHINGTON WENT TO CAMBRIDGE 27 + + The Philadelphia Light Horse Troop--The army at + Cambridge--The backwoodsmen--Indians offer their + services--General Putnam unfurls a scarlet flag--The + Liberty Tree. + + + VI. THE "GRAND UNION FLAG" 32 + + The "Grand Union Flag"--Possible sources of the design--First + raised in Somerville--Flags on sea and land--Flag hoisted over + the Alfred by John Paul Jones--Franklin's letters of marque. + + + VII. THE FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG 39 + + The flag of the United States as decreed by Congress--The + Betsy Ross flag--Significance of the Colors--Captain Jones + put in command of the Ranger--The "quilting party"--The + Drake strikes her colors to the Ranger--The United States + flag is saluted by the French--The flag goes down with the + Bon Homme Richard. + + + VIII. FLAGS ONE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE 48 + + The Fort Stanwix flag--Pulaski's banner--The first Fourth + of July celebration--General use of "thirteen"--Copley's + delay to paint in the flag--A Nantucket skipper carries the + flag to London--The last battle of the Revolution--The New + Haven peace rejoicing. + + + IX. THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STRIPES AND FIFTEEN STARS 56 + + The flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars decreed by + Congress--Worn by "Old Ironsides"--Leads against + Tripoli--Seen at Constantinople--Among the Indians of the + Louisiana Territory--"The Star-Spangled Banner"--Marking + the birthplace of Washington. + + + X. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 63 + + Congress decrees the present flag--No law for the + arrangement of the stars--The manufacture of bunting--Flags + for the navy--Flags for the War Department--"Old Glory." + + + XI. THE FLAG IN WAR 70 + + The flag at Chapultepec--The surrender of Fort Sumter--The + flag raised again at Fort Sumter--The Arizona flag of the + Rough Riders. + + + XII. THE FLAG IN PEACE 77 + + Perry opens Japan to the world--Raising the flag over the + legation in Sweden--Hauling down the flag in Cuba--The flag + at the North Pole--The flag on Westminster Palace. + + + XIII. HOW TO BEHAVE TOWARD THE FLAG 85 + + FLAG ANNIVERSARIES 90 + + SELECTIONS + The Star-Spangled Banner _Francis Scott Key_ 93 + The Flag in the Darkness _Benjamin Harrison_ 95 + A Song for Flag Day _Wilbur D. Nesbit_ 96 + The Flag goes by _Henry Holcomb Bennett_ 98 + What the Flag stands for _Henry Cabot Lodge_ 100 + Union and Liberty _Oliver Wendell Holmes_ 101 + Your Country and your Flag _Edward Everett Hale_ 103 + The Home Flag _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ 104 + Old Flag _Hubbard Parker_ 105 + Britannia to Columbia _Alfred Austin_ 107 + Makers of the Flag _Franklin K. Lane_ 109 + Our Flag _Margaret Sangster_ 112 + Our History and our Flag _William Backus Guitteau_ 113 + The American Flag _Joseph Rodman Drake_ 115 + The Flag of our Country _Robert C. Winthrop_ 116 + America _Samuel Francis Smith_ 117 + + INDEX 119 + + + + +THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE FLAGS THAT BROUGHT THE COLONISTS + + +More than three hundred years ago a little sailing vessel set out from +Holland, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and followed down our coast from +Greenland. Its captain, Henry Hudson, was in search of a quick and easy +route to Asia, and when he entered the mouth of the river that is named +for him, he hoped that he had found a strait leading to the Asiatic +coast. He was disappointed in this, but the Indians welcomed him, the +mountains were rich in forests, and the ground was fertile. "It is the +most beautiful land in all the world," declared the enthusiastic navigator. + +Henry Hudson was an Englishman, but he sailed in the employ of the Dutch +East India Company, and soon the flag of this Company was well known +along the Hudson River. It was the old flag of Holland, three horizontal +stripes, of orange, white, and blue, with the initials of the Company on +the white stripe. Hudson had not found a new route to Asia, but he had +opened the way for the fur-trade. In a few years the Dutch had +established trading-posts as far north as Albany. They had also founded +a city which we call "New York," but which they named "New Amsterdam." +So it was that in 1609 the Dutch flag first came to the New World. + +Nearly thirty years after the voyage of Henry Hudson, a company of +Swedes made a settlement on the Delaware River. This had been planned +by the great Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. "That colony will be +the jewel of my kingdom," he said; but the "Lion of the North" was +slain in battle, and his twelve-year-old daughter Christina had become +queen. That is why the loyal Swedes named their little fortification +Fort Christiana, and over it they raised the flag of their country, a +blue banner with a yellow cross. + +In course of time the Swedes were overpowered by the Dutch, and then +the Dutch by the English; so that before many years had passed, the +only flag that floated over the "Old Thirteen" colonies was that of +England. This was brought across the sea by the settlers of our first +English colony, Jamestown, in Virginia. Moreover, they had the honor +of sailing away from England in all the glories of a brand-new flag +made in a brand-new design. The flag of England had been white with a +red upright cross known as "St. George's Cross"; but a new king, James +I, had come to the throne, and the flag as well as many other things +had met with a change. James was King of Scotland by birth, and the +Scotch flag was blue with the white diagonal cross of St. Andrew. When +James became King of England, he united the two flags by placing on a +blue background the upright cross of St. George over the diagonal +cross of St. Andrew; and he was so well pleased with the result that +he commanded every English vessel to bear in its maintop this flag, +"joined together according to the form made by our own heralds," the +King declared with satisfaction. It was the custom at that time to +call "ancient" whatever was not perfectly new, and therefore the flag +used before James became king was spoken of as the "ancient flag," +while the new one became the "King's Flag" or the "Union Jack." This +change was made in the very year when the grant for Virginia was +obtained, and therefore the little company of settlers probably sailed +for America with the "King's Flag" in the maintop and the "ancient +flag" in the foretop. + +On land, among the colonists, sometimes one flag was floated and +sometimes the other. In Massachusetts the red cross of St. George seems +to have been much in use; but before long that red cross began to hurt +the consciences of the Puritans most grievously. To them the cross was +the badge of the Roman Catholic Church. Still, it was on the flag of +their mother country, the flag that floated over their forts and their +ships. The Puritan conscience was a stern master, however, and when one +day John Endicott led the little company of Salem militia out for a drill, +and saw that cross hanging over the governor's gate, the sight was more +than he could bear, and he--but Hawthorne has already told the story:-- + + Endicott gazed around at the excited countenances of the people, + now full of his own spirit, and then turned suddenly to the + standard-bearer, who stood close behind him. + + "Officer, lower your banner!" said he. + + The officer obeyed; and brandishing his sword, Endicott thrust it + through the cloth, and, with his left hand, rent the red cross + completely out of the banner. He then waved the tattered ensign + above his head. + + "Sacrilegious wretch!" cried the High Churchman in the pillory, + unable longer to restrain himself, "thou hast rejected the symbol + of our holy religion!" + + "Treason, treason!" roared the Royalist in the stocks. "He hath + defaced the King's banner!" + + "Before God and man, I will avouch the deed," answered Endicott. + "Beat a flourish, drummer!--shout, soldiers and people!--in honor + of the ensign of New England. Neither Pope nor Tyrant hath part in + it now!" + + With a cry of triumph the people gave their sanction to one of the + boldest exploits which our history records. + +Endicott was one of the court assistants, but he was now removed from +his position and forbidden to hold any public office for one year. He +was fortunate in being permitted to retain his head. + +Endicott had been punished, but the Puritan conscience was not yet at +rest, and now many of the militia declared that they did not think it +right to march under the cross. The whole militia could not well be +punished, and the commissioners for military affairs were as doubtful +as the honest militia men about what should be done. "We will leave it +to the next General Court to decide," they said, "and in the meantime +no flags shall be used anywhere." + +This seemed a comfortable way to settle the question, but unluckily +there was a fort on Castle Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor, +and when an English vessel came sailing in, its captain refused to pay +any attention to a fort without a flag. Then the officer in command +rose to his dignity and made the ship--maybe with the aid of a ball +across her bows--strike her colors. The captain complained to the +authorities that the commandant of this flagless fort had insulted his +flag and his country. The authorities were just a bit alarmed. To +insult a flag and a country was a serious matter. "What shall we do to +make amends?" they queried. "Let the officer who proffered the insult +come on board of my vessel and say in the presence of the ship's +company that he was in fault," replied the captain. This was done, and +the sky cleared. + +But the troubles of the colonists were by no means over. The mate of +another vessel declared with considerable emphasis that these people +were all rebels and traitors to the King. Surely the thought of such a +report as this going back to England from a tiny colony clinging to +the edge of the continent was enough to alarm the boldest. Discussions +were held, and Dr. John Cotton was appealed to. + +A canny man was this Dr. John Cotton, and he decided that inasmuch as +the fort belonged to the King, it was proper that it should display +the King's Flag, whatever it might be,--"while vessels are passing," +he added shrewdly; but that, as for the militia, each company might +have its own colors, and not one of them need bear a cross. So the +great tempest passed by. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE PINE-TREE FLAG AND OTHERS + + +In some of the colonies at least, the people must have led a rather +somber life, with little pleasure, much hard work, and much +discomfort; but they fairly reveled in flags. The Indians in their +warfare preferred to hide behind trees rather than to flourish +banners, and the white men soon learned to follow their example. +Nevertheless, it always seemed to the minds of the colonists a little +irregular and out of place not to carry a flag of some sort when they +were setting out on an expedition. + +Probably we do not know one in twenty of all the designs for banners +that entered the fertile minds of these colonists, but they were so +numerous that if they had all been displayed at the same time, they +would have almost hidden the settlements. Not all colonists were as +afraid of a cross as were the good folk of Salem. In Newbury, +Massachusetts, a certain company of foot rejoiced in a flag of vivid +green. In the upper corner next the staff was a square of white +containing a red cross. The kindly councilor, who had ordered the flag +to be made in England "with all convenient speed," evidently had some +sense of humor, for he wrote at the end of his letter to the company, +"The number of bullets to be put into your colors for distinction may +be left out at present without damage in the making of them." Another +flag, belonging to a company of Massachusetts cavalry, seems to have +been something quite out of the common, for it was of damask and silk +and adorned with silver fringe. A real artist must have used his brush +upon it, for the bill read, "For painting in oyle on both sides a +Cornett on rich crimson damask, with a hand and sword and invelloped +with a scarfe about the arms of gold, black and silver"; and for all +that gorgeousness, generously painted "on both sides," the charge was +the moderate one of £5 2_s._ 6_d._ This was made for what was known as +the "Three County Troop," composed of cavalry from Essex, Middlesex, +and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts, and was probably used in King +Philip's War. + +Now, wherever a discoverer planted the sole of his foot, he took +possession for his sovereign of all the land in sight and all the land +which joined that land. Naturally, the claims of the colonies soon +conflicted. The good folk of New England made an alliance to defend +themselves against the Dutch, Swedes, and French. They managed to be +good allies for forty years without a flag. Then came one brilliant +enough to make up for the delay, and sent to them across the sea by no +less a man than King James II himself. This was of white with a St. +George's cross of red. In the center of the cross was a golden crown and +under it the King's monogram in black. A few years later matters in +England had changed. King James II had proved to be a very poor sort of +sovereign, and it was made clear to him that for his health and +comfort--possibly for his head--it would be wise for him to leave the +country. This he did in alarm and at full speed, tossing the royal seal +into the Thames on his way. It is small wonder that New Englanders +preferred a new flag. The only marvel is that they waited so long a time +before getting it. When it was finally chosen, it proved to be red with +a white canton or union cut by a red St. George's cross into four +squares. In one of these squares was the representation of a pine tree. +This representation can hardly have been a work of art, for one +historian says unkindly of it that it "no more resembled a pine tree +than a cabbage." Evidently the brave colonists were not artists. +Nevertheless, even if the good folk of Massachusetts could not draw a +pine tree, they were fond of it, and their General Court decreed that it +should be stamped upon the coins minted in that colony. Now it was the +right of the King to coin money, and when Charles II heard that the +ambitious colonists were making it for themselves, he was not pleased. +"But it is only for their own use," said a courtier who favored the +colonies, and taking a New England coin from his pocket, he showed it to +the King. "What tree is that?" demanded the aggrieved monarch. "That," +said the quick-witted courtier, "is the royal oak which saved Your +Majesty's life." "Well, well," said the King, "those colonists are not +so bad after all. They're a parcel of honest dogs!" Perhaps they were, +even if their likenesses of pine trees could not be distinguished from +cabbages and oaks. Hawthorne's story, "The Pine-Tree Shillings," is +written about this inartistic coinage. + +So the story of the flags went on. Besides the English flag every +little company of militia had its standard. One flag bore a hemisphere +in the corner in place of a pine tree, and another bore nothing but a +tree. The colonists did not trouble themselves about being artistic or +choosing colors of any special significance; if the ground of the flag +was of one color and the cross or whatever other figure was chosen was +of another, they were satisfied. Charleston, South Carolina, had a +specially elegant flag--blue with a silver crescent--to use on +"dress-up" days. After a time even the Indians were sometimes +furnished with flags, for one kindly governor gave them a Union Jack +as a protection. He presented them also with a red flag to indicate +war and a white one as a sign of peace; and probably the fortunate +Indians felt with all this magnificence quite like white folk. + +In 1745, when that remarkable expedition of New Englanders--which had +"a lawyer for contriver, a merchant for general, and farmers, +fishermen, and mechanics for soldiers"--set off to capture Louisburg +from the French, they sailed proudly away under a flag whereon was +written in Latin, "Never despair, for Christ is our leader." It was on +this same expedition that a new flag was hoisted, the like of which +was never seen before. An officer discovered that a battery on the +shore of the harbor was apparently vacant. There was no flag flying +from the staff and no smoke rising from the chimney. It looked as if +that battery might be taken easily. On the other hand it was also +quite possible that this was a ruse and was meant to decoy the +colonists within. The officer concluded to run the risk--of losing the +life of some one else. Holding up a bottle of brandy before the +thirsty gaze of an Indian, he said, "If I give you this, will you +creep in at that embrasure and open the gate?" The red man grunted +assent, crept in, and opened the gate. Then the officer and twelve men +took possession. Soon a message went from the officer to his general +as follows: "May it please your honor to be informed that by the grace +of God and the courage of thirteen men, I entered the royal battery +about nine o'clock, and am awaiting for a reinforcement and a flag." +Sometimes the colonists were wanting in the grace of patience, and +this was one of the occasions. A soldier, tired of delay, decided +that, although he could not provide reinforcements, he could provide a +flag; so up the staff he clambered with a red coat in his teeth. He +nailed it to the top of the staff, and it swung out in the wind, much +to the alarm of the citizens, who sent one hundred men in boats to +recapture the battery. The hundred men fired, but the brave little +company kept them from landing and held their position till the +general could send help. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +LIBERTY AND LIBERTY POLES + + +After the middle of the eighteenth century there was much talk among +the colonies of liberty. It is possible that not all the people were +quite clear in their minds what that "liberty" might mean; but +whatever it was, they wanted it. England required nothing more of her +colonies than other nations required of theirs. The colonies asked +nothing of England that would not be granted to-day as a matter of +course. The difficulty was that the mother country was living in the +eighteenth century, while the colonists were looking forward into the +nineteenth. A demand for liberty was in the air. The pole on which a +flag was hung was not called a flag pole, but a liberty pole. + +Most of the flags on these liberty poles bore mottoes, many of them +decidedly bold and defiant. When the Stamp Act was passed, the wrath of +the people rose, and now they knew exactly what they wanted--"No +taxation without representation." The stamped paper brought to South +Carolina was carefully stowed away in a fort. Thereupon three volunteer +companies from Charleston took possession of the fort, ran up a blue +flag marked with three white crescents, and destroyed the paper. New +York's flag had one word only, but that one word was "Liberty." +Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had a banner inscribed "Liberty, Property, +and no Stamps." In Newburyport, Massachusetts, there was a regular +patrol of men armed with stout sticks. "What do you say, stamps or no +stamps?" they demanded of every stranger, and if he had a liking for a +whole skin, he replied emphatically, "No stamps." One wary newcomer +replied courteously, "I am what you are," and was uproariously cheered. + +In going from one colony to another, it was not uncommon for a man to +get a passport from the sons of Liberty to attest to his standing as a +"Liberty man." When the stamps made their first appearance, Boston +tolled her church bells and put her flags at half-mast. Indeed, a new +sort of flag appeared in the shape of an effigy of Oliver, the stamp +distributor, swinging from the bough of a great elm which stood by the +main entrance to town. The Chief Justice ordered this image to be +removed. "Certainly," replied the people politely, "we will take it down +ourselves this very evening." So they did, but they laid it upon a bier +and marched in a long procession through the old State House. Here, in +the Council Chamber, the Governor and his Council were deliberating. +Shouts came up from below, "Liberty, Property, and no Stamps!" and +"Death to the man who offers a piece of stamped paper to sell!" "Beat an +alarm," the Chief Justice commanded the colonel of the militia. "But I +cannot," replied the colonel, "my drummers are in the mob." The +procession marched on, burned the effigy in front of the distributor's +house, gave three rousing cheers, and went home. In New York, when the +rumor spread that a ship laden with stamps was approaching, all the +vessels in the harbor put their colors at half-mast. + +When every distributor of stamps had resigned his office, there was +another outburst of banners. Charleston, South Carolina, hoisted a +liberty flag, surmounted by a branch of laurel. The tree in Boston on +which the effigy of the stamp distributor had been hung had become an +important member of colonial society. It had been formally named the +"Liberty Tree," and the ground under it was called "Liberty Hall." +Banners were often swung from its branches, and notices were nailed to +its trunk. Fastened firmly to the trunk was a tall liberty pole, and +whenever any one caught a glimpse of a red flag waving from the top of +the pole, he knew that the Sons of Liberty were to hold a meeting. +When the Stamp Act was repealed, the Liberty Tree was the very center +of rejoicing. At one o'clock in the morning, the church bell nearest +it was rung joyfully. At the first rays of dawn, the houses about it, +even the steeple of the church, all blossomed out with banners, and at +night the tree itself was aglow with lanterns. In New York a liberty +pole was set up with a splendid new flag on which was inscribed, "The +King, Pitt, and Liberty." It almost seemed as if "liberty" meant +having whatever sort of flag might suit one's whim. + +This New York pole had rather a hard time. British soldiers cut it down +twice, and when a third pole was raised, sheathed with iron around its +base, they managed to cut that down also, although it bore the legend, +"To His Most Gracious Majesty George III, Mr. Pitt, and Liberty." The +city authorities would not risk planting another pole on city land, and +thereupon the Sons of Liberty bought a piece of land for themselves, and +marched up in brilliant procession; first a full band, playing with all +its might, then six horses, made gorgeous with bright ribbons, drawing +from the shipyard a fine new pole, sheathed in iron two thirds of its +length. It was escorted by the Sons of Liberty in full numbers. Three +flags floated over the little procession, but their mottoes were not so +impressively loyal as the earlier ones. These read, "Liberty and +Property." Nevertheless, "liberty" did not yet mean separation from the +mother country; it meant only freedom in making some of their own laws; +and what was known as the "Union Flag" did not refer to any union of the +colonies, but rather to the union of Scotland and England. This flag, +the regular flag of England, was red, with the crosses of St. George and +St. Andrew on a blue field forming the Jack. + +Once, however, more than twenty years before the Revolutionary War, +there had been some talk of a union of colonies, beginning with the +suggestions of the most far-sighted man in America, Benjamin Franklin. +In 1754, when war between France and England was on the point of +breaking out, there was a meeting at Albany of delegates from several +colonies. They had come to see if they could make sure of the aid of +the Six Nations of Indian tribes; and here the sagacious Franklin +brought forward his plan for a union. His scheme was for the colonies +to elect a Grand Council, which should meet every year in +Philadelphia, to levy taxes, enlist soldiers, plan for defense, and, +in short, to attend to whatever concerned all the colonies. Whatever +affected them separately was to be managed by the colony interested. +This Council was to have much the same powers as our Congress of +to-day; but there must be a place in the scheme for the King, of +course; so Franklin proposed that the King should appoint a president +who should have the right to veto the acts of the Grand Council. This +was the "Albany Plan." Franklin was much in earnest about the matter, +and had a cut made for the _Pennsylvania Gazette_ picturing a rather +unpleasant device, a snake sliced uncomfortably into ten parts, the +head marked "NE," for New England, and each of the other pieces with +the initials of some one of the other nine colonies. With the motto, +"Unite or die," this work of art appeared for a number of issues at +the head of the _Gazette_; but many years passed before the colonies +began to make any practical use of the wisdom of Franklin in 1754. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE LAND OF MANY FLAGS + + +When Paul Revere galloped through the villages of Middlesex, calling +"for the country folk to be up and to arm," there was not much spare +time for collecting flags, and probably when + + "The farmers gave them ball for ball, + From behind each fence and farmyard wall,"-- + +they did not trouble themselves to flourish a flag before they shot. +Yet, if we may trust a family tradition, at least one flag waved over +the plucky farmers. It seems that for a long while one member or another +of the Page family of Bedford had been accustomed to carrying the colors +of the militia, and therefore when the alarm was given and Nathaniel +Page started for Concord, it was as natural for him to seize his flag as +his gun. Moreover, this story has the bunting to back it up, for the +Bedford flag remained in the Page family until presented to the town a +century after the close of the war. It is rather a pity that it did not +come a little sooner, for an old lady of Page descent confessed that in +her giddy girlhood she had irreverently ripped off the silver fringe to +make trimming for her ball dress. + +The Revolution was fairly on, and two months later, the battle of +Bunker Hill was fought. Possibly the colonists thought of spades +rather than standards when they were throwing up the fortifications, +and yet I fancy that to these flag-loving fighters a battle without a +banner would have seemed like an undignified riot. Some writers say +positively that no flag was to be seen--rather a difficult statement +to prove. The daughter of one of the soldiers declared that her father +helped hoist the standard known as the "New England Flag." "He called +it a 'noble flag,'" she said. "It was blue with the red cross of St. +George in a white corner, and in one section was a pine tree." The +artist Trumbull, who painted the picture of this battle now in the +Capitol at Washington, made the flag red instead of blue, but both +were familiar colonial flags, and there is no reason why both should +not have waved over the famous hill. Tradition says that one flag bore +the motto, "Come if you dare." General Gage is said to have had +difficulty in reading it, but maybe that was because of its audacity. +Some verses written soon after the battle say that + + "Columbia's troops are seen in dread array, + And waving streamers in the air display";-- + +but, unluckily, the poet forgot to mention the color of those "waving +streamers." In Savannah, after the battle, but before any news of it +could have arrived, the independent Georgians hoisted a Union flag and +suggestively placed two pieces of artillery directly under it. New York +chose a white flag with a black beaver thereon. Rhode Island had also a +white flag, but with a blue anchor instead of a beaver, and a blue +canton with thirteen white stars. Her motto was "Hope." Connecticut +meant that there should be no mistake in the whereabouts of her +regiments, for she gave them flags of solid color: to the first, yellow; +the second, blue; the third, scarlet; and so on with crimson, white, +azure, another shade of blue, and orange. For a motto Connecticut chose +"Qui transtulit sustinet"; that is, "He who brought us here sustains +us." Massachusetts chose for her motto "An Appeal to Heaven." Charleston +had a blue flag with a white crescent in the upper corner next to the +staff and inscribed upon her banner the daring words, "Liberty or +Death." Later she adopted a rattlesnake flag. Her troops wore blue and +had silver crescents on the front of their caps, inscribed with the same +motto. It is small wonder that timid folk were alarmed and whispered to +one another, "That is going too far; it looks like a declaration of +war." This blue and silver flag was planned by Colonel Moultrie. When +Fort Moultrie--which received this name because of his brave +defense--was shelled the following year, the anxious folk in the town +watched with troubled faces, for it was doubtful whether the little fort +with its scant supply of ammunition could sustain the attack. Suddenly +the crescent flag fell from its staff. A groan ran through the +crowd--Colonel Moultrie had struck his flag! "Forward!" cried one among +them, and they marched to the water's edge to fight for their homes. +Within the little fort one William Jasper, a sergeant, saw that a ball +had cut down the flag and it had fallen over the rampart. "Colonel," he +said to his commander, "don't let us fight without a flag." "What can +you do?" demanded Colonel Moultrie, "the staff is broken." Sergeant +Jasper was a man of few words and many deeds. He leaped through an +embrasure, walked the whole length of the fort in a heavy fire from the +ships, caught up the flag, brought it safely back, and fastened it to a +sponge-staff. Then, in the midst of cheers,--in which I fancy the +British also joined,--he fastened the rescued banner upon the bastion. +The following day the Governor came to the fort, asked for Sergeant +Jasper, presented him with his own sword, and gave him hearty thanks in +behalf of his country. Then he said, "I will gladly give you a +lieutenant's commission," but the honest man refused. "I am only a +sergeant," he said. "I don't know how to read or write, and I am not fit +to keep company with officers." Colonel Moultrie then gave him a roving +commission, and he often made some little trip with half a dozen men and +returned with a band of prisoners before any one realized that he had +gone. The wife of Major Elliot presented the regiment with a pair of +beautiful silken colors, which were afterwards carried in the assault +upon Savannah. The standard-bearers were shot down; another man seized +them, but he was also shot; then Sergeant Jasper caught them and +fastened them on the parapet, when he too was fatally wounded by a ball. +"Tell Mrs. Elliot," he said, "that I lost my life supporting the colors +she gave to our regiment." A tablet in honor of the brave sergeant was +long ago placed in Savannah. + +The rattlesnake as an emblem seems to have been somewhat of a favorite +among the colonists. Besides Franklin's snake of the many +initials--which, indeed, might have stood, or coiled, for any sort of +serpent--there was the one borne by Patrick Henry's men when they +forced the Governor of Virginia to pay for the powder which he had +carried away from the colonial magazine. Then, too, there was a third +variety of snake, the one that stretched itself across a colonial +naval flag and proclaimed--from the top of the mast--"Don't tread on +me." On another flag the rattlesnake appeared coiled in the roots of a +pine tree and ready to strike. The Culpeper Minute Men of Virginia had +a coiled snake on their flag. In the winter of 1775 there appeared in +the _Pennsylvania Journal_ an article setting forth the propriety of +choosing the rattlesnake to represent America. The style of the +article and its keenness are like Franklin, but there is no proof that +he was its author. Whoever did write it notes that the "rattler" is +peculiar to America; that the brightness of its eyes and their lack of +lids fit it to be an emblem of vigilance. It never begins an attack +and never surrenders, never wounds till it has given warning. The +writer had counted the rattles on the naval flag, and found them to be +exactly thirteen, the number of the colonies. He had also noted that +the rattles were independent of one another, and yet most firmly +united; and that while one rattle alone is incapable of producing any +sound, the ringing of the thirteen together is sufficient to alarm the +boldest man living. Whether Franklin wrote this or not, let us at +least be thankful that these arguments did not prevail, and that on +the flag of the United States there are stars and not serpents. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WHEN WASHINGTON WENT TO CAMBRIDGE + + +Washington, chosen commander-in-chief, set out on June 21, 1775, on +his eleven-days' ride to Boston. From Philadelphia to New York he was +escorted by the Philadelphia Light Horse Troop. It was an escort worth +having. Their uniform was "a dark brown short coat, faced and lined +with white; high-topped boots; round black hat, bound with silver +cord; a buck's tail, saddlecloths brown edged with white, and the +letters 'L.H.' worked on them. Their arms were a carbine, a pair of +pistols and holsters; a horseman's sword; white belts for the sword +and carbine." Officers of the militia, the Massachusetts members of +the Continental Congress, and many others were also of the company. +The horses pranced, the music played, and the cavalcade started from +the Quaker City for the war that was to make the country free. The +flag that was borne before them is now carefully preserved between two +heavy plates of glass, and is kept in the Troop's armory, in a +fireproof safe made expressly for that purpose. The banner is only +forty inches long, but its richness makes up for its lack of size. It +is of yellow silk with heavy silver fringe. Around the flag is a +graceful running vine. The crest is a horse's head. In the center are +figures representing Fame and Liberty. Under them is the motto, "For +these we strive." Some verses written many years ago say of this flag:-- + + "For these we strive; what brighter name + Can man achieve or beauty see, + Than worth to share his country's FAME, + Or perish for her LIBERTY?" + +It is a precious relic for its associations, and still more precious +because the canton is made of thirteen stripes, blue and silver +alternating. Apparently these stand for the thirteen colonies, and so +far as is known, this was the first time that the colonies were +represented, as on our flag of to-day, by thirteen stripes. + +Before Washington and his escort reached New York, couriers reported +the battle of Bunker Hill. Washington pushed on, and July 2, he had +his first glimpse of his forces. It must have been a discouraging +glimpse. A few wore uniforms, but most of the men had come in "what +they had." The men of a few companies were provided with tents, others +slept in the halls of Harvard College, in the pews of the Episcopal +Church, or in private houses. Still others had built their own huts, +of boards, turf, sailcloth, stones, or brush. Powder and artillery +were scanty, and the commander-in-chief had been furnished with no +money. Perhaps this was not so remarkable, however, for the members of +the Continental Congress had no power to collect taxes, and in reality +had no control over any money except what was in their own pockets. +Officers and men chatted together as freely as if in their own homes; +and if an order did not impress a man as being wise, he sometimes +stopped and patiently explained to the officer why he thought another +course was better. + +Twelve of the most independent companies, and yet the most vigilant +and best disciplined of all, were composed of backwoodsmen who had +come on foot from four to eight hundred miles. A little later, five +Indians came to Cambridge to help fight for liberty. They were +welcomed cordially and entered the service. It is probable that every +little company marched to Cambridge under its own colors, but of +course there was no flag representing the colonies as a whole. + +Immediately after the battle of Bunker Hill, Major-General Israel +Putnam took up his stand on Prospect Hill. One month later he called +together all the troops under his command, and read them the statement +issued by the Continental Congress which declared just why the +colonies had had recourse to arms. The chaplain made an address and a +prayer, at the end of which the troops responded, "Amen." Then there +was unfurled a scarlet standard, which it is said John Hancock had +just presented to General Putnam and his men in recognition of their +bravery at Bunker Hill. Tradition says this standard bore on one side +the motto of Connecticut, "Qui transtulit sustinet," and on the other +a pine tree and the motto of Massachusetts, "An Appeal to Heaven." + +It is a little strange that the Massachusetts colonists did not put +the likeness of an elm on any of their banners, for so much of their +history was associated with the "Liberty Elm." A few flags on both +land and sea were inscribed "Liberty Tree," but no exercise of the +imagination can make the pictured tree look in the least like an elm. +Under the Liberty Elm of Boston the meetings of the Sons of Liberty +were held, as has been said, and here it was that the resolutions were +adopted which resulted in dropping three hundred and forty chests of +tea into Boston Harbor. The Liberty Tree of Charleston, South +Carolina, was a beautiful live-oak. It is said that under this tree +Christopher Gadsden, even before the Stamp Act, ventured to speak of +the possible independence of the colonies. Here, as in Boston, the +patriots came together to discuss the way to liberty, and with hand +clasped in hand solemnly promised that when the hour for resistence +should come, they would not be found unready. There is something +refreshing in the thought of all the free, open-air discussion that +went on under the Liberty Trees. There was no stifling of thought in +closed rooms with bolted doors. Every new idea, daring as it might be, +was blown upon by the free winds of heaven. Naturally, the British +commanders hated these trees and thoroughly enjoyed destroying them +whenever they had opportunity. The Boston tree was cut down even +before the battle of Lexington. In 1780 Sir Henry Clinton cut down the +live-oak in Charleston, piled its severed branches over the stump, and +set fire to them. Even the iron-girt Liberty Pole of New York was cut +down by the red coats in 1776. It is little wonder that Thomas Paine's +poem on the "Liberty Tree" was so roundly applauded. This closes:-- + + "But hear, O ye swains,--'tis a tale most profane, + How all the tyrannical powers, + Kings, Commons, and Lords, are uniting amain, + To cut down this guardian of ours. + From the East to the West, blow the trumpet to arms, + Through the land let the sound of it flee, + Let the far and the near all unite with a cheer, + In defense of our Liberty Tree." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE "GRAND UNION FLAG" + + +During the summer following the battle of Bunker Hill, the colonies +had a congress without authority, a commander-in-chief without money, +and an army without discipline, equipments, or flag--or rather, with +so many flags that they must have had little significance except to +the respective groups of men who had marched under each. Before +Christmas a flag was designed and made, but how, where, and by whom is +not known. Neither Washington nor Franklin gives any information, and +the _Journal_ of Congress says nothing about its designer or maker. It +is true that a committee of three,--all signers of the Declaration of +Independence a few months later,--Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, +Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, whose son Benjamin was afterwards to +become President of the United States, and Thomas Lynch, of South +Carolina, were sent by Congress to Cambridge, to discuss with +Washington and others many necessary questions, but there is no proof +that the design of a flag was among them. The flag, however, was made. +This was what is known as the "Grand Union Flag." The British flag, +red with a blue union, marked by the upright cross of St. George and +the diagonal cross of St. Andrew, was known as the "Union Flag," +because it typified, as has been said before, the union of England and +Scotland. The new flag retained the blue union with its two crosses, +but instead of a red field it had red and white stripes. These +thirteen stripes represented the thirteen colonies; the blue union +suggested that the colonies still clung to the mother country. + +Where the idea of using stripes came from is a question that has never +been solved. The Philadelphia Troop had thirteen stripes on their +banner, but they were blue and white. Washington's coat of arms +contained red and white stripes; but Washington was too modest a man +to suggest using his own family arms, and as to any one's suggesting +it for him, it must be remembered that he was not yet the revered +"Father of his Country," but simply a Virginia planter of forty-three +years who had been successful in fighting the Indians, and who, +because of his good judgment and uprightness of character, had been +made a member of the Virginia Legislature and then of the Continental +Congress. The flag of the Netherlands--but chosen thirty years after +the Pilgrims left that country for America--was red, white, and blue, +in three horizontal stripes. The ensign of the English East India +Company was a flag of thirteen horizontal red and white stripes with a +white canton containing a red St. George's Cross; but there is no +reason to suppose that this inspired the flag of the colonies. Bunting +was scarce and Franklin was always a thrifty soul. If that committee +of three did design the flag, it is not at all unlikely that Franklin +suggested utilizing the standards they already had, and changing their +character by stitching on white stripes. To deface the flag of Britain +was a serious offense, and maybe it was thought just as well that the +name of the originator of this "Grand Union" should not be on record. +The flag was first raised on the 1st of January, 1776, in what is now +Somerville, on Prospect Hill, and was saluted with thirteen guns and +thirteen rousing cheers. It was seen by the British troops in Boston, +and for some reason they took it as a sign of submission brought about +by the King's hostile proclamation, which they supposed had been read +in Cambridge. Washington wrote:-- + + Before the proclamation came to hand, we had hoisted the Union + Flag in compliment to the United Colonies. But, behold, it was + received in Boston as a token of the deep impression the speech + had made upon us, and as a signal of submission. By this time, I + presume, they begin to think it strange that we have not made a + formal surrender of our lines. + +The colonists had adopted a flag, but all sorts of colors continued to +be borne on both sea and land. On the sea the favorite seems to have +been a white flag displaying a green pine tree. One year after the +battle of Lexington, Massachusetts formally decreed that this flag +should be used on her vessels, and that their officers should wear a +green and white uniform. Even two years later than this, the Pine-Tree +Flag was borne by floating batteries on the Delaware River. Sometimes +the British ran up an American flag to deceive the colonial vessels, +and sometimes the colonists ran up a flag made of horizontal red and +white stripes to persuade the British that it was one of their own +signal flags. Sometimes rattlesnake flags were used. + +Congress ordered the building of war vessels as promptly as possible, +five cruisers first of all. The Alfred, on which John Paul Jones was +lieutenant, became the flagship of Commander-in-Chief Esek Hopkins. +This vessel was of English build and had been employed in commerce for +nine or ten years, making two voyages to the Indian Ocean during that +time. She had space for two hundred and twenty men, and had sixteen +guns, carried for the benefit of pirates. She had been put in full +repair and had now become a frigate of twenty-eight guns. Such was the +first vessel of the Continental Navy. An old account of the +embarkation of Commodore Hopkins at Philadelphia says:-- + + The Alfred was anchored at the foot of Walnut Street. On a + brilliant morning early in February, 1776, gay streamers were + seen floating from every masthead and spar on the river. At nine + o'clock a full-manned barge threaded its way among the floating + ice to the Alfred, bearing the commodore, who had chosen that + vessel for his flagship. He was greeted with thunders of + artillery and the shouts of the multitude. + +When he stepped on board the deck of the Alfred, Captain Saltonstall +gave a signal, and Lieutenant Jones hoisted a new flag prepared for +the occasion. It is believed to have displayed a union with thirteen +stripes crossed by a rattlesnake in some position, with the ominous +motto, "Don't tread on me." When the flag reached the mast-head, the +crowds cheered and the guns fired a salute,--as well they might, for +this was the first ensign ever flung to the breeze on an American +man-of-war. Paul Jones appreciated the honor of raising it, but he was +no admirer of the rattlesnake flag. In his journal he wrote:-- + + I was always at loss to know by what queer fancy or by whose + notion that device was first adopted. For my own part, I never + could see how or why a venomous serpent could be the combatant + emblem of a brave and honest folk fighting to be free. Of course + I had no choice but to break the pennant as it was given to me. + But I always abhorred the device. + +Three weeks after the Alfred was put in commission, the little fleet +sailed away from Philadelphia amid the cheers of thousands of people. +One of the eye-witnesses said that the ships wore the Union Flag with +thirteen stripes in the field. Of the admiral's flag an English writer +said, "We learn that the vessels bearing this flag have a sort of +commission from a society of people at Philadelphia, calling +themselves the continental congress." Scornfully as he spoke of +Congress, there is at least one record of which it may be proud. +Franklin, under its authority, issued letters of marque with a lavish +hand, but, hard-pressed as the colonists were, he bade John Paul Jones +"not to burn defenseless towns on the British coast except in case of +military necessity; and in such cases he was to give notice, so that +the women and children with the sick and aged inhabitants might be +removed betimes." Moreover, he bade all American cruisers if they +chanced to meet Captain Cook, the great English explorer of that day, +to "forget the temporary quarrel in which they were fighting and not +merely suffer him to pass unmolested, but offer him every aid and +service in their power." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG + + +The "society of people at Philadelphia calling themselves the +continental congress" had had, so far as records go, nothing to do with +choosing any flag. The "Grand Union" unfurled at Cambridge was regarded +as symbolizing the union of colonies, but no one knows who designed it +or chose it. To alter the design of our flag to-day would be a very +serious matter, but the colonies were so accustomed to the making of +flags according to the whim of some militia company or some sea captain +that the appearance of a new design, especially one so slightly changed +from the familiar flag of the mother country, cannot have created any +great sensation. Moreover, flags were not for sale at department stores; +they had to be ordered, and in this time of war, bunting was not easy to +procure. Flag-makers were few, and many a captain sailed away with a +flag manufactured by his wife's own unaccustomed hands. + +July 4, 1776, less than fifteen months after the battle of Lexington, +it was declared in Congress "That these united colonies are, and of +right ought to be, free and independent states." June 14, 1777, the +following resolution was adopted:-- + + _Resolved_, That the flag of the thirteen United States be + thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be + thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new + constellation. + +So much for the share that Congress had in the flag. The story of the +making of the first flag with stars and stripes is as follows. Betsy +Ross, or, to speak more respectfully, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom Ross, +lived on Arch Street, Philadelphia, in a tiny house of two stories and +an attic. She was called the most skillful needlewoman in the +city, and there is a tradition that before Washington became +commander-in-chief, she embroidered ruffles for his shirts--quite an +important branch of fine sewing in those days. Whether she ever +embroidered the great man's ruffles or not, it is said that, whenever +folk wanted any especially fine work done, they always went to "Betsy +Ross." She could do more than sew, for she could draw freehand the +complicated patterns that were used in quilting, the supreme proof of +artistic ability in the household. One day three gentlemen entered her +house through its humble doorway. One was her uncle by marriage, +Colonel Ross; one is thought to have been Robert Morris; one was +General Washington. The commander-in-chief told her that they had come +from Congress to ask her if she could make a flag. "I don't know," she +replied, "but I can try." Then they showed her a rough sketch of a +flag and asked what she thought of it. She replied that she thought it +ought to be longer, that a flag looked better if the length was one +third greater than the width. She ventured to make two more +suggestions. One was that the stars which they had scattered +irregularly over the blue canton would look better if they were +arranged in some regular form, such as a circle or a star or in +parallel rows. The second suggestion was that a star with five points +was prettier than one with six. Some one seems to have remarked that +it would be more difficult to make; and thereupon the skillful little +lady folded a bit of paper and with one clip of her scissors produced +a star with five points. The three gentlemen saw that her suggestions +were good, and General Washington drew up his chair to a table and +made another sketch according to her ideas. + +Mrs. Ross could make wise suggestions about flags, but how to sew them +she did not know; so it was arranged that she should call on a shipping +merchant and borrow a flag from him. This she soon did. He opened a +chest and took out a ship's flag to show her how the sewing was done. +She carried it home to use as a guide, and when she reached the little +house on Arch Street, she set to work to make the first flag bearing the +stars and stripes. To try the effect, it was run up to the peak of one +of the vessels in the Delaware, and the result was so pleasing that it +was carried into Congress on the day that it was completed. Congress +approved of the work of the little lady. Colonel Ross told her to buy +all the material she could and make as many flags as possible. And for +more than fifty years she continued to make flags for the Government. + +This is the account that has come down to us, not by tradition merely, +but by written statements of Mrs. Ross's daughters, grandchildren, and +others, to whom she often told the story. Mrs. Ross says that this +sample flag was made just before the Declaration of Independence, +although the Resolution endorsing it was not passed until June 14, +1777. This, however, would not argue to the incorrectness of the +account, for Congress had a fashion of writing with the utmost brevity +the results of its deliberations, and not putting in a word about the +discussions that must have taken place before the passing of a +resolution. Affairs of the utmost importance were on hand, and after +all it was the usefulness and convenience of the flag, rather than its +sentiment or the fact of its having congressional authority, that was +most in the minds of men, and it is not impossible that this design +was in use long before the date of its official recognition by +Congress. The one real weakness in the story is its lack of +contemporary evidence. + +The significance of the new flag no one has expressed better than +Washington. "We take the star from Heaven," he said, "red from our +mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we +have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to +posterity representing liberty." + +On the day of the passing of the resolution about the Stars and +Stripes, another one was passed, which read as follows:-- + + _Resolved_, That Captain John Paul Jones be appointed to command + the ship Ranger. + +"The flag and I are twins, born the same hour," said Captain Jones. +The Ranger was launched in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and there her +captain went to take command. She had no flag, but the captain was a +favorite whereever he went, and a group of Portsmouth girls soon held +a "quilting party," but made a flag instead of a quilt. Moreover, as +silk enough of the proper colors could not be found in the stores of +Portsmouth, they made it from breadths of their best silken gowns, +red, white, and blue, the story declares. Then Jones sailed away to +see how his little Ranger would behave when she met a British +man-of-war. He soon found out, for the Ranger and the Drake met in +combat, and for the first time a British man-of-war struck her colors +to the new flag. This same little silken flag was the first to receive +a genuine foreign salute. Early in 1778 the Ranger spoke the French +fleet, off Brest Roads. Captain Jones was willing to take chances in a +sea fight, but not in the matter of a salute, and he sent a courteous +note to the French commander, informing him that the flag worn by the +Ranger was the new American standard, which had never yet received a +salute from any foreign power. "If I offer a salute, will it be +returned gun for gun?" he queried. The reply was that the same salute +would be given as to an admiral of Holland, or any other republic; +that is, four guns less than the salute given. Captain Jones anchored +in the entrance of the bay and sought for further information. He +found that the reply of the admiral was correct and according to +custom. Therefore, on the following day, he sailed through the French +fleet, saluting with thirteen guns, and receiving nine. This was an +acknowledgment of American independence, and the first salute ever +paid by a foreign naval power to the Stars and Stripes. It is true +that a salute had been given to the American brig, the Andrea Doria, +before this, by the Governor of one of the West Indian Islands; but a +salute which his Government immediately disowned and for which he was +called home is rather an individual than a national salute. Then, too, +there is no proof that the flag flown by the Andrea Doria was the +Stars and Stripes. + +After a while Jones was put in command of the Bon Homme Richard, a +larger vessel than the Ranger, but she flew the same little silken +flag. Off Flamborough Head he came up with the British Serapis. After +two hours of fighting, Captain Pearson of the Serapis shouted, in a +moment's lull, "Have you struck your colors yet?" "I haven't yet begun +to fight," was Jones's reply. The two ships were lashed together, guns +burst, cartridges exploded, wide gaps were torn out of the sides of +both vessels. "Have you struck?" cried the British captain. "No!" +thundered Paul Jones. At last the Serapis yielded; but the Bon Homme +Richard was fast sinking. Captain Jones left her and took possession +of the Serapis. The American vessel rolled and lurched and pitched and +plunged. The little silken flag that had never been conquered waved in +the morning breeze for the last time, and then went down, "flying on +the ship that conquered and captured the ship that sank her." + +When Paul Jones returned to America he met one of the young girls who +had given him the flag. He told her how eagerly he had longed to give it +back into the hands of those who had given it to him four years earlier. +"But, Miss Mary," he said, "I couldn't bear to strip it from the poor +old ship in her last agony, nor could I deny to my dead on her decks, +who had given their lives to keep it flying, the glory of taking it with +them." In his journal he wrote eloquently and almost as simply:-- + + No one was now left aboard the Richard but her dead. To them I gave + the good old ship for their coffin, and in her they found a sublime + sepulcher. She rolled heavily in the long swell, her gun-deck awash + to the port-sills, settled slowly by the head, and sank peacefully + in about forty fathoms. The ensign-gaff, shot away in action, had + been fished and put in place, soon after firing ceased, and our + torn and tattered flag was left flying when we abandoned her. As + she plunged down by the head at the last, her taffrail momentarily + rose in the air; so the very last vestige mortal eyes ever saw of + the Bon Homme Richard was the defiant waving of her unconquered and + unstricken flag as she went down. And as I had given them the good + old ship for their sepulcher, I now bequeathed to my immortal dead + the flag they had so desperately defended, for their winding sheet! + +This is the story of the Portsmouth flag. At first its truth was +accepted without a doubt; then it was seriously questioned. Within the +last few years, new evidence in the shape of family tradition has +strengthened its position. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +FLAGS ONE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE + + +Probably the flag made by the skillful fingers of Mrs. Elizabeth +Griscom Ross was sewed with the tiniest of stitches imaginable; but it +is absolutely certain that the flag which made its appearance August +3, 1777, at Fort Schuyler, afterwards Fort Stanwix, was not put +together with any such daintiness of workmanship. For twenty days the +little fort in the New York wilderness, where Rome now stands, was +besieged by British and Indians. Reinforcements brought the news of +the adoption of the new flag. The troops within the fort had no flag, +and therefore, in true American fashion, they set to work to make one. +There was not even a country store to draw upon for materials, so they +made the best of what they had. As the story has been handed down, a +white shirt provided the white stripes and the stars, and the +petticoat of a soldier's wife the red stripes. As for the blue ground +for the stars, it was cut from the cloak of Captain Abram Swartwout. +The result was not very elegant, but it was a flag, and it was _the_ +flag, and the besieged men were as proud of it and stood for it as +bravely as if it had been made of damask with the daintiest of +needlework. August 22, 1777, the fort was relieved, and after a few +days Captain Swartwout began to be anxious about his blue cloak. +Colonel Peter Gansevoort, who commanded the fort, had promised him a +new one to take the place of the one which he had sacrificed for the +flag, but it had not arrived. Seven days he waited. At the end of the +seventh day he sent a note from Poughkeepsie, where he then was, back +to the fort, saying: "You may Remember Agreeable to Your promise, I +was to have an Order for Eight Yards of Broad-Cloath, on the +Commissary for Cloathing of this State In Lieu of my Blue Cloak, which +we Used for Coulours at Fort Schuyler. An opportunity Now presenting +itself, I beg You to send me an Order." Broadcloth was broadcloth in +those days, and a "Blue Cloak" was not so easily obtained. It is no +wonder he wrote it with capitals. It is to be hoped that the good +captain received his order; but it must have been a very large cloak +to require eight yards of "Broad-Cloath." + +Another interesting banner was that borne by Count Pulaski, a gallant +Pole, who came to help in the struggle for freedom. He visited +Lafayette when the Frenchman was wounded and in the care of the +Moravian Sisterhood in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The embroidery of +these Sisters was very beautiful, and Pulaski engaged them to make him +a banner, which they did. On one side were the letters "U.S.," and on +the other the thirteen stars in a circle, surrounding an eye which is +rather uncomfortably set in a triangle. They made a mistake in +spelling their Latin motto, but the crimson banner, with its silver +fringe and its exquisite embroidery, was very handsome. Longfellow's +poem about this banner, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," is +excellent poetry, but hardly accurate history. It is quite probable +that the good women sent the banner forth with their blessing, but it +is rather doubtful whether they said anything like the following:-- + + "Take thy banner, and if e'er + Thou shouldst press the soldier's bier, + And the muffled drums should beat + To the tread of mournful feet, + Then this crimson flag shall be + Martial cloak and shroud for thee";-- + +for the beautiful little banner was only twenty inches square! When +Lafayette visited this country in 1824, this little flag was borne in +the procession which welcomed him to Baltimore. + +In the midst of the grief and horrors of war, there was one day when all +the armed ships in the Delaware River were ablaze with the colors of the +United States in token of rejoicing. It was July 4, 1777, the first +anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Thirteen cannon were +fired, a great dinner was served to the members of Congress and the +officials of the army and of the State. The Hessian band, which had been +captured at Trenton six months previously, performed some of their +merriest music. Toasts followed the dinner, each one honored by a +discharge of artillery and small arms and a piece of music by the +Hessians. At night the city was illuminated and the streets resounded +with hurrahs and the ringing of bells. Then came fireworks, which began +and ended with thirteen rockets in honor of the thirteen United States. + +"Thirteen" appeared not only as the number of stars on the flag, but +everywhere else, and at Valley Forge, in the rejoicing over the new +alliance with France, the officers marched up to the place of +entertainment thirteen abreast and with arm linked in arm. A +disrespectful English paper declared that the "rebels" ate thirteen +dried clams a day, that it took thirteen "Congress paper dollars" to +equal one English shilling, that "every well-organized rebel household +has thirteen children, all of whom expect to be major-generals or +members of the high and mighty congress of the thirteen United States +when they attain the age of thirteen years." + +When the war had come to an end, the artist Copley was in London working +on the portrait of an American, Elkanah Watson. In the background of the +portrait was a ship supposed to be bearing to America the news of the +acknowledgment of Independence. The rising sun was shining upon the +place where the flag should have been, but no flag was there. Copley's +studio was often visited by the royal family, so he waited. But a day +came when the artist heard the speech of the King acknowledging the +Independence of America. He went straightway to his studio and painted +in the flag floating in the rays of the rising sun. + +Soon after the close of the war, a wide-awake skipper of Nantucket, who +had some whale oil to sell, appeared at London. Nantucket was so +helpless for both offense and defense that it had remained neutral, and +the captain had received from Admiral Digby a license to go to London. A +London magazine of the time said, "This is the first vessel which has +displayed the thirteen rebellious stripes of America in any British +port." Nobody knew exactly what to do, but apparently the whale oil was +soon sold, for the enterprising whaler returned directly to Nantucket. + +In October, 1783, most of the British troops had sailed away from the +United States, but Sir Guy Carleton was delayed in New York waiting +for vessels. When the day came for him to leave the city, a strong, +determined woman who kept a boarding-house brought out a United States +flag and ran it up on a pole in front of her house. Down the street +came a British officer with headlong speed. "We do not evacuate this +city until noon. Haul down that flag!" he shouted angrily. "That flag +went up to stay, and it will not be hauled down!" declared the +indignant housekeeper, and went on sweeping in front of her door. +"Then I will pull it down myself," thundered the irate officer, and +set to work. But the halyards were entangled, and all the officer's +swearing and scolding did not help matters. The militant lady of the +broom then applied her weapon to the officer. The powder flew from his +wig in a cloud, and at last he himself had to fly, leaving the flag to +float serenely on the morning breeze. This encounter has been called +the last battle of the Revolution. + +Before leaving Fort George, at the foot of Broadway, in New York, the +British soldiers mischievously nailed their flag to the top of the +pole, took down the halyards, greased the pole from top to bottom, and +knocked off the cleats. They did not know how well the American boys +could climb; in a very short time new cleats were nailed on, the +English flag was pulled down, and the Stars and Stripes floated from +the top of the pole. + +News of King George's proclamation did not reach the United States +till the middle of April, and then there was rejoicing, indeed. It is +no wonder that the joy of the country at the closing of the war burst +out in celebrations and silken flags. The diary of President Stiles, +of Yale, tells what took place in New Haven. It reads as follows:-- + + _April 24, 1783._ Public rejoicing for the Peace in New Haven. + At sunrise thirteen cannon discharged in the Green, and the + continental flag displayed, being a grand silk flag presented by + the ladies, cost 120 dollars. The stripes red and white, with an + azure field in the upper part charged with thirteen stars. On + the same field and among the stars was the arms of the United + States, the field of which contained a ship, a plough, and three + sheaves of wheat; the crest an eagle volant; the supporters two + white horses. The arms were put on with paint and gilding. It + took ---- yards. When displayed it appeared well. + +The patriotic ladies who presented the flag had taken the arms and +motto, "Virtue, Liberty, Independence," from the title-page of a +family Bible; but unluckily, this Bible, having been published in +Philadelphia, displayed the arms and motto, not of the United States, +but of Pennsylvania. The moral is, learn the arms of your country. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STRIPES AND FIFTEEN STARS + + +The worthy fathers of our country were long-sighted men. In many +respects they peered far into the future and they laid well the +foundations for a great republic. One thing, however, they forgot; +when they chose a design for a flag with thirteen stripes and a circle +of thirteen stars, they did not realize that the number of States +would probably increase, and that these States would wish to be +represented on the flag. In 1791 Vermont was admitted as a State, and +in 1792 Kentucky also came into the Union. In 1794 the Senate passed a +bill increasing to fifteen the number of both stripes and stars. This +bill was sent to the House, and then came exciting times. Some members +thought it of great importance not to offend new States by giving them +no recognition on the flag. Others called it dishonorable to waste +time over what one man called "a consummate piece of frivolity," when +matters "of infinitely greater consequence" ought to be discussed. +Another declared that the Senate sent the bill for the want of +something better to do. Yet another honorable member did not think it +worth while either to adopt or reject the proposed law, but supposed +"the shortest way to get rid of it was to agree to it." Whether to +"get rid of it" or not, the bill was passed, and went into effect May +1, 1795. + +This flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars was the one worn by the +frigate Constitution, "Old Ironsides." When, in 1830, it was reported +that this vessel, with its magnificent record, was to be broken up, +Holmes wrote his stirring poem, "Old Ironsides," which ends:-- + + "Oh, better that her shattered hulk + Should sink beneath the wave; + Her thunders shook the mighty deep, + And there should be her grave; + Nail to the mast her holy flag, + Set every threadbare sail, + And give her to the god of storms, + The lightning and the gale!" + +It was this flag under which we went forth to three wars, each one +fought to uphold the rights of American citizens. The first was with +France, the second with Tripoli, and the third with Great Britain. It +had long been the custom for nations using the Mediterranean Sea to pay +tribute to the pirates of Tripoli. In 1800 Captain Bainbridge carried +the annual tribute to Algiers. It seemed that the Dey wished to send an +ambassador to Constantinople, and under threat of capture Captain +Bainbridge was ordered to carry him there. The captain obeyed, but very +unwillingly. When the new flag appeared at Constantinople, it was +reported to the Sultan that a ship from the United States of America was +in the harbor. "What's that?" he demanded. "I never heard of that +nation." "They live in the New World which Columbus discovered," was the +reply. The Sultan had heard of Columbus, and he sent to the frigate a +bouquet of flowers in welcome, and a lamp in token of friendship. + +The Dey of Algiers became dissatisfied with the tribute paid by America, +and declared haughtily that if he did not receive from our country a +handsome present within six months, he should declare war. This he did, +but to his great surprise a small American fleet, under the fifteen +stars and stripes, sailed up to his city and began to bombard it. It was +not long before he became the very picture of meekness. He freed all his +American captives, paid well for all the property that he had destroyed, +and the Mediterranean Sea became safe for commerce. + +In 1803 the United States purchased from France the immense Louisiana +Territory. The French flag was hauled down and the flag of the United +States was raised in token of the change of ownership. This country +had first been in the hands of Spain, and the Spaniards had presented +flags to various Indians. When Lieutenant Z. M. Pike made a journey of +exploration in the new territory, he came to an Indian village where +there was quite a display of Spanish banners. The Lieutenant made a +little speech to the Indians, and said among other things that the +Spanish flag at the chief's door ought to be given up to him and the +flag of the United States put in its place. The Indians listened, but +made no reply. Lieutenant Pike spoke again to the same effect. "Your +nation cannot have two fathers," he said. "You must be the children of +the Spaniards or else of the Americans." The red men sat in silence +awhile, then an old man arose, walked slowly to the door, took the +Spanish flag down, and put the American in its place. Then he gave the +flag of Spain to his followers, bidding them, "Never hoist this +again--while the Americans are here." Surely, the old chief must have +been akin to Dr. John Cotton of Colonial fame. This scene occurred in +what is now Kansas, and is thought to have been the first raising of +the United States flag in that State. + +The banner of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars has a proud record, +for this was the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The +Star-Spangled Banner." Every one knows the story of the poem, how the +author and an agent for the exchange of prisoners went on board a +British vessel in 1814 to try to secure the release of a physician who +had been captured. The English admiral granted their request, but as +he was about to attack Fort McHenry, he told them that they would not +be permitted to return at once, but must remain on their own vessel, +with a British guard, until the fort was reduced. If this order had +been carried out, they would have been on board to-day, for the fort +never was reduced. All day the Americans could see the Stars and +Stripes flying over its ramparts, in spite of attacks by sea and by +land. Night came, and it was only by "the rockets' red glare, the +bombs bursting in air," that they knew whether the fort yet stood. At +length the firing ceased, and all was darkness. They could do nothing +but wait for the first rays of morning in the hope that "by the dawn's +early light" they could catch a glimpse of the flag and know that the +fort had not yielded, that "our flag was still there," and that the +British were retreating. Then it was that Key wrote, on the back of an +old envelope, "The Star-Spangled Banner," and put into it such a +thrill of sincerity that it is just as throbbing with life and +patriotism as it was on that September dawn a century ago. The banner +that inspired the poem is in the National Museum in Washington. + +Francis Scott Key died in Baltimore in 1843, and is buried in +Frederick, Maryland. Over his grave a large national flag flies day +and night, never removed save when wear and tear make a new flag +necessary. In Baltimore a noble monument has been reared in his honor. +It is surmounted by the figure of the poet, who waves his hat with one +hand and with the other points joyfully toward the fort. The figure is +so life-like that one almost expects it to cry,-- + + "And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." + +A few months after "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written, a plan was +formed to rear in the city of Baltimore a monument in honor of George +Washington. It was fitting that the place of his birth should also be +marked, and a few days before the laying of the corner-stone of the +monument, a little company sailed from Alexandria, Virginia, to Pope's +Creek, Westmoreland County, where Washington was born. With them they +carried a simple freestone slab on which was chiseled his name and the +date of his birth. Wrapped in the banner of fifteen stars, it was borne +reverently to its resting-place by the hands of the descendants of four +Revolutionary patriots. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER + + +"Time makes ancient good uncouth," said Lowell, and so it was with the +flag. The flag of fifteen stars and fifteen stripes that was decreed +in 1795 then represented each State; but in less than one year it was +out of date. Tennessee had come into the Union. Then followed Ohio, +Louisiana, and Indiana. Here were four States with no representation +in the colors of the country. Then, too, people began to realize that +in giving up the thirteen stripes they had lost their old significant +"Thirteen," and dropped a valuable historical association. At length +the matter came before Congress, and for nearly sixteen months it +remained there. Occasionally there was some little discussion about +it. One member proposed that the matter be postponed indefinitely. +"Are you willing to neglect the banner of freedom?" demanded another. +Yet another thought it unnecessary to insist upon thirteen stripes, +and thought they might as well fix upon nine or eleven or any other +arbitrary number as thirteen. The committee pleaded for the +significant thirteen, and so it went on. At length Peter H. Wendover, +of New York, through whose efforts Congress was held to its duty, +called the attention of the House to the fact that the Government +itself was paying no respect to its own laws in regard to the flag; +that the law demanded fifteen stripes, but that Congress was at that +moment displaying a banner of thirteen stripes; that the navy yard and +the marine barracks were flying flags of eighteen stripes; and that +during the first session of the preceding Congress the flag floating +over their deliberations had had, from some unknown cause or other, +only nine stripes. + +It is small wonder that after such an arraignment as this the +lawmakers aroused themselves. The following bill was passed, and was +signed by President Monroe, April 4, 1818:-- + + SECTION 1. _Be it enacted, etc._, That from and after the fourth + day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen + horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union have + twenty stars, white in a blue field. + + SECTION 2. _Be it further enacted_, That on the admission of every + new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the + flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth of + July next succeeding such admission. + +So it was that the flag of the United States was finally decided upon. +Captain S. C. Reid designed it, and his wife made a specimen flag, +which was hoisted on the flagstaff of the House of Representatives a +few days after the law legalizing it was passed. Forty-one years +later, in 1859, Congress formally thanked Captain Reid. The one weak +point in this law was that the arrangement of the stars on the blue +field was left to the taste of the owner of the flag. Captain Reid +arranged them in one large star; but it was evident that if this plan +was continued, as new States were admitted, the stars would become too +small to be seen distinctly. The Navy Commissioners issued the order +that in naval flags the stars should be arranged in five rows, four +stars in a row; but for many years merchant vessels paid small +attention to this decree. Indeed, in 1837 the Dutch Government +inquired, with all respect, "What is the American flag?" Twenty years +later an observant man in Jersey City amused himself on the Fourth of +July by noting the numerous fashions in which the stars were arranged. +He said that all flags had the thirteen stripes--though not always in +the proper order--but that he had counted nine different fashions in +which the stars were arranged. They appeared in one large star, in a +lozenge, a diamond, or a circle, and one vessel in the river flaunted +an anchor formed of stars. It was suggested that Congress ought to +order some regular arrangement, but Congress did not take the hint. +The Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy gave orders in +1912, after the admission of New Mexico and Arizona, that the stars, +now forty-eight, should be arranged in six rows of eight stars each. +This was approved by the President, but no decree has been passed by +Congress. + +Until 1866 our country's flag was manufactured in a foreign land. +Bunting in a flag has a hard life. It must meet sun, wind, and storm; +it must be light enough to float at every breeze and strong enough to +endure severe wear. Attempts had been made many years earlier to make +bunting in the United States, and flags of home manufacture had been +tried again and again, but they had never stood the tests. In 1865, +however, Congress put a duty of forty per cent on imported bunting, +and also made it lawful for the Government to purchase its flags in +the United States. With this duty manufacturers could compete with the +lower wages paid in England, and now it became worth while to set to +work in earnest. Within a year the thing had been done. A company in +Lowell, Massachusetts, presented to the Senate a flag manufactured in +the United States. It was hoisted over the Capitol, and for the first +time this country, then ninety years old, floated over its Congress a +banner of bunting woven and made "at home." This banner stood all the +tests, and soon the price of the material was greatly reduced. Since +the manufacture of this flag all bunting used in flags for the navy +has come from Lowell. It must be of a fixed weight and strength and +must be absolutely fast color in sun and rain. These flags are made in +the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and they must be accurate in every detail. +Even the number of stitches to the inch is a matter of rule. After the +stripes have been sewed together and the stars stitched upon the +canton, the hoist, or end of the flag which is to be next to the +staff, is firmly bound with canvas, and the lines, etc., attached. +Then the flag is stamped with the date. Many silken flags are used in +the navy, but these are made entirely by hand. + +A warship must have not only her own flags, but those of foreign +countries, sometimes two hundred and fifty or more. Some of these flags +are of very complicated design, and the flag-makers tried the experiment +of painting the designs on the bunting. This was not a success, because +the flags stuck together, and now the whole design is worked out in +bunting. The navy makes its own flags, but the War Department buys what +are needed. Manufacturers make large numbers for general sale; between +nine and ten million a year even in times of peace. + +The pet name, "Old Glory," is believed to have been given to the flag +by Captain William Driver. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, became +a shipmaster, and at length made his home in Nashville, Tennessee. +When the Civil War broke out, he stood boldly by the Union, even +though his own family were against him. More than thirty years before +this date, just as he was starting on a voyage, some of his friends +made him a present of a handsome American flag. When the breeze first +caught it and spread out its folds, Captain Driver exclaimed, "Old +Glory!" and "Old Glory" it was to him all the years of his life. The +flag went to Tennessee with him, and was hung out on every day of +public rejoicing. When the war broke out, his Confederate neighbors +tried their best to get possession of that flag; but they did not +realize the resources of the old captain. Sailors know how to sew, and +he had carefully quilted his beloved banner into his comforter. No +wonder that he had not the least objection to having his house +searched for it. When the Union troops entered the city, Captain +Driver asked permission to run up his flag over the State Capitol. +This was granted, and with an escort he marched to the building and +ran up the flag. As he stood gazing at it with tears in his eyes, he +said, "I have always said that if I could see it float over that +Capitol, I should have lived long enough; now Old Glory is up there, +gentlemen, and I am ready to die." The captain's own particular "Old +Glory" was full of years and weakened by service, and on the following +day he reverently took it down and ran up a flag that was new and +strong. For a quarter of a century he saw the Union flag float over +the Capitol of his chosen State. Then, at his death in 1886, his own +"Old Glory" was sent to the Essex Institute at his birthplace. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE FLAG IN WAR + + +"Old Glory" has flown over the battle-fields of three wars; the +Mexican, the Civil War, and the war with Spain. In the war with Mexico +victory depended upon taking the City of Mexico, and the path to that +lay in the capture of the strong castle of Chapultepec. Long before +sunrise one bright September morning, the American guns began to roar. +All day long the Americans fired from below and the Mexicans from +above. Fortunately for the attackers, the aim of the Mexicans was +anything but accurate, and in twenty-four hours the American troops +were pushing forward up the hillside, through a grove full of +sharpshooters, over rocks and gullies, even over mines, which the +Mexicans had no chance to set off. Cannon roared and volleys of +musketry were fired at the assailants, but they dashed over the +redoubt, up, still up, to the escarpment, and over it they tumbled. +Meanwhile the Mexicans were standing on the city walls and peering out +from the spires of the cathedral. They saw, as the Americans pushed on +and up, the Stars and Stripes appear, now to the right, now to the +left, as point after point was taken. Now the Americans had reached +the main works. The scaling-ladders were planted and the men scrambled +over the wall. Even then the Mexicans were not without a faint hope, +for their banner still floated over the highest pinnacle. Suddenly it +disappeared, and the Stars and Stripes took its place. The victory had +been won. On the second day after the first gun was fired at +Chapultepec, the American troops were following their flag into the +City of Mexico. + +The Civil War began with the firing upon Fort Sumter. Shot came in a +whirlwind, half a score of balls at a time. The woodwork blazed, the +brick and stone flew in all directions. Red-hot balls from the furnace +in Moultrie dashed down like a pitiless hailstorm. The barracks were +ablaze, streams of fire burst out of the quarters. Ninety barrels of +powder were rolled into the water lest it should explode in the awful +heat. The men were stifled with fumes from the burning buildings. Over +the horrors of this attack the Stars and Stripes floated serenely from +the staff, flashing out, as each gust of wind tossed the clouds of +smoke aside for a moment, the glories of the red, white, and blue, +clear and calm and unscathed. + +Beams fell with a crash, ammunition in one magazine exploded, black +clouds of smoke filled the fort, and for hours the men covered their +faces with wet cloths to keep from suffocating. Nine times the +flagstaff was struck by a shot, and at the ninth the flag fell. +Lieutenant Hall dashed into the storm of balls, caught up the flag, +and brought it away. The halyards were cut and tangled. The flag could +not be raised, but it was nailed to the staff, and in the midst of the +incessant fire, Sergeant Peter Hart fastened it up on the ramparts. +The fort surrendered, but not the flag; for as Major Anderson and his +men left the burning ruins, they saluted "Old Glory" with fifty guns, +then lowered it, and, as the Major stated to the Government, "marched +out of the fort with colors flying and drums beating." + +This was on April 14, 1861. On April 14, 1865, when the war was +virtually over, Major Anderson, now General Anderson, was, by order of +President Lincoln, called to Fort Sumter to raise again the flag which +he had so unwillingly lowered. A special steamer carried from New York +to the fort a number of prominent citizens. Hundreds came from +elsewhere by land to Charleston and were taken to the fort by vessel. +Two hundred officers of the navy were present and many army officers. +After the opening exercises, Sergeant Hart opened a big carpetbag and +drew forth the identical flag that had been hauled down four years +earlier. The banner was unfurled, the assemblage cheered to the echo, +and slowly the beloved banner rose to its old position, every one +trying his best to catch hold of the rope and help raise it. Hats were +waved and the old fort rang with cheers. The band struck up "The +Star-Spangled Banner." A salute was fired by the guns on Fort Sumter, +and this was responded to by every fort and battery that had fired +upon Sumter in April, 1861. Henry Ward Beecher, orator of the day, +made a thrilling address. Of the flag he said:-- + + There flies the same flag that was insulted. In the storm of + that assault this glorious ensign was often struck; but, + memorable fact, not one of its stars was torn out, by shot or + shell. It was a prophecy.... Lifted to the air, to-day it + proclaims, after four years of war, "Not a State is blotted out!" + + Hail to the flag of our fathers, and our flag! Glory to the + banner that has gone through four years black with tempests of + war, to pilot the nation back to peace without dismemberment! + And glory be to God, who, above all hosts and banners, hath + ordained victory, and shall ordain peace!... In the name of God, + we lift up our banner, and dedicate it to Peace, Union and + Liberty, now and forevermore. + +A few years later General Anderson died. He was buried at West Point +and was carried to his grave wrapped in the flag that he had defended +so bravely. On the death of his wife the flag passed by her gift into +the hands of the War Department. + +One of the most interesting flags of the recent war with Spain was +borne by the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry. A +squadron of men for this regiment left Phoenix, Arizona, on their way +to the field of war. It was noticed that they had no flag. The women +of the Relief Corps attached to the Grand Army of the Republic took +the matter in hand, for if this was not a case where relief was +needed, where should one be found? + +Night and day were the same to these energetic women. They bought silk +and they sewed, all day and all night. The stores of Phoenix did not +provide just the right sort of cord, so the staff of the battle-flag +was daintily adorned with a knot of satin ribbon, red, white, and +blue. Then the flag was carried to camp, and presented with all +courtesy and dignity to the two hundred men who were to form a part of +the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, better +known as the "Rough Riders." + +The little silken flag came to glories that it had not dreamed of, for +the regular bunting flags were scarce, and therefore it held the most +prominent place in parades and was even set up as guest of honor +before the tent of Colonel Leonard Wood. In the attack on Santiago, +the little party that first landed at Daiquiri, a small town on the +coast a few miles from the city, carried the flag with them. On a +transport in the harbor an officer from Arizona, observing the troops +climb the hill, had seen the raising of the flag and discovered with a +glass what it was. As the story is told:-- + + He threw his hat to the deck, jumped to the top of the bulwark, + and yelled: "Howl, you Arizona men,--it's our flag up there!" + + And the men howled as only Arizona cowboys could. Some one on + the hurricane deck grabbed the whistle cord and tied it down, + the band of the Second Infantry whisked up instruments and + played "A Hot Time" on the inspiration of the moment, and every + man who had a revolver emptied it over the side. Almost in an + instant every whistle of the fifty transports and supply vessels + in the harbor took up the note of rejoicing. Twenty thousand men + were cheering. A dozen bands increased the din. Then guns of the + warships on the flanks joined in a mighty salute to the flag of + the Nation. And the flag was the flag of the Arizona squadron. + + The Arizona flag led the regiment in the fight of Las Guasimas, + where three thousand intrenched Spaniards were driven back by + nine hundred unmounted cavalry; it was at the front all through + the heat of the battles of Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill; it + waved over the trenches before Santiago, and was later borne + through the captured city to the transport. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FLAG IN PEACE + + +One of the greatest achievements of our flag in peace was the opening +of Japan. In 1852 Commodore M. C. Perry was sent with a letter from +President Fillmore to prepare the way for a treaty of peace and +friendship and commerce with Japan. Its delivery was a matter of much +ceremony. After a long delay a day was set for its reception. When the +time had come, the officers in full uniform, the marines in blue and +white, the sailors in navy blue and tarpaulins, and last of all the +Commodore entered the boats. As the Commodore stepped into his barge, +a salute of thirteen guns was given. Then the two bands struck up +lively tunes and the boats made for the shore. + +Along the beach were ranged nine tall crimson standards, surrounded by +flags of all sorts and colors. Five or six thousand soldiers were +drawn up in line, and the hills behind them were crowded with people. +When the Americans came to land, a procession was formed. First, the +marines and sailors, then the one flag of the procession, the Stars +and Stripes, its brilliant colors flashing in the bright sunshine. It +was borne by the two tallest, broadest-shouldered men among the +sailors of the squadron. After the flag came two of the younger men, +carrying a rosewood box mounted with gold and carefully wrapped in a +scarlet cloth. In this were the credentials of the Commodore and the +letter of the President. These were written on vellum, and the seals +were attached by cords of silk and gold, ending in tassels of gold. +Then came the Commodore, and on either side of him was a tall negro of +fine proportions and armed to the teeth. After the Commodore walked +the officers of the squadron. Commodore and officers were escorted +into the handsomely decorated hall of reception. The court interpreter +asked if the letter was ready. The two pages, guarded by the two +stalwart negroes, were summoned and placed the letter upon a handsome +box of red lacquer, which was ready to receive them. The Commodore +made a formal bow. The bands played our national airs, and all +returned to the vessels as ceremoniously as they had come. + +This was the beginning of intercourse between the United States and +Japan. Two years later a treaty was signed, and in 1860 an embassy +from Japan visited this country. + +So it was that Japan was opened to the world. In 1901 the Japanese +Minister of Justice said: "Commodore Perry's visit was, in a word, the +turn of the key which opened the doors of the Japanese Empire. Japan has +not forgotten--nor will she ever forget--that, next to her reigning and +most beloved sovereign, whose rare virtue and great wisdom is above all +praise, she owes her present state of prosperity to the United States of +America." "Are you coming over here to fight us?" a young Japanese in +this country was playfully asked. "Fight the United States?" he +exclaimed. "The United States is our friend." And drawing himself up to +his full height, he said proudly, "The Japanese do not forget. We know +what your Commodore Perry and your country have done for us." + +The American flag was first seen in China in 1784. The Chinese said it +was "as beautiful as a flower," and for many years they always spoke +of it as the "flower flag." + +A custom of great significance and value, that of raising the home +flag over legations and consulates in foreign lands whenever a home +holiday comes around, is due to the tact and ready wit of one of our +Ministers to Sweden, William W. Thomas, Jr. The following is his own +account of the event:-- + + On taking possession of the archives and property of the United + States at Stockholm, I was surprised to find there was no + American flag there. Talking with my colleagues, the Ministers + of other countries, I was informed that no foreign Minister at + Stockholm ever hoisted his country's flag, and that to do so + would be considered a breach of diplomatic etiquette. + + What was I to do? I did not wish to offend my good friends, the + Swedes; that was the last thing a Minister should be guilty of. + And I certainly did not want to see an American holiday go by + without hoisting the American flag from the American Legation. + The question troubled me a great deal. + + All at once a thought seized me, like an inspiration. I sent to + America for a flag. I procured flagstaff and halyards, and from + my own drawings I had carved an American eagle, which was gilded + and perched on top of the flag pole. Flag, eagle, and staff I + concealed in the Legation, and bided my time. + + Undoubtedly the greatest character Sweden has ever produced is + Gustavus Adolphus. His life and deeds belong not to Sweden + along, but to the world. Well, when the anniversary of the death + and victory of this great captain of the Swedish host came + round,--the 6th of November, 1883,--and when the great choral + societies of Stockholm, bearing banners and followed by vast + multitudes of the Swedish populace, marched through the streets + of Sweden's capital, and gathered about the mausoleum on the + Island of Knights, where lies the mighty dead, sang pæans in his + praise, then it happened, somehow, that, regardless of precedent + or custom, the flag of the free republic--aye! flag, flagstaff, + golden eagle, and all--was run out from the American Legation; + and the starry banner of America waved in unison with the yellow + cross of Sweden, in honor of the mightiest warrior for the + freedom of our faith. + + This act was everywhere approved in Sweden. It was praised by + both the people and the press. After this, it may well be + believed, the flag of America floated unchallenged in the + capital of the Northland. It waved on high on the birthday of + Washington, on that Memorial Day when we decorate the graves of + our brave boys in blue who saved the Union, and on the Fourth of + July, that gave the Republic birth. But I hoisted our flag + impartially, on Swedish holidays as well as our own; and the + Stars and Stripes floated out as proudly on the birthday of King + Oscar as on that of Washington. + +"If any man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the +spot," commanded General Dix; but the United States may well be proud of +having herself hauled down her flag on one occasion not many years ago. +After the Spanish-American War had been fought, the treaty of peace with +Spain put Cuba into the hands of the United States, and the +star-spangled banner was raised and saluted. This was in 1899. The three +years following this act were busy ones with the War Department, for in +its control was left the management of all Cuban affairs. Cuba was +cleaned up, the yellow fever stamped out, schools were established, +peace restored, a constitution adopted by the people, and a president +elected. May 20, 1902, was the date set for the sovereignty of Cuba to +pass into the hands of the Cubans. The island had been made free, and +now she was coming to her own. Havana was in her best. Flags floated +from every house. Ships displayed both the American and the Cuban flags. +When the moment arrived, General Leonard Wood read the transfer, and the +President-elect signed it in the name of the new Republic. To free Cuba +from oppression the United States had entered into war. Our country +sought nothing for itself, and now the freedom of the island was +attained, and the American forces were to be withdrawn. + +After the signing of the transfer Governor-General Wood loosened the +halyards and the star-spangled banner was lowered, having accomplished +nobly that for which it had been raised. As it sank slowly down the +Union salute of forty-five guns was fired. Then, by the hands of +General Wood, the Cuban flag was hoisted to its position and floated +proudly over a free country. A national salute of twenty-one guns was +fired in its honor, and the history of the Cuban Republic had begun. +As the _New York Sun_ said, "No country ever before conquered a +territory at great sacrifice to set up a government other than its own." + +In the hands of Admiral Robert E. Peary our flag has won the honors of +the Northland. Many others had gone _far_ north; for Peary it was +reserved to go _farthest_ north, to the Pole itself. This was no +chance success, brought about by fine equipment and favorable weather; +it was the fair result of careful preparation and hard work. The +Admiral wrote in his journal:-- + + The Pole at last! The prize of three centuries, my dream and goal + for twenty years, mine at last! I cannot bring myself to realize it. + + It all seems so simple and commonplace. As Bartlett said when turning + back, when speaking of his being in these exclusive regions, which + no mortal had ever penetrated before, "It is just like every day!" + +A little later, in acknowledging with gratitude the generous aid which +he had received, the Admiral wrote:-- + + Their assistance has enabled me to tell the last of the great earth + stories, the story the world has been waiting to hear for three + hundred years--the story of the discovery of the North Pole. + +Such is the history of the flag of the United States of America from +the time when a little group of colonies dared to raise their own +standard and oppose their feeble strength and their slender resources +to the trained armies and the ample wealth of England. + +This was a century and a half ago. The Republic has come of age and has +accepted her rightful share of the responsibilities of the world. The +mother country rejoiced to do her honor, and on one brilliant April +morning in 1917 the cities of England flung out her banner beside their +own. In London the Stars and Stripes were everywhere--in the hands of +the people in the streets, on private houses, on public buildings, even +on the "Victory Tower" of Westminster Palace, where before that day no +other flag save the Union Jack or the royal standard had ever been +raised. In the historic cathedral of St. Paul four thousand people had +come together to thank God for the alliance between the mother country +and her eldest child, that in this war of the world "they should go +forth and try the matter in fight by the help of God"--to quote the text +of the Bishop of London. The two flags, of Great Britain and of the +United States of America, hung side by side over the chancel rail. The +thousands of people rose with reverence and sang, first, "The +Star-Spangled Banner," and then, "God Save the King." And so it was that +Great Britain and the United States took their stand shoulder to +shoulder in the world-wide struggle to make sure "that government of the +people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +HOW TO BEHAVE TOWARD THE FLAG + + +Except the cross there is nothing that the American should hold more +sacred than the flag of the United States, because of its record in +peace and in war, and because it stands for the rights and the freedom +of one hundred million citizens. + + "Sign of a nation great and strong, + To ward her people from foreign wrong." + +There are definite rules in regard to the use of the flag. The +following are the most necessary to know:-- + +The flag should be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset. It should +not be left out at night unless under fire. It should not be allowed to +touch the ground. If possible, a pole rather than a staff should be used. + +In raising a flag to half-mast or half-staff, it should be run to the +top of the pole, and then lowered the width of the flag. Before being +retired, it should be run to the top again. On Memorial Day the flag +should be at half-mast until noon, and at the peak from noon until sunset. + +When the flag goes by, rise if you are sitting; halt if you are +walking, and take off your hat. + +In decorating, never drape the flag; always hang it flat. The Union +should be at the observer's left, whether the stripes are perpendicular +or horizontal. If our flag is crossed with the flags of other countries, +or carried in a parade beside them, it should always be at the right. + +In unveiling a monument, the flag should never be allowed to drop to +the ground, but so arranged that it can be drawn up and will then +float over the monument. + +If draped over a casket, the blue field should be at the head. If used +as the covering of an altar, nothing except the Bible should be placed +upon it, and the union should be at the right. + +Distress at sea is indicated by hanging the flag union down. + +Always stand when "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played. + + * * * * * + +For those people who, whether maliciously or ignorantly, show any +disrespect to the flag, strenuous laws have been passed in most of the +States. In Massachusetts, a post of the Grand Army or a camp of Spanish +War veterans may put the name of the organization upon the flag, but no +other lettering is permitted. Any one who mutilates the flag or in any +way treats it with contempt is likely to fare worse than did John +Endicott in colonial days. The same respect is required to be shown to +the flags of all countries with which the United States is at peace. + +The representation of the flag must not be used to advertise +merchandise, but it may be used on any publication designed to give +information about the flag, or to promote patriotism, or to encourage +the study of American history. + +June 14, the anniversary of the day in 1777 on which the flag was +adopted, has been chosen as "Flag Day." + +The length of a flag should be very nearly twice its height, or, to be +exact, in the proportion of 1.9 to 1. The length of the union should +be three fourths the height of the whole flag; the height of the union +should be that of seven stripes. + +Perhaps a little fancifully, a star has been assigned to each State in +the order of its ratification of the Constitution and admission to the +Union. Beginning at the left upper corner and reading each row from +left to right, the stars of the separate States are as follows:-- + + _First row_ + + Delaware December 7, 1787 + Pennsylvania December 12, 1787 + New Jersey December 18, 1787 + Georgia January 2, 1788 + Connecticut January 9, 1788 + Massachusetts February 6, 1788 + Maryland April 28, 1788 + South Carolina May 23, 1788 + + + _Second row_ + + New Hampshire June 21, 1788 + Virginia June 25, 1788 + New York July 26, 1788 + North Carolina November 21, 1789 + Rhode Island May 29, 1790 + Vermont March 4, 1791 + Kentucky June 1, 1792 + Tennessee June 1, 1796 + + + _Third row_ + + Ohio February 19, 1803 + Louisiana April 30, 1812 + Indiana December 11, 1816 + Mississippi December 10, 1817 + Illinois December 3, 1818 + Alabama December 14, 1819 + Maine March 15, 1820 + Missouri August 10, 1821 + + + _Fourth row_ + + Arkansas June 15, 1836 + Michigan January 26, 1837 + Florida March 3, 1845 + Texas December 29, 1845 + Iowa December 28, 1846 + Wisconsin May 29, 1848 + California September 9, 1850 + Minnesota May 11, 1858 + + + _Fifth row_ + + Oregon February 14, 1859 + Kansas January 29, 1861 + West Virginia June 19, 1863 + Nevada October 31, 1864 + Nebraska March 1, 1867 + Colorado August 1, 1876 + North Dakota November 2, 1889 + South Dakota November 2, 1889 + + + _Sixth row_ + + Montana November 8, 1889 + Washington November 11, 1889 + Idaho July 3, 1890 + Wyoming July 10, 1890 + Utah January 4, 1896 + Oklahoma November 16, 1907 + New Mexico January 6, 1912 + Arizona February 14, 1912 + + + + +FLAG ANNIVERSARIES + + + January 1-2, 1776: Grand Union Flag (British Union and thirteen + stripes) hoisted over Washington's headquarters at Cambridge, + Massachusetts. This was the first real flag of the colonies. + + January 13, 1794: American flag changed by act of Congress, owing + to two new States (Kentucky and Vermont) being admitted to the + Union. The flag now had two stars and two stripes added to it, + making fifteen stripes and stars. This was the "Star-Spangled + Banner," and under this flag our country fought and won three + wars--the so-called naval war with France, in 1798-1800; that with + the Barbary States in 1801-1805; and that with England in 1812-1815. + + February 3, 1783: First appearance of the American flag in a + British port by the ship Bedford, of Massachusetts, which arrived + in the river Thames on this date. + + February 8, 1776: Colonial Congressional Committee accepted a naval + flag, consisting of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with + a rattlesnake diagonally across it. + + February 14, 1778: First foreign salute to the Stars and Stripes. + John Paul Jones entered Quiberon Bay, near Brest, France, and + received a salute of nine guns from the French fleet, under Admiral + La Motte Piquet. Jones had previously saluted the French fleet with + thirteen guns. + + March 17, 1776: The first display of the Grand Union Flag in Boston + was on the day that town was evacuated by the British. + + April 4, 1818: Congress by act decreed a return to the original + thirteen stripes and a star for every State in the Union, to be + added to the flag on the July 4 following a State's admission to + the Union. This is the present law in relation to the flag. + + April 24, 1778: John Paul Jones achieved the honor of being the + first officer of the American Navy to compel a regular British + man-of-war to strike her colors to the new flag. + + June 14, 1777: First strictly American flag decreed by Congress. + This flag displaced the British Union by thirteen stars, and the + making of the first flag of this design is accredited to Betsy Ross + of Philadelphia. It contained thirteen stripes, alternate red and + white, and thirteen white stars upon a blue field. + + June 14, 1777: Captain John Paul Jones appointed to the command of + the Ranger. It was Jones who first displayed the Stars and Stripes + on a naval vessel. It was also he who had previously first hoisted + "the flag of America" on board the naval vessel Alfred in 1775. + + June 28, 1778: First appearance on a foreign strong-hold at Nassau, + Bahama Islands. The Americans captured Fort Nassau from the + British, and promptly raised the Stars and Stripes. + + August 3, 1777: First display of the Stars and Stripes on land was + over Fort Stanwix, New York. + + August 10, 1831: The name "Old Glory" given to our national flag by + Captain William Driver, of the brig Charles Doggert. The flag was + presented to the captain and contained one hundred and ten yards of + bunting. It is said to be now in the Essex Institute, at Salem, + Massachusetts. + + September 11, 1777: The American flag first carried in battle at + the Brandywine. This was the first great battle fought after its + adoption by the Continental Congress. + + September 13, 1784: The Stars and Stripes first displayed in China + by Captain John Green, of the ship Empress, in Canton River. The + natives said it was as beautiful as a flower, and the Chinese + continued to call it the "flower flag" for many years. + + September 30, 1787-August 10, 1790: The American flag completed its + first trip around the world, borne by the ship Columbia, sailing + from Boston. + + October 18, 1867: First official display of the American flag in + Alaska. On this day, at Sitka, the capital, the Russian flag was + hauled down and the American flag run up before the barracks and in + the presence of both Russian and American troops. + + + + +SELECTIONS + + +THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER + +FRANCIS SCOTT KEY + + Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, + What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, + Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, + O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? + And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, + Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. + Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? + + On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, + Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, + What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, + As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? + Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, + In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,-- + 'Tis the star-spangled banner; Oh! long may it wave, + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + And where is that band who so vauntingly swore + That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion + A home and a country should leave us no more? + Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution. + No refuge could save the hireling and slave + From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave; + And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand + Between their loved homes and the war's desolation; + Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land + Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! + Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, + And this be our motto--"In God is our trust"; + And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! + + +THE FLAG IN THE DARKNESS + +BENJAMIN HARRISON + +I was never so profoundly touched with the beauty of our flag as at +night time in one of our immense political demonstrations. One of the +features of the occasion was the sending upward of a mighty stream of +electric light which, piercing the darkness of the night, reached a +large flag which had been carried on cords a thousand feet from the +earth. The scene was too impressive for me to describe. I can only say +that it did seem as though the flag of our country was waving from the +very battlements of heaven.... God pity the American citizen who does +not love the flag; who does not see in it the story of our great, free +institutions, and the hope of the home as well as the Nation. + + +A SONG FOR FLAG DAY + +WILBUR D. NESBIT + + Your Flag and my Flag! + And how it flies to-day + In your land and my land + And half a world away! + Rose-red and blood-red + The stripes forever gleam; + Snow-white and soul-white-- + The good forefathers' dream; + Sky-blue and true blue, with stars to gleam aright-- + The gloried guidon of the day; a shelter through the night. + + Your Flag and my Flag! + And, oh, how much it holds-- + Your land and my land-- + Secure within its folds! + Your heart and my heart + Beat quicker at the sight; + Sun-kissed and wind-tossed, + Red and blue and white. + The one Flag,--the great Flag--the Flag for me and you-- + Glorified all else beside--the red and white and blue! + + Your Flag and my Flag! + To every star and stripe + The drums beat as hearts beat + And fifers shrilly pipe! + Your Flag and my Flag-- + A blessing in the sky; + Your hope and my hope-- + It never hid a lie! + Home land and far land and half the world around, + Old Glory hears our glad salute and ripples to the sound. + + +THE FLAG GOES BY + +HENRY HOLCOMB BENNETT + + Hats off! + Along the street there comes + A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, + A flash of color beneath the sky: + Hats off! + The flag is passing by! + + Blue and crimson and white it shines, + Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines. + Hats off! + The colors before us fly; + But more than the flag is passing by. + + Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great, + Fought to make and to save the State: + Weary marches and sinking ships; + Cheers of victory on dying lips; + + Days of plenty and years of peace; + March of a strong land's swift increase; + Equal justice, right and law, + Stately honor and reverent awe; + + Sign of a nation, great and strong + To ward her people from foreign wrong: + Pride and glory and honor,--all + Live in the colors to stand or fall. + + Hats off! + Along the street there comes + A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums; + And loyal hearts are beating high: + Hats off! + The flag is passing by! + + +WHAT THE FLAG STANDS FOR + +HENRY CABOT LODGE + +The flag stands for all that we hold dear--freedom, democracy, +government of the people, by the people, and for the people. These are +the great principles for which the flag stands, and when that +democracy and that freedom and that government of the people are in +danger, then it is our duty to defend the flag which stands for them +all, and in order to defend the flag and keep it soaring as it soars +here to-day, undimmed, unsullied, victorious over the years, we must +be ready to defend it, and like the men of '76 and '61, pledge to it +our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. + + +UNION AND LIBERTY + +OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES + + Flag of the heroes who left us their glory, + Borne through their battle-fields' thunder and flame, + Blazoned in song and illumined in story, + Wave o'er us all who inherit their fame! + Up with our banner bright, + Sprinkled with starry light, + Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, + While through the sounding sky + Loud rings the Nation's cry,-- + UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE! + + Light of our firmament, guide of our Nation, + Pride of her children, and honored afar, + Let the wide beams of thy full constellation + Scatter each cloud that would darken a star! + Up with our banner bright, etc. + + Empire unsceptred! What foe shall assail thee, + Bearing the standard of Liberty's van? + Think not the God of thy fathers shall fail thee, + Striving with men for the birthright of man. + Up with our banner bright, etc. + + Yet if, by madness and treachery blighted, + Dawns the dark hour when the sword thou must draw, + Then with the arms of thy millions united, + Smite the bold traitors to Freedom and Law! + Up with our banner bright, etc. + + Lord of the Universe: shield us and guide us, + Trusting thee always, through shadow and sun! + Thou hast united us, who shall divide us? + Keep us, oh keep us the MANY IN ONE! + Up with =our= banner bright, + Sprinkled with starry light, + Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, + While through the sounding sky + Loud rings the nation's cry,-- + UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE! + + +YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR FLAG + +EDWARD EVERETT HALE + +"If you are ever tempted to say a word or to do a thing that shall put +a bar between you and your country, pray God in His mercy to take you +that instant home to His own heaven. Stick by your family, boy; forget +you have a self, while you do everything for them. Think of your home, +boy; write and send, and talk about it. Let it be nearer and nearer to +your thoughts, the farther you have to travel from it; and rush back +to it when you are free. And for your country, boy,"--and the words +rattled in his throat,--"and for that flag,"--and he pointed to the +ship,--"never dream a dream but of serving her as she bids you, though +the service carry you through a thousand hells. No matter what happens +to you, no matter who flatters you or who abuses you, never look to +another flag, never let a night pass but you pray God to bless that +flag. Remember, boy, that behind all these men you have to do with, +behind officers, and government, and people even, there is the Country +Herself, your Country, and that you belong to Her as you belong to +your own mother. Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother." + + +THE HOME FLAG + +HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW + + And at the masthead, + White, blue, and red, + A flag unrolls the stripes and stars. + Ah! when the wanderer, lonely, friendless, + In foreign harbors shall behold + That flag unrolled, + 'T will be as a friendly hand + Stretched out from his native land, + Filling his heart with memories sweet and endless! + + +OLD FLAG + +HUBBARD PARKER + + What shall I say to you, Old Flag? + You are so grand in every fold, + So linked with mighty deeds of old, + So steeped in blood where heroes fell, + So torn and pierced by shot and shell, + So calm, so still, so firm, so true, + My throat swells at the sight of you, Old Flag. + + What of the men who lifted you, Old Flag, + Upon the top of Bunker's Hill, + Who crushed the Briton's cruel will, + 'Mid shock and roar and crash and scream, + Who crossed the Delaware's frozen stream, + Who starved, who fought, who bled, who died, + That you might float in glorious pride, Old Flag? + + Who of the women brave and true, Old Flag, + Who, while the cannon thundered wild, + Sent forth a husband, lover, child. + Who labored in the field by day, + Who, all the night long, knelt to pray, + And thought that God great mercy gave, + If only freely you might wave, Old Flag? + + What is your mission now, Old Flag? + What but to set all people free, + To rid the world of misery, + To guard the right, avenge the wrong, + And gather in one joyful throng + Beneath your folds in close embrace + All burdened ones of every race, Old Flag? + + Right nobly do you lead the way, Old Flag, + Your stars shine out for liberty. + Your white stripes stand for purity, + Your crimson claims that courage high + For Honor's sake to fight and die. + Lead on against the alien shore! + We'll follow you e'en to Death's door, Old Flag! + + +BRITANNIA TO COLUMBIA + +ALFRED AUSTIN + + What is the voice I hear + On the winds of the western sea? + Sentinel, listen from out Cape Clear + And say what the voice may be. + 'Tis a proud free people calling loud to a people proud and free. + + And it says to them: "Kinsmen, hail; + We severed have been too long. + Now let us have done with a worn-out tale-- + The tale of an ancient wrong-- + And our friendship last long as love doth last and be stronger + than death is strong." + + Answer them, sons of the self-same race, + And blood of the self-same clan; + Let us speak with each other face to face + And answer as man to man, + And loyally love and trust each other as none but free men can. + + Now fling them out to the breeze, + Shamrock, Thistle, and Rose, + And the Star-Spangled Banner unfurl with these-- + A message of friends and foes + Wherever the sails of peace are seen and wherever the war wind + blows-- + + A message to bond and thrall to wake, + For wherever we come, we twain, + The throne of the tyrant shall rock and quake, + And his menace be void and vain, + For you are lords of a strong young land and we are lords of + the main. + + Yes, this is the voice on the bluff March gale; + We severed have been too long, + But now we are done with a worn-out tale-- + The tale of an ancient wrong-- + And our friendship shall last long as love doth last and be + stronger than death is strong. + + +MAKERS OF THE FLAG + +FRANKLIN K. LANE + + [A portion of an address delivered by the Secretary of the Interior + to the employees of the Department of the Interior, on Flag Day, + 1914.] + +This morning as I passed into the Land Office, The Flag dropped me a +most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: +"Good-morning Mr. Flag Maker." + +"I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't you mistaken? I am not +the President of the United States, nor a member of Congress, nor even +a general in the army. I am only a Government clerk." + +"I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker," replied the gay voice; "I know +you well. You are the man who worked in the swelter of yesterday +straightening out the tangle of that farmer's homestead in Idaho, or +perhaps you found the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, or +helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or +pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in +Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. +No matter; whichever one of these beneficient individuals you may +happen to be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker." + +I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me with these words:-- + +"Yesterday the President spoke a word that made happier the future of +ten million peons in Mexico; but that act looms no larger on the flag +than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn +Club prize this summer. + +"Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of +Alaska; but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into +the night, to give her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag. + +"Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and +yesterday, maybe, a school teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to +a boy who will one day write a song that will give cheer to the +millions of our race. We are all making the flag." + +"But," I said impatiently, "these people were only working!" + +Then came a great shout from The Flag:-- + +"The work that we do is the making of the flag. + +"I am not the flag; not at all. I am nothing more than its shadow. + +"I am whatever you make me, nothing more. + +"I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a People may become. + +"I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heart breaks +and tired muscles. + +"Sometimes I am strong with pride, when workmen do an honest piece of +work, fitting the rails together truly. + +"Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I +play the coward. + +"Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego that blasts +judgment. + +"But always, I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try +for. + +"I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope. + +"I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the +most daring. + +"I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute +makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook, +counselor, and clerk. + +"I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of to-morrow. + +"I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why. + +"I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution. + +"I am no more than what you believe me to be, and I am all that you +believe I can be. + +"I am what you make me, nothing more. + +"I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of +yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this +nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They +are bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, +because you have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the +makers of the flag and it is well that you glory in the making." + + +OUR FLAG + +MARGARET SANGSTER + + Flag of the fearless-hearted, + Flag of the broken chain, + Flag in a day-dawn started, + Never to pale or wane. + Dearly we prize its colors, + With the heaven light breaking through, + The clustered stars and the steadfast bars, + The red, the white, and the blue. + + Flag of the sturdy fathers, + Flag of the royal sons, + Beneath its folds it gathers + Earth's best and noblest ones. + Boldly we wave its colors, + Our veins are thrilled anew + By the steadfast bars, the clustered stars, + The red, the white, and the blue. + + +OUR HISTORY AND OUR FLAG[1] + +WILLIAM BACKUS GUITTEAU + +Love of country is a sentiment common to all peoples and ages; but no +land has ever been dearer to its people than our own America. No +nation has a history more inspiring, no country has institutions more +deserving of patriotic love. Turning the pages of our nation's +history, the young citizen sees Columbus, serene in the faith of his +dream; the Mayflower, bearing the lofty soul of the Puritan; +Washington girding on his holy sword; Lincoln, striking the shackles +from the helpless slave; the constitution, organizing the farthest +west with north and south and east into one great Republic; the +tremendous energy of free life trained in free schools, utilizing our +immense natural resources, increasing the nation's wealth with the aid +of advancing science, multiplying fertile fields and noble workshops, +and busy schools and happy homes. + +This is the history for which our flag stands; and when the young +citizen salutes the flag, he should think of the great ideals which it +represents. The flag stands for democracy, for liberty under the law; +it stands for heroic courage and self-reliance, for equality of +opportunity, for self-sacrifice and the cause of humanity; it stands +for free public education, and for peace among all nations. When you +salute the flag, you should resolve that your own life will be +dedicated to these ideals. You should remember that he is the truest +American patriot who understands the meaning of our nation's ideals, +and who pledges his own life to their realization. + +[Footnote 1: From _Preparing for Citizenship_. Houghton Mifflin Company, +1913, 1915.] + + +THE AMERICAN FLAG + +JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE + + Flag of the free heart's hope and home! + By angel hands to valor given; + Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, + And all thy hues were born in heaven. + Forever float that standard sheet! + Where breathes the foe but falls before us, + With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, + And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us? + + +THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY + +ROBERT C. WINTHROP + +There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon its +folds, rippling in the breeze, without pride of country. If he be in a +foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself, with all its +endearments. Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because +it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence. + +It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely, +and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white +proclaim the original union of thirteen States to maintain the +Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue +proclaim that union of States constituting our national constellation, +which receives a new star with every new State. The two together +signify union past and present. + +The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our +fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and +altogether, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors blazing in the sky, +make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be +upheld by all our hands. + + +AMERICA + +SAMUEL FRANCIS SMITH + + My country, 'tis of thee, + Sweet land of liberty, + Of thee I sing; + Land where my fathers died, + Land of the pilgrims' pride, + From every mountain-side + Let freedom ring. + + My native country, thee, + Land of the noble free,-- + Thy name I love; + I love thy rocks and rills, + Thy woods and templed hills; + My heart with rapture thrills + Like that above. + + Let music swell the breeze, + And ring from all the trees + Sweet Freedom's song; + Let mortal tongues awake, + Let all that breathe partake, + Let rocks their silence break,-- + The sound prolong. + + Our fathers' God, to Thee, + Author of liberty, + To Thee we sing; + Long may our land be bright + With freedom's holy light; + Protect us by thy might, + Great God our King. + + + + +INDEX + + + Albany, reached by the Dutch, 2. + + "Albany Plan," 18-19. + + Alexandria, 61. + + Alfred, the, the first American man-of-war, 35-38. + + Algiers, the Dey of, yields to America, 58. + + America, 3, 18, 25, 34, 46, 52; + overpowers the Dey of Algiers, 58. + + "Ancient flag," the, 3. + + Anderson, General, carries the flag from Fort Sumter, raises it again + in 1865, 72-73; + burial of, 74. + + Andrea, Dona, saluted at one of the West Indian Islands, 45. + + Arch Street, home of Betsy Ross, 40, 42. + + Arizona, admitted to the Union, 66; + men from, at Santiago, 75. + + Asia, sought by Henry Hudson, 1-2. + + Atlantic Ocean, crossed by Henry Hudson, 1. + + + Bainbridge, Captain, carries Algerian ambassador to Constantinople, + 57-58. + + Baltimore, 50, 61. + + Bedford, the flag of, 20-21. + + Beecher, Henry Ward, speech of, at Fort Sumter, 73. + + Bethlehem, 50. + + Bon Homme Richard, sinking of the, 45-47. + + Boston, arrival of stamps at, 15-16; + flag seen in, 34; 35. + + Boston Harbor, 5; + tea dropped into, 30. + + Brest Roads, 44. + + Britain, 34. + + British, besiege Fort Stanwix, 48. + + Broadway, 53. + + Brooklyn Navy Yard, flags for the navy made in the, 67. + + Bunker Hill, flags at battle of, 21; 28, 29, 30, 32. + + Bunting, not made in America until 1866, 66-67. + + + Cambridge, Indian volunteers come to, 29; 34, 39. + + Carleton, Sir Guy, delayed in New York, 53. + + Castle Island, ship made to strike her colors at, 5-6. + + Chapultepec, taken by Americans, 70-71. + + Charles II, and the New England coinage, 11. + + Charleston, the flag of, 11-12; + stamped paper in, 15; + liberty flag in, 16; + flag of, after Bunker Hill, 22; + Liberty Tree of, 30; + cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, 31; 72. + + China, the American flag in, 79. + + Christina, becomes queen of Sweden, 2. + + Civil War, the beginning of the, 71. + + Clinton, Sir Henry, cuts down the Liberty Tree in Charleston, 31. + + Columbus, 58. + + Concord, 20. + + Congress, 19; + sends a committee to Cambridge, 32; + orders building of cruisers, 35; + orders a flag, 41; 42; 43; + celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 51; + decrees the star-spangled banner, 63-64. + _See also_ Continental Congress. + + Connecticut, regimental colors of, 22; + motto of, 30. + + Constantinople, Algerian ambassador carried to, 58. + + Constitution, frigate, 57. + + Continental Congress, 27; + weakness of the statement issued by the, 29; + Washington a member of the, 33; 37; + declares the colonies to be independent and decrees a flag, 39-40. + + Cook, Captain, to be aided by all American cruisers, 38. + + Copley, paints in the flag, 52. + + Cotton, Dr. John, advises concerning the King's Flag, 6-7; + Indian chief resembles, 59. + + Cuba, given up to the Cubans, 81-82. + + Culpeper Minute Men, 25. + + + Daiquiri, landing place of the Rough Riders, 75. + + Declaration of Independence, 32, 40; + flag made before the, 42; + first anniversary celebrated on the Delaware River, 51. + + Delaware River, Swedes settle on the, 2; + pine tree flag on the, 35; + stars and stripes on the, 42; + celebration on the, 51. + + Digby, Admiral, licenses a Nantucket skipper to go to London, 52. + + Dix, General, 81. + + Driver, Captain William, originates the name "Old Glory," 68. + + Dutch, establish trading posts on the Hudson River, 2; + overpowered by the English, 2; + opposed by New Englanders, 9-10; + government of, inquires concerning the American flag, 65. + + Dutch East India Company, Hudson sails in the employ of the, 1-2. + + + Elliot, Major, wife of, presents silken colors, 24. + + Endicott, John, cuts the cross from the English flag, 4-5; 87. + + England, flag of, brought to Jamestown, 2-3; 6; 18; 33; + flag of, pulled down in New York, 54; 66; + honors the Stars and Stripes, 84. + + English East India Company, flag of the, 34. + + Essex (county), 9. + + Essex Institute, "Old Glory" sent to the, 69. + + + "Father of his Country," 33. + + Fifteen stripes and fifteen stars, the flag of, 56-62. + + Fillmore, President, sends letter to Japan, 77. + + First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, 74. + _See_ Rough Riders. + + Flag anniversaries, 90-92. + + "Flag Day," 87. + + Flag etiquette, 85-89. + + "Flower flag," the, 79. + + Flamborough Head, 45. + + Fort George, 53. + + Fort McHenry, attacked by the British, 60. + + Fort Moultrie, 23. + + Fort Schuyler. + _See_ Fort Stanwix. + + Fort Stanwix, flag made at, 48-49. + + Fort Sumter, firing upon, begins the Civil War, 71-72; + flag raised upon, 73. + + Fourth of July, Declaration of Independence on the, 39-40; + first anniversary of the, 51; + new stars to be added to the flag on the, 64; + honored in Sweden, 81. + + France, war with, 57; + sells the Louisiana Territory to the United States, 58. + + Franklin, Benjamin, proposes the "Albany Plan," 18-19; 24, 25, 26; + sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32; 34; + issues letters of marque, 37. + + Frederick, burial place of Francis Scott Key, 61. + + French, opposed by the New Englanders, 9-10; + meet the New Englanders at Louisburg, 12-13. + + + Gadsden, Christopher, speaks of possible independence, 30. + + Gage, General, 21. + + Gansevoort, Colonel Peter, commands Fort Stanwix, 49. + + George III, proclamation of, 54. + + "God Save the King," sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, 84. + + Grand Army of the Republic, 74, 86. + + Grand Council, part of the "Albany Plan," 18-19. + + "Grand Union Flag," made in Cambridge, 33; + designer not known, 34; 39. + + Great Britain, second war with, 57, 84. + + Gustavus Adolphus, plans a settlement in America, 2; 80. + + + Hall, Lieutenant, rescues the flag at Fort Sumter, 72. + + Hancock, John, presents a flag to General Putnam, 30. + + Harrison, Benjamin, sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32. + + Hart, Sergeant Peter, fastens the flag up on the ramparts at Fort + Sumter, 72; + presents it to be raised, 73. + + Harvard College, used by troops, 28. + + Havana, 82. + + Hawthorne, tells the story of Endicott and the flag, 4-5; + of "The Pine-Tree Shillings," 11. + + Hemisphere, on a flag, 11. + + Henry, Patrick, 25. + + Hessians, 51. + + Holland, Hudson's vessel sailed from, the flag of, 1; 44. + + Holmes, "Old Ironsides," poem of, 56. + + House of Representatives, hoists the Star-Spangled Banner, 65. + + Hudson, carries the Dutch flag into the Hudson River, 1-2. + + + Indian, enters embrasure at Louisburg, 13. + + Indiana, 63. + + Indians, Hudson welcomed by the, 1; + method of warfare, 8; + given flags, 12; + volunteer at Cambridge, 29; + fought by Washington, 33; + besiege Fort Schuyler, 48; + raise the American flag, 59. + + Island of Knights, 80. + + + James I, changes the flag of England, 3. + + James II, sends a flag to New England, leaves England, 10. + + Jamestown, founded, 2. + + Japan, opened by Perry, 77-79; + embassy from visits the United States, 78; + the friend of the United States, 79. + + Jasper, William, rescues the flag at Fort Moultrie, 23-24. + + Jersey City, 65. + + Jones, John Paul, hoists a flag on the Alfred, 35-37; + forbidden to burn defenseless towns, 37; + put in command of the Ranger, 43; + receives a flag in Portsmouth and a salute in France, 43-45; + in command of the Bon Homme Richard, 45-47. + + Journal, of Congress, 32. + + + Kansas, first raising of the United States flag in, 59. + + Kentucky, admitted as a State, 56. + + Kettle Hill, battle of, 76. + + Key, Francis Scott, writes the "Star-Spangled Banner," 60-61. + + King Philip's War, flag used in, 9. + + "King's Flag," 3; + displayed at Castle Island, 6-7. + + + Lafayette visited by Pulaski, welcomed to Baltimore, 49, 50. + + Las Guasimas, 75. + + "Last battle of the Revolution," 53. + + Lexington, 31; + battle of, 35; 39. + + Liberty, the demand for, 14. + + "Liberty Elm," Massachusetts history associated with the, 30. + + "Liberty Hall," 16. + + Liberty Pole, cut down in New York, 31. + + "Liberty Tree," in Boston, 16, 17; + of South Carolina, 30; + Paine's poem on the, 31. + + Lincoln, President, 72. + + "Lion of the North," 2. + + London, 52; + honors the Stars and Stripes, 84. + + Longfellow, poem of, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," 50. + + Louisburg, the New Englanders at, 12-13. + + Louisiana, admitted to the Union, 63. + + Louisiana Territory, purchased by the United States, 58. + + Lowell, quotation from, 63. + + Lowell (city), bunting made in, 66. + + Lynch, Thomas, sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32. + + + Maryland, 61. + + Massachusetts, troubles concerning the cross in the flag, 4-7; 8, 9; + flag of the "Three County Troop" in, 9; + use of "pine tree" in, 10, 11, 15; + flag of, after Bunker Hill, 22; 27; + motto of, 30; + decrees the use of the pine-tree flag, 35; 66; 68; 86. + + Mediterranean Sea, freed from Pirates, 58. + + Memorial Day, 81. + + Mexico, war with, 70. + + Mexico, the City of, captured by Americans, 70-71. + + Middlesex (county), 9, 20. + + Monroe, President, signs a bill decreeing the use of the Star-Spangled + Banner, 64. + + Moravian Sisters, make banner for Pulaski, 50. + + Morris, Robert, 40. + + Mottoes on flags, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 28, 30, 36, 54. + + Moultrie, 71. + + Moultrie, Colonel, defends Fort Moultrie, 23-24. + + + Nantucket, 52, 53. + + Nashville, 68. + + National Museum, "Star-Spangled Banner" of Francis Scott Key in, 61. + + Netherlands, flag of the, 34. + + New Amsterdam, 2. + + Newbury, flag of the militia in, 8-9. + + Newburyport, patrol, of, 15. + + New England, alliance of the folk of, 9-10; 18. + + New Englanders, 10; + set off to capture Louisburg, 12. + + "New England Flag," the, 21. + + New Hampshire, 15, 43. + + New Haven, peace rejoicing in, 54. + + New Mexico, admitted to the Union, 66. + + New World, 2, 58. + + New York, founded by the Dutch, 2; + flag of, 15; + arrival of stamps at, 16; + liberty pole in, 17-18; + hoists flag with beaver device, 22; 27; 31; + State of, 48; + Sir Guy Carleton delayed in, 53; 64; 72. + + _New York Sun_, 82. + + North Pole, discovered by Admiral Peary, 83. + + + Ohio, admitted to the Union, 63. + + "Old Glory," origin of the name and story of, 68-69; + in three wars, 70. + + "Old Ironsides," frigate, poem by Holmes, 57. + + "Old Thirteen," 2. + + Oliver, hanged in effigy in Boston, 15-16. + + Oscar, king of Sweden, 81. + + + Page family, as color bearers, 20. + + Paine, Thomas, poem of on the "Liberty Tree," 31. + + Pearson, Captain, yields to John Paul Jones, 45. + + Peary, Admiral Robert E., carries the flag to the North Pole, 82-83. + + Pennsylvania, 32, 50, 55. + + _Pennsylvania Gazette_, 19. + + _Pennsylvania Journal_, 25. + + Perry, Commodore M. C., carries the letter of President Fillmore to + Japan, 77-79. + + Philadelphia, 18, 37, 39, 40, 55. + + Philadelphia Light Horse Troop, escorts Washington to New York, 27; + flag of the, 27-28, 33. + + Phoenix, 74. + + Pike, Lieut. Z. M., and the Indians, 59. + + Pilgrims, 34. + + Pine tree, on flag, 10, 11, 21, 35; + used on the Delaware River, 35. + + "Pine-Tree Shillings, The," Hawthorne's story of, 11. + + Pope's Creek, birthplace of Washington, 61. + + Portsmouth, banner in, 15; + the "quilting party" flag, 43-47. + + Poughkeepsie, 49. + + Prospect Hill, 29; + flag raised on, 34. + + Pulaski, Count, the banner of, 49-50. + + Puritans, troubled by the cross in the flag, 4-7. + + Putnam, Major-General Israel, 29; + flag presented to, by John Hancock, 30. + + + Quaker City, the, 27. + + + Ranger, command of, given to Jones, 43; + the flag of, and its salute, 43-45. + + Rattlesnake, on flag of Charleston, 22; + a favorite emblem, 24-26; 35; + on flag of the Alfred, 37. + + Reid, Captain, S. C., designs the flag with stars arranged in one + star, 65. + + Revere, Paul, 20. + + Revolutionary War, 21. + + Rhode Island, hoists a flag with the anchor device, 22. + + Roman Catholic Church, the cross regarded as the badge of the, 4. + + Rome, 48. + + Ross, Betsy, makes the first flag with stars and stripes, 40-42. + + Ross, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom, 40, 48. + _See_ Betsy Ross. + + Ross, Colonel, 40, 42. + + "Rough Riders," 74. + + + St. Andrew, the cross of, 3, 18, 33. + + St. George's Cross, united with the cross of St. Andrew, 3; + cut out of the flag by Endicott, 4-5; + in the flag sent by James II to New England, in the pine-tree + flag, 10; 18; 21; 32; 34. + + St. Paul, Cathedral of, 84. + + Salem, cross cut from the flag in, 4-5, 8, 68. + + San Juan Hill, the battle of, 76. + + Santiago, attacked by the Rough Riders, 75. + + Savannah, flag hoisted at, 22, 24. + + Scotland, the flag of, 3; 33. + + Serapis, taken by Jones, 45-47. + + Six Nations, 18. + + Somerville, flag raised in, 34. + + Sons of Liberty, 15; + put up a liberty pole, 17-18; + meetings of the, 30. + + South Carolina, 11; + treatment of stamped paper in, 14; 30; 32. + + Spain, owner of the Louisiana Territory, 59; + war with, 74, 81. + + Spaniards, repulsed at Las Guasimas, 75. + + Spanish-American War, 81, 87. + + Stamp Act, 14; + repeal of the, 17; 30. + + Stars and Stripes, first salute to, 45; + replace the English flag in New York, 54; + at Fort McHenry, 60; + at Chapultepec, 71; + fired upon at Fort Sumter, 71-72; + raised again at Fort Sumter, 72-73; + in Japan, 78; + in China, 79; + in Sweden, 81; + honored in England, 84; + behavior towards the, 85-87. + + "Star-Spangled Banner, The," written by Francis Scott Key, 60-61; + played at Fort Sumter, 73; + sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, 84. + + Stiles, President, describes the New Haven rejoicing for peace, 54. + + Stockholm, 80. + + Suffolk (county), 9. + + Swartwout, Captain Abram, cloak of, used for flag at Fort Stanwix, 48-49. + + Sweden, American flag raised in, 79-81. + + Swedes, settle on the Delaware River, are overpowered by the Dutch, 2; + opposed by the New Englanders, 9-10. + + + Tennessee, admitted to the Union, 63; 68. + + Thames, the royal seal tossed into the, 10. + + "Thirteen," 51, 63. + + Thirteen stripes, first used, 28. + + Thomas, William W., raises American flag in Sweden, 79-81. + + Trenton, 51. + + Tripoli, war with, 57. + + Trumbull, battle of Bunker Hill painted by, 21. + + + "Union Flag," 18, 22; + made at Cambridge, 33; + worn by the Alfred, 37. + + Union Jack, 3; + given to the Indians, 12; 18; 84. + + United Colonies, 34. + + "Unite or die," motto of the "Albany Plan," 18. + + United States, 26, 51, 52; + left by British troops, 53; 54, 55, 58; + buys the Louisiana Territory, 58-59; + flag of, decided upon, 63-65; + flag manufactured in, 67; + opens intercourse with Japan, 78; 80; + flag of, hauled down in Cuba, 81-82; 83, 84, 87. + + + Vermont, admitted as a State, 56. + + "Victory Tower," Star-Spangled Banner floats from, 84. + + Virginia, 2, 3, 25, 33, 61. + + + Washington, 21; + goes to Boston, 27-29; 32; + coat-of-arms of, 33; 34; 40; + visits Betsy Ross, 41; + significance of the flag expressed by, 43; 61; + monument reared to in Baltimore, birthplace of marked, 61-62; 81. + + Watson, Elkanah, flag painted in portrait of, by Copley, 52. + + Wendover, Peter H., induces Congress to decree the Star-Spangled + Banner, 64. + + Westminster Palace, 84. + + Westmoreland County, 61. + + West Point, burial place of General Anderson, 74. + + Wood, General Leonard, 75; + delivers Cuba to the Cubans, 82. + + + Yale, 54. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + +* Footnote moved to end of article on Pg 114. + +* Moved frontispiece illustration to Pg 1. + +* Otherwise, archaic and inconsistent spelling and hyphenation retained. + +* Pg 16 Corrected spelling of word "processsion" to "procession" located +in the phrase "and marched in a log procession". + +* Pg 43 "whereever" and Pg 107 "wherever" retained as printed. + +* Pg 90 Replaced semi-colon with a colon after "1783" located in +"February 3, 1783". + +* Pg 92 Removed extraneous comma after "1787" located in "September 30, +1787,-August 10, 1790". + +* Pg 119 Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "30" located in the phrase +"cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, 30". + +* Pg 119 Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "19" located in the phrase +"Congress, 19". + +* Pg 120 Added period after "39" located in "designer not known, 34; 39". + +* Pg 121 Replaced period with a comma after "Jones" located in phrase +"Pearson, captain, yields to John Paul Jones". + +* Pg 122 Replaced period with a comma after "51" located in phrase +""Thirteen," 51". + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Little Book of the Flag, by Eva March Tappan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG *** + +***** This file should be named 30893-8.txt or 30893-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/8/9/30893/ + +Produced by Larry B. 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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: The Little Book of the Flag + +Author: Eva March Tappan + +Release Date: January 8, 2010 [EBook #30893] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG *** + + + + +Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br />THE LITTLE BOOK<br /> +OF THE FLAG</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>EVA MARCH TAPPAN</h2> + +<h2>HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY</h2> + +<h3>BOSTON · NEW YORK · CHICAGO · DALLAS<br /> +SAN FRANCISCO</h3> + +<h3>The Riverside Press Cambridge</h3> + +<h4>COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN<br /> +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</h4> + +<h4>The Riverside Press<br /> +CAMBRIDGE · MASSACHUSETTS<br /> +PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table width="70%" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">The Flags that brought the Colonists</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">Flags under which the early colonists sailed—TheEnglish "ancient flag"—The "meteor flag," +"Union Jack," or "King's Flag"—Endicott cuts the cross from the English flag—The militia object to the cross on the flag—A flagless +fort—Dr. Cotton's decision.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">The Pine-Tree Flag and Others</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">Flags common among the colonists—The New England Alliance—The pine-tree flag and coins—Flags of the +militia—The red coat flag.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">Liberty and Liberty Poles</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">The demand for liberty—Opposition to the Stamp Act—Oliver hanged in effigy—The Liberty Tree in +Boston—The liberty pole in New York—The Albany plan—The snake design.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">The Land of Many Flags</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">The Bedford flag—Flags at the beginning of the Revolution—Sergeant Jasper saves the flag—The +rattlesnake on the flag.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">When Washington went to Cambridge</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">The Philadelphia Light Horse Troop—The army at Cambridge—The backwoodsmen—Indians offer +their services—General Putnam unfurls a scarlet flag—The Liberty Tree.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">The "Grand Union Flag"</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_32">32</a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">The "Grand Union Flag"—Possible sources of the design—First raised in Somerville—Flags on sea and +land—Flag hoisted over the Alfred by John Paul Jones—Franklin's letters of marque.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">The First United States Flag</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">The flag of the United States as decreed by Congress—The Betsy Ross flag—Significance of the Colors—Captain +Jones put in command of the Ranger—The "quilting party"—The Drake strikes her colors to the Ranger—The United States flag is saluted by +the French—The flag goes down with the Bon Homme Richard.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">Flags One would have liked to see</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">The Fort Stanwix flag—Pulaski's banner—The first Fourth of July celebration—General use of +"thirteen"—Copley's delay to paint in the flag—A Nantucket skipper carries the flag to London—The +last battle of the Revolution—The New Haven peace rejoicing.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">The Flag of Fifteen Stripes and Fifteen Stars</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">The flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars decreed by Congress—Worn by "Old Ironsides"—Leads against +Tripoli—Seen at Constantinople—Among the Indians of the Louisiana Territory—"The Star-Spangled +Banner"—Marking the birthplace of Washington.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">X.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">The Star-Spangled Banner</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">Congress decrees the present flag—No law for the arrangement of the stars—The manufacture of bunting—Flags +for the navy—Flags for the War Department—"Old Glory."</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XI.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">The Flag in War</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">The flag at Chapultepec—The surrender of Fort Sumter—The flag raised again at Fort Sumter—The +Arizona flag of the Rough Riders.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XII.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">The Flag in Peace</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td colspan="2">Perry opens Japan to the world—Raising the flag over the legation in Sweden—Hauling down the flag in +Cuba—The flag at the North Pole—The flag on Westminster Palace.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XIII.</td><td colspan="2" class="smcap">How to behave toward the Flag</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left" colspan="2" class="smcap">Flag Anniversaries</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left" colspan="2" class="smcap">Selections</td><td> </td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Star-Spangled Banner</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Francis Scott Key</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Flag in the Darkness</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Benjamin Harrison</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">A Song for Flag Day</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Wilbur D. Nesbit</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Flag goes by</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Henry Holcomb Bennett</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">What the Flag stands for</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Henry Cabot Lodge</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Union and Liberty</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Oliver Wendell Holmes</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your Country and your Flag</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Edward Everett Hale</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Home Flag</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Old Flag</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Hubbard Parker</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Britannia to Columbia</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Alfred Austin</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Makers of the Flag</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Franklin K. Lane</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our Flag</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Margaret Sangster</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our History and our Flag</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>William Backus Guitteau</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The American Flag</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Joseph Rodman Drake</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Flag of our Country</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Robert C. Winthrop</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span style="margin-left: 2em;">America</span></td><td align="right"> +<i>Samuel Francis Smith</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left" colspan="2" class="smcap">Index</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg vi]<br />[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h1>THE LITTLE BOOK OF<br /> +THE FLAG</h1> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<a href="images/frontis-b.png"> +<img src="images/frontis-a.png" width="127" height="200" alt="Famous American Flags" title=""/> </a> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>THE FLAGS THAT BROUGHT THE COLONISTS</h3> + +<p>More than three hundred years ago a little +sailing vessel set out from Holland, crossed the +Atlantic Ocean, and followed down our coast +from Greenland. Its captain, Henry Hudson, was +in search of a quick and easy route to Asia, and +when he entered the mouth of the river that is +named for him, he hoped that he had found a +strait leading to the Asiatic coast. He was disappointed +in this, but the Indians welcomed +him, the mountains were rich in forests, and the +ground was fertile. "It is the most beautiful +land in all the world," declared the enthusiastic +navigator.</p> + +<p>Henry Hudson was an Englishman, but he +sailed in the employ of the Dutch East India +Company, and soon the flag of this Company was +well known along the Hudson River. It was the +old flag of Holland, three horizontal stripes, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +orange, white, and blue, with the initials of the +Company on the white stripe. Hudson had not +found a new route to Asia, but he had opened the +way for the fur-trade. In a few years the Dutch +had established trading-posts as far north as +Albany. They had also founded a city which we +call "New York," but which they named "New +Amsterdam." So it was that in 1609 the Dutch +flag first came to the New World.</p> + +<p>Nearly thirty years after the voyage of Henry +Hudson, a company of Swedes made a settlement +on the Delaware River. This had been planned +by the great Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. +"That colony will be the jewel of my kingdom," +he said; but the "Lion of the North" was slain +in battle, and his twelve-year-old daughter Christina +had become queen. That is why the loyal +Swedes named their little fortification Fort +Christiana, and over it they raised the flag of +their country, a blue banner with a yellow +cross.</p> + +<p>In course of time the Swedes were overpowered +by the Dutch, and then the Dutch by +the English; so that before many years had +passed, the only flag that floated over the "Old +Thirteen" colonies was that of England. This +was brought across the sea by the settlers of +our first English colony, Jamestown, in Virginia.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +Moreover, they had the honor of sailing away +from England in all the glories of a brand-new +flag made in a brand-new design. The flag of +England had been white with a red upright +cross known as "St. George's Cross"; but a new +king, James I, had come to the throne, and the +flag as well as many other things had met with +a change. James was King of Scotland by birth, +and the Scotch flag was blue with the white +diagonal cross of St. Andrew. When James became +King of England, he united the two flags +by placing on a blue background the upright +cross of St. George over the diagonal cross of St. +Andrew; and he was so well pleased with the +result that he commanded every English vessel +to bear in its maintop this flag, "joined together +according to the form made by our own heralds," +the King declared with satisfaction. It was the +custom at that time to call "ancient" whatever +was not perfectly new, and therefore the flag used +before James became king was spoken of as the +"ancient flag," while the new one became the +"King's Flag" or the "Union Jack." This change +was made in the very year when the grant for +Virginia was obtained, and therefore the little +company of settlers probably sailed for America +with the "King's Flag" in the maintop and the +"ancient flag" in the foretop.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>On land, among the colonists, sometimes one +flag was floated and sometimes the other. In +Massachusetts the red cross of St. George seems +to have been much in use; but before long that +red cross began to hurt the consciences of the +Puritans most grievously. To them the cross +was the badge of the Roman Catholic Church. +Still, it was on the flag of their mother country, +the flag that floated over their forts and their +ships. The Puritan conscience was a stern master, +however, and when one day John Endicott +led the little company of Salem militia out for +a drill, and saw that cross hanging over the +governor's gate, the sight was more than he +could bear, and he—but Hawthorne has already +told the story:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Endicott gazed around at the excited countenances +of the people, now full of his own spirit, and then +turned suddenly to the standard-bearer, who stood +close behind him.</p> + +<p>"Officer, lower your banner!" said he.</p> + +<p>The officer obeyed; and brandishing his sword, +Endicott thrust it through the cloth, and, with his +left hand, rent the red cross completely out of the +banner. He then waved the tattered ensign above his +head.</p> + +<p>"Sacrilegious wretch!" cried the High Churchman +in the pillory, unable longer to restrain himself, +"thou hast rejected the symbol of our holy +religion!"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>"Treason, treason!" roared the Royalist in the +stocks. "He hath defaced the King's banner!"</p> + +<p>"Before God and man, I will avouch the deed," +answered Endicott. "Beat a flourish, drummer!—shout, +soldiers and people!—in honor of the ensign +of New England. Neither Pope nor Tyrant hath +part in it now!"</p> + +<p>With a cry of triumph the people gave their sanction +to one of the boldest exploits which our history +records.</p></div> + +<p>Endicott was one of the court assistants, but +he was now removed from his position and forbidden +to hold any public office for one year. He +was fortunate in being permitted to retain his +head.</p> + +<p>Endicott had been punished, but the Puritan +conscience was not yet at rest, and now many of +the militia declared that they did not think it +right to march under the cross. The whole militia +could not well be punished, and the commissioners +for military affairs were as doubtful +as the honest militia men about what should be +done. "We will leave it to the next General +Court to decide," they said, "and in the meantime +no flags shall be used anywhere."</p> + +<p>This seemed a comfortable way to settle the +question, but unluckily there was a fort on Castle +Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor, and +when an English vessel came sailing in, its captain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +refused to pay any attention to a fort without +a flag. Then the officer in command rose to +his dignity and made the ship—maybe with the +aid of a ball across her bows—strike her colors. +The captain complained to the authorities that +the commandant of this flagless fort had insulted +his flag and his country. The authorities were +just a bit alarmed. To insult a flag and a country +was a serious matter. "What shall we do to +make amends?" they queried. "Let the officer +who proffered the insult come on board of my +vessel and say in the presence of the ship's company +that he was in fault," replied the captain. +This was done, and the sky cleared.</p> + +<p>But the troubles of the colonists were by no +means over. The mate of another vessel declared +with considerable emphasis that these +people were all rebels and traitors to the King. +Surely the thought of such a report as this +going back to England from a tiny colony clinging +to the edge of the continent was enough to +alarm the boldest. Discussions were held, and +Dr. John Cotton was appealed to.</p> + +<p>A canny man was this Dr. John Cotton, and +he decided that inasmuch as the fort belonged +to the King, it was proper that it should display +the King's Flag, whatever it might be,—"while +vessels are passing," he added shrewdly;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +but that, as for the militia, each company +might have its own colors, and not one of +them need bear a cross. So the great tempest +passed by.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE PINE-TREE FLAG AND OTHERS</h3> + +<p>In some of the colonies at least, the people must +have led a rather somber life, with little pleasure, +much hard work, and much discomfort; but they +fairly reveled in flags. The Indians in their warfare +preferred to hide behind trees rather than to +flourish banners, and the white men soon learned +to follow their example. Nevertheless, it always +seemed to the minds of the colonists a little +irregular and out of place not to carry a flag of +some sort when they were setting out on an expedition.</p> + +<p>Probably we do not know one in twenty of all +the designs for banners that entered the fertile +minds of these colonists, but they were so numerous +that if they had all been displayed at the +same time, they would have almost hidden the +settlements. Not all colonists were as afraid of +a cross as were the good folk of Salem. In Newbury, +Massachusetts, a certain company of foot +rejoiced in a flag of vivid green. In the upper +corner next the staff was a square of white containing +a red cross. The kindly councilor, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +had ordered the flag to be made in England +"with all convenient speed," evidently had some +sense of humor, for he wrote at the end of his +letter to the company, "The number of bullets +to be put into your colors for distinction may be +left out at present without damage in the making +of them." Another flag, belonging to a company +of Massachusetts cavalry, seems to have +been something quite out of the common, for it +was of damask and silk and adorned with silver +fringe. A real artist must have used his brush +upon it, for the bill read, "For painting in oyle on +both sides a Cornett on rich crimson damask, +with a hand and sword and invelloped with a +scarfe about the arms of gold, black and silver"; +and for all that gorgeousness, generously painted +"on both sides," the charge was the moderate one +of £5 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> This was made for what was known +as the "Three County Troop," composed of cavalry +from Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk Counties +in Massachusetts, and was probably used in +King Philip's War.</p> + +<p>Now, wherever a discoverer planted the sole +of his foot, he took possession for his sovereign of +all the land in sight and all the land which joined +that land. Naturally, the claims of the colonies +soon conflicted. The good folk of New England +made an alliance to defend themselves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +against the Dutch, Swedes, and French. They +managed to be good allies for forty years without +a flag. Then came one brilliant enough to +make up for the delay, and sent to them across +the sea by no less a man than King James II himself. +This was of white with a St. George's cross of +red. In the center of the cross was a golden crown +and under it the King's monogram in black. A +few years later matters in England had changed. +King James II had proved to be a very poor sort +of sovereign, and it was made clear to him that +for his health and comfort—possibly for his head—it +would be wise for him to leave the country. +This he did in alarm and at full speed, tossing +the royal seal into the Thames on his way. It +is small wonder that New Englanders preferred +a new flag. The only marvel is that they waited +so long a time before getting it. When it was +finally chosen, it proved to be red with a white +canton or union cut by a red St. George's cross +into four squares. In one of these squares was the +representation of a pine tree. This representation +can hardly have been a work of art, for one +historian says unkindly of it that it "no more resembled +a pine tree than a cabbage." Evidently +the brave colonists were not artists. Nevertheless, +even if the good folk of Massachusetts could +not draw a pine tree, they were fond of it, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +their General Court decreed that it should be +stamped upon the coins minted in that colony. +Now it was the right of the King to coin money, +and when Charles II heard that the ambitious +colonists were making it for themselves, he was +not pleased. "But it is only for their own use," +said a courtier who favored the colonies, and +taking a New England coin from his pocket, he +showed it to the King. "What tree is that?" +demanded the aggrieved monarch. "That," said +the quick-witted courtier, "is the royal oak which +saved Your Majesty's life." "Well, well," said +the King, "those colonists are not so bad after +all. They're a parcel of honest dogs!" Perhaps +they were, even if their likenesses of pine trees +could not be distinguished from cabbages and +oaks. Hawthorne's story, "The Pine-Tree Shillings," +is written about this inartistic coinage.</p> + +<p>So the story of the flags went on. Besides the +English flag every little company of militia had +its standard. One flag bore a hemisphere in the +corner in place of a pine tree, and another bore +nothing but a tree. The colonists did not trouble +themselves about being artistic or choosing colors +of any special significance; if the ground of the +flag was of one color and the cross or whatever +other figure was chosen was of another, they +were satisfied. Charleston, South Carolina, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +a specially elegant flag—blue with a silver crescent—to +use on "dress-up" days. After a time +even the Indians were sometimes furnished with +flags, for one kindly governor gave them a Union +Jack as a protection. He presented them also with +a red flag to indicate war and a white one as a +sign of peace; and probably the fortunate Indians +felt with all this magnificence quite like +white folk.</p> + +<p>In 1745, when that remarkable expedition +of New Englanders—which had "a lawyer for +contriver, a merchant for general, and farmers, +fishermen, and mechanics for soldiers"—set +off to capture Louisburg from the French, they +sailed proudly away under a flag whereon was +written in Latin, "Never despair, for Christ is +our leader." It was on this same expedition that +a new flag was hoisted, the like of which was +never seen before. An officer discovered that a +battery on the shore of the harbor was apparently +vacant. There was no flag flying from the +staff and no smoke rising from the chimney. It +looked as if that battery might be taken easily. +On the other hand it was also quite possible +that this was a ruse and was meant to decoy +the colonists within. The officer concluded to +run the risk—of losing the life of some one else. +Holding up a bottle of brandy before the thirsty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +gaze of an Indian, he said, "If I give you this, +will you creep in at that embrasure and open the +gate?" The red man grunted assent, crept in, +and opened the gate. Then the officer and +twelve men took possession. Soon a message +went from the officer to his general as follows: +"May it please your honor to be informed that +by the grace of God and the courage of thirteen +men, I entered the royal battery about nine +o'clock, and am awaiting for a reinforcement +and a flag." Sometimes the colonists were wanting +in the grace of patience, and this was one of +the occasions. A soldier, tired of delay, decided +that, although he could not provide reinforcements, +he could provide a flag; so up the staff +he clambered with a red coat in his teeth. He +nailed it to the top of the staff, and it swung +out in the wind, much to the alarm of the citizens, +who sent one hundred men in boats to recapture +the battery. The hundred men fired, but +the brave little company kept them from landing +and held their position till the general could +send help.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>LIBERTY AND LIBERTY POLES</h3> + +<p>After the middle of the eighteenth century +there was much talk among the colonies of liberty. +It is possible that not all the people were +quite clear in their minds what that "liberty" +might mean; but whatever it was, they wanted it. +England required nothing more of her colonies +than other nations required of theirs. The colonies +asked nothing of England that would not be +granted to-day as a matter of course. The difficulty +was that the mother country was living +in the eighteenth century, while the colonists +were looking forward into the nineteenth. A demand +for liberty was in the air. The pole on +which a flag was hung was not called a flag pole, +but a liberty pole.</p> + +<p>Most of the flags on these liberty poles bore +mottoes, many of them decidedly bold and defiant. +When the Stamp Act was passed, the +wrath of the people rose, and now they knew +exactly what they wanted—"No taxation +without representation." The stamped paper +brought to South Carolina was carefully stowed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +away in a fort. Thereupon three volunteer companies +from Charleston took possession of the +fort, ran up a blue flag marked with three white +crescents, and destroyed the paper. New York's +flag had one word only, but that one word was +"Liberty." Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had +a banner inscribed "Liberty, Property, and +no Stamps." In Newburyport, Massachusetts, +there was a regular patrol of men armed with +stout sticks. "What do you say, stamps or no +stamps?" they demanded of every stranger, and +if he had a liking for a whole skin, he replied emphatically, +"No stamps." One wary newcomer +replied courteously, "I am what you are," and +was uproariously cheered.</p> + +<p>In going from one colony to another, it was +not uncommon for a man to get a passport from +the sons of Liberty to attest to his standing as a +"Liberty man." When the stamps made their +first appearance, Boston tolled her church bells +and put her flags at half-mast. Indeed, a new +sort of flag appeared in the shape of an effigy of +Oliver, the stamp distributor, swinging from the +bough of a great elm which stood by the main +entrance to town. The Chief Justice ordered +this image to be removed. "Certainly," replied +the people politely, "we will take it down ourselves +this very evening." So they did, but they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +laid it upon a bier and marched in a long <a name="processsion" id="processsion"></a> procession +through the old State House. Here, in +the Council Chamber, the Governor and his +Council were deliberating. Shouts came up from +below, "Liberty, Property, and no Stamps!" and +"Death to the man who offers a piece of stamped +paper to sell!" "Beat an alarm," the Chief +Justice commanded the colonel of the militia. +"But I cannot," replied the colonel, "my drummers +are in the mob." The procession marched +on, burned the effigy in front of the distributor's +house, gave three rousing cheers, and went home. +In New York, when the rumor spread that a ship +laden with stamps was approaching, all the vessels +in the harbor put their colors at half-mast.</p> + +<p>When every distributor of stamps had resigned +his office, there was another outburst of +banners. Charleston, South Carolina, hoisted a +liberty flag, surmounted by a branch of laurel. +The tree in Boston on which the effigy of the +stamp distributor had been hung had become an +important member of colonial society. It had +been formally named the "Liberty Tree," and +the ground under it was called "Liberty Hall." +Banners were often swung from its branches, and +notices were nailed to its trunk. Fastened firmly +to the trunk was a tall liberty pole, and whenever +any one caught a glimpse of a red flag<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +waving from the top of the pole, he knew that the +Sons of Liberty were to hold a meeting. When +the Stamp Act was repealed, the Liberty Tree was +the very center of rejoicing. At one o'clock in +the morning, the church bell nearest it was rung +joyfully. At the first rays of dawn, the houses +about it, even the steeple of the church, all blossomed +out with banners, and at night the tree +itself was aglow with lanterns. In New York +a liberty pole was set up with a splendid new +flag on which was inscribed, "The King, Pitt, +and Liberty." It almost seemed as if "liberty" +meant having whatever sort of flag might suit +one's whim.</p> + +<p>This New York pole had rather a hard time. +British soldiers cut it down twice, and when a +third pole was raised, sheathed with iron around +its base, they managed to cut that down also, although +it bore the legend, "To His Most Gracious +Majesty George III, Mr. Pitt, and Liberty." +The city authorities would not risk planting another +pole on city land, and thereupon the Sons +of Liberty bought a piece of land for themselves, +and marched up in brilliant procession; first a +full band, playing with all its might, then six +horses, made gorgeous with bright ribbons, +drawing from the shipyard a fine new pole, +sheathed in iron two thirds of its length. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +escorted by the Sons of Liberty in full numbers. +Three flags floated over the little procession, but +their mottoes were not so impressively loyal as +the earlier ones. These read, "Liberty and Property." +Nevertheless, "liberty" did not yet mean +separation from the mother country; it meant +only freedom in making some of their own laws; +and what was known as the "Union Flag" did +not refer to any union of the colonies, but rather +to the union of Scotland and England. This +flag, the regular flag of England, was red, with +the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew on a +blue field forming the Jack.</p> + +<p>Once, however, more than twenty years before +the Revolutionary War, there had been some talk +of a union of colonies, beginning with the suggestions +of the most far-sighted man in America, +Benjamin Franklin. In 1754, when war between +France and England was on the point of breaking +out, there was a meeting at Albany of delegates +from several colonies. They had come to see if +they could make sure of the aid of the Six Nations +of Indian tribes; and here the sagacious +Franklin brought forward his plan for a union. +His scheme was for the colonies to elect a Grand +Council, which should meet every year in Philadelphia, +to levy taxes, enlist soldiers, plan for defense, +and, in short, to attend to whatever concerned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +all the colonies. Whatever affected them +separately was to be managed by the colony interested. +This Council was to have much the +same powers as our Congress of to-day; but there +must be a place in the scheme for the King, +of course; so Franklin proposed that the King +should appoint a president who should have the +right to veto the acts of the Grand Council. This +was the "Albany Plan." Franklin was much +in earnest about the matter, and had a cut made +for the <i>Pennsylvania Gazette</i> picturing a rather +unpleasant device, a snake sliced uncomfortably +into ten parts, the head marked "NE," for +New England, and each of the other pieces with +the initials of some one of the other nine colonies. +With the motto, "Unite or die," this work of +art appeared for a number of issues at the head +of the <i>Gazette</i>; but many years passed before +the colonies began to make any practical use of +the wisdom of Franklin in 1754.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE LAND OF MANY FLAGS</h3> + +<p>When Paul Revere galloped through the villages +of Middlesex, calling "for the country folk +to be up and to arm," there was not much spare +time for collecting flags, and probably when</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p class="i4">"The farmers gave them ball for ball,</p> +<p>From behind each fence and farmyard wall,"—</p> +</div></div> + +<p>they did not trouble themselves to flourish a +flag before they shot. Yet, if we may trust a +family tradition, at least one flag waved over the +plucky farmers. It seems that for a long while +one member or another of the Page family of +Bedford had been accustomed to carrying the +colors of the militia, and therefore when the +alarm was given and Nathaniel Page started for +Concord, it was as natural for him to seize his +flag as his gun. Moreover, this story has the +bunting to back it up, for the Bedford flag remained +in the Page family until presented to the +town a century after the close of the war. It is +rather a pity that it did not come a little sooner, +for an old lady of Page descent confessed that in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +her giddy girlhood she had irreverently ripped +off the silver fringe to make trimming for her +ball dress.</p> + +<p>The Revolution was fairly on, and two months +later, the battle of Bunker Hill was fought. +Possibly the colonists thought of spades rather +than standards when they were throwing up the +fortifications, and yet I fancy that to these flag-loving +fighters a battle without a banner would +have seemed like an undignified riot. Some +writers say positively that no flag was to be seen—rather +a difficult statement to prove. The +daughter of one of the soldiers declared that +her father helped hoist the standard known as +the "New England Flag." "He called it a 'noble +flag,'" she said. "It was blue with the red cross +of St. George in a white corner, and in one section +was a pine tree." The artist Trumbull, who +painted the picture of this battle now in the +Capitol at Washington, made the flag red instead +of blue, but both were familiar colonial flags, and +there is no reason why both should not have +waved over the famous hill. Tradition says +that one flag bore the motto, "Come if you +dare." General Gage is said to have had difficulty +in reading it, but maybe that was because +of its audacity. Some verses written soon after +the battle say that</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>"Columbia's troops are seen in dread array,</p> +<p>And waving streamers in the air display";—</p> +</div></div> + +<p>but, unluckily, the poet forgot to mention the +color of those "waving streamers." In Savannah, +after the battle, but before any news of it +could have arrived, the independent Georgians +hoisted a Union flag and suggestively placed two +pieces of artillery directly under it. New York +chose a white flag with a black beaver thereon. +Rhode Island had also a white flag, but with a +blue anchor instead of a beaver, and a blue canton +with thirteen white stars. Her motto was +"Hope." Connecticut meant that there should +be no mistake in the whereabouts of her regiments, +for she gave them flags of solid color: to +the first, yellow; the second, blue; the third, +scarlet; and so on with crimson, white, azure, +another shade of blue, and orange. For a motto +Connecticut chose "Qui transtulit sustinet"; +that is, "He who brought us here sustains us." +Massachusetts chose for her motto "An Appeal +to Heaven." Charleston had a blue flag with a +white crescent in the upper corner next to the +staff and inscribed upon her banner the daring +words, "Liberty or Death." Later she adopted +a rattlesnake flag. Her troops wore blue and had +silver crescents on the front of their caps, inscribed +with the same motto. It is small wonder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +that timid folk were alarmed and whispered to +one another, "That is going too far; it looks like +a declaration of war." This blue and silver flag +was planned by Colonel Moultrie. When Fort +Moultrie—which received this name because of +his brave defense—was shelled the following +year, the anxious folk in the town watched with +troubled faces, for it was doubtful whether the +little fort with its scant supply of ammunition +could sustain the attack. Suddenly the crescent +flag fell from its staff. A groan ran through the +crowd—Colonel Moultrie had struck his flag! +"Forward!" cried one among them, and they +marched to the water's edge to fight for their +homes. Within the little fort one William Jasper, +a sergeant, saw that a ball had cut down the flag +and it had fallen over the rampart. "Colonel," +he said to his commander, "don't let us fight +without a flag." "What can you do?" demanded +Colonel Moultrie, "the staff is broken." Sergeant +Jasper was a man of few words and many +deeds. He leaped through an embrasure, walked +the whole length of the fort in a heavy fire from +the ships, caught up the flag, brought it safely +back, and fastened it to a sponge-staff. Then, +in the midst of cheers,—in which I fancy the +British also joined,—he fastened the rescued +banner upon the bastion. The following day the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +Governor came to the fort, asked for Sergeant +Jasper, presented him with his own sword, and +gave him hearty thanks in behalf of his country. +Then he said, "I will gladly give you a lieutenant's +commission," but the honest man refused. +"I am only a sergeant," he said. "I don't +know how to read or write, and I am not fit to +keep company with officers." Colonel Moultrie +then gave him a roving commission, and he often +made some little trip with half a dozen men and +returned with a band of prisoners before any +one realized that he had gone. The wife of Major +Elliot presented the regiment with a pair of +beautiful silken colors, which were afterwards +carried in the assault upon Savannah. The +standard-bearers were shot down; another man +seized them, but he was also shot; then Sergeant +Jasper caught them and fastened them on the +parapet, when he too was fatally wounded by +a ball. "Tell Mrs. Elliot," he said, "that I lost +my life supporting the colors she gave to our +regiment." A tablet in honor of the brave sergeant +was long ago placed in Savannah.</p> + +<p>The rattlesnake as an emblem seems to have +been somewhat of a favorite among the colonists. +Besides Franklin's snake of the many initials—which, +indeed, might have stood, or coiled, for +any sort of serpent—there was the one borne by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +Patrick Henry's men when they forced the +Governor of Virginia to pay for the powder which +he had carried away from the colonial magazine. +Then, too, there was a third variety of snake, +the one that stretched itself across a colonial +naval flag and proclaimed—from the top of the +mast—"Don't tread on me." On another flag +the rattlesnake appeared coiled in the roots of +a pine tree and ready to strike. The Culpeper +Minute Men of Virginia had a coiled snake on +their flag. In the winter of 1775 there appeared in +the <i>Pennsylvania Journal</i> an article setting forth +the propriety of choosing the rattlesnake to +represent America. The style of the article and +its keenness are like Franklin, but there is no +proof that he was its author. Whoever did write +it notes that the "rattler" is peculiar to America; +that the brightness of its eyes and their lack +of lids fit it to be an emblem of vigilance. It never +begins an attack and never surrenders, never +wounds till it has given warning. The writer had +counted the rattles on the naval flag, and found +them to be exactly thirteen, the number of the +colonies. He had also noted that the rattles were +independent of one another, and yet most firmly +united; and that while one rattle alone is incapable +of producing any sound, the ringing of +the thirteen together is sufficient to alarm the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +boldest man living. Whether Franklin wrote this +or not, let us at least be thankful that these arguments +did not prevail, and that on the flag of the +United States there are stars and not serpents.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>WHEN WASHINGTON WENT TO CAMBRIDGE</h3> + +<p>Washington, chosen commander-in-chief, set +out on June 21, 1775, on his eleven-days' ride +to Boston. From Philadelphia to New York he +was escorted by the Philadelphia Light Horse +Troop. It was an escort worth having. Their +uniform was "a dark brown short coat, faced and +lined with white; high-topped boots; round black +hat, bound with silver cord; a buck's tail, saddlecloths +brown edged with white, and the letters +'L.H.' worked on them. Their arms were a carbine, +a pair of pistols and holsters; a horseman's +sword; white belts for the sword and carbine." +Officers of the militia, the Massachusetts members +of the Continental Congress, and many +others were also of the company. The horses +pranced, the music played, and the cavalcade +started from the Quaker City for the war that +was to make the country free. The flag that was +borne before them is now carefully preserved +between two heavy plates of glass, and is kept +in the Troop's armory, in a fireproof safe made +expressly for that purpose. The banner is only +forty inches long, but its richness makes up for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +its lack of size. It is of yellow silk with heavy +silver fringe. Around the flag is a graceful running +vine. The crest is a horse's head. In the +center are figures representing Fame and Liberty. +Under them is the motto, "For these we +strive." Some verses written many years ago +say of this flag:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>"For these we strive; what brighter name</p> +<p class="i2">Can man achieve or beauty see,</p> +<p>Than worth to share his country's FAME,</p> +<p class="i2">Or perish for her LIBERTY?"</p> +</div></div> + +<p>It is a precious relic for its associations, and still +more precious because the canton is made of +thirteen stripes, blue and silver alternating. +Apparently these stand for the thirteen colonies, +and so far as is known, this was the first +time that the colonies were represented, as on +our flag of to-day, by thirteen stripes.</p> + +<p>Before Washington and his escort reached +New York, couriers reported the battle of Bunker +Hill. Washington pushed on, and July 2, he had +his first glimpse of his forces. It must have been +a discouraging glimpse. A few wore uniforms, +but most of the men had come in "what they +had." The men of a few companies were provided +with tents, others slept in the halls of Harvard +College, in the pews of the Episcopal Church, +or in private houses. Still others had built their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +own huts, of boards, turf, sailcloth, stones, or +brush. Powder and artillery were scanty, and +the commander-in-chief had been furnished with +no money. Perhaps this was not so remarkable, +however, for the members of the Continental +Congress had no power to collect taxes, and in +reality had no control over any money except +what was in their own pockets. Officers and men +chatted together as freely as if in their own +homes; and if an order did not impress a man as +being wise, he sometimes stopped and patiently +explained to the officer why he thought another +course was better.</p> + +<p>Twelve of the most independent companies, +and yet the most vigilant and best disciplined of +all, were composed of backwoodsmen who had +come on foot from four to eight hundred miles. +A little later, five Indians came to Cambridge +to help fight for liberty. They were welcomed +cordially and entered the service. It is probable +that every little company marched to Cambridge +under its own colors, but of course there +was no flag representing the colonies as a whole.</p> + +<p>Immediately after the battle of Bunker Hill, +Major-General Israel Putnam took up his stand +on Prospect Hill. One month later he called together +all the troops under his command, and +read them the statement issued by the Continental<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +Congress which declared just why the +colonies had had recourse to arms. The chaplain +made an address and a prayer, at the end of +which the troops responded, "Amen." Then +there was unfurled a scarlet standard, which +it is said John Hancock had just presented to +General Putnam and his men in recognition of +their bravery at Bunker Hill. Tradition says this +standard bore on one side the motto of Connecticut, +"Qui transtulit sustinet," and on the other +a pine tree and the motto of Massachusetts, +"An Appeal to Heaven."</p> + +<p>It is a little strange that the Massachusetts +colonists did not put the likeness of an elm on +any of their banners, for so much of their history +was associated with the "Liberty Elm." A +few flags on both land and sea were inscribed +"Liberty Tree," but no exercise of the imagination +can make the pictured tree look in the least +like an elm. Under the Liberty Elm of Boston +the meetings of the Sons of Liberty were held, +as has been said, and here it was that the resolutions +were adopted which resulted in dropping +three hundred and forty chests of tea into Boston +Harbor. The Liberty Tree of Charleston, South +Carolina, was a beautiful live-oak. It is said +that under this tree Christopher Gadsden, even +before the Stamp Act, ventured to speak of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +possible independence of the colonies. Here, as in +Boston, the patriots came together to discuss the +way to liberty, and with hand clasped in hand +solemnly promised that when the hour for resistence +should come, they would not be found +unready. There is something refreshing in the +thought of all the free, open-air discussion that +went on under the Liberty Trees. There was no +stifling of thought in closed rooms with bolted +doors. Every new idea, daring as it might be, +was blown upon by the free winds of heaven. +Naturally, the British commanders hated these +trees and thoroughly enjoyed destroying them +whenever they had opportunity. The Boston +tree was cut down even before the battle of Lexington. +In 1780 Sir Henry Clinton cut down the +live-oak in Charleston, piled its severed branches +over the stump, and set fire to them. Even the +iron-girt Liberty Pole of New York was cut +down by the red coats in 1776. It is little wonder +that Thomas Paine's poem on the "Liberty +Tree" was so roundly applauded. This closes:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>"But hear, O ye swains,—'tis a tale most profane,</p> +<p class="i2">How all the tyrannical powers,</p> +<p>Kings, Commons, and Lords, are uniting amain,</p> +<p class="i2">To cut down this guardian of ours.</p> +<p>From the East to the West, blow the trumpet to arms,</p> +<p class="i2">Through the land let the sound of it flee,</p> +<p>Let the far and the near all unite with a cheer,</p> +<p class="i2">In defense of our Liberty Tree."</p> +</div></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE "GRAND UNION FLAG"</h3> + +<p>During the summer following the battle of +Bunker Hill, the colonies had a congress without +authority, a commander-in-chief without +money, and an army without discipline, equipments, +or flag—or rather, with so many flags +that they must have had little significance except +to the respective groups of men who had +marched under each. Before Christmas a flag +was designed and made, but how, where, and +by whom is not known. Neither Washington nor +Franklin gives any information, and the <i>Journal</i> +of Congress says nothing about its designer or +maker. It is true that a committee of three,—all +signers of the Declaration of Independence +a few months later,—Benjamin Franklin, of +Pennsylvania, Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, +whose son Benjamin was afterwards to become +President of the United States, and Thomas +Lynch, of South Carolina, were sent by Congress +to Cambridge, to discuss with Washington +and others many necessary questions, but there +is no proof that the design of a flag was among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +them. The flag, however, was made. This was +what is known as the "Grand Union Flag." +The British flag, red with a blue union, marked +by the upright cross of St. George and the diagonal +cross of St. Andrew, was known as the +"Union Flag," because it typified, as has been +said before, the union of England and Scotland. +The new flag retained the blue union with its +two crosses, but instead of a red field it had red +and white stripes. These thirteen stripes represented +the thirteen colonies; the blue union suggested +that the colonies still clung to the mother +country.</p> + +<p>Where the idea of using stripes came from is a +question that has never been solved. The Philadelphia +Troop had thirteen stripes on their banner, +but they were blue and white. Washington's +coat of arms contained red and white +stripes; but Washington was too modest a man +to suggest using his own family arms, and as to +any one's suggesting it for him, it must be remembered +that he was not yet the revered +"Father of his Country," but simply a Virginia +planter of forty-three years who had been successful +in fighting the Indians, and who, because +of his good judgment and uprightness of character, +had been made a member of the Virginia +Legislature and then of the Continental Congress.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +The flag of the Netherlands—but chosen thirty +years after the Pilgrims left that country for +America—was red, white, and blue, in three +horizontal stripes. The ensign of the English +East India Company was a flag of thirteen horizontal +red and white stripes with a white canton +containing a red St. George's Cross; but there is +no reason to suppose that this inspired the flag +of the colonies. Bunting was scarce and Franklin +was always a thrifty soul. If that committee of +three did design the flag, it is not at all unlikely +that Franklin suggested utilizing the standards +they already had, and changing their character +by stitching on white stripes. To deface the flag +of Britain was a serious offense, and maybe it +was thought just as well that the name of the +originator of this "Grand Union" should not be +on record. The flag was first raised on the 1st +of January, 1776, in what is now Somerville, +on Prospect Hill, and was saluted with thirteen +guns and thirteen rousing cheers. It was seen by +the British troops in Boston, and for some reason +they took it as a sign of submission brought +about by the King's hostile proclamation, which +they supposed had been read in Cambridge. +Washington wrote:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Before the proclamation came to hand, we had +hoisted the Union Flag in compliment to the United<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +Colonies. But, behold, it was received in Boston as a +token of the deep impression the speech had made +upon us, and as a signal of submission. By this time, +I presume, they begin to think it strange that we have +not made a formal surrender of our lines.</p></div> + +<p>The colonists had adopted a flag, but all sorts +of colors continued to be borne on both sea and +land. On the sea the favorite seems to have +been a white flag displaying a green pine tree. +One year after the battle of Lexington, Massachusetts +formally decreed that this flag should +be used on her vessels, and that their officers +should wear a green and white uniform. Even +two years later than this, the Pine-Tree Flag +was borne by floating batteries on the Delaware +River. Sometimes the British ran up an American +flag to deceive the colonial vessels, and +sometimes the colonists ran up a flag made of +horizontal red and white stripes to persuade the +British that it was one of their own signal flags. +Sometimes rattlesnake flags were used.</p> + +<p>Congress ordered the building of war vessels +as promptly as possible, five cruisers first of all. +The Alfred, on which John Paul Jones was lieutenant, +became the flagship of Commander-in-Chief +Esek Hopkins. This vessel was of English +build and had been employed in commerce for +nine or ten years, making two voyages to the Indian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +Ocean during that time. She had space for +two hundred and twenty men, and had sixteen +guns, carried for the benefit of pirates. She had +been put in full repair and had now become a +frigate of twenty-eight guns. Such was the first +vessel of the Continental Navy. An old account +of the embarkation of Commodore Hopkins at +Philadelphia says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Alfred was anchored at the foot of Walnut +Street. On a brilliant morning early in February, +1776, gay streamers were seen floating from every +masthead and spar on the river. At nine o'clock a full-manned +barge threaded its way among the floating +ice to the Alfred, bearing the commodore, who had +chosen that vessel for his flagship. He was greeted +with thunders of artillery and the shouts of the multitude.</p></div> + +<p>When he stepped on board the deck of the +Alfred, Captain Saltonstall gave a signal, and +Lieutenant Jones hoisted a new flag prepared for +the occasion. It is believed to have displayed a +union with thirteen stripes crossed by a rattlesnake +in some position, with the ominous motto, +"Don't tread on me." When the flag reached +the mast-head, the crowds cheered and the guns +fired a salute,—as well they might, for this was +the first ensign ever flung to the breeze on an +American man-of-war. Paul Jones appreciated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +the honor of raising it, but he was no admirer of +the rattlesnake flag. In his journal he wrote:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I was always at loss to know by what queer fancy +or by whose notion that device was first adopted. For +my own part, I never could see how or why a venomous +serpent could be the combatant emblem of a +brave and honest folk fighting to be free. Of course I +had no choice but to break the pennant as it was given +to me. But I always abhorred the device.</p></div> + +<p>Three weeks after the Alfred was put in commission, +the little fleet sailed away from Philadelphia +amid the cheers of thousands of people. +One of the eye-witnesses said that the ships wore +the Union Flag with thirteen stripes in the field. +Of the admiral's flag an English writer said, "We +learn that the vessels bearing this flag have a +sort of commission from a society of people at +Philadelphia, calling themselves the continental +congress." Scornfully as he spoke of Congress, +there is at least one record of which it may +be proud. Franklin, under its authority, issued +letters of marque with a lavish hand, but, hard-pressed +as the colonists were, he bade John Paul +Jones "not to burn defenseless towns on the +British coast except in case of military necessity; +and in such cases he was to give notice, so that +the women and children with the sick and aged +inhabitants might be removed betimes." Moreover,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +he bade all American cruisers if they +chanced to meet Captain Cook, the great English +explorer of that day, to "forget the temporary +quarrel in which they were fighting and not +merely suffer him to pass unmolested, but offer +him every aid and service in their power."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG</h3> + +<p>The "society of people at Philadelphia calling +themselves the continental congress" had had, +so far as records go, nothing to do with choosing +any flag. The "Grand Union" unfurled at +Cambridge was regarded as symbolizing the +union of colonies, but no one knows who designed +it or chose it. To alter the design of our flag +to-day would be a very serious matter, but the +colonies were so accustomed to the making of +flags according to the whim of some militia +company or some sea captain that the appearance +of a new design, especially one so slightly +changed from the familiar flag of the mother +country, cannot have created any great sensation. +Moreover, flags were not for sale at department +stores; they had to be ordered, and in this +time of war, bunting was not easy to procure. +Flag-makers were few, and many a captain +sailed away with a flag manufactured by his +wife's own unaccustomed hands.</p> + +<p>July 4, 1776, less than fifteen months after the +battle of Lexington, it was declared in Congress<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +"That these united colonies are, and of right +ought to be, free and independent states." June +14, 1777, the following resolution was adopted:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Resolved</i>, That the flag of the thirteen United States +be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the +union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing +a new constellation.</p></div> + +<p>So much for the share that Congress had in the +flag. The story of the making of the first flag with +stars and stripes is as follows. Betsy Ross, or, to +speak more respectfully, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom +Ross, lived on Arch Street, Philadelphia, in a +tiny house of two stories and an attic. She was +called the most skillful needlewoman in the city, +and there is a tradition that before Washington +became commander-in-chief, she embroidered +ruffles for his shirts—quite an important branch +of fine sewing in those days. Whether she ever +embroidered the great man's ruffles or not, it is +said that, whenever folk wanted any especially +fine work done, they always went to "Betsy +Ross." She could do more than sew, for she could +draw freehand the complicated patterns that +were used in quilting, the supreme proof of artistic +ability in the household. One day three gentlemen +entered her house through its humble doorway. +One was her uncle by marriage, Colonel +Ross; one is thought to have been Robert Morris;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +one was General Washington. The commander-in-chief +told her that they had come from Congress +to ask her if she could make a flag. "I +don't know," she replied, "but I can try." Then +they showed her a rough sketch of a flag and +asked what she thought of it. She replied that +she thought it ought to be longer, that a flag +looked better if the length was one third greater +than the width. She ventured to make two more +suggestions. One was that the stars which they +had scattered irregularly over the blue canton +would look better if they were arranged in some +regular form, such as a circle or a star or in parallel +rows. The second suggestion was that a +star with five points was prettier than one with +six. Some one seems to have remarked that it +would be more difficult to make; and thereupon +the skillful little lady folded a bit of paper and +with one clip of her scissors produced a star with +five points. The three gentlemen saw that her +suggestions were good, and General Washington +drew up his chair to a table and made another +sketch according to her ideas.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ross could make wise suggestions about +flags, but how to sew them she did not know; +so it was arranged that she should call on a +shipping merchant and borrow a flag from him. +This she soon did. He opened a chest and took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +out a ship's flag to show her how the sewing was +done. She carried it home to use as a guide, and +when she reached the little house on Arch Street, +she set to work to make the first flag bearing the +stars and stripes. To try the effect, it was run +up to the peak of one of the vessels in the Delaware, +and the result was so pleasing that it +was carried into Congress on the day that it was +completed. Congress approved of the work of +the little lady. Colonel Ross told her to buy all +the material she could and make as many flags +as possible. And for more than fifty years she +continued to make flags for the Government.</p> + +<p>This is the account that has come down to us, +not by tradition merely, but by written statements +of Mrs. Ross's daughters, grandchildren, +and others, to whom she often told the +story. Mrs. Ross says that this sample flag was +made just before the Declaration of Independence, +although the Resolution endorsing it was +not passed until June 14, 1777. This, however, +would not argue to the incorrectness of the account, +for Congress had a fashion of writing with +the utmost brevity the results of its deliberations, +and not putting in a word about the discussions +that must have taken place before the +passing of a resolution. Affairs of the utmost importance +were on hand, and after all it was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +usefulness and convenience of the flag, rather +than its sentiment or the fact of its having +congressional authority, that was most in the +minds of men, and it is not impossible that this +design was in use long before the date of its official +recognition by Congress. The one real +weakness in the story is its lack of contemporary +evidence.</p> + +<p>The significance of the new flag no one has +expressed better than Washington. "We take +the star from Heaven," he said, "red from our +mother country, separating it by white stripes, +thus showing that we have separated from her, +and the white stripes shall go down to posterity +representing liberty."</p> + +<p>On the day of the passing of the resolution +about the Stars and Stripes, another one was +passed, which read as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Resolved</i>, That Captain John Paul Jones be appointed +to command the ship Ranger.</p></div> + +<p>"The flag and I are twins, born the same +hour," said Captain Jones. The Ranger was +launched in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and +there her captain went to take command. She +had no flag, but the captain was a favorite <a name="whereever" id="whereever"></a> whereever +he went, and a group of Portsmouth girls +soon held a "quilting party," but made a flag<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +instead of a quilt. Moreover, as silk enough of +the proper colors could not be found in the stores +of Portsmouth, they made it from breadths of +their best silken gowns, red, white, and blue, the +story declares. Then Jones sailed away to see +how his little Ranger would behave when she +met a British man-of-war. He soon found out, +for the Ranger and the Drake met in combat, and +for the first time a British man-of-war struck her +colors to the new flag. This same little silken flag +was the first to receive a genuine foreign salute. +Early in 1778 the Ranger spoke the French fleet, +off Brest Roads. Captain Jones was willing to +take chances in a sea fight, but not in the matter +of a salute, and he sent a courteous note to +the French commander, informing him that the +flag worn by the Ranger was the new American +standard, which had never yet received a salute +from any foreign power. "If I offer a salute, will +it be returned gun for gun?" he queried. The +reply was that the same salute would be given +as to an admiral of Holland, or any other republic; +that is, four guns less than the salute +given. Captain Jones anchored in the entrance +of the bay and sought for further information. +He found that the reply of the admiral was +correct and according to custom. Therefore, on +the following day, he sailed through the French<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +fleet, saluting with thirteen guns, and receiving +nine. This was an acknowledgment of American +independence, and the first salute ever paid by +a foreign naval power to the Stars and Stripes. +It is true that a salute had been given to the +American brig, the Andrea Doria, before this, +by the Governor of one of the West Indian Islands; +but a salute which his Government immediately +disowned and for which he was called +home is rather an individual than a national +salute. Then, too, there is no proof that the +flag flown by the Andrea Doria was the Stars +and Stripes.</p> + +<p>After a while Jones was put in command of +the Bon Homme Richard, a larger vessel than +the Ranger, but she flew the same little silken +flag. Off Flamborough Head he came up with +the British Serapis. After two hours of fighting, +Captain Pearson of the Serapis shouted, in a +moment's lull, "Have you struck your colors +yet?" "I haven't yet begun to fight," was +Jones's reply. The two ships were lashed together, +guns burst, cartridges exploded, wide +gaps were torn out of the sides of both vessels. +"Have you struck?" cried the British captain. +"No!" thundered Paul Jones. At last the Serapis +yielded; but the Bon Homme Richard was +fast sinking. Captain Jones left her and took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +possession of the Serapis. The American vessel +rolled and lurched and pitched and plunged. +The little silken flag that had never been conquered +waved in the morning breeze for the last +time, and then went down, "flying on the ship +that conquered and captured the ship that sank +her."</p> + +<p>When Paul Jones returned to America he met +one of the young girls who had given him the +flag. He told her how eagerly he had longed to +give it back into the hands of those who had +given it to him four years earlier. "But, Miss +Mary," he said, "I couldn't bear to strip it +from the poor old ship in her last agony, nor +could I deny to my dead on her decks, who had +given their lives to keep it flying, the glory of +taking it with them." In his journal he wrote +eloquently and almost as simply:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>No one was now left aboard the Richard but her +dead. To them I gave the good old ship for their +coffin, and in her they found a sublime sepulcher. +She rolled heavily in the long swell, her gun-deck +awash to the port-sills, settled slowly by the head, +and sank peacefully in about forty fathoms. The +ensign-gaff, shot away in action, had been fished and +put in place, soon after firing ceased, and our torn +and tattered flag was left flying when we abandoned +her. As she plunged down by the head at the last, her +taffrail momentarily rose in the air; so the very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +last vestige mortal eyes ever saw of the Bon Homme +Richard was the defiant waving of her unconquered +and unstricken flag as she went down. And as I had +given them the good old ship for their sepulcher, I +now bequeathed to my immortal dead the flag they +had so desperately defended, for their winding sheet!</p></div> + +<p>This is the story of the Portsmouth flag. At +first its truth was accepted without a doubt; +then it was seriously questioned. Within the last +few years, new evidence in the shape of family +tradition has strengthened its position.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>FLAGS ONE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE</h3> + +<p>Probably the flag made by the skillful fingers +of Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom Ross was sewed with +the tiniest of stitches imaginable; but it is absolutely +certain that the flag which made its +appearance August 3, 1777, at Fort Schuyler, +afterwards Fort Stanwix, was not put together +with any such daintiness of workmanship. For +twenty days the little fort in the New York +wilderness, where Rome now stands, was besieged +by British and Indians. Reinforcements +brought the news of the adoption of the new +flag. The troops within the fort had no flag, and +therefore, in true American fashion, they set to +work to make one. There was not even a country +store to draw upon for materials, so they +made the best of what they had. As the story +has been handed down, a white shirt provided the +white stripes and the stars, and the petticoat of +a soldier's wife the red stripes. As for the blue +ground for the stars, it was cut from the cloak of +Captain Abram Swartwout. The result was not +very elegant, but it was a flag, and it was <i>the</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +flag, and the besieged men were as proud of it +and stood for it as bravely as if it had been made +of damask with the daintiest of needlework. +August 22, 1777, the fort was relieved, and after +a few days Captain Swartwout began to be anxious +about his blue cloak. Colonel Peter Gansevoort, +who commanded the fort, had promised +him a new one to take the place of the one which +he had sacrificed for the flag, but it had not +arrived. Seven days he waited. At the end of +the seventh day he sent a note from Poughkeepsie, +where he then was, back to the fort, saying: +"You may Remember Agreeable to Your +promise, I was to have an Order for Eight Yards +of Broad-Cloath, on the Commissary for Cloathing +of this State In Lieu of my Blue Cloak, which +we Used for Coulours at Fort Schuyler. An opportunity +Now presenting itself, I beg You to +send me an Order." Broadcloth was broadcloth +in those days, and a "Blue Cloak" was not so +easily obtained. It is no wonder he wrote it with +capitals. It is to be hoped that the good captain +received his order; but it must have been a very +large cloak to require eight yards of "Broad-Cloath."</p> + +<p>Another interesting banner was that borne by +Count Pulaski, a gallant Pole, who came to help +in the struggle for freedom. He visited Lafayette<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +when the Frenchman was wounded and in the +care of the Moravian Sisterhood in Bethlehem, +Pennsylvania. The embroidery of these Sisters +was very beautiful, and Pulaski engaged them to +make him a banner, which they did. On one side +were the letters "U.S.," and on the other the +thirteen stars in a circle, surrounding an eye +which is rather uncomfortably set in a triangle. +They made a mistake in spelling their Latin +motto, but the crimson banner, with its silver +fringe and its exquisite embroidery, was very +handsome. Longfellow's poem about this banner, +"Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," +is excellent poetry, but hardly accurate +history. It is quite probable that the good +women sent the banner forth with their blessing, +but it is rather doubtful whether they said anything +like the following:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>"Take thy banner, and if e'er</p> +<p>Thou shouldst press the soldier's bier,</p> +<p>And the muffled drums should beat</p> +<p>To the tread of mournful feet,</p> +<p>Then this crimson flag shall be</p> +<p>Martial cloak and shroud for thee";—</p> +</div></div> + +<p>for the beautiful little banner was only twenty +inches square! When Lafayette visited this +country in 1824, this little flag was borne in the +procession which welcomed him to Baltimore.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>In the midst of the grief and horrors of war, +there was one day when all the armed ships in +the Delaware River were ablaze with the colors +of the United States in token of rejoicing. It +was July 4, 1777, the first anniversary of the +Declaration of Independence. Thirteen cannon +were fired, a great dinner was served to the members +of Congress and the officials of the army and +of the State. The Hessian band, which had been +captured at Trenton six months previously, performed +some of their merriest music. Toasts +followed the dinner, each one honored by a discharge +of artillery and small arms and a piece +of music by the Hessians. At night the city was +illuminated and the streets resounded with hurrahs +and the ringing of bells. Then came fireworks, +which began and ended with thirteen +rockets in honor of the thirteen United States.</p> + +<p>"Thirteen" appeared not only as the number +of stars on the flag, but everywhere else, and at +Valley Forge, in the rejoicing over the new alliance +with France, the officers marched up to +the place of entertainment thirteen abreast and +with arm linked in arm. A disrespectful English +paper declared that the "rebels" ate thirteen +dried clams a day, that it took thirteen "Congress +paper dollars" to equal one English shilling, +that "every well-organized rebel household has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +thirteen children, all of whom expect to be major-generals +or members of the high and mighty +congress of the thirteen United States when they +attain the age of thirteen years."</p> + +<p>When the war had come to an end, the artist +Copley was in London working on the portrait +of an American, Elkanah Watson. In the background +of the portrait was a ship supposed to be +bearing to America the news of the acknowledgment +of Independence. The rising sun was shining +upon the place where the flag should have +been, but no flag was there. Copley's studio was +often visited by the royal family, so he waited. +But a day came when the artist heard the speech +of the King acknowledging the Independence of +America. He went straightway to his studio and +painted in the flag floating in the rays of the +rising sun.</p> + +<p>Soon after the close of the war, a wide-awake +skipper of Nantucket, who had some +whale oil to sell, appeared at London. Nantucket +was so helpless for both offense and defense that +it had remained neutral, and the captain had +received from Admiral Digby a license to go to +London. A London magazine of the time said, +"This is the first vessel which has displayed the +thirteen rebellious stripes of America in any +British port." Nobody knew exactly what to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +do, but apparently the whale oil was soon sold, +for the enterprising whaler returned directly to +Nantucket.</p> + +<p>In October, 1783, most of the British troops +had sailed away from the United States, but Sir +Guy Carleton was delayed in New York waiting +for vessels. When the day came for him to leave +the city, a strong, determined woman who kept +a boarding-house brought out a United States +flag and ran it up on a pole in front of her house. +Down the street came a British officer with headlong +speed. "We do not evacuate this city until +noon. Haul down that flag!" he shouted angrily. +"That flag went up to stay, and it will not be +hauled down!" declared the indignant housekeeper, +and went on sweeping in front of her +door. "Then I will pull it down myself," thundered +the irate officer, and set to work. But the +halyards were entangled, and all the officer's +swearing and scolding did not help matters. The +militant lady of the broom then applied her +weapon to the officer. The powder flew from his +wig in a cloud, and at last he himself had to fly, +leaving the flag to float serenely on the morning +breeze. This encounter has been called the last +battle of the Revolution.</p> + +<p>Before leaving Fort George, at the foot of +Broadway, in New York, the British soldiers mischievously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +nailed their flag to the top of the pole, +took down the halyards, greased the pole from +top to bottom, and knocked off the cleats. They +did not know how well the American boys could +climb; in a very short time new cleats were nailed +on, the English flag was pulled down, and the Stars +and Stripes floated from the top of the pole.</p> + +<p>News of King George's proclamation did not +reach the United States till the middle of April, +and then there was rejoicing, indeed. It is no +wonder that the joy of the country at the closing +of the war burst out in celebrations and silken +flags. The diary of President Stiles, of Yale, +tells what took place in New Haven. It reads +as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>April 24, 1783.</i> Public rejoicing for the Peace in +New Haven. At sunrise thirteen cannon discharged +in the Green, and the continental flag displayed, being +a grand silk flag presented by the ladies, cost 120 dollars. +The stripes red and white, with an azure field +in the upper part charged with thirteen stars. On the +same field and among the stars was the arms of the +United States, the field of which contained a ship, a +plough, and three sheaves of wheat; the crest an eagle +volant; the supporters two white horses. The arms +were put on with paint and gilding. It took —— yards. +When displayed it appeared well.</p></div> + +<p>The patriotic ladies who presented the flag +had taken the arms and motto, "Virtue, Liberty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +Independence," from the title-page of a family +Bible; but unluckily, this Bible, having been +published in Philadelphia, displayed the arms +and motto, not of the United States, but of +Pennsylvania. The moral is, learn the arms of +your country.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STRIPES AND<br /> +FIFTEEN STARS</h3> + +<p>The worthy fathers of our country were long-sighted +men. In many respects they peered far +into the future and they laid well the foundations +for a great republic. One thing, however, they +forgot; when they chose a design for a flag with +thirteen stripes and a circle of thirteen stars, +they did not realize that the number of States +would probably increase, and that these States +would wish to be represented on the flag. In +1791 Vermont was admitted as a State, and in +1792 Kentucky also came into the Union. In +1794 the Senate passed a bill increasing to fifteen +the number of both stripes and stars. This bill +was sent to the House, and then came exciting +times. Some members thought it of great importance +not to offend new States by giving them +no recognition on the flag. Others called it dishonorable +to waste time over what one man +called "a consummate piece of frivolity," when +matters "of infinitely greater consequence" +ought to be discussed. Another declared that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +the Senate sent the bill for the want of something +better to do. Yet another honorable member did +not think it worth while either to adopt or reject +the proposed law, but supposed "the shortest +way to get rid of it was to agree to it." Whether +to "get rid of it" or not, the bill was passed, and +went into effect May 1, 1795.</p> + +<p>This flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars was +the one worn by the frigate Constitution, "Old +Ironsides." When, in 1830, it was reported that +this vessel, with its magnificent record, was to be +broken up, Holmes wrote his stirring poem, "Old +Ironsides," which ends:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>"Oh, better that her shattered hulk</p> +<p class="i2">Should sink beneath the wave;</p> +<p>Her thunders shook the mighty deep,</p> +<p class="i2">And there should be her grave;</p> +<p>Nail to the mast her holy flag,</p> +<p class="i2">Set every threadbare sail,</p> +<p>And give her to the god of storms,</p> +<p class="i2">The lightning and the gale!"</p> +</div></div> + +<p>It was this flag under which we went forth to +three wars, each one fought to uphold the rights +of American citizens. The first was with France, +the second with Tripoli, and the third with Great +Britain. It had long been the custom for nations +using the Mediterranean Sea to pay tribute to +the pirates of Tripoli. In 1800 Captain Bainbridge +carried the annual tribute to Algiers. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +seemed that the Dey wished to send an ambassador +to Constantinople, and under threat of +capture Captain Bainbridge was ordered to +carry him there. The captain obeyed, but very +unwillingly. When the new flag appeared at +Constantinople, it was reported to the Sultan +that a ship from the United States of America +was in the harbor. "What's that?" he demanded. +"I never heard of that nation." "They +live in the New World which Columbus discovered," +was the reply. The Sultan had heard +of Columbus, and he sent to the frigate a bouquet +of flowers in welcome, and a lamp in token +of friendship.</p> + +<p>The Dey of Algiers became dissatisfied with +the tribute paid by America, and declared +haughtily that if he did not receive from our +country a handsome present within six months, +he should declare war. This he did, but to his +great surprise a small American fleet, under the +fifteen stars and stripes, sailed up to his city and +began to bombard it. It was not long before he +became the very picture of meekness. He freed +all his American captives, paid well for all the +property that he had destroyed, and the Mediterranean +Sea became safe for commerce.</p> + +<p>In 1803 the United States purchased from +France the immense Louisiana Territory. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +French flag was hauled down and the flag of the +United States was raised in token of the change +of ownership. This country had first been in +the hands of Spain, and the Spaniards had presented +flags to various Indians. When Lieutenant +Z. M. Pike made a journey of exploration in +the new territory, he came to an Indian village +where there was quite a display of Spanish banners. +The Lieutenant made a little speech to the +Indians, and said among other things that the +Spanish flag at the chief's door ought to be given +up to him and the flag of the United States put +in its place. The Indians listened, but made +no reply. Lieutenant Pike spoke again to the +same effect. "Your nation cannot have two fathers," +he said. "You must be the children of +the Spaniards or else of the Americans." The red +men sat in silence awhile, then an old man arose, +walked slowly to the door, took the Spanish flag +down, and put the American in its place. Then +he gave the flag of Spain to his followers, bidding +them, "Never hoist this again—while the Americans +are here." Surely, the old chief must have +been akin to Dr. John Cotton of Colonial fame. +This scene occurred in what is now Kansas, and +is thought to have been the first raising of the +United States flag in that State.</p> + +<p>The banner of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +has a proud record, for this was the flag that inspired +Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled +Banner." Every one knows the story +of the poem, how the author and an agent for +the exchange of prisoners went on board a British +vessel in 1814 to try to secure the release of a +physician who had been captured. The English +admiral granted their request, but as he was +about to attack Fort McHenry, he told them +that they would not be permitted to return at +once, but must remain on their own vessel, with +a British guard, until the fort was reduced. If +this order had been carried out, they would have +been on board to-day, for the fort never was reduced. +All day the Americans could see the +Stars and Stripes flying over its ramparts, in +spite of attacks by sea and by land. Night came, +and it was only by "the rockets' red glare, the +bombs bursting in air," that they knew whether +the fort yet stood. At length the firing ceased, +and all was darkness. They could do nothing but +wait for the first rays of morning in the hope that +"by the dawn's early light" they could catch a +glimpse of the flag and know that the fort had +not yielded, that "our flag was still there," and +that the British were retreating. Then it was that +Key wrote, on the back of an old envelope, "The +Star-Spangled Banner," and put into it such a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +thrill of sincerity that it is just as throbbing with +life and patriotism as it was on that September +dawn a century ago. The banner that inspired +the poem is in the National Museum in Washington.</p> + +<p>Francis Scott Key died in Baltimore in 1843, +and is buried in Frederick, Maryland. Over his +grave a large national flag flies day and night, +never removed save when wear and tear make +a new flag necessary. In Baltimore a noble +monument has been reared in his honor. It is +surmounted by the figure of the poet, who waves +his hat with one hand and with the other points +joyfully toward the fort. The figure is so life-like +that one almost expects it to cry,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>"And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave</p> +<p>O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."</p> +</div></div> + +<p>A few months after "The Star-Spangled Banner" +was written, a plan was formed to rear +in the city of Baltimore a monument in honor +of George Washington. It was fitting that the +place of his birth should also be marked, and a +few days before the laying of the corner-stone +of the monument, a little company sailed from +Alexandria, Virginia, to Pope's Creek, Westmoreland +County, where Washington was born. +With them they carried a simple freestone slab<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +on which was chiseled his name and the date of +his birth. Wrapped in the banner of fifteen stars, +it was borne reverently to its resting-place by +the hands of the descendants of four Revolutionary +patriots.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER</h3> + +<p>"Time makes ancient good uncouth," said +Lowell, and so it was with the flag. The flag of +fifteen stars and fifteen stripes that was decreed +in 1795 then represented each State; but in less +than one year it was out of date. Tennessee had +come into the Union. Then followed Ohio, Louisiana, +and Indiana. Here were four States with no +representation in the colors of the country. Then, +too, people began to realize that in giving up the +thirteen stripes they had lost their old significant +"Thirteen," and dropped a valuable historical +association. At length the matter came before +Congress, and for nearly sixteen months it remained +there. Occasionally there was some little +discussion about it. One member proposed that +the matter be postponed indefinitely. "Are you +willing to neglect the banner of freedom?" demanded +another. Yet another thought it unnecessary +to insist upon thirteen stripes, and +thought they might as well fix upon nine or +eleven or any other arbitrary number as thirteen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +The committee pleaded for the significant thirteen, +and so it went on. At length Peter H. +Wendover, of New York, through whose efforts +Congress was held to its duty, called the attention +of the House to the fact that the Government +itself was paying no respect to its own laws +in regard to the flag; that the law demanded +fifteen stripes, but that Congress was at that +moment displaying a banner of thirteen stripes; +that the navy yard and the marine barracks +were flying flags of eighteen stripes; and that during +the first session of the preceding Congress +the flag floating over their deliberations had had, +from some unknown cause or other, only nine +stripes.</p> + +<p>It is small wonder that after such an arraignment +as this the lawmakers aroused themselves. +The following bill was passed, and was signed by +President Monroe, April 4, 1818:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Section 1.</span> <i>Be it enacted, etc.</i>, That from and after +the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United +States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red +and white; that the union have twenty stars, white +in a blue field.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Section 2.</span> <i>Be it further enacted</i>, That on the +admission of every new State into the Union, one +star be added to the union of the flag; and that such +addition shall take effect on the fourth of July next +succeeding such admission.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>So it was that the flag of the United States +was finally decided upon. Captain S. C. Reid +designed it, and his wife made a specimen flag, +which was hoisted on the flagstaff of the House +of Representatives a few days after the law +legalizing it was passed. Forty-one years later, +in 1859, Congress formally thanked Captain +Reid. The one weak point in this law was that +the arrangement of the stars on the blue field +was left to the taste of the owner of the flag. +Captain Reid arranged them in one large star; +but it was evident that if this plan was continued, +as new States were admitted, the stars would +become too small to be seen distinctly. The +Navy Commissioners issued the order that in +naval flags the stars should be arranged in five +rows, four stars in a row; but for many years +merchant vessels paid small attention to this +decree. Indeed, in 1837 the Dutch Government +inquired, with all respect, "What is the American +flag?" Twenty years later an observant man +in Jersey City amused himself on the Fourth of +July by noting the numerous fashions in which +the stars were arranged. He said that all flags +had the thirteen stripes—though not always +in the proper order—but that he had counted +nine different fashions in which the stars were +arranged. They appeared in one large star, in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +lozenge, a diamond, or a circle, and one vessel +in the river flaunted an anchor formed of stars. +It was suggested that Congress ought to order +some regular arrangement, but Congress did not +take the hint. The Secretary of War and the +Secretary of the Navy gave orders in 1912, after +the admission of New Mexico and Arizona, that +the stars, now forty-eight, should be arranged in +six rows of eight stars each. This was approved +by the President, but no decree has been passed +by Congress.</p> + +<p>Until 1866 our country's flag was manufactured +in a foreign land. Bunting in a flag has +a hard life. It must meet sun, wind, and storm; +it must be light enough to float at every breeze +and strong enough to endure severe wear. Attempts +had been made many years earlier to +make bunting in the United States, and flags +of home manufacture had been tried again and +again, but they had never stood the tests. In +1865, however, Congress put a duty of forty per +cent on imported bunting, and also made it +lawful for the Government to purchase its flags +in the United States. With this duty manufacturers +could compete with the lower wages paid +in England, and now it became worth while to +set to work in earnest. Within a year the thing +had been done. A company in Lowell, Massachusetts,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +presented to the Senate a flag manufactured +in the United States. It was hoisted over +the Capitol, and for the first time this country, +then ninety years old, floated over its Congress a +banner of bunting woven and made "at home." +This banner stood all the tests, and soon the +price of the material was greatly reduced. Since +the manufacture of this flag all bunting used in +flags for the navy has come from Lowell. It must +be of a fixed weight and strength and must be +absolutely fast color in sun and rain. These +flags are made in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and +they must be accurate in every detail. Even the +number of stitches to the inch is a matter of rule. +After the stripes have been sewed together and +the stars stitched upon the canton, the hoist, or +end of the flag which is to be next to the staff, is +firmly bound with canvas, and the lines, etc., +attached. Then the flag is stamped with the +date. Many silken flags are used in the navy, but +these are made entirely by hand.</p> + +<p>A warship must have not only her own flags, +but those of foreign countries, sometimes two +hundred and fifty or more. Some of these flags +are of very complicated design, and the flag-makers +tried the experiment of painting the designs +on the bunting. This was not a success, +because the flags stuck together, and now the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +whole design is worked out in bunting. The +navy makes its own flags, but the War Department +buys what are needed. Manufacturers +make large numbers for general sale; between +nine and ten million a year even in times of +peace.</p> + +<p>The pet name, "Old Glory," is believed to +have been given to the flag by Captain William +Driver. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, +became a shipmaster, and at length made his +home in Nashville, Tennessee. When the Civil +War broke out, he stood boldly by the Union, +even though his own family were against him. +More than thirty years before this date, just as +he was starting on a voyage, some of his friends +made him a present of a handsome American +flag. When the breeze first caught it and spread +out its folds, Captain Driver exclaimed, "Old +Glory!" and "Old Glory" it was to him all the +years of his life. The flag went to Tennessee with +him, and was hung out on every day of public +rejoicing. When the war broke out, his Confederate +neighbors tried their best to get possession +of that flag; but they did not realize the resources +of the old captain. Sailors know how to sew, and +he had carefully quilted his beloved banner into +his comforter. No wonder that he had not the +least objection to having his house searched for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +it. When the Union troops entered the city, +Captain Driver asked permission to run up his +flag over the State Capitol. This was granted, +and with an escort he marched to the building +and ran up the flag. As he stood gazing at it with +tears in his eyes, he said, "I have always said +that if I could see it float over that Capitol, I +should have lived long enough; now Old Glory +is up there, gentlemen, and I am ready to die." +The captain's own particular "Old Glory" was +full of years and weakened by service, and on the +following day he reverently took it down and ran +up a flag that was new and strong. For a quarter +of a century he saw the Union flag float over the +Capitol of his chosen State. Then, at his death +in 1886, his own "Old Glory" was sent to the +Essex Institute at his birthplace.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE FLAG IN WAR</h3> + +<p>"Old Glory" has flown over the battle-fields +of three wars; the Mexican, the Civil War, and +the war with Spain. In the war with Mexico +victory depended upon taking the City of Mexico, +and the path to that lay in the capture of the +strong castle of Chapultepec. Long before sunrise +one bright September morning, the American +guns began to roar. All day long the Americans +fired from below and the Mexicans from +above. Fortunately for the attackers, the aim +of the Mexicans was anything but accurate, +and in twenty-four hours the American troops +were pushing forward up the hillside, through a +grove full of sharpshooters, over rocks and gullies, +even over mines, which the Mexicans had no +chance to set off. Cannon roared and volleys of +musketry were fired at the assailants, but they +dashed over the redoubt, up, still up, to the +escarpment, and over it they tumbled. Meanwhile +the Mexicans were standing on the city +walls and peering out from the spires of the +cathedral. They saw, as the Americans pushed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +on and up, the Stars and Stripes appear, now to +the right, now to the left, as point after point +was taken. Now the Americans had reached the +main works. The scaling-ladders were planted +and the men scrambled over the wall. Even +then the Mexicans were not without a faint hope, +for their banner still floated over the highest +pinnacle. Suddenly it disappeared, and the +Stars and Stripes took its place. The victory had +been won. On the second day after the first gun +was fired at Chapultepec, the American troops +were following their flag into the City of Mexico.</p> + +<p>The Civil War began with the firing upon Fort +Sumter. Shot came in a whirlwind, half a score +of balls at a time. The woodwork blazed, the +brick and stone flew in all directions. Red-hot +balls from the furnace in Moultrie dashed down +like a pitiless hailstorm. The barracks were +ablaze, streams of fire burst out of the quarters. +Ninety barrels of powder were rolled into the +water lest it should explode in the awful heat. +The men were stifled with fumes from the burning +buildings. Over the horrors of this attack +the Stars and Stripes floated serenely from the +staff, flashing out, as each gust of wind tossed +the clouds of smoke aside for a moment, the +glories of the red, white, and blue, clear and calm +and unscathed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>Beams fell with a crash, ammunition in one +magazine exploded, black clouds of smoke filled +the fort, and for hours the men covered their +faces with wet cloths to keep from suffocating. +Nine times the flagstaff was struck by a shot, +and at the ninth the flag fell. Lieutenant Hall +dashed into the storm of balls, caught up the +flag, and brought it away. The halyards were +cut and tangled. The flag could not be raised, +but it was nailed to the staff, and in the midst of +the incessant fire, Sergeant Peter Hart fastened +it up on the ramparts. The fort surrendered, but +not the flag; for as Major Anderson and his men +left the burning ruins, they saluted "Old Glory" +with fifty guns, then lowered it, and, as the +Major stated to the Government, "marched +out of the fort with colors flying and drums +beating."</p> + +<p>This was on April 14, 1861. On April 14, 1865, +when the war was virtually over, Major Anderson, +now General Anderson, was, by order of +President Lincoln, called to Fort Sumter to +raise again the flag which he had so unwillingly +lowered. A special steamer carried from New +York to the fort a number of prominent citizens. +Hundreds came from elsewhere by land to +Charleston and were taken to the fort by vessel. +Two hundred officers of the navy were present<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +and many army officers. After the opening exercises, +Sergeant Hart opened a big carpetbag +and drew forth the identical flag that had been +hauled down four years earlier. The banner was +unfurled, the assemblage cheered to the echo, and +slowly the beloved banner rose to its old position, +every one trying his best to catch hold of the +rope and help raise it. Hats were waved and the +old fort rang with cheers. The band struck up +"The Star-Spangled Banner." A salute was +fired by the guns on Fort Sumter, and this was +responded to by every fort and battery that had +fired upon Sumter in April, 1861. Henry Ward +Beecher, orator of the day, made a thrilling +address. Of the flag he said:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>There flies the same flag that was insulted. In the +storm of that assault this glorious ensign was often +struck; but, memorable fact, not one of its stars was +torn out, by shot or shell. It was a prophecy.... +Lifted to the air, to-day it proclaims, after four years +of war, "Not a State is blotted out!"</p> + +<p>Hail to the flag of our fathers, and our flag! Glory +to the banner that has gone through four years black +with tempests of war, to pilot the nation back to +peace without dismemberment! And glory be to +God, who, above all hosts and banners, hath ordained +victory, and shall ordain peace!... In the name of +God, we lift up our banner, and dedicate it to Peace, +Union and Liberty, now and forevermore.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>A few years later General Anderson died. He +was buried at West Point and was carried to his +grave wrapped in the flag that he had defended +so bravely. On the death of his wife the flag +passed by her gift into the hands of the War +Department.</p> + +<p>One of the most interesting flags of the recent +war with Spain was borne by the First Regiment +of the United States Volunteer Cavalry. +A squadron of men for this regiment left Phœnix, +Arizona, on their way to the field of war. It was +noticed that they had no flag. The women of +the Relief Corps attached to the Grand Army of +the Republic took the matter in hand, for if this +was not a case where relief was needed, where +should one be found?</p> + +<p>Night and day were the same to these energetic +women. They bought silk and they sewed, +all day and all night. The stores of Phœnix did +not provide just the right sort of cord, so the +staff of the battle-flag was daintily adorned with +a knot of satin ribbon, red, white, and blue. +Then the flag was carried to camp, and presented +with all courtesy and dignity to the two hundred +men who were to form a part of the First Regiment +of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, +better known as the "Rough Riders."</p> + +<p>The little silken flag came to glories that it had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +not dreamed of, for the regular bunting flags +were scarce, and therefore it held the most prominent +place in parades and was even set up as +guest of honor before the tent of Colonel Leonard +Wood. In the attack on Santiago, the little +party that first landed at Daiquiri, a small town +on the coast a few miles from the city, carried +the flag with them. On a transport in the +harbor an officer from Arizona, observing the +troops climb the hill, had seen the raising of +the flag and discovered with a glass what it was. +As the story is told:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>He threw his hat to the deck, jumped to the top of +the bulwark, and yelled: "Howl, you Arizona men,—it's +our flag up there!"</p> + +<p>And the men howled as only Arizona cowboys +could. Some one on the hurricane deck grabbed the +whistle cord and tied it down, the band of the Second +Infantry whisked up instruments and played +"A Hot Time" on the inspiration of the moment, +and every man who had a revolver emptied it over the +side. Almost in an instant every whistle of the fifty +transports and supply vessels in the harbor took up +the note of rejoicing. Twenty thousand men were +cheering. A dozen bands increased the din. Then +guns of the warships on the flanks joined in a mighty +salute to the flag of the Nation. And the flag was the +flag of the Arizona squadron.</p> + +<p>The Arizona flag led the regiment in the fight +of Las Guasimas, where three thousand intrenched +Spaniards were driven back by nine hundred unmounted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +cavalry; it was at the front all through +the heat of the battles of Kettle Hill and San Juan +Hill; it waved over the trenches before Santiago, and +was later borne through the captured city to the +transport.</p></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>THE FLAG IN PEACE</h3> + +<p>One of the greatest achievements of our flag +in peace was the opening of Japan. In 1852 +Commodore M. C. Perry was sent with a letter +from President Fillmore to prepare the way for +a treaty of peace and friendship and commerce +with Japan. Its delivery was a matter of much +ceremony. After a long delay a day was set for +its reception. When the time had come, the +officers in full uniform, the marines in blue and +white, the sailors in navy blue and tarpaulins, +and last of all the Commodore entered the boats. +As the Commodore stepped into his barge, a +salute of thirteen guns was given. Then the +two bands struck up lively tunes and the boats +made for the shore.</p> + +<p>Along the beach were ranged nine tall crimson +standards, surrounded by flags of all sorts +and colors. Five or six thousand soldiers were +drawn up in line, and the hills behind them +were crowded with people. When the Americans +came to land, a procession was formed. +First, the marines and sailors, then the one flag of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +the procession, the Stars and Stripes, its brilliant +colors flashing in the bright sunshine. It was +borne by the two tallest, broadest-shouldered +men among the sailors of the squadron. After +the flag came two of the younger men, carrying a +rosewood box mounted with gold and carefully +wrapped in a scarlet cloth. In this were the credentials +of the Commodore and the letter of the +President. These were written on vellum, and +the seals were attached by cords of silk and +gold, ending in tassels of gold. Then came the +Commodore, and on either side of him was a tall +negro of fine proportions and armed to the teeth. +After the Commodore walked the officers of the +squadron. Commodore and officers were escorted +into the handsomely decorated hall of reception. +The court interpreter asked if the letter +was ready. The two pages, guarded by the two +stalwart negroes, were summoned and placed +the letter upon a handsome box of red lacquer, +which was ready to receive them. The Commodore +made a formal bow. The bands played our +national airs, and all returned to the vessels as +ceremoniously as they had come.</p> + +<p>This was the beginning of intercourse between +the United States and Japan. Two years later +a treaty was signed, and in 1860 an embassy +from Japan visited this country.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>So it was that Japan was opened to the world. +In 1901 the Japanese Minister of Justice said: +"Commodore Perry's visit was, in a word, the +turn of the key which opened the doors of the +Japanese Empire. Japan has not forgotten—nor +will she ever forget—that, next to her +reigning and most beloved sovereign, whose +rare virtue and great wisdom is above all praise, +she owes her present state of prosperity to the +United States of America." "Are you coming +over here to fight us?" a young Japanese in this +country was playfully asked. "Fight the United +States?" he exclaimed. "The United States is +our friend." And drawing himself up to his full +height, he said proudly, "The Japanese do not +forget. We know what your Commodore Perry +and your country have done for us."</p> + +<p>The American flag was first seen in China in +1784. The Chinese said it was "as beautiful as +a flower," and for many years they always spoke +of it as the "flower flag."</p> + +<p>A custom of great significance and value, that +of raising the home flag over legations and consulates +in foreign lands whenever a home holiday +comes around, is due to the tact and ready wit +of one of our Ministers to Sweden, William W. +Thomas, Jr. The following is his own account +of the event:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>On taking possession of the archives and property +of the United States at Stockholm, I was surprised to +find there was no American flag there. Talking with +my colleagues, the Ministers of other countries, I was +informed that no foreign Minister at Stockholm ever +hoisted his country's flag, and that to do so would be +considered a breach of diplomatic etiquette.</p> + +<p>What was I to do? I did not wish to offend my +good friends, the Swedes; that was the last thing a +Minister should be guilty of. And I certainly did not +want to see an American holiday go by without +hoisting the American flag from the American Legation. +The question troubled me a great deal.</p> + +<p>All at once a thought seized me, like an inspiration. +I sent to America for a flag. I procured flagstaff and +halyards, and from my own drawings I had carved +an American eagle, which was gilded and perched on +top of the flag pole. Flag, eagle, and staff I concealed +in the Legation, and bided my time.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly the greatest character Sweden has +ever produced is Gustavus Adolphus. His life and +deeds belong not to Sweden along, but to the world. +Well, when the anniversary of the death and victory +of this great captain of the Swedish host came round,—the +6th of November, 1883,—and when the great +choral societies of Stockholm, bearing banners and +followed by vast multitudes of the Swedish populace, +marched through the streets of Sweden's capital, +and gathered about the mausoleum on the Island +of Knights, where lies the mighty dead, sang pæans +in his praise, then it happened, somehow, that, regardless +of precedent or custom, the flag of the free +republic—aye! flag, flagstaff, golden eagle, and all—was +run out from the American Legation; and the +starry banner of America waved in unison with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +yellow cross of Sweden, in honor of the mightiest +warrior for the freedom of our faith.</p> + +<p>This act was everywhere approved in Sweden. It +was praised by both the people and the press. After +this, it may well be believed, the flag of America +floated unchallenged in the capital of the Northland. +It waved on high on the birthday of Washington, on +that Memorial Day when we decorate the graves of +our brave boys in blue who saved the Union, and on +the Fourth of July, that gave the Republic birth. +But I hoisted our flag impartially, on Swedish holidays +as well as our own; and the Stars and Stripes +floated out as proudly on the birthday of King Oscar +as on that of Washington.</p></div> + +<p>"If any man attempts to haul down the American +flag, shoot him on the spot," commanded +General Dix; but the United States may well +be proud of having herself hauled down her +flag on one occasion not many years ago. After +the Spanish-American War had been fought, +the treaty of peace with Spain put Cuba into +the hands of the United States, and the star-spangled +banner was raised and saluted. This +was in 1899. The three years following this act +were busy ones with the War Department, for +in its control was left the management of all +Cuban affairs. Cuba was cleaned up, the yellow +fever stamped out, schools were established, +peace restored, a constitution adopted by the +people, and a president elected. May 20, 1902,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +was the date set for the sovereignty of Cuba to +pass into the hands of the Cubans. The island +had been made free, and now she was coming to +her own. Havana was in her best. Flags floated +from every house. Ships displayed both the +American and the Cuban flags. When the moment +arrived, General Leonard Wood read the +transfer, and the President-elect signed it in the +name of the new Republic. To free Cuba from +oppression the United States had entered into +war. Our country sought nothing for itself, and +now the freedom of the island was attained, and +the American forces were to be withdrawn.</p> + +<p>After the signing of the transfer Governor-General +Wood loosened the halyards and the +star-spangled banner was lowered, having accomplished +nobly that for which it had been +raised. As it sank slowly down the Union salute +of forty-five guns was fired. Then, by the hands +of General Wood, the Cuban flag was hoisted +to its position and floated proudly over a free +country. A national salute of twenty-one guns +was fired in its honor, and the history of the +Cuban Republic had begun. As the <i>New York +Sun</i> said, "No country ever before conquered a +territory at great sacrifice to set up a government +other than its own."</p> + +<p>In the hands of Admiral Robert E. Peary our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +flag has won the honors of the Northland. Many +others had gone <i>far</i> north; for Peary it was reserved +to go <i>farthest</i> north, to the Pole itself. +This was no chance success, brought about by +fine equipment and favorable weather; it was +the fair result of careful preparation and hard +work. The Admiral wrote in his journal:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Pole at last! The prize of three centuries, my +dream and goal for twenty years, mine at last! I cannot +bring myself to realize it.</p> + +<p>It all seems so simple and commonplace. As Bartlett +said when turning back, when speaking of his +being in these exclusive regions, which no mortal had +ever penetrated before, "It is just like every day!"</p></div> + +<p>A little later, in acknowledging with gratitude +the generous aid which he had received, the +Admiral wrote:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Their assistance has enabled me to tell the last of +the great earth stories, the story the world has been +waiting to hear for three hundred years—the story +of the discovery of the North Pole.</p></div> + +<p>Such is the history of the flag of the United +States of America from the time when a little +group of colonies dared to raise their own standard +and oppose their feeble strength and their +slender resources to the trained armies and the +ample wealth of England.</p> + +<p>This was a century and a half ago. The Republic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +has come of age and has accepted her +rightful share of the responsibilities of the world. +The mother country rejoiced to do her honor, +and on one brilliant April morning in 1917 the +cities of England flung out her banner beside +their own. In London the Stars and Stripes were +everywhere—in the hands of the people in the +streets, on private houses, on public buildings, +even on the "Victory Tower" of Westminster +Palace, where before that day no other flag save +the Union Jack or the royal standard had ever +been raised. In the historic cathedral of St. Paul +four thousand people had come together to +thank God for the alliance between the mother +country and her eldest child, that in this war of +the world "they should go forth and try the matter +in fight by the help of God"—to quote the +text of the Bishop of London. The two flags, +of Great Britain and of the United States of +America, hung side by side over the chancel rail. +The thousands of people rose with reverence and +sang, first, "The Star-Spangled Banner," and +then, "God Save the King." And so it was that +Great Britain and the United States took their +stand shoulder to shoulder in the world-wide +struggle to make sure "that government of the +people, by the people, for the people, shall not +perish from the earth."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>HOW TO BEHAVE TOWARD THE FLAG</h3> + +<p>Except the cross there is nothing that the +American should hold more sacred than the flag +of the United States, because of its record in +peace and in war, and because it stands for the +rights and the freedom of one hundred million +citizens.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>"Sign of a nation great and strong,</p> +<p>To ward her people from foreign wrong."</p> +</div></div> + +<p>There are definite rules in regard to the use +of the flag. The following are the most necessary +to know:—</p> + +<p>The flag should be raised at sunrise and lowered +at sunset. It should not be left out at night +unless under fire. It should not be allowed to +touch the ground. If possible, a pole rather than +a staff should be used.</p> + +<p>In raising a flag to half-mast or half-staff, +it should be run to the top of the pole, and then +lowered the width of the flag. Before being +retired, it should be run to the top again. On +Memorial Day the flag should be at half-mast<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +until noon, and at the peak from noon until +sunset.</p> + +<p>When the flag goes by, rise if you are sitting; +halt if you are walking, and take off your hat.</p> + +<p>In decorating, never drape the flag; always +hang it flat. The Union should be at the observer's +left, whether the stripes are perpendicular +or horizontal. If our flag is crossed +with the flags of other countries, or carried in +a parade beside them, it should always be at the +right.</p> + +<p>In unveiling a monument, the flag should +never be allowed to drop to the ground, but so +arranged that it can be drawn up and will then +float over the monument.</p> + +<p>If draped over a casket, the blue field should +be at the head. If used as the covering of an +altar, nothing except the Bible should be placed +upon it, and the union should be at the right.</p> + +<p>Distress at sea is indicated by hanging the +flag union down.</p> + +<p>Always stand when "The Star-Spangled Banner" +is played.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>For those people who, whether maliciously +or ignorantly, show any disrespect to the flag, +strenuous laws have been passed in most of the +States. In Massachusetts, a post of the Grand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +Army or a camp of Spanish War veterans may +put the name of the organization upon the +flag, but no other lettering is permitted. Any +one who mutilates the flag or in any way treats +it with contempt is likely to fare worse than did +John Endicott in colonial days. The same respect +is required to be shown to the flags of all +countries with which the United States is at +peace.</p> + +<p>The representation of the flag must not be +used to advertise merchandise, but it may be +used on any publication designed to give information +about the flag, or to promote patriotism, +or to encourage the study of American +history.</p> + +<p>June 14, the anniversary of the day in 1777 +on which the flag was adopted, has been chosen +as "Flag Day."</p> + +<p>The length of a flag should be very nearly +twice its height, or, to be exact, in the proportion +of 1.9 to 1. The length of the union should +be three fourths the height of the whole flag; +the height of the union should be that of seven +stripes.</p> + +<p>Perhaps a little fancifully, a star has been +assigned to each State in the order of its ratification +of the Constitution and admission to +the Union. Beginning at the left upper corner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +and reading each row from left to right, the +stars of the separate States are as follows:—</p> + +<table width="30%" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" summary="States and relevant stars"> +<tr><td> </td><td><i>First row</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Delaware</td><td align="right">December 7, 1787</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pennsylvania</td><td align="right">December 12, 1787</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">New Jersey</td><td align="right">December 18, 1787</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Georgia</td><td align="right">January 2, 1788</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Connecticut</td><td align="right">January 9, 1788</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Massachusetts</td><td align="right">February 6, 1788</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Maryland</td><td align="right">April 28, 1788</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">South Carolina</td><td align="right">May 23, 1788</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i> </i></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i>Second row</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">New Hampshire</td><td align="right">June 21, 1788</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Virginia</td><td align="right">June 25, 1788</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">New York</td><td align="right">July 26, 1788</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">North Carolina</td><td align="right">November 21, 1789</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rhode Island</td><td align="right">May 29, 1790</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Vermont</td><td align="right">March 4, 1791</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kentucky</td><td align="right">June 1, 1792</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tennessee</td><td align="right">June 1, 1796</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i> </i></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i>Third row</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ohio</td><td align="right">February 19, 1803</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Louisiana</td><td align="right">April 30, 1812</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Indiana</td><td align="right">December 11, 1816</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mississippi</td><td align="right">December 10, 1817</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Illinois</td><td align="right">December 3, 1818</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Alabama</td><td align="right">December 14, 1819</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Maine</td><td align="right">March 15, 1820</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Missouri</td><td align="right">August 10, 1821</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i> </i></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i>Fourth row</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Arkansas</td><td align="right">June 15, 1836</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Michigan</td><td align="right">January 26, 1837</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Florida</td><td align="right">March 3, 1845</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Texas</td><td align="right">December 29, 1845</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Iowa</td><td align="right">December 28, 1846</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Wisconsin</td><td align="right">May 29, 1848</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">California</td><td align="right">September 9, 1850</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Minnesota</td><td align="right">May 11, 1858</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i> </i></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i>Fifth row</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Oregon</td><td align="right">February 14, 1859</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kansas</td><td align="right">January 29, 1861</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">West Virginia</td><td align="right">June 19, 1863</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nevada</td><td align="right">October 31, 1864</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nebraska</td><td align="right">March 1, 1867</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Colorado</td><td align="right">August 1, 1876</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">North Dakota</td><td align="right">November 2, 1889</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">South Dakota</td><td align="right">November 2, 1889</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i> </i></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i>Sixth row</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Montana</td><td align="right">November 8, 1889</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Washington</td><td align="right">November 11, 1889</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Idaho</td><td align="right">July 3, 1890</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Wyoming</td><td align="right">July 10, 1890</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Utah</td><td align="right">January 4, 1896</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Oklahoma</td><td align="right">November 16, 1907</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">New Mexico</td><td align="right">January 6, 1912</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Arizona</td><td align="right">February 14, 1912</td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> +<h2>FLAG ANNIVERSARIES</h2> + +<p class="p2">January 1-2, 1776: Grand Union Flag (British Union +and thirteen stripes) hoisted over Washington's +headquarters at Cambridge, Massachusetts. +This was the first real flag of the colonies.</p> + +<p class="p2">January 13, 1794: American flag changed by act of +Congress, owing to two new States (Kentucky +and Vermont) being admitted to the Union. The +flag now had two stars and two stripes added to +it, making fifteen stripes and stars. This was +the "Star-Spangled Banner," and under this +flag our country fought and won three wars—the +so-called naval war with France, in 1798-1800; +that with the Barbary States in 1801-1805; +and that with England in 1812-1815.</p> + +<p class="p2">February 3, <a name="February" id="February"></a> 1783: First appearance of the American +flag in a British port by the ship Bedford, +of Massachusetts, which arrived in the river +Thames on this date.</p> + +<p class="p2">February 8, 1776: Colonial Congressional Committee +accepted a naval flag, consisting of thirteen +stripes, alternate red and white, with a rattlesnake +diagonally across it.</p> + +<p class="p2">February 14, 1778: First foreign salute to the Stars +and Stripes. John Paul Jones entered Quiberon +Bay, near Brest, France, and received a salute +of nine guns from the French fleet, under +Admiral La Motte Piquet. Jones had previously +saluted the French fleet with thirteen guns.</p> + +<p class="p2"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>March 17, 1776: The first display of the Grand +Union Flag in Boston was on the day that town +was evacuated by the British.</p> + +<p class="p2">April 4, 1818: Congress by act decreed a return to the +original thirteen stripes and a star for every +State in the Union, to be added to the flag on +the July 4 following a State's admission to the +Union. This is the present law in relation to the +flag.</p> + +<p class="p2">April 24, 1778: John Paul Jones achieved the honor +of being the first officer of the American Navy +to compel a regular British man-of-war to strike +her colors to the new flag.</p> + +<p class="p2">June 14, 1777: First strictly American flag decreed +by Congress. This flag displaced the British +Union by thirteen stars, and the making of the +first flag of this design is accredited to Betsy +Ross of Philadelphia. It contained thirteen +stripes, alternate red and white, and thirteen +white stars upon a blue field.</p> + +<p class="p2">June 14, 1777: Captain John Paul Jones appointed to +the command of the Ranger. It was Jones who +first displayed the Stars and Stripes on a naval +vessel. It was also he who had previously first +hoisted "the flag of America" on board the naval +vessel Alfred in 1775.</p> + +<p class="p2">June 28, 1778: First appearance on a foreign strong-hold +at Nassau, Bahama Islands. The Americans +captured Fort Nassau from the British, and +promptly raised the Stars and Stripes.</p> + +<p class="p2">August 3, 1777: First display of the Stars and Stripes +on land was over Fort Stanwix, New York.</p> + +<p class="p2">August 10, 1831: The name "Old Glory" given to +our national flag by Captain William Driver,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +of the brig Charles Doggert. The flag was presented +to the captain and contained one hundred +and ten yards of bunting. It is said to be now in +the Essex Institute, at Salem, Massachusetts.</p> + +<p class="p2">September 11, 1777: The American flag first carried +in battle at the Brandywine. This was the first +great battle fought after its adoption by the +Continental Congress.</p> + +<p class="p2">September 13, 1784: The Stars and Stripes first displayed +in China by Captain John Green, of the +ship Empress, in Canton River. The natives +said it was as beautiful as a flower, and the +Chinese continued to call it the "flower flag" +for many years.</p> + +<p class="p2">September 30, <a name="September" id="September"></a> 1787–August 10, 1790: The American +flag completed its first trip around the world, +borne by the ship Columbia, sailing from Boston.</p> + +<p class="p2">October 18, 1867: First official display of the American +flag in Alaska. On this day, at Sitka, the +capital, the Russian flag was hauled down and +the American flag run up before the barracks +and in the presence of both Russian and American +troops.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> +<h2>SELECTIONS</h2> + +<h3>THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER</h3> + +<h4>FRANCIS SCOTT KEY</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,</p> +<p class="i4">What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,</p> +<p>Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,</p> +<p class="i4">O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?</p> +<p>And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,</p> +<p>Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.</p> +<p class="i4">Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave</p> +<p class="i4">O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,</p> +<p class="i4">Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,</p> +<p>What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,</p> +<p class="i4">As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?</p> +<p>Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,</p> +<p>In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,—</p> +<p class="i4">'Tis the star-spangled banner; Oh! long may it wave,</p> +<p class="i4">O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>And where is that band who so vauntingly swore</p> +<p class="i4">That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion</p> +<p>A home and a country should leave us no more?</p> +<p class="i4">Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution.</p> +<p>No refuge could save the hireling and slave</p> +<p>From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave;</p> +<p class="i4">And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave</p> +<p class="i4">O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand</p> +<p class="i4">Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;</p> +<p>Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land</p> +<p class="i4">Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!</p> +<p>Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,</p> +<p>And this be our motto—"In God is our trust";</p> +<p class="i4">And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave</p> +<p class="i4">O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!</p> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> +<h3>THE FLAG IN THE DARKNESS</h3> + +<h4>BENJAMIN HARRISON</h4> + +<p>I was never so profoundly touched with the beauty +of our flag as at night time in one of our immense +political demonstrations. One of the features of the +occasion was the sending upward of a mighty stream +of electric light which, piercing the darkness of the +night, reached a large flag which had been carried on +cords a thousand feet from the earth. The scene was +too impressive for me to describe. I can only say that +it did seem as though the flag of our country was +waving from the very battlements of heaven.... +God pity the American citizen who does not love the +flag; who does not see in it the story of our great, free +institutions, and the hope of the home as well as +the Nation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> +<h3>A SONG FOR FLAG DAY</h3> + +<h4>WILBUR D. NESBIT</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p class="i6">Your Flag and my Flag!</p> +<p class="i8">And how it flies to-day</p> +<p class="i6">In your land and my land</p> +<p class="i8">And half a world away!</p> +<p class="i6">Rose-red and blood-red</p> +<p class="i8">The stripes forever gleam;</p> +<p class="i6">Snow-white and soul-white—</p> +<p class="i8">The good forefathers' dream;</p> +<p>Sky-blue and true blue, with stars to gleam aright—</p> +<p>The gloried guidon of the day; a shelter through the night.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i6">Your Flag and my Flag!</p> +<p class="i8">And, oh, how much it holds—</p> +<p class="i6">Your land and my land—</p> +<p class="i8">Secure within its folds!</p> +<p class="i6">Your heart and my heart</p> +<p class="i8">Beat quicker at the sight;</p> +<p class="i6">Sun-kissed and wind-tossed,</p> +<p class="i8">Red and blue and white.</p> +<p>The one Flag,—the great Flag—the Flag for me and you—</p> +<p>Glorified all else beside—the red and white and blue!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i6">Your Flag and my Flag!</p> +<p class="i8">To every star and stripe</p> +<p class="i6">The drums beat as hearts beat</p> +<p class="i8">And fifers shrilly pipe!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> +<p class="i6">Your Flag and my Flag—</p> +<p class="i8">A blessing in the sky;</p> +<p class="i6">Your hope and my hope—</p> +<p class="i8">It never hid a lie!</p> +<p>Home land and far land and half the world around,</p> +<p>Old Glory hears our glad salute and ripples to the sound.</p> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> +<h3>THE FLAG GOES BY</h3> + +<h4>HENRY HOLCOMB BENNETT</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p class="i6">Hats off!</p> +<p>Along the street there comes</p> +<p>A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,</p> +<p>A flash of color beneath the sky:</p> +<p class="i6">Hats off!</p> +<p>The flag is passing by!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Blue and crimson and white it shines,</p> +<p>Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.</p> +<p class="i6">Hats off!</p> +<p>The colors before us fly;</p> +<p>But more than the flag is passing by.</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<p>Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,</p> +<p>Fought to make and to save the State:</p> +<p>Weary marches and sinking ships;</p> +<p>Cheers of victory on dying lips;</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Days of plenty and years of peace;</p> +<p>March of a strong land's swift increase;</p> +<p>Equal justice, right and law,</p> +<p>Stately honor and reverent awe;</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Sign of a nation, great and strong</p> +<p>To ward her people from foreign wrong:</p> +<p>Pride and glory and honor,—all</p> +<p>Live in the colors to stand or fall.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i6">Hats off!</p> +<p>Along the street there comes</p> +<p>A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;</p> +<p>And loyal hearts are beating high:</p> +<p class="i6">Hats off!</p> +<p>The flag is passing by!</p> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> +<h3>WHAT THE FLAG STANDS FOR</h3> +<h4>HENRY CABOT LODGE</h4> + +<p>The flag stands for all that we hold dear—freedom, +democracy, government of the people, by the people, +and for the people. These are the great principles for +which the flag stands, and when that democracy and +that freedom and that government of the people are +in danger, then it is our duty to defend the flag which +stands for them all, and in order to defend the flag +and keep it soaring as it soars here to-day, undimmed, +unsullied, victorious over the years, we must be ready +to defend it, and like the men of '76 and '61, pledge +to it our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> +<h3>UNION AND LIBERTY</h3> + +<h4>OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>Flag of the heroes who left us their glory,</p> +<p class="i2">Borne through their battle-fields' thunder and flame,</p> +<p>Blazoned in song and illumined in story,</p> +<p class="i2">Wave o'er us all who inherit their fame!</p> +<p class="i4">Up with our banner bright,</p> +<p class="i4">Sprinkled with starry light,</p> +<p class="i2">Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore,</p> +<p class="i4">While through the sounding sky</p> +<p class="i4">Loud rings the Nation's cry,—</p> +<p class="i2">UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Light of our firmament, guide of our Nation,</p> +<p class="i2">Pride of her children, and honored afar,</p> +<p>Let the wide beams of thy full constellation</p> +<p class="i2">Scatter each cloud that would darken a star!</p> +<p class="i4">Up with our banner bright, etc.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Empire unsceptred! What foe shall assail thee,</p> +<p class="i2">Bearing the standard of Liberty's van?</p> +<p>Think not the God of thy fathers shall fail thee,</p> +<p class="i2">Striving with men for the birthright of man.</p> +<p class="i4">Up with our banner bright, etc.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Yet if, by madness and treachery blighted,</p> +<p class="i2">Dawns the dark hour when the sword thou must draw,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> +<p class="i2">Then with the arms of thy millions united,</p> +<p class="i2">Smite the bold traitors to Freedom and Law!</p> +<p class="i4">Up with our banner bright, etc.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Lord of the Universe: shield us and guide us,</p> +<p class="i2">Trusting thee always, through shadow and sun!</p> +<p>Thou hast united us, who shall divide us?</p> +<p class="i2">Keep us, oh keep us the MANY IN ONE!</p> +<p class="i4">Up with <b>our</b> banner bright,</p> +<p class="i4">Sprinkled with starry light,</p> +<p class="i2">Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore,</p> +<p class="i4">While through the sounding sky</p> +<p class="i4">Loud rings the nation's cry,—</p> +<p class="i2">UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE!</p> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> +<h3>YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR FLAG</h3> + +<h4>EDWARD EVERETT HALE</h4> + +<p>"If you are ever tempted to say a word or to do +a thing that shall put a bar between you and your +country, pray God in His mercy to take you that +instant home to His own heaven. Stick by your family, +boy; forget you have a self, while you do everything +for them. Think of your home, boy; write and +send, and talk about it. Let it be nearer and nearer +to your thoughts, the farther you have to travel from +it; and rush back to it when you are free. And for +your country, boy,"—and the words rattled in his +throat,—"and for that flag,"—and he pointed to +the ship,—"never dream a dream but of serving her +as she bids you, though the service carry you through +a thousand hells. No matter what happens to you, +no matter who flatters you or who abuses you, never +look to another flag, never let a night pass but you +pray God to bless that flag. Remember, boy, that +behind all these men you have to do with, behind +officers, and government, and people even, there is +the Country Herself, your Country, and that you +belong to Her as you belong to your own mother. +Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your +mother."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> +<h3>THE HOME FLAG</h3> + +<h4>HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>And at the masthead,</p> +<p>White, blue, and red,</p> +<p>A flag unrolls the stripes and stars.</p> +<p>Ah! when the wanderer, lonely, friendless,</p> +<p>In foreign harbors shall behold</p> +<p>That flag unrolled,</p> +<p>'T will be as a friendly hand</p> +<p>Stretched out from his native land,</p> +<p>Filling his heart with memories sweet and endless!</p> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> +<h3>OLD FLAG</h3> + +<h4>HUBBARD PARKER</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>What shall I say to you, Old Flag?</p> +<p>You are so grand in every fold,</p> +<p>So linked with mighty deeds of old,</p> +<p>So steeped in blood where heroes fell,</p> +<p>So torn and pierced by shot and shell,</p> +<p>So calm, so still, so firm, so true,</p> +<p>My throat swells at the sight of you, Old Flag.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>What of the men who lifted you, Old Flag,</p> +<p>Upon the top of Bunker's Hill,</p> +<p>Who crushed the Briton's cruel will,</p> +<p>'Mid shock and roar and crash and scream,</p> +<p>Who crossed the Delaware's frozen stream,</p> +<p>Who starved, who fought, who bled, who died,</p> +<p>That you might float in glorious pride, Old Flag?</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Who of the women brave and true, Old Flag,</p> +<p>Who, while the cannon thundered wild,</p> +<p>Sent forth a husband, lover, child.</p> +<p>Who labored in the field by day,</p> +<p>Who, all the night long, knelt to pray,</p> +<p>And thought that God great mercy gave,</p> +<p>If only freely you might wave, Old Flag?</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>What is your mission now, Old Flag?</p> +<p>What but to set all people free,</p> +<p>To rid the world of misery,</p> +<p>To guard the right, avenge the wrong,</p> +<p>And gather in one joyful throng</p> +<p>Beneath your folds in close embrace</p> +<p>All burdened ones of every race, Old Flag?</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Right nobly do you lead the way, Old Flag,</p> +<p>Your stars shine out for liberty.</p> +<p>Your white stripes stand for purity,</p> +<p>Your crimson claims that courage high</p> +<p>For Honor's sake to fight and die.</p> +<p>Lead on against the alien shore!</p> +<p>We'll follow you e'en to Death's door, Old Flag!</p> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> +<h3>BRITANNIA TO COLUMBIA</h3> + +<h4>ALFRED AUSTIN</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>What is the voice I hear</p> +<p class="i4">On the winds of the western sea?</p> +<p>Sentinel, listen from out Cape Clear</p> +<p class="i4">And say what the voice may be.</p> +<p class="i4">'Tis a proud free people calling loud to a people proud and free.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And it says to them: "Kinsmen, hail;</p> +<p class="i4">We severed have been too long.</p> +<p>Now let us have done with a worn-out tale—</p> +<p class="i4">The tale of an ancient wrong—</p> +<p class="i4">And our friendship last long as love doth last and be stronger than death is strong."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Answer them, sons of the self-same race,</p> +<p class="i4">And blood of the self-same clan;</p> +<p>Let us speak with each other face to face</p> +<p class="i4">And answer as man to man,</p> +<p class="i4">And loyally love and trust each other as none but free men can.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Now fling them out to the breeze,</p> +<p class="i4">Shamrock, Thistle, and Rose,</p> +<p>And the Star-Spangled Banner unfurl with these—</p> +<p class="i4">A message of friends and foes</p> +<p class="i4"><a name="wherever" id="wherever"></a>Wherever the sails of peace are seen and wherever the war wind blows—</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>A message to bond and thrall to wake,</p> +<p class="i4">For wherever we come, we twain,</p> +<p>The throne of the tyrant shall rock and quake,</p> +<p class="i4">And his menace be void and vain,</p> +<p class="i4">For you are lords of a strong young land and we are lords of the main.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Yes, this is the voice on the bluff March gale;</p> +<p class="i4">We severed have been too long,</p> +<p>But now we are done with a worn-out tale—</p> +<p class="i4">The tale of an ancient wrong—</p> +<p class="i4">And our friendship shall last long as love doth last and be stronger than death is strong.</p> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> +<h3>MAKERS OF THE FLAG</h3> + +<h4>FRANKLIN K. LANE</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>[A portion of an address delivered by the Secretary of the +Interior to the employees of the Department of the Interior, +on Flag Day, 1914.]</p></div> + +<p>This morning as I passed into the Land Office, +The Flag dropped me a most cordial salutation, and +from its rippling folds I heard it say: "Good-morning +Mr. Flag Maker."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't +you mistaken? I am not the President of the United +States, nor a member of Congress, nor even a general +in the army. I am only a Government clerk."</p> + +<p>"I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker," replied the +gay voice; "I know you well. You are the man who +worked in the swelter of yesterday straightening out +the tangle of that farmer's homestead in Idaho, or +perhaps you found the mistake in that Indian contract +in Oklahoma, or helped to clear that patent for the +hopeful inventor in New York, or pushed the opening +of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine +in Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier +in Wyoming. No matter; whichever one of these +beneficient individuals you may happen to be, I give +you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker."</p> + +<p>I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me +with these words:—</p> + +<p>"Yesterday the President spoke a word that made +happier the future of ten million peons in Mexico; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +that act looms no larger on the flag than the struggle +which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn +Club prize this summer.</p> + +<p>"Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will +open the door of Alaska; but a mother in Michigan +worked from sunrise until far into the night, to give +her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag.</p> + +<p>"Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial +panics, and yesterday, maybe, a school teacher in +Ohio taught his first letters to a boy who will one day +write a song that will give cheer to the millions of our +race. We are all making the flag."</p> + +<p>"But," I said impatiently, "these people were only +working!"</p> + +<p>Then came a great shout from The Flag:—</p> + +<p>"The work that we do is the making of the flag.</p> + +<p>"I am not the flag; not at all. I am nothing more +than its shadow.</p> + +<p>"I am whatever you make me, nothing more.</p> + +<p>"I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what +a People may become.</p> + +<p>"I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, +of heart breaks and tired muscles.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I am strong with pride, when workmen +do an honest piece of work, fitting the rails together +truly.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone +from me, and cynically I play the coward.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego +that blasts judgment.</p> + +<p>"But always, I am all that you hope to be, and +have the courage to try for.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling +hope.</p> + +<p>"I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the +largest dream of the most daring.</p> + +<p>"I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and +the statute makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman +and street sweep, cook, counselor, and clerk.</p> + +<p>"I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of +to-morrow.</p> + +<p>"I am the mystery of the men who do without +knowing why.</p> + +<p>"I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose +of resolution.</p> + +<p>"I am no more than what you believe me to be, +and I am all that you believe I can be.</p> + +<p>"I am what you make me, nothing more.</p> + +<p>"I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, +a symbol of yourself, the pictured suggestion of that +big thing which makes this nation. My stars and my +stripes are your dream and your labors. They are +bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with +faith, because you have made them so out of your +hearts. For you are the makers of the flag and it is +well that you glory in the making."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> +<h3>OUR FLAG</h3> + +<h4>MARGARET SANGSTER</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>Flag of the fearless-hearted,</p> +<p class="i2">Flag of the broken chain,</p> +<p>Flag in a day-dawn started,</p> +<p class="i2">Never to pale or wane.</p> +<p>Dearly we prize its colors,</p> +<p class="i2">With the heaven light breaking through,</p> +<p>The clustered stars and the steadfast bars,</p> +<p class="i2">The red, the white, and the blue.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Flag of the sturdy fathers,</p> +<p class="i2">Flag of the royal sons,</p> +<p>Beneath its folds it gathers</p> +<p class="i2">Earth's best and noblest ones.</p> +<p>Boldly we wave its colors,</p> +<p class="i2">Our veins are thrilled anew</p> +<p>By the steadfast bars, the clustered stars,</p> +<p class="i2">The red, the white, and the blue.</p> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> +<h3>OUR HISTORY AND OUR FLAG<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h3> + +<h4>WILLIAM BACKUS GUITTEAU</h4> + +<p>Love of country is a sentiment common to all peoples +and ages; but no land has ever been dearer to its +people than our own America. No nation has a history +more inspiring, no country has institutions more +deserving of patriotic love. Turning the pages of our +nation's history, the young citizen sees Columbus, +serene in the faith of his dream; the Mayflower, bearing +the lofty soul of the Puritan; Washington girding +on his holy sword; Lincoln, striking the shackles from +the helpless slave; the constitution, organizing the +farthest west with north and south and east into one +great Republic; the tremendous energy of free life +trained in free schools, utilizing our immense natural +resources, increasing the nation's wealth with the +aid of advancing science, multiplying fertile fields +and noble workshops, and busy schools and happy +homes.</p> + +<p>This is the history for which our flag stands; and +when the young citizen salutes the flag, he should +think of the great ideals which it represents. The +flag stands for democracy, for liberty under the law; +it stands for heroic courage and self-reliance, for +equality of opportunity, for self-sacrifice and the +cause of humanity; it stands for free public education,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +and for peace among all nations. When you salute +the flag, you should resolve that your own life will be +dedicated to these ideals. You should remember that +he is the truest American patriot who understands +the meaning of our nation's ideals, and who pledges +his own life to their realization.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> From <i>Preparing for Citizenship</i>. +Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913, 1915.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> +<h3>THE AMERICAN FLAG</h3> + +<h4>JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>Flag of the free heart's hope and home!</p> +<p class="i2">By angel hands to valor given;</p> +<p>Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,</p> +<p class="i2">And all thy hues were born in heaven.</p> +<p>Forever float that standard sheet!</p> +<p class="i2">Where breathes the foe but falls before us,</p> +<p>With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,</p> +<p class="i2">And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us?</p> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> +<h3>THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY</h3> + +<h4>ROBERT C. WINTHROP</h4> + +<p>There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed +who can look upon its folds, rippling in the breeze, +without pride of country. If he be in a foreign land, +the flag is companionship and country itself, with all +its endearments. Its highest beauty is in what it +symbolizes. It is because it represents all, that all +gaze at it with delight and reverence.</p> + +<p>It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it +speaks sublimely, and every part has a voice. Its +stripes of alternate red and white proclaim the original +union of thirteen States to maintain the Declaration +of Independence. Its stars of white on a field +of blue proclaim that union of States constituting our +national constellation, which receives a new star with +every new State. The two together signify union past +and present.</p> + +<p>The very colors have a language which was officially +recognized by our fathers. White is for purity, +red for valor, blue for justice; and altogether, bunting, +stripes, stars, and colors blazing in the sky, make +the flag of our country to be cherished by all our +hearts, to be upheld by all our hands.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> +<h3>AMERICA</h3> + +<h4>SAMUEL FRANCIS SMITH</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>My country, 'tis of thee,</p> +<p>Sweet land of liberty,</p> +<p class="i4">Of thee I sing;</p> +<p>Land where my fathers died,</p> +<p>Land of the pilgrims' pride,</p> +<p>From every mountain-side</p> +<p class="i4">Let freedom ring.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>My native country, thee,</p> +<p>Land of the noble free,—</p> +<p class="i4">Thy name I love;</p> +<p>I love thy rocks and rills,</p> +<p>Thy woods and templed hills;</p> +<p>My heart with rapture thrills</p> +<p class="i4">Like that above.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Let music swell the breeze,</p> +<p>And ring from all the trees</p> +<p class="i4">Sweet Freedom's song;</p> +<p>Let mortal tongues awake,</p> +<p>Let all that breathe partake,</p> +<p>Let rocks their silence break,—</p> +<p class="i4">The sound prolong.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>Our fathers' God, to Thee,</p> +<p>Author of liberty,</p> +<p class="i4">To Thee we sing;</p> +<p>Long may our land be bright</p> +<p>With freedom's holy light;</p> +<p>Protect us by thy might,</p> +<p class="i4">Great God our King.</p> +</div></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> +<h2>INDEX</h2> + +<ul> + <li>Albany, reached by the Dutch, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + <li>"Albany Plan," <a href="#Page_18">18</a>-<a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + <li>Alexandria, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + <li>Alfred, the, the first American man-of-war, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>-<a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> + <li>Algiers, the Dey of, yields to America, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + <li>America, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, + <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>; + <ul> + <li>overpowers the Dey of Algiers, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>"Ancient flag," the, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li> + <li>Anderson, General, carries the flag from Fort Sumter, raises it again in 1865, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_73">73</a>; + <ul> + <li>burial of, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Andrea, Dona, saluted at one of the West Indian Islands, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li> + <li>Arch Street, home of Betsy Ross, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> + <li>Arizona, admitted to the Union, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>; + <ul> + <li>men from, at Santiago, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Asia, sought by Henry Hudson, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>-<a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + <li>Atlantic Ocean, crossed by Henry Hudson, <a href="#Page_1">1.</a></li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Bainbridge, Captain, carries Algerian ambassador to Constantinople, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-<a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + <li>Baltimore, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + <li>Bedford, the flag of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>-<a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> + <li>Beecher, Henry Ward, speech of, at Fort Sumter, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> + <li>Bethlehem, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> + <li>Bon Homme Richard, sinking of the, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>-<a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> + <li>Boston, arrival of stamps at, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_16">16</a>; + <ul> + <li>flag seen in, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Boston Harbor, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>; + <ul> + <li>tea dropped into, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Brest Roads, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + <li>Britain, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + <li>British, besiege Fort Stanwix, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> + <li>Broadway, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> + <li>Brooklyn Navy Yard, flags for the navy made in the, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> + <li>Bunker Hill, flags at battle of, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, + <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> + <li>Bunting, not made in America until 1866, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-<a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Cambridge, Indian volunteers come to, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>; <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li> + <li>Carleton, Sir Guy, delayed in New York, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> + <li>Castle Island, ship made to strike her colors at, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>-<a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li> + <li>Chapultepec, taken by Americans, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> + <li>Charles II, and the New England coinage, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> + <li>Charleston, the flag of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>-<a href="#Page_12">12</a>; + <ul> + <li>stamped paper in, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> + <li>liberty flag in, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> + <li>flag of, after Bunker Hill, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> + <li>Liberty Tree of, <a name="of" id="of"></a><a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> + <li>cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>; <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>China, the American flag in, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> + <li>Christina, becomes queen of Sweden, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + <li>Civil War, the beginning of the, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> + <li>Clinton, Sir Henry, cuts down the Liberty Tree in Charleston, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> + <li>Columbus, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + <li>Concord, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + <li>Congress, <a name="Congress" id="Congress"></a><a href="#Page_19">19</a>; + <ul> + <li>sends a committee to Cambridge, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> + <li>orders building of cruisers, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> + <li>orders a flag, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>; <a href="#Page_42">42</a>; <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> + <li>celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> + <li>decrees the star-spangled banner, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>-<a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</li> + <li><i>See also</i> Continental Congress.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Connecticut, regimental colors of, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; + <ul> + <li>motto of, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Constantinople, Algerian ambassador carried to, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + <li>Constitution, frigate, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> + <li>Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>; + <ul> + <li>weakness of the statement issued by the, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> + <li>Washington a member of the, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>; <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> + <li>declares the colonies to be independent and decrees a flag, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Cook, Captain, to be aided by all American cruisers, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> + <li>Copley, paints in the flag, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> + <li>Cotton, Dr. John, advises concerning the King's Flag, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a>; + <ul> + <li>Indian chief resembles, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Cuba, given up to the Cubans, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> + <li>Culpeper Minute Men, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Daiquiri, landing place of the Rough Riders, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + <li>Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>; + <ul> + <li>flag made before the, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> + <li>first anniversary celebrated on the Delaware River, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Delaware River, Swedes settle on the, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; + <ul> + <li>pine tree flag on the, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> + <li>stars and stripes on the, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> + <li>celebration on the, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Digby, Admiral, licenses a Nantucket skipper to go to London, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> + <li>Dix, General, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + <li>Driver, Captain William, originates the name "Old Glory," <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> + <li>Dutch, establish trading posts on the Hudson River, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; + <ul> + <li>overpowered by the English, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li> + <li>opposed by New Englanders, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> + <li>government of, inquires concerning the American flag, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>Dutch East India Company, Hudson sails in the employ of the, + <a href="#Page_1">1</a>-<a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Elliot, Major, wife of, presents silken colors, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> + <li>Endicott, John, cuts the cross from the English flag, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>; <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> + <li>England, flag of, brought to Jamestown, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>-<a href="#Page_3">3</a>; <a href="#Page_6">6</a>; + <a href="#Page_18">18</a>; <a href="#Page_33">33</a>; + <ul> + <li>flag of, pulled down in New York, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>; <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li> + <li>honors the Stars and Stripes, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>English East India Company, flag of the, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + <li>Essex (county), <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> + <li>Essex Institute, "Old Glory" sent to the, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>"Father of his Country," <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + <li>Fifteen stripes and fifteen stars, the flag of, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>-<a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li> + <li>Fillmore, President, sends letter to Japan, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li> + <li>First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>. + <ul> + <li><i>See</i> Rough Riders.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Flag anniversaries, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>-<a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li> + <li>"Flag Day," <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> + <li>Flag etiquette, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>-<a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> + <li>"Flower flag," the, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> + <li>Flamborough Head, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li> + <li>Fort George, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> + <li>Fort McHenry, attacked by the British, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li> + <li>Fort Moultrie, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> + <li>Fort Schuyler. + <ul> + <li><i>See</i> Fort Stanwix.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Fort Stanwix, flag made at, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>-<a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> + <li>Fort Sumter, firing upon, begins the Civil War, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>-<a href="#Page_72">72</a>; + <ul> + <li>flag raised upon, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Fourth of July, Declaration of Independence on the, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>; + <ul> + <li>first anniversary of the, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> + <li>new stars to be added to the flag on the, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</li> + <li>honored in Sweden, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>France, war with, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>; + <ul> + <li>sells the Louisiana Territory to the United States, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Franklin, Benjamin, proposes the "Albany Plan," <a href="#Page_18">18</a>-<a href="#Page_19">19</a>; <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, + <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>; + <ul> + <li>sent to Cambridge by Congress, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>; <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> + <li>issues letters of marque, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Frederick, burial place of Francis Scott Key, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + <li>French, opposed by the New Englanders, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>; + <ul> + <li>meet the New Englanders at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Gadsden, Christopher, speaks of possible independence, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + <li>Gage, General, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> + <li>Gansevoort, Colonel Peter, commands Fort Stanwix, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> + <li>George III, proclamation of, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> + <li>"God Save the King," sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + <li>Grand Army of the Republic, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> + <li>Grand Council, part of the "Albany Plan," <a href="#Page_18">18</a>-<a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + <li>"Grand Union Flag," made in Cambridge, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>; + <ul> + <li>designer not known, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; <a name="known" id="known"></a><a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Great Britain, second war with, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + <li>Gustavus Adolphus, plans a settlement in America, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Hall, Lieutenant, rescues the flag at Fort Sumter, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> + <li>Hancock, John, presents a flag to General Putnam, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + <li>Harrison, Benjamin, sent to Cambridge by Congress, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> + <li>Hart, Sergeant Peter, fastens the flag up on the ramparts at Fort Sumter, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>; + <ul> + <li>presents it to be raised, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Harvard College, used by troops, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</li> + <li>Havana, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> + <li>Hawthorne, tells the story of Endicott and the flag, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>; + <ul> + <li>of "The Pine-Tree Shillings," <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Hemisphere, on a flag, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> + <li>Henry, Patrick, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> + <li>Hessians, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> + <li>Holland, Hudson's vessel sailed from, the flag of, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>; <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + <li>Holmes, "Old Ironsides," poem of, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> + <li>House of Representatives, hoists the Star-Spangled Banner, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> + <li>Hudson, carries the Dutch flag into the Hudson River, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>-<a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Indian, enters embrasure at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> + <li>Indiana, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + <li>Indians, Hudson welcomed by the, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>; + <ul> + <li>method of warfare, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> + <li>given flags, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> + <li>volunteer at Cambridge, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> + <li>fought by Washington, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</li> + <li>besiege Fort Schuyler, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> + <li>raise the American flag, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Island of Knights, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>James I, changes the flag of England, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li> + <li>James II, sends a flag to New England, leaves England, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> + <li>Jamestown, founded, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + <li>Japan, opened by Perry, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_79">79</a>; + <ul> + <li>embassy from visits the United States, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> + <li>the friend of the United States, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Jasper, William, rescues the flag at Fort Moultrie, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>-<a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> + <li>Jersey City, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> + <li>Jones, John Paul, hoists a flag on the Alfred, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>-<a href="#Page_37">37</a>; + <ul> + <li>forbidden to burn defenseless towns, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> + <li>put in command of the Ranger, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> + <li>receives a flag in Portsmouth and a salute in France, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</li> + <li>in command of the Bon Homme Richard, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>-<a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Journal, of Congress, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Kansas, first raising of the United States flag in, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li> + <li>Kentucky, admitted as a State, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> + <li>Kettle Hill, battle of, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li> + <li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>Key, Francis Scott, writes the "Star-Spangled Banner," + <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + <li>King Philip's War, flag used in, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> + <li>"King's Flag," <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; + <ul> + <li>displayed at Castle Island, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Lafayette visited by Pulaski, welcomed to Baltimore, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> + <li>Las Guasimas, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + <li>"Last battle of the Revolution," <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> + <li>Lexington, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>; + <ul> + <li>battle of, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>; <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Liberty, the demand for, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li> + <li>"Liberty Elm," Massachusetts history associated with the, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + <li>"Liberty Hall," <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> + <li>Liberty Pole, cut down in New York, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> + <li>"Liberty Tree," in Boston, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>; + <ul> + <li>of South Carolina, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> + <li>Paine's poem on the, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Lincoln, President, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> + <li>"Lion of the North," <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + <li>London, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>; + <ul> + <li>honors the Stars and Stripes, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Longfellow, poem of, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> + <li>Louisburg, the New Englanders at, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> + <li>Louisiana, admitted to the Union, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + <li>Louisiana Territory, purchased by the United States, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + <li>Lowell, quotation from, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + <li>Lowell (city), bunting made in, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> + <li>Lynch, Thomas, sent to Cambridge by Congress, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Maryland, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + <li>Massachusetts, troubles concerning the cross in the flag, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a>; + <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>; + <ul> + <li>flag of the "Three County Troop" in, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> + <li>use of "pine tree" in, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> + <li>flag of, after Bunker Hill, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> + <li>motto of, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> + <li>decrees the use of the pine-tree flag, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>; <a href="#Page_66">66</a>; + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>; <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Mediterranean Sea, freed from Pirates, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + <li>Memorial Day, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + <li>Mexico, war with, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li> + <li>Mexico, the City of, captured by Americans, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> + <li>Middlesex (county), <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + <li>Monroe, President, signs a bill decreeing the use of the Star-Spangled Banner, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</li> + <li>Moravian Sisters, make banner for Pulaski, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> + <li>Morris, Robert, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> + <li>Mottoes on flags, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, + <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, + <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> + <li>Moultrie, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> + <li>Moultrie, Colonel, defends Fort Moultrie, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>-<a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Nantucket, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> + <li>Nashville, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> + <li>National Museum, "Star-Spangled Banner" of Francis Scott Key in, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + <li>Netherlands, flag of the, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + <li>New Amsterdam, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + <li>Newbury, flag of the militia in, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> + <li>Newburyport, patrol, of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> + <li>New England, alliance of the folk of, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>; <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + <li>New Englanders, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>; + <ul> + <li>set off to capture Louisburg, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>"New England Flag," the, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> + <li>New Hampshire, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> + <li>New Haven, peace rejoicing in, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> + <li>New Mexico, admitted to the Union, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> + <li>New World, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + <li>New York, founded by the Dutch, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; + <ul> + <li>flag of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> + <li>arrival of stamps at, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> + <li>liberty pole in, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> + <li>hoists flag with beaver device, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; <a href="#Page_27">27</a>; <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> + <li>State of, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> + <li>Sir Guy Carleton delayed in, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>; <a href="#Page_64">64</a>; <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li><i>New York Sun</i>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> + <li>North Pole, discovered by Admiral Peary, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Ohio, admitted to the Union, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + <li>"Old Glory," origin of the name and story of, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>-<a href="#Page_69">69</a>; + <ul> + <li>in three wars, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>"Old Ironsides," frigate, poem by Holmes, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> + <li>"Old Thirteen," <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + <li>Oliver, hanged in effigy in Boston, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> + <li>Oscar, king of Sweden, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Page family, as color bearers, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + <li>Paine, Thomas, poem of on the "Liberty Tree," <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> + <li>Pearson, Captain, yields to John Paul <a name="Jones" id="Jones"></a> Jones, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li> + <li>Peary, Admiral Robert E., carries the flag to the North Pole, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> + <li>Pennsylvania, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li> + <li><i>Pennsylvania Gazette</i>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + <li><i>Pennsylvania Journal</i>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> + <li>Perry, Commodore M. C., carries the letter of President Fillmore to Japan, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> + <li>Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li> + <li>Philadelphia Light Horse Troop, escorts Washington to New York, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>; + <ul> + <li>flag of the, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Phœnix, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> + <li>Pike, Lieut. Z. M., and the Indians, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li> + <li>Pilgrims, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + <li>Pine tree, on flag, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>; + <ul> + <li>used on the Delaware River, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>"Pine-Tree Shillings, The," Hawthorne's story of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> + <li>Pope's Creek, birthplace of Washington, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + <li>Portsmouth, banner in, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>; + <ul> + <li>the "quilting party" flag, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Poughkeepsie, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> + <li>Prospect Hill, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>; + <ul> + <li>flag raised on, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Pulaski, Count, the banner of, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>-<a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> + <li>Puritans, troubled by the cross in the flag, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li> +<li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>Putnam, Major-General Israel, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>; + <ul> + <li>flag presented to, by John Hancock, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Quaker City, the, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Ranger, command of, given to Jones, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>; + <ul> + <li>the flag of, and its salute, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Rattlesnake, on flag of Charleston, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; + <ul> + <li>a favorite emblem, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>-<a href="#Page_26">26</a>; <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> + <li>on flag of the Alfred, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Reid, Captain, S. C., designs the flag with stars arranged in one star, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> + <li>Revere, Paul, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + <li>Revolutionary War, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> + <li>Rhode Island, hoists a flag with the anchor device, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> + <li>Roman Catholic Church, the cross regarded as the badge of the, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</li> + <li>Rome, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> + <li>Ross, Betsy, makes the first flag with stars and stripes, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>-<a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> + <li>Ross, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>. + <ul> + <li><i>See</i> Betsy Ross.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Ross, Colonel, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> + <li>"Rough Riders," <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>St. Andrew, the cross of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + <li>St. George's Cross, united with the cross of St. Andrew, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; + <ul> + <li>cut out of the flag by Endicott, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> + <li>in the flag sent by James II to New England, in the pine-tree flag, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>; <a href="#Page_18">18</a>; + <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; <a href="#Page_32">32</a>; <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>St. Paul, Cathedral of, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + <li>Salem, cross cut from the flag in, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> + <li>San Juan Hill, the battle of, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li> + <li>Santiago, attacked by the Rough Riders, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + <li>Savannah, flag hoisted at, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> + <li>Scotland, the flag of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + <li>Serapis, taken by Jones, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>-<a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> + <li>Six Nations, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + <li>Somerville, flag raised in, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + <li>Sons of Liberty, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>; + <ul> + <li>put up a liberty pole, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> + <li>meetings of the, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>South Carolina, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; + <ul> + <li>treatment of stamped paper in, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>; <a href="#Page_30">30</a>; <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Spain, owner of the Louisiana Territory, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + <ul> + <li>war with, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Spaniards, repulsed at Las Guasimas, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + <li>Spanish-American War, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> + <li>Stamp Act, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>; + <ul> + <li>repeal of the, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>; <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Stars and Stripes, first salute to, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>; + <ul> + <li>replace the English flag in New York, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> + <li>at Fort McHenry, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> + <li>at Chapultepec, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> + <li>fired upon at Fort Sumter, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>-<a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li> + <li>raised again at Fort Sumter, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> + <li>in Japan, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> + <li>in China, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> + <li>in Sweden, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> + <li>honored in England, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> + <li>behavior towards the, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>-<a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>"Star-Spangled Banner, The," written by Francis Scott Key, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_61">61</a>; + <ul> + <li>played at Fort Sumter, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> + <li>sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Stiles, President, describes the New Haven rejoicing for peace, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> + <li>Stockholm, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> + <li>Suffolk (county), <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> + <li>Swartwout, Captain Abram, cloak of, used for flag at Fort Stanwix, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>-<a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> + <li>Sweden, American flag raised in, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + <li>Swedes, settle on the Delaware River, are overpowered by the Dutch, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; + <ul> + <li>opposed by the New Englanders, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Tennessee, admitted to the Union, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>; <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> + <li>Thames, the royal seal tossed into the, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> + <li>"Thirteen," <a name="thirteen" id="thirteen"></a><a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + <li>Thirteen stripes, first used, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</li> + <li>Thomas, William W., raises American flag in Sweden, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + <li>Trenton, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> + <li>Tripoli, war with, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> + <li>Trumbull, battle of Bunker Hill painted by, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>"Union Flag," <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; + <ul> + <li>made at Cambridge, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</li> + <li>worn by the Alfred, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Union Jack, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; + <ul> + <li>given to the Indians, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>; <a href="#Page_18">18</a>; <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>United Colonies, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + <li>"Unite or die," motto of the "Albany Plan," <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + <li>United States, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>; + <ul> + <li>left by British troops, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>; <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> + <li>buys the Louisiana Territory, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>-<a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> + <li>flag of, decided upon, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>-<a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> + <li>flag manufactured in, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li> + <li>opens intercourse with Japan, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>; <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> + <li>flag of, hauled down in Cuba, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>; <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, + <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Vermont, admitted as a State, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> + <li>"Victory Tower," Star-Spangled Banner floats from, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + <li>Virginia, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + +<li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Washington, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; + <ul> + <li>goes to Boston, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_29">29</a>; <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> + <li>coat-of-arms of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>; <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> + <li>visits Betsy Ross, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> + <li>significance of the flag expressed by, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>; <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> + <li>monument reared to in Baltimore, birthplace of marked, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>-<a href="#Page_62">62</a>; <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Watson, Elkanah, flag painted in portrait of, by Copley, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> + <li>Wendover, Peter H., induces Congress to decree the Star-Spangled Banner, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</li> + <li>Westminster Palace, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + <li>Westmoreland County, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + <li>West Point, burial place of General Anderson, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> + <li>Wood, General Leonard, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + <ul> + <li>delivers Cuba to the Cubans, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + + <li class="pad"> </li> + + <li>Yale, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="tn"> +<h4>Transcriber's Note:</h4> +<ul class="corrections"> +<li>Click on illustration to view the full-size version.</li> +<li>Footnote moved to end of article on <a href="#Page_114">Pg 114</a>.</li> +<li>Moved frontispiece illustrations to <a href="#Page_1">Pg 1</a>.</li> +<li>Otherwise, archaic and inconsistent spelling and hyphenation retained.</li> +<li><a href="#processsion">Pg 16</a> Corrected spelling of word "processsion" to "procession" located in the phrase "and marched +in a long procession".</li> +<li><a href="#whereever">Pg 43</a> "whereever" and <a href="#wherever">Pg 107</a> "wherever" retained as printed.</li> +<li><a href="#February">Pg 90</a> Replaced semi-colon with a colon after "1783" located in "February 3, 1783".</li> +<li><a href="#September">Pg 92</a> Removed extraneous comma after "1787" located in "September 30, 1787,—August 10, 1790"</li> +<li><a href="#of">Pg 119</a> Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "30" located in the phrase "Liberty Tree of, 30".</li> +<li><a href="#Congress">Pg 119</a> Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "19" located in the phrase "Congress, 19".</li> +<li><a href="#known">Pg 120</a> Added period after "39" located in "designer not known, 34; 39".</li> +<li><a href="#Jones">Pg 121</a> Replaced period with a comma after "Jones" located in phrase "Pearson, Captain, yields +to John Paul Jones".</li> +<li><a href="#thirteen">Pg 122</a> Replaced period with a comma after "51" located in phrase ""Thirteen," 51".</li> +</ul> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Little Book of the Flag, by Eva March Tappan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG *** + +***** This file should be named 30893-h.htm or 30893-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/8/9/30893/ + +Produced by Larry B. 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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: The Little Book of the Flag + +Author: Eva March Tappan + +Release Date: January 8, 2010 [EBook #30893] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG *** + + + + +Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE LITTLE BOOK + OF THE FLAG + + BY + EVA MARCH TAPPAN + + HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY + + BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO DALLAS + SAN FRANCISCO + + The Riverside Press Cambridge + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + The Riverside Press + CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS + PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. THE FLAGS THAT BROUGHT THE COLONISTS 1 + + Flags under which the early colonists sailed--The English + "ancient flag"--The "meteor flag," "Union Jack," or "King's + Flag"--Endicott cuts the cross from the English flag--The + militia object to the cross on the flag--A flagless fort--Dr. + Cotton's decision. + + + II. THE PINE-TREE FLAG AND OTHERS 8 + + Flags common among the colonists--The New England + Alliance--The pine-tree flag and coins--Flags of the + militia--The red coat flag. + + + III. LIBERTY AND LIBERTY POLES 14 + + The demand for liberty--Opposition to the Stamp Act--Oliver + hanged in effigy--The Liberty Tree in Boston--The liberty + pole in New York--The Albany plan--The snake design. + + + IV. THE LAND OF MANY FLAGS 20 + + The Bedford flag--Flags at the beginning of the + Revolution--Sergeant Jasper saves the flag--The + rattlesnake on the flag. + + + V. WHEN WASHINGTON WENT TO CAMBRIDGE 27 + + The Philadelphia Light Horse Troop--The army at + Cambridge--The backwoodsmen--Indians offer their + services--General Putnam unfurls a scarlet flag--The + Liberty Tree. + + + VI. THE "GRAND UNION FLAG" 32 + + The "Grand Union Flag"--Possible sources of the design--First + raised in Somerville--Flags on sea and land--Flag hoisted over + the Alfred by John Paul Jones--Franklin's letters of marque. + + + VII. THE FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG 39 + + The flag of the United States as decreed by Congress--The + Betsy Ross flag--Significance of the Colors--Captain Jones + put in command of the Ranger--The "quilting party"--The + Drake strikes her colors to the Ranger--The United States + flag is saluted by the French--The flag goes down with the + Bon Homme Richard. + + + VIII. FLAGS ONE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE 48 + + The Fort Stanwix flag--Pulaski's banner--The first Fourth + of July celebration--General use of "thirteen"--Copley's + delay to paint in the flag--A Nantucket skipper carries the + flag to London--The last battle of the Revolution--The New + Haven peace rejoicing. + + + IX. THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STRIPES AND FIFTEEN STARS 56 + + The flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars decreed by + Congress--Worn by "Old Ironsides"--Leads against + Tripoli--Seen at Constantinople--Among the Indians of the + Louisiana Territory--"The Star-Spangled Banner"--Marking + the birthplace of Washington. + + + X. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 63 + + Congress decrees the present flag--No law for the + arrangement of the stars--The manufacture of bunting--Flags + for the navy--Flags for the War Department--"Old Glory." + + + XI. THE FLAG IN WAR 70 + + The flag at Chapultepec--The surrender of Fort Sumter--The + flag raised again at Fort Sumter--The Arizona flag of the + Rough Riders. + + + XII. THE FLAG IN PEACE 77 + + Perry opens Japan to the world--Raising the flag over the + legation in Sweden--Hauling down the flag in Cuba--The flag + at the North Pole--The flag on Westminster Palace. + + + XIII. HOW TO BEHAVE TOWARD THE FLAG 85 + + FLAG ANNIVERSARIES 90 + + SELECTIONS + The Star-Spangled Banner _Francis Scott Key_ 93 + The Flag in the Darkness _Benjamin Harrison_ 95 + A Song for Flag Day _Wilbur D. Nesbit_ 96 + The Flag goes by _Henry Holcomb Bennett_ 98 + What the Flag stands for _Henry Cabot Lodge_ 100 + Union and Liberty _Oliver Wendell Holmes_ 101 + Your Country and your Flag _Edward Everett Hale_ 103 + The Home Flag _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ 104 + Old Flag _Hubbard Parker_ 105 + Britannia to Columbia _Alfred Austin_ 107 + Makers of the Flag _Franklin K. Lane_ 109 + Our Flag _Margaret Sangster_ 112 + Our History and our Flag _William Backus Guitteau_ 113 + The American Flag _Joseph Rodman Drake_ 115 + The Flag of our Country _Robert C. Winthrop_ 116 + America _Samuel Francis Smith_ 117 + + INDEX 119 + + + + +THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE FLAGS THAT BROUGHT THE COLONISTS + + +More than three hundred years ago a little sailing vessel set out from +Holland, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and followed down our coast from +Greenland. Its captain, Henry Hudson, was in search of a quick and easy +route to Asia, and when he entered the mouth of the river that is named +for him, he hoped that he had found a strait leading to the Asiatic +coast. He was disappointed in this, but the Indians welcomed him, the +mountains were rich in forests, and the ground was fertile. "It is the +most beautiful land in all the world," declared the enthusiastic navigator. + +Henry Hudson was an Englishman, but he sailed in the employ of the Dutch +East India Company, and soon the flag of this Company was well known +along the Hudson River. It was the old flag of Holland, three horizontal +stripes, of orange, white, and blue, with the initials of the Company on +the white stripe. Hudson had not found a new route to Asia, but he had +opened the way for the fur-trade. In a few years the Dutch had +established trading-posts as far north as Albany. They had also founded +a city which we call "New York," but which they named "New Amsterdam." +So it was that in 1609 the Dutch flag first came to the New World. + +Nearly thirty years after the voyage of Henry Hudson, a company of +Swedes made a settlement on the Delaware River. This had been planned +by the great Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. "That colony will be +the jewel of my kingdom," he said; but the "Lion of the North" was +slain in battle, and his twelve-year-old daughter Christina had become +queen. That is why the loyal Swedes named their little fortification +Fort Christiana, and over it they raised the flag of their country, a +blue banner with a yellow cross. + +In course of time the Swedes were overpowered by the Dutch, and then +the Dutch by the English; so that before many years had passed, the +only flag that floated over the "Old Thirteen" colonies was that of +England. This was brought across the sea by the settlers of our first +English colony, Jamestown, in Virginia. Moreover, they had the honor +of sailing away from England in all the glories of a brand-new flag +made in a brand-new design. The flag of England had been white with a +red upright cross known as "St. George's Cross"; but a new king, James +I, had come to the throne, and the flag as well as many other things +had met with a change. James was King of Scotland by birth, and the +Scotch flag was blue with the white diagonal cross of St. Andrew. When +James became King of England, he united the two flags by placing on a +blue background the upright cross of St. George over the diagonal +cross of St. Andrew; and he was so well pleased with the result that +he commanded every English vessel to bear in its maintop this flag, +"joined together according to the form made by our own heralds," the +King declared with satisfaction. It was the custom at that time to +call "ancient" whatever was not perfectly new, and therefore the flag +used before James became king was spoken of as the "ancient flag," +while the new one became the "King's Flag" or the "Union Jack." This +change was made in the very year when the grant for Virginia was +obtained, and therefore the little company of settlers probably sailed +for America with the "King's Flag" in the maintop and the "ancient +flag" in the foretop. + +On land, among the colonists, sometimes one flag was floated and +sometimes the other. In Massachusetts the red cross of St. George seems +to have been much in use; but before long that red cross began to hurt +the consciences of the Puritans most grievously. To them the cross was +the badge of the Roman Catholic Church. Still, it was on the flag of +their mother country, the flag that floated over their forts and their +ships. The Puritan conscience was a stern master, however, and when one +day John Endicott led the little company of Salem militia out for a drill, +and saw that cross hanging over the governor's gate, the sight was more +than he could bear, and he--but Hawthorne has already told the story:-- + + Endicott gazed around at the excited countenances of the people, + now full of his own spirit, and then turned suddenly to the + standard-bearer, who stood close behind him. + + "Officer, lower your banner!" said he. + + The officer obeyed; and brandishing his sword, Endicott thrust it + through the cloth, and, with his left hand, rent the red cross + completely out of the banner. He then waved the tattered ensign + above his head. + + "Sacrilegious wretch!" cried the High Churchman in the pillory, + unable longer to restrain himself, "thou hast rejected the symbol + of our holy religion!" + + "Treason, treason!" roared the Royalist in the stocks. "He hath + defaced the King's banner!" + + "Before God and man, I will avouch the deed," answered Endicott. + "Beat a flourish, drummer!--shout, soldiers and people!--in honor + of the ensign of New England. Neither Pope nor Tyrant hath part in + it now!" + + With a cry of triumph the people gave their sanction to one of the + boldest exploits which our history records. + +Endicott was one of the court assistants, but he was now removed from +his position and forbidden to hold any public office for one year. He +was fortunate in being permitted to retain his head. + +Endicott had been punished, but the Puritan conscience was not yet at +rest, and now many of the militia declared that they did not think it +right to march under the cross. The whole militia could not well be +punished, and the commissioners for military affairs were as doubtful +as the honest militia men about what should be done. "We will leave it +to the next General Court to decide," they said, "and in the meantime +no flags shall be used anywhere." + +This seemed a comfortable way to settle the question, but unluckily +there was a fort on Castle Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor, +and when an English vessel came sailing in, its captain refused to pay +any attention to a fort without a flag. Then the officer in command +rose to his dignity and made the ship--maybe with the aid of a ball +across her bows--strike her colors. The captain complained to the +authorities that the commandant of this flagless fort had insulted his +flag and his country. The authorities were just a bit alarmed. To +insult a flag and a country was a serious matter. "What shall we do to +make amends?" they queried. "Let the officer who proffered the insult +come on board of my vessel and say in the presence of the ship's +company that he was in fault," replied the captain. This was done, and +the sky cleared. + +But the troubles of the colonists were by no means over. The mate of +another vessel declared with considerable emphasis that these people +were all rebels and traitors to the King. Surely the thought of such a +report as this going back to England from a tiny colony clinging to +the edge of the continent was enough to alarm the boldest. Discussions +were held, and Dr. John Cotton was appealed to. + +A canny man was this Dr. John Cotton, and he decided that inasmuch as +the fort belonged to the King, it was proper that it should display +the King's Flag, whatever it might be,--"while vessels are passing," +he added shrewdly; but that, as for the militia, each company might +have its own colors, and not one of them need bear a cross. So the +great tempest passed by. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE PINE-TREE FLAG AND OTHERS + + +In some of the colonies at least, the people must have led a rather +somber life, with little pleasure, much hard work, and much +discomfort; but they fairly reveled in flags. The Indians in their +warfare preferred to hide behind trees rather than to flourish +banners, and the white men soon learned to follow their example. +Nevertheless, it always seemed to the minds of the colonists a little +irregular and out of place not to carry a flag of some sort when they +were setting out on an expedition. + +Probably we do not know one in twenty of all the designs for banners +that entered the fertile minds of these colonists, but they were so +numerous that if they had all been displayed at the same time, they +would have almost hidden the settlements. Not all colonists were as +afraid of a cross as were the good folk of Salem. In Newbury, +Massachusetts, a certain company of foot rejoiced in a flag of vivid +green. In the upper corner next the staff was a square of white +containing a red cross. The kindly councilor, who had ordered the flag +to be made in England "with all convenient speed," evidently had some +sense of humor, for he wrote at the end of his letter to the company, +"The number of bullets to be put into your colors for distinction may +be left out at present without damage in the making of them." Another +flag, belonging to a company of Massachusetts cavalry, seems to have +been something quite out of the common, for it was of damask and silk +and adorned with silver fringe. A real artist must have used his brush +upon it, for the bill read, "For painting in oyle on both sides a +Cornett on rich crimson damask, with a hand and sword and invelloped +with a scarfe about the arms of gold, black and silver"; and for all +that gorgeousness, generously painted "on both sides," the charge was +the moderate one of L5 2_s._ 6_d._ This was made for what was known as +the "Three County Troop," composed of cavalry from Essex, Middlesex, +and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts, and was probably used in King +Philip's War. + +Now, wherever a discoverer planted the sole of his foot, he took +possession for his sovereign of all the land in sight and all the land +which joined that land. Naturally, the claims of the colonies soon +conflicted. The good folk of New England made an alliance to defend +themselves against the Dutch, Swedes, and French. They managed to be +good allies for forty years without a flag. Then came one brilliant +enough to make up for the delay, and sent to them across the sea by no +less a man than King James II himself. This was of white with a St. +George's cross of red. In the center of the cross was a golden crown and +under it the King's monogram in black. A few years later matters in +England had changed. King James II had proved to be a very poor sort of +sovereign, and it was made clear to him that for his health and +comfort--possibly for his head--it would be wise for him to leave the +country. This he did in alarm and at full speed, tossing the royal seal +into the Thames on his way. It is small wonder that New Englanders +preferred a new flag. The only marvel is that they waited so long a time +before getting it. When it was finally chosen, it proved to be red with +a white canton or union cut by a red St. George's cross into four +squares. In one of these squares was the representation of a pine tree. +This representation can hardly have been a work of art, for one +historian says unkindly of it that it "no more resembled a pine tree +than a cabbage." Evidently the brave colonists were not artists. +Nevertheless, even if the good folk of Massachusetts could not draw a +pine tree, they were fond of it, and their General Court decreed that it +should be stamped upon the coins minted in that colony. Now it was the +right of the King to coin money, and when Charles II heard that the +ambitious colonists were making it for themselves, he was not pleased. +"But it is only for their own use," said a courtier who favored the +colonies, and taking a New England coin from his pocket, he showed it to +the King. "What tree is that?" demanded the aggrieved monarch. "That," +said the quick-witted courtier, "is the royal oak which saved Your +Majesty's life." "Well, well," said the King, "those colonists are not +so bad after all. They're a parcel of honest dogs!" Perhaps they were, +even if their likenesses of pine trees could not be distinguished from +cabbages and oaks. Hawthorne's story, "The Pine-Tree Shillings," is +written about this inartistic coinage. + +So the story of the flags went on. Besides the English flag every +little company of militia had its standard. One flag bore a hemisphere +in the corner in place of a pine tree, and another bore nothing but a +tree. The colonists did not trouble themselves about being artistic or +choosing colors of any special significance; if the ground of the flag +was of one color and the cross or whatever other figure was chosen was +of another, they were satisfied. Charleston, South Carolina, had a +specially elegant flag--blue with a silver crescent--to use on +"dress-up" days. After a time even the Indians were sometimes +furnished with flags, for one kindly governor gave them a Union Jack +as a protection. He presented them also with a red flag to indicate +war and a white one as a sign of peace; and probably the fortunate +Indians felt with all this magnificence quite like white folk. + +In 1745, when that remarkable expedition of New Englanders--which had +"a lawyer for contriver, a merchant for general, and farmers, +fishermen, and mechanics for soldiers"--set off to capture Louisburg +from the French, they sailed proudly away under a flag whereon was +written in Latin, "Never despair, for Christ is our leader." It was on +this same expedition that a new flag was hoisted, the like of which +was never seen before. An officer discovered that a battery on the +shore of the harbor was apparently vacant. There was no flag flying +from the staff and no smoke rising from the chimney. It looked as if +that battery might be taken easily. On the other hand it was also +quite possible that this was a ruse and was meant to decoy the +colonists within. The officer concluded to run the risk--of losing the +life of some one else. Holding up a bottle of brandy before the +thirsty gaze of an Indian, he said, "If I give you this, will you +creep in at that embrasure and open the gate?" The red man grunted +assent, crept in, and opened the gate. Then the officer and twelve men +took possession. Soon a message went from the officer to his general +as follows: "May it please your honor to be informed that by the grace +of God and the courage of thirteen men, I entered the royal battery +about nine o'clock, and am awaiting for a reinforcement and a flag." +Sometimes the colonists were wanting in the grace of patience, and +this was one of the occasions. A soldier, tired of delay, decided +that, although he could not provide reinforcements, he could provide a +flag; so up the staff he clambered with a red coat in his teeth. He +nailed it to the top of the staff, and it swung out in the wind, much +to the alarm of the citizens, who sent one hundred men in boats to +recapture the battery. The hundred men fired, but the brave little +company kept them from landing and held their position till the +general could send help. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +LIBERTY AND LIBERTY POLES + + +After the middle of the eighteenth century there was much talk among +the colonies of liberty. It is possible that not all the people were +quite clear in their minds what that "liberty" might mean; but +whatever it was, they wanted it. England required nothing more of her +colonies than other nations required of theirs. The colonies asked +nothing of England that would not be granted to-day as a matter of +course. The difficulty was that the mother country was living in the +eighteenth century, while the colonists were looking forward into the +nineteenth. A demand for liberty was in the air. The pole on which a +flag was hung was not called a flag pole, but a liberty pole. + +Most of the flags on these liberty poles bore mottoes, many of them +decidedly bold and defiant. When the Stamp Act was passed, the wrath of +the people rose, and now they knew exactly what they wanted--"No +taxation without representation." The stamped paper brought to South +Carolina was carefully stowed away in a fort. Thereupon three volunteer +companies from Charleston took possession of the fort, ran up a blue +flag marked with three white crescents, and destroyed the paper. New +York's flag had one word only, but that one word was "Liberty." +Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had a banner inscribed "Liberty, Property, +and no Stamps." In Newburyport, Massachusetts, there was a regular +patrol of men armed with stout sticks. "What do you say, stamps or no +stamps?" they demanded of every stranger, and if he had a liking for a +whole skin, he replied emphatically, "No stamps." One wary newcomer +replied courteously, "I am what you are," and was uproariously cheered. + +In going from one colony to another, it was not uncommon for a man to +get a passport from the sons of Liberty to attest to his standing as a +"Liberty man." When the stamps made their first appearance, Boston +tolled her church bells and put her flags at half-mast. Indeed, a new +sort of flag appeared in the shape of an effigy of Oliver, the stamp +distributor, swinging from the bough of a great elm which stood by the +main entrance to town. The Chief Justice ordered this image to be +removed. "Certainly," replied the people politely, "we will take it down +ourselves this very evening." So they did, but they laid it upon a bier +and marched in a long procession through the old State House. Here, in +the Council Chamber, the Governor and his Council were deliberating. +Shouts came up from below, "Liberty, Property, and no Stamps!" and +"Death to the man who offers a piece of stamped paper to sell!" "Beat an +alarm," the Chief Justice commanded the colonel of the militia. "But I +cannot," replied the colonel, "my drummers are in the mob." The +procession marched on, burned the effigy in front of the distributor's +house, gave three rousing cheers, and went home. In New York, when the +rumor spread that a ship laden with stamps was approaching, all the +vessels in the harbor put their colors at half-mast. + +When every distributor of stamps had resigned his office, there was +another outburst of banners. Charleston, South Carolina, hoisted a +liberty flag, surmounted by a branch of laurel. The tree in Boston on +which the effigy of the stamp distributor had been hung had become an +important member of colonial society. It had been formally named the +"Liberty Tree," and the ground under it was called "Liberty Hall." +Banners were often swung from its branches, and notices were nailed to +its trunk. Fastened firmly to the trunk was a tall liberty pole, and +whenever any one caught a glimpse of a red flag waving from the top of +the pole, he knew that the Sons of Liberty were to hold a meeting. +When the Stamp Act was repealed, the Liberty Tree was the very center +of rejoicing. At one o'clock in the morning, the church bell nearest +it was rung joyfully. At the first rays of dawn, the houses about it, +even the steeple of the church, all blossomed out with banners, and at +night the tree itself was aglow with lanterns. In New York a liberty +pole was set up with a splendid new flag on which was inscribed, "The +King, Pitt, and Liberty." It almost seemed as if "liberty" meant +having whatever sort of flag might suit one's whim. + +This New York pole had rather a hard time. British soldiers cut it down +twice, and when a third pole was raised, sheathed with iron around its +base, they managed to cut that down also, although it bore the legend, +"To His Most Gracious Majesty George III, Mr. Pitt, and Liberty." The +city authorities would not risk planting another pole on city land, and +thereupon the Sons of Liberty bought a piece of land for themselves, and +marched up in brilliant procession; first a full band, playing with all +its might, then six horses, made gorgeous with bright ribbons, drawing +from the shipyard a fine new pole, sheathed in iron two thirds of its +length. It was escorted by the Sons of Liberty in full numbers. Three +flags floated over the little procession, but their mottoes were not so +impressively loyal as the earlier ones. These read, "Liberty and +Property." Nevertheless, "liberty" did not yet mean separation from the +mother country; it meant only freedom in making some of their own laws; +and what was known as the "Union Flag" did not refer to any union of the +colonies, but rather to the union of Scotland and England. This flag, +the regular flag of England, was red, with the crosses of St. George and +St. Andrew on a blue field forming the Jack. + +Once, however, more than twenty years before the Revolutionary War, +there had been some talk of a union of colonies, beginning with the +suggestions of the most far-sighted man in America, Benjamin Franklin. +In 1754, when war between France and England was on the point of +breaking out, there was a meeting at Albany of delegates from several +colonies. They had come to see if they could make sure of the aid of +the Six Nations of Indian tribes; and here the sagacious Franklin +brought forward his plan for a union. His scheme was for the colonies +to elect a Grand Council, which should meet every year in +Philadelphia, to levy taxes, enlist soldiers, plan for defense, and, +in short, to attend to whatever concerned all the colonies. Whatever +affected them separately was to be managed by the colony interested. +This Council was to have much the same powers as our Congress of +to-day; but there must be a place in the scheme for the King, of +course; so Franklin proposed that the King should appoint a president +who should have the right to veto the acts of the Grand Council. This +was the "Albany Plan." Franklin was much in earnest about the matter, +and had a cut made for the _Pennsylvania Gazette_ picturing a rather +unpleasant device, a snake sliced uncomfortably into ten parts, the +head marked "NE," for New England, and each of the other pieces with +the initials of some one of the other nine colonies. With the motto, +"Unite or die," this work of art appeared for a number of issues at +the head of the _Gazette_; but many years passed before the colonies +began to make any practical use of the wisdom of Franklin in 1754. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE LAND OF MANY FLAGS + + +When Paul Revere galloped through the villages of Middlesex, calling +"for the country folk to be up and to arm," there was not much spare +time for collecting flags, and probably when + + "The farmers gave them ball for ball, + From behind each fence and farmyard wall,"-- + +they did not trouble themselves to flourish a flag before they shot. +Yet, if we may trust a family tradition, at least one flag waved over +the plucky farmers. It seems that for a long while one member or another +of the Page family of Bedford had been accustomed to carrying the colors +of the militia, and therefore when the alarm was given and Nathaniel +Page started for Concord, it was as natural for him to seize his flag as +his gun. Moreover, this story has the bunting to back it up, for the +Bedford flag remained in the Page family until presented to the town a +century after the close of the war. It is rather a pity that it did not +come a little sooner, for an old lady of Page descent confessed that in +her giddy girlhood she had irreverently ripped off the silver fringe to +make trimming for her ball dress. + +The Revolution was fairly on, and two months later, the battle of +Bunker Hill was fought. Possibly the colonists thought of spades +rather than standards when they were throwing up the fortifications, +and yet I fancy that to these flag-loving fighters a battle without a +banner would have seemed like an undignified riot. Some writers say +positively that no flag was to be seen--rather a difficult statement +to prove. The daughter of one of the soldiers declared that her father +helped hoist the standard known as the "New England Flag." "He called +it a 'noble flag,'" she said. "It was blue with the red cross of St. +George in a white corner, and in one section was a pine tree." The +artist Trumbull, who painted the picture of this battle now in the +Capitol at Washington, made the flag red instead of blue, but both +were familiar colonial flags, and there is no reason why both should +not have waved over the famous hill. Tradition says that one flag bore +the motto, "Come if you dare." General Gage is said to have had +difficulty in reading it, but maybe that was because of its audacity. +Some verses written soon after the battle say that + + "Columbia's troops are seen in dread array, + And waving streamers in the air display";-- + +but, unluckily, the poet forgot to mention the color of those "waving +streamers." In Savannah, after the battle, but before any news of it +could have arrived, the independent Georgians hoisted a Union flag and +suggestively placed two pieces of artillery directly under it. New York +chose a white flag with a black beaver thereon. Rhode Island had also a +white flag, but with a blue anchor instead of a beaver, and a blue +canton with thirteen white stars. Her motto was "Hope." Connecticut +meant that there should be no mistake in the whereabouts of her +regiments, for she gave them flags of solid color: to the first, yellow; +the second, blue; the third, scarlet; and so on with crimson, white, +azure, another shade of blue, and orange. For a motto Connecticut chose +"Qui transtulit sustinet"; that is, "He who brought us here sustains +us." Massachusetts chose for her motto "An Appeal to Heaven." Charleston +had a blue flag with a white crescent in the upper corner next to the +staff and inscribed upon her banner the daring words, "Liberty or +Death." Later she adopted a rattlesnake flag. Her troops wore blue and +had silver crescents on the front of their caps, inscribed with the same +motto. It is small wonder that timid folk were alarmed and whispered to +one another, "That is going too far; it looks like a declaration of +war." This blue and silver flag was planned by Colonel Moultrie. When +Fort Moultrie--which received this name because of his brave +defense--was shelled the following year, the anxious folk in the town +watched with troubled faces, for it was doubtful whether the little fort +with its scant supply of ammunition could sustain the attack. Suddenly +the crescent flag fell from its staff. A groan ran through the +crowd--Colonel Moultrie had struck his flag! "Forward!" cried one among +them, and they marched to the water's edge to fight for their homes. +Within the little fort one William Jasper, a sergeant, saw that a ball +had cut down the flag and it had fallen over the rampart. "Colonel," he +said to his commander, "don't let us fight without a flag." "What can +you do?" demanded Colonel Moultrie, "the staff is broken." Sergeant +Jasper was a man of few words and many deeds. He leaped through an +embrasure, walked the whole length of the fort in a heavy fire from the +ships, caught up the flag, brought it safely back, and fastened it to a +sponge-staff. Then, in the midst of cheers,--in which I fancy the +British also joined,--he fastened the rescued banner upon the bastion. +The following day the Governor came to the fort, asked for Sergeant +Jasper, presented him with his own sword, and gave him hearty thanks in +behalf of his country. Then he said, "I will gladly give you a +lieutenant's commission," but the honest man refused. "I am only a +sergeant," he said. "I don't know how to read or write, and I am not fit +to keep company with officers." Colonel Moultrie then gave him a roving +commission, and he often made some little trip with half a dozen men and +returned with a band of prisoners before any one realized that he had +gone. The wife of Major Elliot presented the regiment with a pair of +beautiful silken colors, which were afterwards carried in the assault +upon Savannah. The standard-bearers were shot down; another man seized +them, but he was also shot; then Sergeant Jasper caught them and +fastened them on the parapet, when he too was fatally wounded by a ball. +"Tell Mrs. Elliot," he said, "that I lost my life supporting the colors +she gave to our regiment." A tablet in honor of the brave sergeant was +long ago placed in Savannah. + +The rattlesnake as an emblem seems to have been somewhat of a favorite +among the colonists. Besides Franklin's snake of the many +initials--which, indeed, might have stood, or coiled, for any sort of +serpent--there was the one borne by Patrick Henry's men when they +forced the Governor of Virginia to pay for the powder which he had +carried away from the colonial magazine. Then, too, there was a third +variety of snake, the one that stretched itself across a colonial +naval flag and proclaimed--from the top of the mast--"Don't tread on +me." On another flag the rattlesnake appeared coiled in the roots of a +pine tree and ready to strike. The Culpeper Minute Men of Virginia had +a coiled snake on their flag. In the winter of 1775 there appeared in +the _Pennsylvania Journal_ an article setting forth the propriety of +choosing the rattlesnake to represent America. The style of the +article and its keenness are like Franklin, but there is no proof that +he was its author. Whoever did write it notes that the "rattler" is +peculiar to America; that the brightness of its eyes and their lack of +lids fit it to be an emblem of vigilance. It never begins an attack +and never surrenders, never wounds till it has given warning. The +writer had counted the rattles on the naval flag, and found them to be +exactly thirteen, the number of the colonies. He had also noted that +the rattles were independent of one another, and yet most firmly +united; and that while one rattle alone is incapable of producing any +sound, the ringing of the thirteen together is sufficient to alarm the +boldest man living. Whether Franklin wrote this or not, let us at +least be thankful that these arguments did not prevail, and that on +the flag of the United States there are stars and not serpents. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WHEN WASHINGTON WENT TO CAMBRIDGE + + +Washington, chosen commander-in-chief, set out on June 21, 1775, on +his eleven-days' ride to Boston. From Philadelphia to New York he was +escorted by the Philadelphia Light Horse Troop. It was an escort worth +having. Their uniform was "a dark brown short coat, faced and lined +with white; high-topped boots; round black hat, bound with silver +cord; a buck's tail, saddlecloths brown edged with white, and the +letters 'L.H.' worked on them. Their arms were a carbine, a pair of +pistols and holsters; a horseman's sword; white belts for the sword +and carbine." Officers of the militia, the Massachusetts members of +the Continental Congress, and many others were also of the company. +The horses pranced, the music played, and the cavalcade started from +the Quaker City for the war that was to make the country free. The +flag that was borne before them is now carefully preserved between two +heavy plates of glass, and is kept in the Troop's armory, in a +fireproof safe made expressly for that purpose. The banner is only +forty inches long, but its richness makes up for its lack of size. It +is of yellow silk with heavy silver fringe. Around the flag is a +graceful running vine. The crest is a horse's head. In the center are +figures representing Fame and Liberty. Under them is the motto, "For +these we strive." Some verses written many years ago say of this flag:-- + + "For these we strive; what brighter name + Can man achieve or beauty see, + Than worth to share his country's FAME, + Or perish for her LIBERTY?" + +It is a precious relic for its associations, and still more precious +because the canton is made of thirteen stripes, blue and silver +alternating. Apparently these stand for the thirteen colonies, and so +far as is known, this was the first time that the colonies were +represented, as on our flag of to-day, by thirteen stripes. + +Before Washington and his escort reached New York, couriers reported +the battle of Bunker Hill. Washington pushed on, and July 2, he had +his first glimpse of his forces. It must have been a discouraging +glimpse. A few wore uniforms, but most of the men had come in "what +they had." The men of a few companies were provided with tents, others +slept in the halls of Harvard College, in the pews of the Episcopal +Church, or in private houses. Still others had built their own huts, +of boards, turf, sailcloth, stones, or brush. Powder and artillery +were scanty, and the commander-in-chief had been furnished with no +money. Perhaps this was not so remarkable, however, for the members of +the Continental Congress had no power to collect taxes, and in reality +had no control over any money except what was in their own pockets. +Officers and men chatted together as freely as if in their own homes; +and if an order did not impress a man as being wise, he sometimes +stopped and patiently explained to the officer why he thought another +course was better. + +Twelve of the most independent companies, and yet the most vigilant +and best disciplined of all, were composed of backwoodsmen who had +come on foot from four to eight hundred miles. A little later, five +Indians came to Cambridge to help fight for liberty. They were +welcomed cordially and entered the service. It is probable that every +little company marched to Cambridge under its own colors, but of +course there was no flag representing the colonies as a whole. + +Immediately after the battle of Bunker Hill, Major-General Israel +Putnam took up his stand on Prospect Hill. One month later he called +together all the troops under his command, and read them the statement +issued by the Continental Congress which declared just why the +colonies had had recourse to arms. The chaplain made an address and a +prayer, at the end of which the troops responded, "Amen." Then there +was unfurled a scarlet standard, which it is said John Hancock had +just presented to General Putnam and his men in recognition of their +bravery at Bunker Hill. Tradition says this standard bore on one side +the motto of Connecticut, "Qui transtulit sustinet," and on the other +a pine tree and the motto of Massachusetts, "An Appeal to Heaven." + +It is a little strange that the Massachusetts colonists did not put +the likeness of an elm on any of their banners, for so much of their +history was associated with the "Liberty Elm." A few flags on both +land and sea were inscribed "Liberty Tree," but no exercise of the +imagination can make the pictured tree look in the least like an elm. +Under the Liberty Elm of Boston the meetings of the Sons of Liberty +were held, as has been said, and here it was that the resolutions were +adopted which resulted in dropping three hundred and forty chests of +tea into Boston Harbor. The Liberty Tree of Charleston, South +Carolina, was a beautiful live-oak. It is said that under this tree +Christopher Gadsden, even before the Stamp Act, ventured to speak of +the possible independence of the colonies. Here, as in Boston, the +patriots came together to discuss the way to liberty, and with hand +clasped in hand solemnly promised that when the hour for resistence +should come, they would not be found unready. There is something +refreshing in the thought of all the free, open-air discussion that +went on under the Liberty Trees. There was no stifling of thought in +closed rooms with bolted doors. Every new idea, daring as it might be, +was blown upon by the free winds of heaven. Naturally, the British +commanders hated these trees and thoroughly enjoyed destroying them +whenever they had opportunity. The Boston tree was cut down even +before the battle of Lexington. In 1780 Sir Henry Clinton cut down the +live-oak in Charleston, piled its severed branches over the stump, and +set fire to them. Even the iron-girt Liberty Pole of New York was cut +down by the red coats in 1776. It is little wonder that Thomas Paine's +poem on the "Liberty Tree" was so roundly applauded. This closes:-- + + "But hear, O ye swains,--'tis a tale most profane, + How all the tyrannical powers, + Kings, Commons, and Lords, are uniting amain, + To cut down this guardian of ours. + From the East to the West, blow the trumpet to arms, + Through the land let the sound of it flee, + Let the far and the near all unite with a cheer, + In defense of our Liberty Tree." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE "GRAND UNION FLAG" + + +During the summer following the battle of Bunker Hill, the colonies +had a congress without authority, a commander-in-chief without money, +and an army without discipline, equipments, or flag--or rather, with +so many flags that they must have had little significance except to +the respective groups of men who had marched under each. Before +Christmas a flag was designed and made, but how, where, and by whom is +not known. Neither Washington nor Franklin gives any information, and +the _Journal_ of Congress says nothing about its designer or maker. It +is true that a committee of three,--all signers of the Declaration of +Independence a few months later,--Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, +Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, whose son Benjamin was afterwards to +become President of the United States, and Thomas Lynch, of South +Carolina, were sent by Congress to Cambridge, to discuss with +Washington and others many necessary questions, but there is no proof +that the design of a flag was among them. The flag, however, was made. +This was what is known as the "Grand Union Flag." The British flag, +red with a blue union, marked by the upright cross of St. George and +the diagonal cross of St. Andrew, was known as the "Union Flag," +because it typified, as has been said before, the union of England and +Scotland. The new flag retained the blue union with its two crosses, +but instead of a red field it had red and white stripes. These +thirteen stripes represented the thirteen colonies; the blue union +suggested that the colonies still clung to the mother country. + +Where the idea of using stripes came from is a question that has never +been solved. The Philadelphia Troop had thirteen stripes on their +banner, but they were blue and white. Washington's coat of arms +contained red and white stripes; but Washington was too modest a man +to suggest using his own family arms, and as to any one's suggesting +it for him, it must be remembered that he was not yet the revered +"Father of his Country," but simply a Virginia planter of forty-three +years who had been successful in fighting the Indians, and who, +because of his good judgment and uprightness of character, had been +made a member of the Virginia Legislature and then of the Continental +Congress. The flag of the Netherlands--but chosen thirty years after +the Pilgrims left that country for America--was red, white, and blue, +in three horizontal stripes. The ensign of the English East India +Company was a flag of thirteen horizontal red and white stripes with a +white canton containing a red St. George's Cross; but there is no +reason to suppose that this inspired the flag of the colonies. Bunting +was scarce and Franklin was always a thrifty soul. If that committee +of three did design the flag, it is not at all unlikely that Franklin +suggested utilizing the standards they already had, and changing their +character by stitching on white stripes. To deface the flag of Britain +was a serious offense, and maybe it was thought just as well that the +name of the originator of this "Grand Union" should not be on record. +The flag was first raised on the 1st of January, 1776, in what is now +Somerville, on Prospect Hill, and was saluted with thirteen guns and +thirteen rousing cheers. It was seen by the British troops in Boston, +and for some reason they took it as a sign of submission brought about +by the King's hostile proclamation, which they supposed had been read +in Cambridge. Washington wrote:-- + + Before the proclamation came to hand, we had hoisted the Union + Flag in compliment to the United Colonies. But, behold, it was + received in Boston as a token of the deep impression the speech + had made upon us, and as a signal of submission. By this time, I + presume, they begin to think it strange that we have not made a + formal surrender of our lines. + +The colonists had adopted a flag, but all sorts of colors continued to +be borne on both sea and land. On the sea the favorite seems to have +been a white flag displaying a green pine tree. One year after the +battle of Lexington, Massachusetts formally decreed that this flag +should be used on her vessels, and that their officers should wear a +green and white uniform. Even two years later than this, the Pine-Tree +Flag was borne by floating batteries on the Delaware River. Sometimes +the British ran up an American flag to deceive the colonial vessels, +and sometimes the colonists ran up a flag made of horizontal red and +white stripes to persuade the British that it was one of their own +signal flags. Sometimes rattlesnake flags were used. + +Congress ordered the building of war vessels as promptly as possible, +five cruisers first of all. The Alfred, on which John Paul Jones was +lieutenant, became the flagship of Commander-in-Chief Esek Hopkins. +This vessel was of English build and had been employed in commerce for +nine or ten years, making two voyages to the Indian Ocean during that +time. She had space for two hundred and twenty men, and had sixteen +guns, carried for the benefit of pirates. She had been put in full +repair and had now become a frigate of twenty-eight guns. Such was the +first vessel of the Continental Navy. An old account of the +embarkation of Commodore Hopkins at Philadelphia says:-- + + The Alfred was anchored at the foot of Walnut Street. On a + brilliant morning early in February, 1776, gay streamers were + seen floating from every masthead and spar on the river. At nine + o'clock a full-manned barge threaded its way among the floating + ice to the Alfred, bearing the commodore, who had chosen that + vessel for his flagship. He was greeted with thunders of + artillery and the shouts of the multitude. + +When he stepped on board the deck of the Alfred, Captain Saltonstall +gave a signal, and Lieutenant Jones hoisted a new flag prepared for +the occasion. It is believed to have displayed a union with thirteen +stripes crossed by a rattlesnake in some position, with the ominous +motto, "Don't tread on me." When the flag reached the mast-head, the +crowds cheered and the guns fired a salute,--as well they might, for +this was the first ensign ever flung to the breeze on an American +man-of-war. Paul Jones appreciated the honor of raising it, but he was +no admirer of the rattlesnake flag. In his journal he wrote:-- + + I was always at loss to know by what queer fancy or by whose + notion that device was first adopted. For my own part, I never + could see how or why a venomous serpent could be the combatant + emblem of a brave and honest folk fighting to be free. Of course + I had no choice but to break the pennant as it was given to me. + But I always abhorred the device. + +Three weeks after the Alfred was put in commission, the little fleet +sailed away from Philadelphia amid the cheers of thousands of people. +One of the eye-witnesses said that the ships wore the Union Flag with +thirteen stripes in the field. Of the admiral's flag an English writer +said, "We learn that the vessels bearing this flag have a sort of +commission from a society of people at Philadelphia, calling +themselves the continental congress." Scornfully as he spoke of +Congress, there is at least one record of which it may be proud. +Franklin, under its authority, issued letters of marque with a lavish +hand, but, hard-pressed as the colonists were, he bade John Paul Jones +"not to burn defenseless towns on the British coast except in case of +military necessity; and in such cases he was to give notice, so that +the women and children with the sick and aged inhabitants might be +removed betimes." Moreover, he bade all American cruisers if they +chanced to meet Captain Cook, the great English explorer of that day, +to "forget the temporary quarrel in which they were fighting and not +merely suffer him to pass unmolested, but offer him every aid and +service in their power." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG + + +The "society of people at Philadelphia calling themselves the +continental congress" had had, so far as records go, nothing to do with +choosing any flag. The "Grand Union" unfurled at Cambridge was regarded +as symbolizing the union of colonies, but no one knows who designed it +or chose it. To alter the design of our flag to-day would be a very +serious matter, but the colonies were so accustomed to the making of +flags according to the whim of some militia company or some sea captain +that the appearance of a new design, especially one so slightly changed +from the familiar flag of the mother country, cannot have created any +great sensation. Moreover, flags were not for sale at department stores; +they had to be ordered, and in this time of war, bunting was not easy to +procure. Flag-makers were few, and many a captain sailed away with a +flag manufactured by his wife's own unaccustomed hands. + +July 4, 1776, less than fifteen months after the battle of Lexington, +it was declared in Congress "That these united colonies are, and of +right ought to be, free and independent states." June 14, 1777, the +following resolution was adopted:-- + + _Resolved_, That the flag of the thirteen United States be + thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be + thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new + constellation. + +So much for the share that Congress had in the flag. The story of the +making of the first flag with stars and stripes is as follows. Betsy +Ross, or, to speak more respectfully, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom Ross, +lived on Arch Street, Philadelphia, in a tiny house of two stories and +an attic. She was called the most skillful needlewoman in the +city, and there is a tradition that before Washington became +commander-in-chief, she embroidered ruffles for his shirts--quite an +important branch of fine sewing in those days. Whether she ever +embroidered the great man's ruffles or not, it is said that, whenever +folk wanted any especially fine work done, they always went to "Betsy +Ross." She could do more than sew, for she could draw freehand the +complicated patterns that were used in quilting, the supreme proof of +artistic ability in the household. One day three gentlemen entered her +house through its humble doorway. One was her uncle by marriage, +Colonel Ross; one is thought to have been Robert Morris; one was +General Washington. The commander-in-chief told her that they had come +from Congress to ask her if she could make a flag. "I don't know," she +replied, "but I can try." Then they showed her a rough sketch of a +flag and asked what she thought of it. She replied that she thought it +ought to be longer, that a flag looked better if the length was one +third greater than the width. She ventured to make two more +suggestions. One was that the stars which they had scattered +irregularly over the blue canton would look better if they were +arranged in some regular form, such as a circle or a star or in +parallel rows. The second suggestion was that a star with five points +was prettier than one with six. Some one seems to have remarked that +it would be more difficult to make; and thereupon the skillful little +lady folded a bit of paper and with one clip of her scissors produced +a star with five points. The three gentlemen saw that her suggestions +were good, and General Washington drew up his chair to a table and +made another sketch according to her ideas. + +Mrs. Ross could make wise suggestions about flags, but how to sew them +she did not know; so it was arranged that she should call on a shipping +merchant and borrow a flag from him. This she soon did. He opened a +chest and took out a ship's flag to show her how the sewing was done. +She carried it home to use as a guide, and when she reached the little +house on Arch Street, she set to work to make the first flag bearing the +stars and stripes. To try the effect, it was run up to the peak of one +of the vessels in the Delaware, and the result was so pleasing that it +was carried into Congress on the day that it was completed. Congress +approved of the work of the little lady. Colonel Ross told her to buy +all the material she could and make as many flags as possible. And for +more than fifty years she continued to make flags for the Government. + +This is the account that has come down to us, not by tradition merely, +but by written statements of Mrs. Ross's daughters, grandchildren, and +others, to whom she often told the story. Mrs. Ross says that this +sample flag was made just before the Declaration of Independence, +although the Resolution endorsing it was not passed until June 14, +1777. This, however, would not argue to the incorrectness of the +account, for Congress had a fashion of writing with the utmost brevity +the results of its deliberations, and not putting in a word about the +discussions that must have taken place before the passing of a +resolution. Affairs of the utmost importance were on hand, and after +all it was the usefulness and convenience of the flag, rather than its +sentiment or the fact of its having congressional authority, that was +most in the minds of men, and it is not impossible that this design +was in use long before the date of its official recognition by +Congress. The one real weakness in the story is its lack of +contemporary evidence. + +The significance of the new flag no one has expressed better than +Washington. "We take the star from Heaven," he said, "red from our +mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we +have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to +posterity representing liberty." + +On the day of the passing of the resolution about the Stars and +Stripes, another one was passed, which read as follows:-- + + _Resolved_, That Captain John Paul Jones be appointed to command + the ship Ranger. + +"The flag and I are twins, born the same hour," said Captain Jones. +The Ranger was launched in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and there her +captain went to take command. She had no flag, but the captain was a +favorite whereever he went, and a group of Portsmouth girls soon held +a "quilting party," but made a flag instead of a quilt. Moreover, as +silk enough of the proper colors could not be found in the stores of +Portsmouth, they made it from breadths of their best silken gowns, +red, white, and blue, the story declares. Then Jones sailed away to +see how his little Ranger would behave when she met a British +man-of-war. He soon found out, for the Ranger and the Drake met in +combat, and for the first time a British man-of-war struck her colors +to the new flag. This same little silken flag was the first to receive +a genuine foreign salute. Early in 1778 the Ranger spoke the French +fleet, off Brest Roads. Captain Jones was willing to take chances in a +sea fight, but not in the matter of a salute, and he sent a courteous +note to the French commander, informing him that the flag worn by the +Ranger was the new American standard, which had never yet received a +salute from any foreign power. "If I offer a salute, will it be +returned gun for gun?" he queried. The reply was that the same salute +would be given as to an admiral of Holland, or any other republic; +that is, four guns less than the salute given. Captain Jones anchored +in the entrance of the bay and sought for further information. He +found that the reply of the admiral was correct and according to +custom. Therefore, on the following day, he sailed through the French +fleet, saluting with thirteen guns, and receiving nine. This was an +acknowledgment of American independence, and the first salute ever +paid by a foreign naval power to the Stars and Stripes. It is true +that a salute had been given to the American brig, the Andrea Doria, +before this, by the Governor of one of the West Indian Islands; but a +salute which his Government immediately disowned and for which he was +called home is rather an individual than a national salute. Then, too, +there is no proof that the flag flown by the Andrea Doria was the +Stars and Stripes. + +After a while Jones was put in command of the Bon Homme Richard, a +larger vessel than the Ranger, but she flew the same little silken +flag. Off Flamborough Head he came up with the British Serapis. After +two hours of fighting, Captain Pearson of the Serapis shouted, in a +moment's lull, "Have you struck your colors yet?" "I haven't yet begun +to fight," was Jones's reply. The two ships were lashed together, guns +burst, cartridges exploded, wide gaps were torn out of the sides of +both vessels. "Have you struck?" cried the British captain. "No!" +thundered Paul Jones. At last the Serapis yielded; but the Bon Homme +Richard was fast sinking. Captain Jones left her and took possession +of the Serapis. The American vessel rolled and lurched and pitched and +plunged. The little silken flag that had never been conquered waved in +the morning breeze for the last time, and then went down, "flying on +the ship that conquered and captured the ship that sank her." + +When Paul Jones returned to America he met one of the young girls who +had given him the flag. He told her how eagerly he had longed to give it +back into the hands of those who had given it to him four years earlier. +"But, Miss Mary," he said, "I couldn't bear to strip it from the poor +old ship in her last agony, nor could I deny to my dead on her decks, +who had given their lives to keep it flying, the glory of taking it with +them." In his journal he wrote eloquently and almost as simply:-- + + No one was now left aboard the Richard but her dead. To them I gave + the good old ship for their coffin, and in her they found a sublime + sepulcher. She rolled heavily in the long swell, her gun-deck awash + to the port-sills, settled slowly by the head, and sank peacefully + in about forty fathoms. The ensign-gaff, shot away in action, had + been fished and put in place, soon after firing ceased, and our + torn and tattered flag was left flying when we abandoned her. As + she plunged down by the head at the last, her taffrail momentarily + rose in the air; so the very last vestige mortal eyes ever saw of + the Bon Homme Richard was the defiant waving of her unconquered and + unstricken flag as she went down. And as I had given them the good + old ship for their sepulcher, I now bequeathed to my immortal dead + the flag they had so desperately defended, for their winding sheet! + +This is the story of the Portsmouth flag. At first its truth was +accepted without a doubt; then it was seriously questioned. Within the +last few years, new evidence in the shape of family tradition has +strengthened its position. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +FLAGS ONE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE + + +Probably the flag made by the skillful fingers of Mrs. Elizabeth +Griscom Ross was sewed with the tiniest of stitches imaginable; but it +is absolutely certain that the flag which made its appearance August +3, 1777, at Fort Schuyler, afterwards Fort Stanwix, was not put +together with any such daintiness of workmanship. For twenty days the +little fort in the New York wilderness, where Rome now stands, was +besieged by British and Indians. Reinforcements brought the news of +the adoption of the new flag. The troops within the fort had no flag, +and therefore, in true American fashion, they set to work to make one. +There was not even a country store to draw upon for materials, so they +made the best of what they had. As the story has been handed down, a +white shirt provided the white stripes and the stars, and the +petticoat of a soldier's wife the red stripes. As for the blue ground +for the stars, it was cut from the cloak of Captain Abram Swartwout. +The result was not very elegant, but it was a flag, and it was _the_ +flag, and the besieged men were as proud of it and stood for it as +bravely as if it had been made of damask with the daintiest of +needlework. August 22, 1777, the fort was relieved, and after a few +days Captain Swartwout began to be anxious about his blue cloak. +Colonel Peter Gansevoort, who commanded the fort, had promised him a +new one to take the place of the one which he had sacrificed for the +flag, but it had not arrived. Seven days he waited. At the end of the +seventh day he sent a note from Poughkeepsie, where he then was, back +to the fort, saying: "You may Remember Agreeable to Your promise, I +was to have an Order for Eight Yards of Broad-Cloath, on the +Commissary for Cloathing of this State In Lieu of my Blue Cloak, which +we Used for Coulours at Fort Schuyler. An opportunity Now presenting +itself, I beg You to send me an Order." Broadcloth was broadcloth in +those days, and a "Blue Cloak" was not so easily obtained. It is no +wonder he wrote it with capitals. It is to be hoped that the good +captain received his order; but it must have been a very large cloak +to require eight yards of "Broad-Cloath." + +Another interesting banner was that borne by Count Pulaski, a gallant +Pole, who came to help in the struggle for freedom. He visited +Lafayette when the Frenchman was wounded and in the care of the +Moravian Sisterhood in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The embroidery of +these Sisters was very beautiful, and Pulaski engaged them to make him +a banner, which they did. On one side were the letters "U.S.," and on +the other the thirteen stars in a circle, surrounding an eye which is +rather uncomfortably set in a triangle. They made a mistake in +spelling their Latin motto, but the crimson banner, with its silver +fringe and its exquisite embroidery, was very handsome. Longfellow's +poem about this banner, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," is +excellent poetry, but hardly accurate history. It is quite probable +that the good women sent the banner forth with their blessing, but it +is rather doubtful whether they said anything like the following:-- + + "Take thy banner, and if e'er + Thou shouldst press the soldier's bier, + And the muffled drums should beat + To the tread of mournful feet, + Then this crimson flag shall be + Martial cloak and shroud for thee";-- + +for the beautiful little banner was only twenty inches square! When +Lafayette visited this country in 1824, this little flag was borne in +the procession which welcomed him to Baltimore. + +In the midst of the grief and horrors of war, there was one day when all +the armed ships in the Delaware River were ablaze with the colors of the +United States in token of rejoicing. It was July 4, 1777, the first +anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Thirteen cannon were +fired, a great dinner was served to the members of Congress and the +officials of the army and of the State. The Hessian band, which had been +captured at Trenton six months previously, performed some of their +merriest music. Toasts followed the dinner, each one honored by a +discharge of artillery and small arms and a piece of music by the +Hessians. At night the city was illuminated and the streets resounded +with hurrahs and the ringing of bells. Then came fireworks, which began +and ended with thirteen rockets in honor of the thirteen United States. + +"Thirteen" appeared not only as the number of stars on the flag, but +everywhere else, and at Valley Forge, in the rejoicing over the new +alliance with France, the officers marched up to the place of +entertainment thirteen abreast and with arm linked in arm. A +disrespectful English paper declared that the "rebels" ate thirteen +dried clams a day, that it took thirteen "Congress paper dollars" to +equal one English shilling, that "every well-organized rebel household +has thirteen children, all of whom expect to be major-generals or +members of the high and mighty congress of the thirteen United States +when they attain the age of thirteen years." + +When the war had come to an end, the artist Copley was in London working +on the portrait of an American, Elkanah Watson. In the background of the +portrait was a ship supposed to be bearing to America the news of the +acknowledgment of Independence. The rising sun was shining upon the +place where the flag should have been, but no flag was there. Copley's +studio was often visited by the royal family, so he waited. But a day +came when the artist heard the speech of the King acknowledging the +Independence of America. He went straightway to his studio and painted +in the flag floating in the rays of the rising sun. + +Soon after the close of the war, a wide-awake skipper of Nantucket, who +had some whale oil to sell, appeared at London. Nantucket was so +helpless for both offense and defense that it had remained neutral, and +the captain had received from Admiral Digby a license to go to London. A +London magazine of the time said, "This is the first vessel which has +displayed the thirteen rebellious stripes of America in any British +port." Nobody knew exactly what to do, but apparently the whale oil was +soon sold, for the enterprising whaler returned directly to Nantucket. + +In October, 1783, most of the British troops had sailed away from the +United States, but Sir Guy Carleton was delayed in New York waiting +for vessels. When the day came for him to leave the city, a strong, +determined woman who kept a boarding-house brought out a United States +flag and ran it up on a pole in front of her house. Down the street +came a British officer with headlong speed. "We do not evacuate this +city until noon. Haul down that flag!" he shouted angrily. "That flag +went up to stay, and it will not be hauled down!" declared the +indignant housekeeper, and went on sweeping in front of her door. +"Then I will pull it down myself," thundered the irate officer, and +set to work. But the halyards were entangled, and all the officer's +swearing and scolding did not help matters. The militant lady of the +broom then applied her weapon to the officer. The powder flew from his +wig in a cloud, and at last he himself had to fly, leaving the flag to +float serenely on the morning breeze. This encounter has been called +the last battle of the Revolution. + +Before leaving Fort George, at the foot of Broadway, in New York, the +British soldiers mischievously nailed their flag to the top of the +pole, took down the halyards, greased the pole from top to bottom, and +knocked off the cleats. They did not know how well the American boys +could climb; in a very short time new cleats were nailed on, the +English flag was pulled down, and the Stars and Stripes floated from +the top of the pole. + +News of King George's proclamation did not reach the United States +till the middle of April, and then there was rejoicing, indeed. It is +no wonder that the joy of the country at the closing of the war burst +out in celebrations and silken flags. The diary of President Stiles, +of Yale, tells what took place in New Haven. It reads as follows:-- + + _April 24, 1783._ Public rejoicing for the Peace in New Haven. + At sunrise thirteen cannon discharged in the Green, and the + continental flag displayed, being a grand silk flag presented by + the ladies, cost 120 dollars. The stripes red and white, with an + azure field in the upper part charged with thirteen stars. On + the same field and among the stars was the arms of the United + States, the field of which contained a ship, a plough, and three + sheaves of wheat; the crest an eagle volant; the supporters two + white horses. The arms were put on with paint and gilding. It + took ---- yards. When displayed it appeared well. + +The patriotic ladies who presented the flag had taken the arms and +motto, "Virtue, Liberty, Independence," from the title-page of a +family Bible; but unluckily, this Bible, having been published in +Philadelphia, displayed the arms and motto, not of the United States, +but of Pennsylvania. The moral is, learn the arms of your country. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STRIPES AND FIFTEEN STARS + + +The worthy fathers of our country were long-sighted men. In many +respects they peered far into the future and they laid well the +foundations for a great republic. One thing, however, they forgot; +when they chose a design for a flag with thirteen stripes and a circle +of thirteen stars, they did not realize that the number of States +would probably increase, and that these States would wish to be +represented on the flag. In 1791 Vermont was admitted as a State, and +in 1792 Kentucky also came into the Union. In 1794 the Senate passed a +bill increasing to fifteen the number of both stripes and stars. This +bill was sent to the House, and then came exciting times. Some members +thought it of great importance not to offend new States by giving them +no recognition on the flag. Others called it dishonorable to waste +time over what one man called "a consummate piece of frivolity," when +matters "of infinitely greater consequence" ought to be discussed. +Another declared that the Senate sent the bill for the want of +something better to do. Yet another honorable member did not think it +worth while either to adopt or reject the proposed law, but supposed +"the shortest way to get rid of it was to agree to it." Whether to +"get rid of it" or not, the bill was passed, and went into effect May +1, 1795. + +This flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars was the one worn by the +frigate Constitution, "Old Ironsides." When, in 1830, it was reported +that this vessel, with its magnificent record, was to be broken up, +Holmes wrote his stirring poem, "Old Ironsides," which ends:-- + + "Oh, better that her shattered hulk + Should sink beneath the wave; + Her thunders shook the mighty deep, + And there should be her grave; + Nail to the mast her holy flag, + Set every threadbare sail, + And give her to the god of storms, + The lightning and the gale!" + +It was this flag under which we went forth to three wars, each one +fought to uphold the rights of American citizens. The first was with +France, the second with Tripoli, and the third with Great Britain. It +had long been the custom for nations using the Mediterranean Sea to pay +tribute to the pirates of Tripoli. In 1800 Captain Bainbridge carried +the annual tribute to Algiers. It seemed that the Dey wished to send an +ambassador to Constantinople, and under threat of capture Captain +Bainbridge was ordered to carry him there. The captain obeyed, but very +unwillingly. When the new flag appeared at Constantinople, it was +reported to the Sultan that a ship from the United States of America was +in the harbor. "What's that?" he demanded. "I never heard of that +nation." "They live in the New World which Columbus discovered," was the +reply. The Sultan had heard of Columbus, and he sent to the frigate a +bouquet of flowers in welcome, and a lamp in token of friendship. + +The Dey of Algiers became dissatisfied with the tribute paid by America, +and declared haughtily that if he did not receive from our country a +handsome present within six months, he should declare war. This he did, +but to his great surprise a small American fleet, under the fifteen +stars and stripes, sailed up to his city and began to bombard it. It was +not long before he became the very picture of meekness. He freed all his +American captives, paid well for all the property that he had destroyed, +and the Mediterranean Sea became safe for commerce. + +In 1803 the United States purchased from France the immense Louisiana +Territory. The French flag was hauled down and the flag of the United +States was raised in token of the change of ownership. This country +had first been in the hands of Spain, and the Spaniards had presented +flags to various Indians. When Lieutenant Z. M. Pike made a journey of +exploration in the new territory, he came to an Indian village where +there was quite a display of Spanish banners. The Lieutenant made a +little speech to the Indians, and said among other things that the +Spanish flag at the chief's door ought to be given up to him and the +flag of the United States put in its place. The Indians listened, but +made no reply. Lieutenant Pike spoke again to the same effect. "Your +nation cannot have two fathers," he said. "You must be the children of +the Spaniards or else of the Americans." The red men sat in silence +awhile, then an old man arose, walked slowly to the door, took the +Spanish flag down, and put the American in its place. Then he gave the +flag of Spain to his followers, bidding them, "Never hoist this +again--while the Americans are here." Surely, the old chief must have +been akin to Dr. John Cotton of Colonial fame. This scene occurred in +what is now Kansas, and is thought to have been the first raising of +the United States flag in that State. + +The banner of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars has a proud record, +for this was the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The +Star-Spangled Banner." Every one knows the story of the poem, how the +author and an agent for the exchange of prisoners went on board a +British vessel in 1814 to try to secure the release of a physician who +had been captured. The English admiral granted their request, but as +he was about to attack Fort McHenry, he told them that they would not +be permitted to return at once, but must remain on their own vessel, +with a British guard, until the fort was reduced. If this order had +been carried out, they would have been on board to-day, for the fort +never was reduced. All day the Americans could see the Stars and +Stripes flying over its ramparts, in spite of attacks by sea and by +land. Night came, and it was only by "the rockets' red glare, the +bombs bursting in air," that they knew whether the fort yet stood. At +length the firing ceased, and all was darkness. They could do nothing +but wait for the first rays of morning in the hope that "by the dawn's +early light" they could catch a glimpse of the flag and know that the +fort had not yielded, that "our flag was still there," and that the +British were retreating. Then it was that Key wrote, on the back of an +old envelope, "The Star-Spangled Banner," and put into it such a +thrill of sincerity that it is just as throbbing with life and +patriotism as it was on that September dawn a century ago. The banner +that inspired the poem is in the National Museum in Washington. + +Francis Scott Key died in Baltimore in 1843, and is buried in +Frederick, Maryland. Over his grave a large national flag flies day +and night, never removed save when wear and tear make a new flag +necessary. In Baltimore a noble monument has been reared in his honor. +It is surmounted by the figure of the poet, who waves his hat with one +hand and with the other points joyfully toward the fort. The figure is +so life-like that one almost expects it to cry,-- + + "And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." + +A few months after "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written, a plan was +formed to rear in the city of Baltimore a monument in honor of George +Washington. It was fitting that the place of his birth should also be +marked, and a few days before the laying of the corner-stone of the +monument, a little company sailed from Alexandria, Virginia, to Pope's +Creek, Westmoreland County, where Washington was born. With them they +carried a simple freestone slab on which was chiseled his name and the +date of his birth. Wrapped in the banner of fifteen stars, it was borne +reverently to its resting-place by the hands of the descendants of four +Revolutionary patriots. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER + + +"Time makes ancient good uncouth," said Lowell, and so it was with the +flag. The flag of fifteen stars and fifteen stripes that was decreed +in 1795 then represented each State; but in less than one year it was +out of date. Tennessee had come into the Union. Then followed Ohio, +Louisiana, and Indiana. Here were four States with no representation +in the colors of the country. Then, too, people began to realize that +in giving up the thirteen stripes they had lost their old significant +"Thirteen," and dropped a valuable historical association. At length +the matter came before Congress, and for nearly sixteen months it +remained there. Occasionally there was some little discussion about +it. One member proposed that the matter be postponed indefinitely. +"Are you willing to neglect the banner of freedom?" demanded another. +Yet another thought it unnecessary to insist upon thirteen stripes, +and thought they might as well fix upon nine or eleven or any other +arbitrary number as thirteen. The committee pleaded for the +significant thirteen, and so it went on. At length Peter H. Wendover, +of New York, through whose efforts Congress was held to its duty, +called the attention of the House to the fact that the Government +itself was paying no respect to its own laws in regard to the flag; +that the law demanded fifteen stripes, but that Congress was at that +moment displaying a banner of thirteen stripes; that the navy yard and +the marine barracks were flying flags of eighteen stripes; and that +during the first session of the preceding Congress the flag floating +over their deliberations had had, from some unknown cause or other, +only nine stripes. + +It is small wonder that after such an arraignment as this the +lawmakers aroused themselves. The following bill was passed, and was +signed by President Monroe, April 4, 1818:-- + + SECTION 1. _Be it enacted, etc._, That from and after the fourth + day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen + horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union have + twenty stars, white in a blue field. + + SECTION 2. _Be it further enacted_, That on the admission of every + new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the + flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth of + July next succeeding such admission. + +So it was that the flag of the United States was finally decided upon. +Captain S. C. Reid designed it, and his wife made a specimen flag, +which was hoisted on the flagstaff of the House of Representatives a +few days after the law legalizing it was passed. Forty-one years +later, in 1859, Congress formally thanked Captain Reid. The one weak +point in this law was that the arrangement of the stars on the blue +field was left to the taste of the owner of the flag. Captain Reid +arranged them in one large star; but it was evident that if this plan +was continued, as new States were admitted, the stars would become too +small to be seen distinctly. The Navy Commissioners issued the order +that in naval flags the stars should be arranged in five rows, four +stars in a row; but for many years merchant vessels paid small +attention to this decree. Indeed, in 1837 the Dutch Government +inquired, with all respect, "What is the American flag?" Twenty years +later an observant man in Jersey City amused himself on the Fourth of +July by noting the numerous fashions in which the stars were arranged. +He said that all flags had the thirteen stripes--though not always in +the proper order--but that he had counted nine different fashions in +which the stars were arranged. They appeared in one large star, in a +lozenge, a diamond, or a circle, and one vessel in the river flaunted +an anchor formed of stars. It was suggested that Congress ought to +order some regular arrangement, but Congress did not take the hint. +The Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy gave orders in +1912, after the admission of New Mexico and Arizona, that the stars, +now forty-eight, should be arranged in six rows of eight stars each. +This was approved by the President, but no decree has been passed by +Congress. + +Until 1866 our country's flag was manufactured in a foreign land. +Bunting in a flag has a hard life. It must meet sun, wind, and storm; +it must be light enough to float at every breeze and strong enough to +endure severe wear. Attempts had been made many years earlier to make +bunting in the United States, and flags of home manufacture had been +tried again and again, but they had never stood the tests. In 1865, +however, Congress put a duty of forty per cent on imported bunting, +and also made it lawful for the Government to purchase its flags in +the United States. With this duty manufacturers could compete with the +lower wages paid in England, and now it became worth while to set to +work in earnest. Within a year the thing had been done. A company in +Lowell, Massachusetts, presented to the Senate a flag manufactured in +the United States. It was hoisted over the Capitol, and for the first +time this country, then ninety years old, floated over its Congress a +banner of bunting woven and made "at home." This banner stood all the +tests, and soon the price of the material was greatly reduced. Since +the manufacture of this flag all bunting used in flags for the navy +has come from Lowell. It must be of a fixed weight and strength and +must be absolutely fast color in sun and rain. These flags are made in +the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and they must be accurate in every detail. +Even the number of stitches to the inch is a matter of rule. After the +stripes have been sewed together and the stars stitched upon the +canton, the hoist, or end of the flag which is to be next to the +staff, is firmly bound with canvas, and the lines, etc., attached. +Then the flag is stamped with the date. Many silken flags are used in +the navy, but these are made entirely by hand. + +A warship must have not only her own flags, but those of foreign +countries, sometimes two hundred and fifty or more. Some of these flags +are of very complicated design, and the flag-makers tried the experiment +of painting the designs on the bunting. This was not a success, because +the flags stuck together, and now the whole design is worked out in +bunting. The navy makes its own flags, but the War Department buys what +are needed. Manufacturers make large numbers for general sale; between +nine and ten million a year even in times of peace. + +The pet name, "Old Glory," is believed to have been given to the flag +by Captain William Driver. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, became +a shipmaster, and at length made his home in Nashville, Tennessee. +When the Civil War broke out, he stood boldly by the Union, even +though his own family were against him. More than thirty years before +this date, just as he was starting on a voyage, some of his friends +made him a present of a handsome American flag. When the breeze first +caught it and spread out its folds, Captain Driver exclaimed, "Old +Glory!" and "Old Glory" it was to him all the years of his life. The +flag went to Tennessee with him, and was hung out on every day of +public rejoicing. When the war broke out, his Confederate neighbors +tried their best to get possession of that flag; but they did not +realize the resources of the old captain. Sailors know how to sew, and +he had carefully quilted his beloved banner into his comforter. No +wonder that he had not the least objection to having his house +searched for it. When the Union troops entered the city, Captain +Driver asked permission to run up his flag over the State Capitol. +This was granted, and with an escort he marched to the building and +ran up the flag. As he stood gazing at it with tears in his eyes, he +said, "I have always said that if I could see it float over that +Capitol, I should have lived long enough; now Old Glory is up there, +gentlemen, and I am ready to die." The captain's own particular "Old +Glory" was full of years and weakened by service, and on the following +day he reverently took it down and ran up a flag that was new and +strong. For a quarter of a century he saw the Union flag float over +the Capitol of his chosen State. Then, at his death in 1886, his own +"Old Glory" was sent to the Essex Institute at his birthplace. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE FLAG IN WAR + + +"Old Glory" has flown over the battle-fields of three wars; the +Mexican, the Civil War, and the war with Spain. In the war with Mexico +victory depended upon taking the City of Mexico, and the path to that +lay in the capture of the strong castle of Chapultepec. Long before +sunrise one bright September morning, the American guns began to roar. +All day long the Americans fired from below and the Mexicans from +above. Fortunately for the attackers, the aim of the Mexicans was +anything but accurate, and in twenty-four hours the American troops +were pushing forward up the hillside, through a grove full of +sharpshooters, over rocks and gullies, even over mines, which the +Mexicans had no chance to set off. Cannon roared and volleys of +musketry were fired at the assailants, but they dashed over the +redoubt, up, still up, to the escarpment, and over it they tumbled. +Meanwhile the Mexicans were standing on the city walls and peering out +from the spires of the cathedral. They saw, as the Americans pushed on +and up, the Stars and Stripes appear, now to the right, now to the +left, as point after point was taken. Now the Americans had reached +the main works. The scaling-ladders were planted and the men scrambled +over the wall. Even then the Mexicans were not without a faint hope, +for their banner still floated over the highest pinnacle. Suddenly it +disappeared, and the Stars and Stripes took its place. The victory had +been won. On the second day after the first gun was fired at +Chapultepec, the American troops were following their flag into the +City of Mexico. + +The Civil War began with the firing upon Fort Sumter. Shot came in a +whirlwind, half a score of balls at a time. The woodwork blazed, the +brick and stone flew in all directions. Red-hot balls from the furnace +in Moultrie dashed down like a pitiless hailstorm. The barracks were +ablaze, streams of fire burst out of the quarters. Ninety barrels of +powder were rolled into the water lest it should explode in the awful +heat. The men were stifled with fumes from the burning buildings. Over +the horrors of this attack the Stars and Stripes floated serenely from +the staff, flashing out, as each gust of wind tossed the clouds of +smoke aside for a moment, the glories of the red, white, and blue, +clear and calm and unscathed. + +Beams fell with a crash, ammunition in one magazine exploded, black +clouds of smoke filled the fort, and for hours the men covered their +faces with wet cloths to keep from suffocating. Nine times the +flagstaff was struck by a shot, and at the ninth the flag fell. +Lieutenant Hall dashed into the storm of balls, caught up the flag, +and brought it away. The halyards were cut and tangled. The flag could +not be raised, but it was nailed to the staff, and in the midst of the +incessant fire, Sergeant Peter Hart fastened it up on the ramparts. +The fort surrendered, but not the flag; for as Major Anderson and his +men left the burning ruins, they saluted "Old Glory" with fifty guns, +then lowered it, and, as the Major stated to the Government, "marched +out of the fort with colors flying and drums beating." + +This was on April 14, 1861. On April 14, 1865, when the war was +virtually over, Major Anderson, now General Anderson, was, by order of +President Lincoln, called to Fort Sumter to raise again the flag which +he had so unwillingly lowered. A special steamer carried from New York +to the fort a number of prominent citizens. Hundreds came from +elsewhere by land to Charleston and were taken to the fort by vessel. +Two hundred officers of the navy were present and many army officers. +After the opening exercises, Sergeant Hart opened a big carpetbag and +drew forth the identical flag that had been hauled down four years +earlier. The banner was unfurled, the assemblage cheered to the echo, +and slowly the beloved banner rose to its old position, every one +trying his best to catch hold of the rope and help raise it. Hats were +waved and the old fort rang with cheers. The band struck up "The +Star-Spangled Banner." A salute was fired by the guns on Fort Sumter, +and this was responded to by every fort and battery that had fired +upon Sumter in April, 1861. Henry Ward Beecher, orator of the day, +made a thrilling address. Of the flag he said:-- + + There flies the same flag that was insulted. In the storm of + that assault this glorious ensign was often struck; but, + memorable fact, not one of its stars was torn out, by shot or + shell. It was a prophecy.... Lifted to the air, to-day it + proclaims, after four years of war, "Not a State is blotted out!" + + Hail to the flag of our fathers, and our flag! Glory to the + banner that has gone through four years black with tempests of + war, to pilot the nation back to peace without dismemberment! + And glory be to God, who, above all hosts and banners, hath + ordained victory, and shall ordain peace!... In the name of God, + we lift up our banner, and dedicate it to Peace, Union and + Liberty, now and forevermore. + +A few years later General Anderson died. He was buried at West Point +and was carried to his grave wrapped in the flag that he had defended +so bravely. On the death of his wife the flag passed by her gift into +the hands of the War Department. + +One of the most interesting flags of the recent war with Spain was +borne by the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry. A +squadron of men for this regiment left Phoenix, Arizona, on their way +to the field of war. It was noticed that they had no flag. The women +of the Relief Corps attached to the Grand Army of the Republic took +the matter in hand, for if this was not a case where relief was +needed, where should one be found? + +Night and day were the same to these energetic women. They bought silk +and they sewed, all day and all night. The stores of Phoenix did not +provide just the right sort of cord, so the staff of the battle-flag +was daintily adorned with a knot of satin ribbon, red, white, and +blue. Then the flag was carried to camp, and presented with all +courtesy and dignity to the two hundred men who were to form a part of +the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, better +known as the "Rough Riders." + +The little silken flag came to glories that it had not dreamed of, for +the regular bunting flags were scarce, and therefore it held the most +prominent place in parades and was even set up as guest of honor +before the tent of Colonel Leonard Wood. In the attack on Santiago, +the little party that first landed at Daiquiri, a small town on the +coast a few miles from the city, carried the flag with them. On a +transport in the harbor an officer from Arizona, observing the troops +climb the hill, had seen the raising of the flag and discovered with a +glass what it was. As the story is told:-- + + He threw his hat to the deck, jumped to the top of the bulwark, + and yelled: "Howl, you Arizona men,--it's our flag up there!" + + And the men howled as only Arizona cowboys could. Some one on + the hurricane deck grabbed the whistle cord and tied it down, + the band of the Second Infantry whisked up instruments and + played "A Hot Time" on the inspiration of the moment, and every + man who had a revolver emptied it over the side. Almost in an + instant every whistle of the fifty transports and supply vessels + in the harbor took up the note of rejoicing. Twenty thousand men + were cheering. A dozen bands increased the din. Then guns of the + warships on the flanks joined in a mighty salute to the flag of + the Nation. And the flag was the flag of the Arizona squadron. + + The Arizona flag led the regiment in the fight of Las Guasimas, + where three thousand intrenched Spaniards were driven back by + nine hundred unmounted cavalry; it was at the front all through + the heat of the battles of Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill; it + waved over the trenches before Santiago, and was later borne + through the captured city to the transport. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FLAG IN PEACE + + +One of the greatest achievements of our flag in peace was the opening +of Japan. In 1852 Commodore M. C. Perry was sent with a letter from +President Fillmore to prepare the way for a treaty of peace and +friendship and commerce with Japan. Its delivery was a matter of much +ceremony. After a long delay a day was set for its reception. When the +time had come, the officers in full uniform, the marines in blue and +white, the sailors in navy blue and tarpaulins, and last of all the +Commodore entered the boats. As the Commodore stepped into his barge, +a salute of thirteen guns was given. Then the two bands struck up +lively tunes and the boats made for the shore. + +Along the beach were ranged nine tall crimson standards, surrounded by +flags of all sorts and colors. Five or six thousand soldiers were +drawn up in line, and the hills behind them were crowded with people. +When the Americans came to land, a procession was formed. First, the +marines and sailors, then the one flag of the procession, the Stars +and Stripes, its brilliant colors flashing in the bright sunshine. It +was borne by the two tallest, broadest-shouldered men among the +sailors of the squadron. After the flag came two of the younger men, +carrying a rosewood box mounted with gold and carefully wrapped in a +scarlet cloth. In this were the credentials of the Commodore and the +letter of the President. These were written on vellum, and the seals +were attached by cords of silk and gold, ending in tassels of gold. +Then came the Commodore, and on either side of him was a tall negro of +fine proportions and armed to the teeth. After the Commodore walked +the officers of the squadron. Commodore and officers were escorted +into the handsomely decorated hall of reception. The court interpreter +asked if the letter was ready. The two pages, guarded by the two +stalwart negroes, were summoned and placed the letter upon a handsome +box of red lacquer, which was ready to receive them. The Commodore +made a formal bow. The bands played our national airs, and all +returned to the vessels as ceremoniously as they had come. + +This was the beginning of intercourse between the United States and +Japan. Two years later a treaty was signed, and in 1860 an embassy +from Japan visited this country. + +So it was that Japan was opened to the world. In 1901 the Japanese +Minister of Justice said: "Commodore Perry's visit was, in a word, the +turn of the key which opened the doors of the Japanese Empire. Japan has +not forgotten--nor will she ever forget--that, next to her reigning and +most beloved sovereign, whose rare virtue and great wisdom is above all +praise, she owes her present state of prosperity to the United States of +America." "Are you coming over here to fight us?" a young Japanese in +this country was playfully asked. "Fight the United States?" he +exclaimed. "The United States is our friend." And drawing himself up to +his full height, he said proudly, "The Japanese do not forget. We know +what your Commodore Perry and your country have done for us." + +The American flag was first seen in China in 1784. The Chinese said it +was "as beautiful as a flower," and for many years they always spoke +of it as the "flower flag." + +A custom of great significance and value, that of raising the home +flag over legations and consulates in foreign lands whenever a home +holiday comes around, is due to the tact and ready wit of one of our +Ministers to Sweden, William W. Thomas, Jr. The following is his own +account of the event:-- + + On taking possession of the archives and property of the United + States at Stockholm, I was surprised to find there was no + American flag there. Talking with my colleagues, the Ministers + of other countries, I was informed that no foreign Minister at + Stockholm ever hoisted his country's flag, and that to do so + would be considered a breach of diplomatic etiquette. + + What was I to do? I did not wish to offend my good friends, the + Swedes; that was the last thing a Minister should be guilty of. + And I certainly did not want to see an American holiday go by + without hoisting the American flag from the American Legation. + The question troubled me a great deal. + + All at once a thought seized me, like an inspiration. I sent to + America for a flag. I procured flagstaff and halyards, and from + my own drawings I had carved an American eagle, which was gilded + and perched on top of the flag pole. Flag, eagle, and staff I + concealed in the Legation, and bided my time. + + Undoubtedly the greatest character Sweden has ever produced is + Gustavus Adolphus. His life and deeds belong not to Sweden + along, but to the world. Well, when the anniversary of the death + and victory of this great captain of the Swedish host came + round,--the 6th of November, 1883,--and when the great choral + societies of Stockholm, bearing banners and followed by vast + multitudes of the Swedish populace, marched through the streets + of Sweden's capital, and gathered about the mausoleum on the + Island of Knights, where lies the mighty dead, sang paeans in his + praise, then it happened, somehow, that, regardless of precedent + or custom, the flag of the free republic--aye! flag, flagstaff, + golden eagle, and all--was run out from the American Legation; + and the starry banner of America waved in unison with the yellow + cross of Sweden, in honor of the mightiest warrior for the + freedom of our faith. + + This act was everywhere approved in Sweden. It was praised by + both the people and the press. After this, it may well be + believed, the flag of America floated unchallenged in the + capital of the Northland. It waved on high on the birthday of + Washington, on that Memorial Day when we decorate the graves of + our brave boys in blue who saved the Union, and on the Fourth of + July, that gave the Republic birth. But I hoisted our flag + impartially, on Swedish holidays as well as our own; and the + Stars and Stripes floated out as proudly on the birthday of King + Oscar as on that of Washington. + +"If any man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the +spot," commanded General Dix; but the United States may well be proud of +having herself hauled down her flag on one occasion not many years ago. +After the Spanish-American War had been fought, the treaty of peace with +Spain put Cuba into the hands of the United States, and the +star-spangled banner was raised and saluted. This was in 1899. The three +years following this act were busy ones with the War Department, for in +its control was left the management of all Cuban affairs. Cuba was +cleaned up, the yellow fever stamped out, schools were established, +peace restored, a constitution adopted by the people, and a president +elected. May 20, 1902, was the date set for the sovereignty of Cuba to +pass into the hands of the Cubans. The island had been made free, and +now she was coming to her own. Havana was in her best. Flags floated +from every house. Ships displayed both the American and the Cuban flags. +When the moment arrived, General Leonard Wood read the transfer, and the +President-elect signed it in the name of the new Republic. To free Cuba +from oppression the United States had entered into war. Our country +sought nothing for itself, and now the freedom of the island was +attained, and the American forces were to be withdrawn. + +After the signing of the transfer Governor-General Wood loosened the +halyards and the star-spangled banner was lowered, having accomplished +nobly that for which it had been raised. As it sank slowly down the +Union salute of forty-five guns was fired. Then, by the hands of +General Wood, the Cuban flag was hoisted to its position and floated +proudly over a free country. A national salute of twenty-one guns was +fired in its honor, and the history of the Cuban Republic had begun. +As the _New York Sun_ said, "No country ever before conquered a +territory at great sacrifice to set up a government other than its own." + +In the hands of Admiral Robert E. Peary our flag has won the honors of +the Northland. Many others had gone _far_ north; for Peary it was +reserved to go _farthest_ north, to the Pole itself. This was no +chance success, brought about by fine equipment and favorable weather; +it was the fair result of careful preparation and hard work. The +Admiral wrote in his journal:-- + + The Pole at last! The prize of three centuries, my dream and goal + for twenty years, mine at last! I cannot bring myself to realize it. + + It all seems so simple and commonplace. As Bartlett said when turning + back, when speaking of his being in these exclusive regions, which + no mortal had ever penetrated before, "It is just like every day!" + +A little later, in acknowledging with gratitude the generous aid which +he had received, the Admiral wrote:-- + + Their assistance has enabled me to tell the last of the great earth + stories, the story the world has been waiting to hear for three + hundred years--the story of the discovery of the North Pole. + +Such is the history of the flag of the United States of America from +the time when a little group of colonies dared to raise their own +standard and oppose their feeble strength and their slender resources +to the trained armies and the ample wealth of England. + +This was a century and a half ago. The Republic has come of age and has +accepted her rightful share of the responsibilities of the world. The +mother country rejoiced to do her honor, and on one brilliant April +morning in 1917 the cities of England flung out her banner beside their +own. In London the Stars and Stripes were everywhere--in the hands of +the people in the streets, on private houses, on public buildings, even +on the "Victory Tower" of Westminster Palace, where before that day no +other flag save the Union Jack or the royal standard had ever been +raised. In the historic cathedral of St. Paul four thousand people had +come together to thank God for the alliance between the mother country +and her eldest child, that in this war of the world "they should go +forth and try the matter in fight by the help of God"--to quote the text +of the Bishop of London. The two flags, of Great Britain and of the +United States of America, hung side by side over the chancel rail. The +thousands of people rose with reverence and sang, first, "The +Star-Spangled Banner," and then, "God Save the King." And so it was that +Great Britain and the United States took their stand shoulder to +shoulder in the world-wide struggle to make sure "that government of the +people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +HOW TO BEHAVE TOWARD THE FLAG + + +Except the cross there is nothing that the American should hold more +sacred than the flag of the United States, because of its record in +peace and in war, and because it stands for the rights and the freedom +of one hundred million citizens. + + "Sign of a nation great and strong, + To ward her people from foreign wrong." + +There are definite rules in regard to the use of the flag. The +following are the most necessary to know:-- + +The flag should be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset. It should +not be left out at night unless under fire. It should not be allowed to +touch the ground. If possible, a pole rather than a staff should be used. + +In raising a flag to half-mast or half-staff, it should be run to the +top of the pole, and then lowered the width of the flag. Before being +retired, it should be run to the top again. On Memorial Day the flag +should be at half-mast until noon, and at the peak from noon until sunset. + +When the flag goes by, rise if you are sitting; halt if you are +walking, and take off your hat. + +In decorating, never drape the flag; always hang it flat. The Union +should be at the observer's left, whether the stripes are perpendicular +or horizontal. If our flag is crossed with the flags of other countries, +or carried in a parade beside them, it should always be at the right. + +In unveiling a monument, the flag should never be allowed to drop to +the ground, but so arranged that it can be drawn up and will then +float over the monument. + +If draped over a casket, the blue field should be at the head. If used +as the covering of an altar, nothing except the Bible should be placed +upon it, and the union should be at the right. + +Distress at sea is indicated by hanging the flag union down. + +Always stand when "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played. + + * * * * * + +For those people who, whether maliciously or ignorantly, show any +disrespect to the flag, strenuous laws have been passed in most of the +States. In Massachusetts, a post of the Grand Army or a camp of Spanish +War veterans may put the name of the organization upon the flag, but no +other lettering is permitted. Any one who mutilates the flag or in any +way treats it with contempt is likely to fare worse than did John +Endicott in colonial days. The same respect is required to be shown to +the flags of all countries with which the United States is at peace. + +The representation of the flag must not be used to advertise +merchandise, but it may be used on any publication designed to give +information about the flag, or to promote patriotism, or to encourage +the study of American history. + +June 14, the anniversary of the day in 1777 on which the flag was +adopted, has been chosen as "Flag Day." + +The length of a flag should be very nearly twice its height, or, to be +exact, in the proportion of 1.9 to 1. The length of the union should +be three fourths the height of the whole flag; the height of the union +should be that of seven stripes. + +Perhaps a little fancifully, a star has been assigned to each State in +the order of its ratification of the Constitution and admission to the +Union. Beginning at the left upper corner and reading each row from +left to right, the stars of the separate States are as follows:-- + + _First row_ + + Delaware December 7, 1787 + Pennsylvania December 12, 1787 + New Jersey December 18, 1787 + Georgia January 2, 1788 + Connecticut January 9, 1788 + Massachusetts February 6, 1788 + Maryland April 28, 1788 + South Carolina May 23, 1788 + + + _Second row_ + + New Hampshire June 21, 1788 + Virginia June 25, 1788 + New York July 26, 1788 + North Carolina November 21, 1789 + Rhode Island May 29, 1790 + Vermont March 4, 1791 + Kentucky June 1, 1792 + Tennessee June 1, 1796 + + + _Third row_ + + Ohio February 19, 1803 + Louisiana April 30, 1812 + Indiana December 11, 1816 + Mississippi December 10, 1817 + Illinois December 3, 1818 + Alabama December 14, 1819 + Maine March 15, 1820 + Missouri August 10, 1821 + + + _Fourth row_ + + Arkansas June 15, 1836 + Michigan January 26, 1837 + Florida March 3, 1845 + Texas December 29, 1845 + Iowa December 28, 1846 + Wisconsin May 29, 1848 + California September 9, 1850 + Minnesota May 11, 1858 + + + _Fifth row_ + + Oregon February 14, 1859 + Kansas January 29, 1861 + West Virginia June 19, 1863 + Nevada October 31, 1864 + Nebraska March 1, 1867 + Colorado August 1, 1876 + North Dakota November 2, 1889 + South Dakota November 2, 1889 + + + _Sixth row_ + + Montana November 8, 1889 + Washington November 11, 1889 + Idaho July 3, 1890 + Wyoming July 10, 1890 + Utah January 4, 1896 + Oklahoma November 16, 1907 + New Mexico January 6, 1912 + Arizona February 14, 1912 + + + + +FLAG ANNIVERSARIES + + + January 1-2, 1776: Grand Union Flag (British Union and thirteen + stripes) hoisted over Washington's headquarters at Cambridge, + Massachusetts. This was the first real flag of the colonies. + + January 13, 1794: American flag changed by act of Congress, owing + to two new States (Kentucky and Vermont) being admitted to the + Union. The flag now had two stars and two stripes added to it, + making fifteen stripes and stars. This was the "Star-Spangled + Banner," and under this flag our country fought and won three + wars--the so-called naval war with France, in 1798-1800; that with + the Barbary States in 1801-1805; and that with England in 1812-1815. + + February 3, 1783: First appearance of the American flag in a + British port by the ship Bedford, of Massachusetts, which arrived + in the river Thames on this date. + + February 8, 1776: Colonial Congressional Committee accepted a naval + flag, consisting of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with + a rattlesnake diagonally across it. + + February 14, 1778: First foreign salute to the Stars and Stripes. + John Paul Jones entered Quiberon Bay, near Brest, France, and + received a salute of nine guns from the French fleet, under Admiral + La Motte Piquet. Jones had previously saluted the French fleet with + thirteen guns. + + March 17, 1776: The first display of the Grand Union Flag in Boston + was on the day that town was evacuated by the British. + + April 4, 1818: Congress by act decreed a return to the original + thirteen stripes and a star for every State in the Union, to be + added to the flag on the July 4 following a State's admission to + the Union. This is the present law in relation to the flag. + + April 24, 1778: John Paul Jones achieved the honor of being the + first officer of the American Navy to compel a regular British + man-of-war to strike her colors to the new flag. + + June 14, 1777: First strictly American flag decreed by Congress. + This flag displaced the British Union by thirteen stars, and the + making of the first flag of this design is accredited to Betsy Ross + of Philadelphia. It contained thirteen stripes, alternate red and + white, and thirteen white stars upon a blue field. + + June 14, 1777: Captain John Paul Jones appointed to the command of + the Ranger. It was Jones who first displayed the Stars and Stripes + on a naval vessel. It was also he who had previously first hoisted + "the flag of America" on board the naval vessel Alfred in 1775. + + June 28, 1778: First appearance on a foreign strong-hold at Nassau, + Bahama Islands. The Americans captured Fort Nassau from the + British, and promptly raised the Stars and Stripes. + + August 3, 1777: First display of the Stars and Stripes on land was + over Fort Stanwix, New York. + + August 10, 1831: The name "Old Glory" given to our national flag by + Captain William Driver, of the brig Charles Doggert. The flag was + presented to the captain and contained one hundred and ten yards of + bunting. It is said to be now in the Essex Institute, at Salem, + Massachusetts. + + September 11, 1777: The American flag first carried in battle at + the Brandywine. This was the first great battle fought after its + adoption by the Continental Congress. + + September 13, 1784: The Stars and Stripes first displayed in China + by Captain John Green, of the ship Empress, in Canton River. The + natives said it was as beautiful as a flower, and the Chinese + continued to call it the "flower flag" for many years. + + September 30, 1787-August 10, 1790: The American flag completed its + first trip around the world, borne by the ship Columbia, sailing + from Boston. + + October 18, 1867: First official display of the American flag in + Alaska. On this day, at Sitka, the capital, the Russian flag was + hauled down and the American flag run up before the barracks and in + the presence of both Russian and American troops. + + + + +SELECTIONS + + +THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER + +FRANCIS SCOTT KEY + + Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, + What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, + Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, + O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? + And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, + Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. + Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? + + On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, + Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, + What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, + As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? + Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, + In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,-- + 'Tis the star-spangled banner; Oh! long may it wave, + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + And where is that band who so vauntingly swore + That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion + A home and a country should leave us no more? + Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution. + No refuge could save the hireling and slave + From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave; + And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand + Between their loved homes and the war's desolation; + Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land + Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! + Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, + And this be our motto--"In God is our trust"; + And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! + + +THE FLAG IN THE DARKNESS + +BENJAMIN HARRISON + +I was never so profoundly touched with the beauty of our flag as at +night time in one of our immense political demonstrations. One of the +features of the occasion was the sending upward of a mighty stream of +electric light which, piercing the darkness of the night, reached a +large flag which had been carried on cords a thousand feet from the +earth. The scene was too impressive for me to describe. I can only say +that it did seem as though the flag of our country was waving from the +very battlements of heaven.... God pity the American citizen who does +not love the flag; who does not see in it the story of our great, free +institutions, and the hope of the home as well as the Nation. + + +A SONG FOR FLAG DAY + +WILBUR D. NESBIT + + Your Flag and my Flag! + And how it flies to-day + In your land and my land + And half a world away! + Rose-red and blood-red + The stripes forever gleam; + Snow-white and soul-white-- + The good forefathers' dream; + Sky-blue and true blue, with stars to gleam aright-- + The gloried guidon of the day; a shelter through the night. + + Your Flag and my Flag! + And, oh, how much it holds-- + Your land and my land-- + Secure within its folds! + Your heart and my heart + Beat quicker at the sight; + Sun-kissed and wind-tossed, + Red and blue and white. + The one Flag,--the great Flag--the Flag for me and you-- + Glorified all else beside--the red and white and blue! + + Your Flag and my Flag! + To every star and stripe + The drums beat as hearts beat + And fifers shrilly pipe! + Your Flag and my Flag-- + A blessing in the sky; + Your hope and my hope-- + It never hid a lie! + Home land and far land and half the world around, + Old Glory hears our glad salute and ripples to the sound. + + +THE FLAG GOES BY + +HENRY HOLCOMB BENNETT + + Hats off! + Along the street there comes + A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, + A flash of color beneath the sky: + Hats off! + The flag is passing by! + + Blue and crimson and white it shines, + Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines. + Hats off! + The colors before us fly; + But more than the flag is passing by. + + Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great, + Fought to make and to save the State: + Weary marches and sinking ships; + Cheers of victory on dying lips; + + Days of plenty and years of peace; + March of a strong land's swift increase; + Equal justice, right and law, + Stately honor and reverent awe; + + Sign of a nation, great and strong + To ward her people from foreign wrong: + Pride and glory and honor,--all + Live in the colors to stand or fall. + + Hats off! + Along the street there comes + A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums; + And loyal hearts are beating high: + Hats off! + The flag is passing by! + + +WHAT THE FLAG STANDS FOR + +HENRY CABOT LODGE + +The flag stands for all that we hold dear--freedom, democracy, +government of the people, by the people, and for the people. These are +the great principles for which the flag stands, and when that +democracy and that freedom and that government of the people are in +danger, then it is our duty to defend the flag which stands for them +all, and in order to defend the flag and keep it soaring as it soars +here to-day, undimmed, unsullied, victorious over the years, we must +be ready to defend it, and like the men of '76 and '61, pledge to it +our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. + + +UNION AND LIBERTY + +OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES + + Flag of the heroes who left us their glory, + Borne through their battle-fields' thunder and flame, + Blazoned in song and illumined in story, + Wave o'er us all who inherit their fame! + Up with our banner bright, + Sprinkled with starry light, + Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, + While through the sounding sky + Loud rings the Nation's cry,-- + UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE! + + Light of our firmament, guide of our Nation, + Pride of her children, and honored afar, + Let the wide beams of thy full constellation + Scatter each cloud that would darken a star! + Up with our banner bright, etc. + + Empire unsceptred! What foe shall assail thee, + Bearing the standard of Liberty's van? + Think not the God of thy fathers shall fail thee, + Striving with men for the birthright of man. + Up with our banner bright, etc. + + Yet if, by madness and treachery blighted, + Dawns the dark hour when the sword thou must draw, + Then with the arms of thy millions united, + Smite the bold traitors to Freedom and Law! + Up with our banner bright, etc. + + Lord of the Universe: shield us and guide us, + Trusting thee always, through shadow and sun! + Thou hast united us, who shall divide us? + Keep us, oh keep us the MANY IN ONE! + Up with =our= banner bright, + Sprinkled with starry light, + Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, + While through the sounding sky + Loud rings the nation's cry,-- + UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE! + + +YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR FLAG + +EDWARD EVERETT HALE + +"If you are ever tempted to say a word or to do a thing that shall put +a bar between you and your country, pray God in His mercy to take you +that instant home to His own heaven. Stick by your family, boy; forget +you have a self, while you do everything for them. Think of your home, +boy; write and send, and talk about it. Let it be nearer and nearer to +your thoughts, the farther you have to travel from it; and rush back +to it when you are free. And for your country, boy,"--and the words +rattled in his throat,--"and for that flag,"--and he pointed to the +ship,--"never dream a dream but of serving her as she bids you, though +the service carry you through a thousand hells. No matter what happens +to you, no matter who flatters you or who abuses you, never look to +another flag, never let a night pass but you pray God to bless that +flag. Remember, boy, that behind all these men you have to do with, +behind officers, and government, and people even, there is the Country +Herself, your Country, and that you belong to Her as you belong to +your own mother. Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother." + + +THE HOME FLAG + +HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW + + And at the masthead, + White, blue, and red, + A flag unrolls the stripes and stars. + Ah! when the wanderer, lonely, friendless, + In foreign harbors shall behold + That flag unrolled, + 'T will be as a friendly hand + Stretched out from his native land, + Filling his heart with memories sweet and endless! + + +OLD FLAG + +HUBBARD PARKER + + What shall I say to you, Old Flag? + You are so grand in every fold, + So linked with mighty deeds of old, + So steeped in blood where heroes fell, + So torn and pierced by shot and shell, + So calm, so still, so firm, so true, + My throat swells at the sight of you, Old Flag. + + What of the men who lifted you, Old Flag, + Upon the top of Bunker's Hill, + Who crushed the Briton's cruel will, + 'Mid shock and roar and crash and scream, + Who crossed the Delaware's frozen stream, + Who starved, who fought, who bled, who died, + That you might float in glorious pride, Old Flag? + + Who of the women brave and true, Old Flag, + Who, while the cannon thundered wild, + Sent forth a husband, lover, child. + Who labored in the field by day, + Who, all the night long, knelt to pray, + And thought that God great mercy gave, + If only freely you might wave, Old Flag? + + What is your mission now, Old Flag? + What but to set all people free, + To rid the world of misery, + To guard the right, avenge the wrong, + And gather in one joyful throng + Beneath your folds in close embrace + All burdened ones of every race, Old Flag? + + Right nobly do you lead the way, Old Flag, + Your stars shine out for liberty. + Your white stripes stand for purity, + Your crimson claims that courage high + For Honor's sake to fight and die. + Lead on against the alien shore! + We'll follow you e'en to Death's door, Old Flag! + + +BRITANNIA TO COLUMBIA + +ALFRED AUSTIN + + What is the voice I hear + On the winds of the western sea? + Sentinel, listen from out Cape Clear + And say what the voice may be. + 'Tis a proud free people calling loud to a people proud and free. + + And it says to them: "Kinsmen, hail; + We severed have been too long. + Now let us have done with a worn-out tale-- + The tale of an ancient wrong-- + And our friendship last long as love doth last and be stronger + than death is strong." + + Answer them, sons of the self-same race, + And blood of the self-same clan; + Let us speak with each other face to face + And answer as man to man, + And loyally love and trust each other as none but free men can. + + Now fling them out to the breeze, + Shamrock, Thistle, and Rose, + And the Star-Spangled Banner unfurl with these-- + A message of friends and foes + Wherever the sails of peace are seen and wherever the war wind + blows-- + + A message to bond and thrall to wake, + For wherever we come, we twain, + The throne of the tyrant shall rock and quake, + And his menace be void and vain, + For you are lords of a strong young land and we are lords of + the main. + + Yes, this is the voice on the bluff March gale; + We severed have been too long, + But now we are done with a worn-out tale-- + The tale of an ancient wrong-- + And our friendship shall last long as love doth last and be + stronger than death is strong. + + +MAKERS OF THE FLAG + +FRANKLIN K. LANE + + [A portion of an address delivered by the Secretary of the Interior + to the employees of the Department of the Interior, on Flag Day, + 1914.] + +This morning as I passed into the Land Office, The Flag dropped me a +most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: +"Good-morning Mr. Flag Maker." + +"I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't you mistaken? I am not +the President of the United States, nor a member of Congress, nor even +a general in the army. I am only a Government clerk." + +"I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker," replied the gay voice; "I know +you well. You are the man who worked in the swelter of yesterday +straightening out the tangle of that farmer's homestead in Idaho, or +perhaps you found the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, or +helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or +pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in +Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. +No matter; whichever one of these beneficient individuals you may +happen to be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker." + +I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me with these words:-- + +"Yesterday the President spoke a word that made happier the future of +ten million peons in Mexico; but that act looms no larger on the flag +than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn +Club prize this summer. + +"Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of +Alaska; but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into +the night, to give her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag. + +"Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and +yesterday, maybe, a school teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to +a boy who will one day write a song that will give cheer to the +millions of our race. We are all making the flag." + +"But," I said impatiently, "these people were only working!" + +Then came a great shout from The Flag:-- + +"The work that we do is the making of the flag. + +"I am not the flag; not at all. I am nothing more than its shadow. + +"I am whatever you make me, nothing more. + +"I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a People may become. + +"I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heart breaks +and tired muscles. + +"Sometimes I am strong with pride, when workmen do an honest piece of +work, fitting the rails together truly. + +"Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I +play the coward. + +"Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego that blasts +judgment. + +"But always, I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try +for. + +"I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope. + +"I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the +most daring. + +"I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute +makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook, +counselor, and clerk. + +"I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of to-morrow. + +"I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why. + +"I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution. + +"I am no more than what you believe me to be, and I am all that you +believe I can be. + +"I am what you make me, nothing more. + +"I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of +yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this +nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They +are bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, +because you have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the +makers of the flag and it is well that you glory in the making." + + +OUR FLAG + +MARGARET SANGSTER + + Flag of the fearless-hearted, + Flag of the broken chain, + Flag in a day-dawn started, + Never to pale or wane. + Dearly we prize its colors, + With the heaven light breaking through, + The clustered stars and the steadfast bars, + The red, the white, and the blue. + + Flag of the sturdy fathers, + Flag of the royal sons, + Beneath its folds it gathers + Earth's best and noblest ones. + Boldly we wave its colors, + Our veins are thrilled anew + By the steadfast bars, the clustered stars, + The red, the white, and the blue. + + +OUR HISTORY AND OUR FLAG[1] + +WILLIAM BACKUS GUITTEAU + +Love of country is a sentiment common to all peoples and ages; but no +land has ever been dearer to its people than our own America. No +nation has a history more inspiring, no country has institutions more +deserving of patriotic love. Turning the pages of our nation's +history, the young citizen sees Columbus, serene in the faith of his +dream; the Mayflower, bearing the lofty soul of the Puritan; +Washington girding on his holy sword; Lincoln, striking the shackles +from the helpless slave; the constitution, organizing the farthest +west with north and south and east into one great Republic; the +tremendous energy of free life trained in free schools, utilizing our +immense natural resources, increasing the nation's wealth with the aid +of advancing science, multiplying fertile fields and noble workshops, +and busy schools and happy homes. + +This is the history for which our flag stands; and when the young +citizen salutes the flag, he should think of the great ideals which it +represents. The flag stands for democracy, for liberty under the law; +it stands for heroic courage and self-reliance, for equality of +opportunity, for self-sacrifice and the cause of humanity; it stands +for free public education, and for peace among all nations. When you +salute the flag, you should resolve that your own life will be +dedicated to these ideals. You should remember that he is the truest +American patriot who understands the meaning of our nation's ideals, +and who pledges his own life to their realization. + +[Footnote 1: From _Preparing for Citizenship_. Houghton Mifflin Company, +1913, 1915.] + + +THE AMERICAN FLAG + +JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE + + Flag of the free heart's hope and home! + By angel hands to valor given; + Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, + And all thy hues were born in heaven. + Forever float that standard sheet! + Where breathes the foe but falls before us, + With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, + And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us? + + +THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY + +ROBERT C. WINTHROP + +There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon its +folds, rippling in the breeze, without pride of country. If he be in a +foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself, with all its +endearments. Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because +it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence. + +It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely, +and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white +proclaim the original union of thirteen States to maintain the +Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue +proclaim that union of States constituting our national constellation, +which receives a new star with every new State. The two together +signify union past and present. + +The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our +fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and +altogether, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors blazing in the sky, +make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be +upheld by all our hands. + + +AMERICA + +SAMUEL FRANCIS SMITH + + My country, 'tis of thee, + Sweet land of liberty, + Of thee I sing; + Land where my fathers died, + Land of the pilgrims' pride, + From every mountain-side + Let freedom ring. + + My native country, thee, + Land of the noble free,-- + Thy name I love; + I love thy rocks and rills, + Thy woods and templed hills; + My heart with rapture thrills + Like that above. + + Let music swell the breeze, + And ring from all the trees + Sweet Freedom's song; + Let mortal tongues awake, + Let all that breathe partake, + Let rocks their silence break,-- + The sound prolong. + + Our fathers' God, to Thee, + Author of liberty, + To Thee we sing; + Long may our land be bright + With freedom's holy light; + Protect us by thy might, + Great God our King. + + + + +INDEX + + + Albany, reached by the Dutch, 2. + + "Albany Plan," 18-19. + + Alexandria, 61. + + Alfred, the, the first American man-of-war, 35-38. + + Algiers, the Dey of, yields to America, 58. + + America, 3, 18, 25, 34, 46, 52; + overpowers the Dey of Algiers, 58. + + "Ancient flag," the, 3. + + Anderson, General, carries the flag from Fort Sumter, raises it again + in 1865, 72-73; + burial of, 74. + + Andrea, Dona, saluted at one of the West Indian Islands, 45. + + Arch Street, home of Betsy Ross, 40, 42. + + Arizona, admitted to the Union, 66; + men from, at Santiago, 75. + + Asia, sought by Henry Hudson, 1-2. + + Atlantic Ocean, crossed by Henry Hudson, 1. + + + Bainbridge, Captain, carries Algerian ambassador to Constantinople, + 57-58. + + Baltimore, 50, 61. + + Bedford, the flag of, 20-21. + + Beecher, Henry Ward, speech of, at Fort Sumter, 73. + + Bethlehem, 50. + + Bon Homme Richard, sinking of the, 45-47. + + Boston, arrival of stamps at, 15-16; + flag seen in, 34; 35. + + Boston Harbor, 5; + tea dropped into, 30. + + Brest Roads, 44. + + Britain, 34. + + British, besiege Fort Stanwix, 48. + + Broadway, 53. + + Brooklyn Navy Yard, flags for the navy made in the, 67. + + Bunker Hill, flags at battle of, 21; 28, 29, 30, 32. + + Bunting, not made in America until 1866, 66-67. + + + Cambridge, Indian volunteers come to, 29; 34, 39. + + Carleton, Sir Guy, delayed in New York, 53. + + Castle Island, ship made to strike her colors at, 5-6. + + Chapultepec, taken by Americans, 70-71. + + Charles II, and the New England coinage, 11. + + Charleston, the flag of, 11-12; + stamped paper in, 15; + liberty flag in, 16; + flag of, after Bunker Hill, 22; + Liberty Tree of, 30; + cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, 31; 72. + + China, the American flag in, 79. + + Christina, becomes queen of Sweden, 2. + + Civil War, the beginning of the, 71. + + Clinton, Sir Henry, cuts down the Liberty Tree in Charleston, 31. + + Columbus, 58. + + Concord, 20. + + Congress, 19; + sends a committee to Cambridge, 32; + orders building of cruisers, 35; + orders a flag, 41; 42; 43; + celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 51; + decrees the star-spangled banner, 63-64. + _See also_ Continental Congress. + + Connecticut, regimental colors of, 22; + motto of, 30. + + Constantinople, Algerian ambassador carried to, 58. + + Constitution, frigate, 57. + + Continental Congress, 27; + weakness of the statement issued by the, 29; + Washington a member of the, 33; 37; + declares the colonies to be independent and decrees a flag, 39-40. + + Cook, Captain, to be aided by all American cruisers, 38. + + Copley, paints in the flag, 52. + + Cotton, Dr. John, advises concerning the King's Flag, 6-7; + Indian chief resembles, 59. + + Cuba, given up to the Cubans, 81-82. + + Culpeper Minute Men, 25. + + + Daiquiri, landing place of the Rough Riders, 75. + + Declaration of Independence, 32, 40; + flag made before the, 42; + first anniversary celebrated on the Delaware River, 51. + + Delaware River, Swedes settle on the, 2; + pine tree flag on the, 35; + stars and stripes on the, 42; + celebration on the, 51. + + Digby, Admiral, licenses a Nantucket skipper to go to London, 52. + + Dix, General, 81. + + Driver, Captain William, originates the name "Old Glory," 68. + + Dutch, establish trading posts on the Hudson River, 2; + overpowered by the English, 2; + opposed by New Englanders, 9-10; + government of, inquires concerning the American flag, 65. + + Dutch East India Company, Hudson sails in the employ of the, 1-2. + + + Elliot, Major, wife of, presents silken colors, 24. + + Endicott, John, cuts the cross from the English flag, 4-5; 87. + + England, flag of, brought to Jamestown, 2-3; 6; 18; 33; + flag of, pulled down in New York, 54; 66; + honors the Stars and Stripes, 84. + + English East India Company, flag of the, 34. + + Essex (county), 9. + + Essex Institute, "Old Glory" sent to the, 69. + + + "Father of his Country," 33. + + Fifteen stripes and fifteen stars, the flag of, 56-62. + + Fillmore, President, sends letter to Japan, 77. + + First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, 74. + _See_ Rough Riders. + + Flag anniversaries, 90-92. + + "Flag Day," 87. + + Flag etiquette, 85-89. + + "Flower flag," the, 79. + + Flamborough Head, 45. + + Fort George, 53. + + Fort McHenry, attacked by the British, 60. + + Fort Moultrie, 23. + + Fort Schuyler. + _See_ Fort Stanwix. + + Fort Stanwix, flag made at, 48-49. + + Fort Sumter, firing upon, begins the Civil War, 71-72; + flag raised upon, 73. + + Fourth of July, Declaration of Independence on the, 39-40; + first anniversary of the, 51; + new stars to be added to the flag on the, 64; + honored in Sweden, 81. + + France, war with, 57; + sells the Louisiana Territory to the United States, 58. + + Franklin, Benjamin, proposes the "Albany Plan," 18-19; 24, 25, 26; + sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32; 34; + issues letters of marque, 37. + + Frederick, burial place of Francis Scott Key, 61. + + French, opposed by the New Englanders, 9-10; + meet the New Englanders at Louisburg, 12-13. + + + Gadsden, Christopher, speaks of possible independence, 30. + + Gage, General, 21. + + Gansevoort, Colonel Peter, commands Fort Stanwix, 49. + + George III, proclamation of, 54. + + "God Save the King," sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, 84. + + Grand Army of the Republic, 74, 86. + + Grand Council, part of the "Albany Plan," 18-19. + + "Grand Union Flag," made in Cambridge, 33; + designer not known, 34; 39. + + Great Britain, second war with, 57, 84. + + Gustavus Adolphus, plans a settlement in America, 2; 80. + + + Hall, Lieutenant, rescues the flag at Fort Sumter, 72. + + Hancock, John, presents a flag to General Putnam, 30. + + Harrison, Benjamin, sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32. + + Hart, Sergeant Peter, fastens the flag up on the ramparts at Fort + Sumter, 72; + presents it to be raised, 73. + + Harvard College, used by troops, 28. + + Havana, 82. + + Hawthorne, tells the story of Endicott and the flag, 4-5; + of "The Pine-Tree Shillings," 11. + + Hemisphere, on a flag, 11. + + Henry, Patrick, 25. + + Hessians, 51. + + Holland, Hudson's vessel sailed from, the flag of, 1; 44. + + Holmes, "Old Ironsides," poem of, 56. + + House of Representatives, hoists the Star-Spangled Banner, 65. + + Hudson, carries the Dutch flag into the Hudson River, 1-2. + + + Indian, enters embrasure at Louisburg, 13. + + Indiana, 63. + + Indians, Hudson welcomed by the, 1; + method of warfare, 8; + given flags, 12; + volunteer at Cambridge, 29; + fought by Washington, 33; + besiege Fort Schuyler, 48; + raise the American flag, 59. + + Island of Knights, 80. + + + James I, changes the flag of England, 3. + + James II, sends a flag to New England, leaves England, 10. + + Jamestown, founded, 2. + + Japan, opened by Perry, 77-79; + embassy from visits the United States, 78; + the friend of the United States, 79. + + Jasper, William, rescues the flag at Fort Moultrie, 23-24. + + Jersey City, 65. + + Jones, John Paul, hoists a flag on the Alfred, 35-37; + forbidden to burn defenseless towns, 37; + put in command of the Ranger, 43; + receives a flag in Portsmouth and a salute in France, 43-45; + in command of the Bon Homme Richard, 45-47. + + Journal, of Congress, 32. + + + Kansas, first raising of the United States flag in, 59. + + Kentucky, admitted as a State, 56. + + Kettle Hill, battle of, 76. + + Key, Francis Scott, writes the "Star-Spangled Banner," 60-61. + + King Philip's War, flag used in, 9. + + "King's Flag," 3; + displayed at Castle Island, 6-7. + + + Lafayette visited by Pulaski, welcomed to Baltimore, 49, 50. + + Las Guasimas, 75. + + "Last battle of the Revolution," 53. + + Lexington, 31; + battle of, 35; 39. + + Liberty, the demand for, 14. + + "Liberty Elm," Massachusetts history associated with the, 30. + + "Liberty Hall," 16. + + Liberty Pole, cut down in New York, 31. + + "Liberty Tree," in Boston, 16, 17; + of South Carolina, 30; + Paine's poem on the, 31. + + Lincoln, President, 72. + + "Lion of the North," 2. + + London, 52; + honors the Stars and Stripes, 84. + + Longfellow, poem of, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," 50. + + Louisburg, the New Englanders at, 12-13. + + Louisiana, admitted to the Union, 63. + + Louisiana Territory, purchased by the United States, 58. + + Lowell, quotation from, 63. + + Lowell (city), bunting made in, 66. + + Lynch, Thomas, sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32. + + + Maryland, 61. + + Massachusetts, troubles concerning the cross in the flag, 4-7; 8, 9; + flag of the "Three County Troop" in, 9; + use of "pine tree" in, 10, 11, 15; + flag of, after Bunker Hill, 22; 27; + motto of, 30; + decrees the use of the pine-tree flag, 35; 66; 68; 86. + + Mediterranean Sea, freed from Pirates, 58. + + Memorial Day, 81. + + Mexico, war with, 70. + + Mexico, the City of, captured by Americans, 70-71. + + Middlesex (county), 9, 20. + + Monroe, President, signs a bill decreeing the use of the Star-Spangled + Banner, 64. + + Moravian Sisters, make banner for Pulaski, 50. + + Morris, Robert, 40. + + Mottoes on flags, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 28, 30, 36, 54. + + Moultrie, 71. + + Moultrie, Colonel, defends Fort Moultrie, 23-24. + + + Nantucket, 52, 53. + + Nashville, 68. + + National Museum, "Star-Spangled Banner" of Francis Scott Key in, 61. + + Netherlands, flag of the, 34. + + New Amsterdam, 2. + + Newbury, flag of the militia in, 8-9. + + Newburyport, patrol, of, 15. + + New England, alliance of the folk of, 9-10; 18. + + New Englanders, 10; + set off to capture Louisburg, 12. + + "New England Flag," the, 21. + + New Hampshire, 15, 43. + + New Haven, peace rejoicing in, 54. + + New Mexico, admitted to the Union, 66. + + New World, 2, 58. + + New York, founded by the Dutch, 2; + flag of, 15; + arrival of stamps at, 16; + liberty pole in, 17-18; + hoists flag with beaver device, 22; 27; 31; + State of, 48; + Sir Guy Carleton delayed in, 53; 64; 72. + + _New York Sun_, 82. + + North Pole, discovered by Admiral Peary, 83. + + + Ohio, admitted to the Union, 63. + + "Old Glory," origin of the name and story of, 68-69; + in three wars, 70. + + "Old Ironsides," frigate, poem by Holmes, 57. + + "Old Thirteen," 2. + + Oliver, hanged in effigy in Boston, 15-16. + + Oscar, king of Sweden, 81. + + + Page family, as color bearers, 20. + + Paine, Thomas, poem of on the "Liberty Tree," 31. + + Pearson, Captain, yields to John Paul Jones, 45. + + Peary, Admiral Robert E., carries the flag to the North Pole, 82-83. + + Pennsylvania, 32, 50, 55. + + _Pennsylvania Gazette_, 19. + + _Pennsylvania Journal_, 25. + + Perry, Commodore M. C., carries the letter of President Fillmore to + Japan, 77-79. + + Philadelphia, 18, 37, 39, 40, 55. + + Philadelphia Light Horse Troop, escorts Washington to New York, 27; + flag of the, 27-28, 33. + + Phoenix, 74. + + Pike, Lieut. Z. M., and the Indians, 59. + + Pilgrims, 34. + + Pine tree, on flag, 10, 11, 21, 35; + used on the Delaware River, 35. + + "Pine-Tree Shillings, The," Hawthorne's story of, 11. + + Pope's Creek, birthplace of Washington, 61. + + Portsmouth, banner in, 15; + the "quilting party" flag, 43-47. + + Poughkeepsie, 49. + + Prospect Hill, 29; + flag raised on, 34. + + Pulaski, Count, the banner of, 49-50. + + Puritans, troubled by the cross in the flag, 4-7. + + Putnam, Major-General Israel, 29; + flag presented to, by John Hancock, 30. + + + Quaker City, the, 27. + + + Ranger, command of, given to Jones, 43; + the flag of, and its salute, 43-45. + + Rattlesnake, on flag of Charleston, 22; + a favorite emblem, 24-26; 35; + on flag of the Alfred, 37. + + Reid, Captain, S. C., designs the flag with stars arranged in one + star, 65. + + Revere, Paul, 20. + + Revolutionary War, 21. + + Rhode Island, hoists a flag with the anchor device, 22. + + Roman Catholic Church, the cross regarded as the badge of the, 4. + + Rome, 48. + + Ross, Betsy, makes the first flag with stars and stripes, 40-42. + + Ross, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom, 40, 48. + _See_ Betsy Ross. + + Ross, Colonel, 40, 42. + + "Rough Riders," 74. + + + St. Andrew, the cross of, 3, 18, 33. + + St. George's Cross, united with the cross of St. Andrew, 3; + cut out of the flag by Endicott, 4-5; + in the flag sent by James II to New England, in the pine-tree + flag, 10; 18; 21; 32; 34. + + St. Paul, Cathedral of, 84. + + Salem, cross cut from the flag in, 4-5, 8, 68. + + San Juan Hill, the battle of, 76. + + Santiago, attacked by the Rough Riders, 75. + + Savannah, flag hoisted at, 22, 24. + + Scotland, the flag of, 3; 33. + + Serapis, taken by Jones, 45-47. + + Six Nations, 18. + + Somerville, flag raised in, 34. + + Sons of Liberty, 15; + put up a liberty pole, 17-18; + meetings of the, 30. + + South Carolina, 11; + treatment of stamped paper in, 14; 30; 32. + + Spain, owner of the Louisiana Territory, 59; + war with, 74, 81. + + Spaniards, repulsed at Las Guasimas, 75. + + Spanish-American War, 81, 87. + + Stamp Act, 14; + repeal of the, 17; 30. + + Stars and Stripes, first salute to, 45; + replace the English flag in New York, 54; + at Fort McHenry, 60; + at Chapultepec, 71; + fired upon at Fort Sumter, 71-72; + raised again at Fort Sumter, 72-73; + in Japan, 78; + in China, 79; + in Sweden, 81; + honored in England, 84; + behavior towards the, 85-87. + + "Star-Spangled Banner, The," written by Francis Scott Key, 60-61; + played at Fort Sumter, 73; + sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, 84. + + Stiles, President, describes the New Haven rejoicing for peace, 54. + + Stockholm, 80. + + Suffolk (county), 9. + + Swartwout, Captain Abram, cloak of, used for flag at Fort Stanwix, 48-49. + + Sweden, American flag raised in, 79-81. + + Swedes, settle on the Delaware River, are overpowered by the Dutch, 2; + opposed by the New Englanders, 9-10. + + + Tennessee, admitted to the Union, 63; 68. + + Thames, the royal seal tossed into the, 10. + + "Thirteen," 51, 63. + + Thirteen stripes, first used, 28. + + Thomas, William W., raises American flag in Sweden, 79-81. + + Trenton, 51. + + Tripoli, war with, 57. + + Trumbull, battle of Bunker Hill painted by, 21. + + + "Union Flag," 18, 22; + made at Cambridge, 33; + worn by the Alfred, 37. + + Union Jack, 3; + given to the Indians, 12; 18; 84. + + United Colonies, 34. + + "Unite or die," motto of the "Albany Plan," 18. + + United States, 26, 51, 52; + left by British troops, 53; 54, 55, 58; + buys the Louisiana Territory, 58-59; + flag of, decided upon, 63-65; + flag manufactured in, 67; + opens intercourse with Japan, 78; 80; + flag of, hauled down in Cuba, 81-82; 83, 84, 87. + + + Vermont, admitted as a State, 56. + + "Victory Tower," Star-Spangled Banner floats from, 84. + + Virginia, 2, 3, 25, 33, 61. + + + Washington, 21; + goes to Boston, 27-29; 32; + coat-of-arms of, 33; 34; 40; + visits Betsy Ross, 41; + significance of the flag expressed by, 43; 61; + monument reared to in Baltimore, birthplace of marked, 61-62; 81. + + Watson, Elkanah, flag painted in portrait of, by Copley, 52. + + Wendover, Peter H., induces Congress to decree the Star-Spangled + Banner, 64. + + Westminster Palace, 84. + + Westmoreland County, 61. + + West Point, burial place of General Anderson, 74. + + Wood, General Leonard, 75; + delivers Cuba to the Cubans, 82. + + + Yale, 54. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + +* Footnote moved to end of article on Pg 114. + +* Moved frontispiece illustration to Pg 1. + +* Otherwise, archaic and inconsistent spelling and hyphenation retained. + +* Pg 16 Corrected spelling of word "processsion" to "procession" located +in the phrase "and marched in a log procession". + +* Pg 43 "whereever" and Pg 107 "wherever" retained as printed. + +* Pg 90 Replaced semi-colon with a colon after "1783" located in +"February 3, 1783". + +* Pg 92 Removed extraneous comma after "1787" located in "September 30, +1787,-August 10, 1790". + +* Pg 119 Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "30" located in the phrase +"cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, 30". + +* Pg 119 Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "19" located in the phrase +"Congress, 19". + +* Pg 120 Added period after "39" located in "designer not known, 34; 39". + +* Pg 121 Replaced period with a comma after "Jones" located in phrase +"Pearson, captain, yields to John Paul Jones". + +* Pg 122 Replaced period with a comma after "51" located in phrase +""Thirteen," 51". + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Little Book of the Flag, by Eva March Tappan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG *** + +***** This file should be named 30893.txt or 30893.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/8/9/30893/ + +Produced by Larry B. 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